Chess Olympiad: D Gukesh shines as India on cusp of historic gold medal

D Gukesh pulled off a big win against Fabiano Caruana to help India all but clinch their first-ever gold medal in the Open Section of the Chess Olympiad on Saturday, September 21 in Budapest.

In Short

• India on the cusp of historic gold medal in Open Section
• Gukesh overcame Fabiano Caruana in India's match against the USA
• India are on top of the Open Section standings ahead of the final round

D Gukesh helped India edge closer to their first-ever gold medal in the Open Section of the Chess Olympiad on Saturday, September 21 in Budapest. Grandmaster and World Championship challenger D Gukesh put it across Fabiano Caruana of United States, leading the charge for India in their gold-medal quest in the 45th Chess Olympiad.

Set to play the next World championship match in Singapore in November, Gukesh played another tough game showcasing his steely nerves against the top seeded teams and also beating higher- ranked Caruana. It was a Catalan opening wherein Gukesh got the complications running in his favour in the later stages of the middle game after grabbing a pawn.

India's Arjun Erigaisi defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez while Praggnanandhaa lost to Wesley So. Vidit Gujrathi drew against Levon Aronian.

India are on top of the standings in the Open Section with 17 points, two more than China, USA and Uzbekistan who have 15 points each.

Earlier on Friday, September 20, the Indian men's team scored yet another thumping 3.5-0.5 points victory over Iran to stake claim for the gold medal in the Open section. With their eighth victory in as many matches, the Indian men took their tally to 16 points and stretched their lead to a massive two points over nearest rivals Hungary and Uzbekistan.

World number four Arjun Erigaisi had started the rampage with black pieces and crashed through the defenses of Beria Daneshvar, who proved no match for the Indian. World Championship challenger D Gukesh then put it across Parham Maghsoodloo with black pieces, swindling the Iranian towards the end of the first time-control. R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Amin Tabatabaei to make sure of an Indian victory, and Vidit Gujrathi added to the team's tally as he outclassed Idani Pouya in all departments of the game to give another huge victory to the team.

For Arjun, this was another step towards the 2800-rating mark as he took his personal tally to a remarkable 7.5 points from eight games. In live ratings, Arjun is now at 2793 points, and if he does cross the 2800 mark, he will be the 16th player in history—and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand—to do so.

Taking a cue from Arjun, Gukesh made sure he kept closing in, and his victory took him to 2785 rating points. This is the first time ever that there are two Indians in the top five of the world rankings.

Arjun created early complications again, going for the reverse Benoni with his black pieces. Daneshvar fell for some tactical tricks in the middle game and could not recover. Gukesh also won with black, and it was another Queen pawn game wherein the Indian chose to play the Dubov variation in the Tarrasch defense. Maghsoodloo went for some unwarranted complications and was caught off-guard as the clock ticked away in the middle game. Soon, the Iranian parted with a piece for a handful of pawns but fell prey to an easy tactical stroke that ended the game. Vidit Gujrathi went for the Sozin variation against the Sicilian defense by Pouya, and his attack was simply overwhelming, while Praggnanandhaa took things easy to ward off any serious counterplay by Tabatabaei.