Russia, India joint champions in Online Chess Olympiad

India and Russia have been declared joint winners of the Online Chess Olympiad after two Indian players lost their internet connection during the final round.

India appealed after two of its players lost connection to their games and forfeited on time.

Officials said these were "unprecedented circumstances".

"The Online Chess Olympiad has been impacted by a global internet outage, that severely affected several countries, including India. Two of the Indian players have been affected and lost connection, when the outcome of the match was still unclear," Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation, said in a statement.

He said he decided to award both teams gold medals in the "absence of a unanimous decision" from the body's appeals committee.

Teams from more than 160 countries participated in this year's online event, which began in July.