England hope to medal for the first time since 1990, but will probably have to settle for around their seeded position of 10th, when the 187-nation Olympiad starts at Chennai, India, on 28 July. Long ago in the vintage years between 1984 and 1988, England won three silvers behind the Soviet kings led by Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
The current group is ageing now, but England’s recent performances have been very respectable: fifth in the 2018 Olympiad, the last before the pandemic, and second to Russia in the 2019 world teams. At Chennai, Russia are banned and China will not compete due to Covid-19, leaving the US as strong favourites with two young Indian teams the likely challengers. Ukraine, who will be highly motivated, could surprise.
