In an historic first, Indian men and women teams win gold at Chess Olympiad

Two years ago, India’s second team and women team have won the bronze when the Olympiad was held at Mamallapuram, near Chennai.

India recorded one of the greatest moments in its sporting history in Budapest on Sunday, winning the gold medals both in the Open and women’s sections of the 45th Chess Olympiad.

The Indian men had been so dominant in the competition that they were almost assured of the gold with a round to spare.

In the 11th and final round match, India scored an easy victory against Slovenia. D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi won their games, while Vidit Gujrathi drew. India won 3.5-0.5 against Slovenia, taking its tally to 21 points, out of the possible 22.

P. Harikrishna is the other member of the men’s team and he competed as the reserve board player.

The United States, the top seed whom India defeated in the penultimate round, finished as the runner-up, with 17 points.

In the last round of the women’s event too, India scored a 3.5-0.5 victory over Azerbaijan. There were wins for D. Harika, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal and the only player to draw was R. Vaishali.

Tania Sachdev played on the reserve board for the top-seeded Indian women. They finished with 19 points, one more than the second-placed Kazakhstan.

Two years ago, India had won the bronze in both the Open and the women’s when the Olympiad was held at Mamallapuram, near Chennai. In the Open section, it was India’s second team that had won the medal. As the host, India had fielded three teams each in either section.

Published - September 22, 2024 06:55 pm IST