India Wins Golds At 2024 Chess Olympiad: Indian teams in both the Open and Women’s categories have won the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest, Hungary, which is India’s first win in either category for the first time under regular conditions.
In the men’s side, team India dominated the competition, winning the tournament by scoring a whopping 21 points across 11 rounds out of a possible 22, as each round win gives a team two points, while a draw gives them one.
Team India in the Open tournament, made up of Gukesh D, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Harikrishna Pentala, along with captain Srinath Narayanan, dominated the competition across 11 rounds, winning 10 of their matches.
Heading into the last round, India was two points ahead of China and only needed a draw to win the Open. The team dominated, thrashing Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the 11th round to clinch the competition.
India Wins Golds At 2024 Chess Olympiad
In the end, as India clinched gold in the men’s category, the formidable United States finished second and won silver and Uzbekistan finished third for the bronze. While teams ranked from second to sixth all finished on 17 points each, it was the USA and the Uzbeks who came out on top due to the tie-breaker score.
In the Women’s tournament, the Indian team was made up of Divya Deshmukh, Harika Dronavalli, Tania Sachdev, Vaishali Rameshbabu, and Vantika Agrawal, won nine out of 11 games, drawing one, and losing one as they scored 19 points. Their loss came against the third-seeded Poland side, while the draw came against the US.
In the Women’s competition, India was followed by Kazakhstan in second with 18 points and the United States in third with 17.
With wins in both tournaments, India also won the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup, given to the country with the best sum of positions in both tournaments. By finishing first in both, India’s sum was as low as it can be with two. The US was second on that list with five, and Armenia finished third with 11, despite not finishing in the top three in any of the competitions.
India also won gold in several individual categories. In the Open tournament, Gukesh D won gold in the first board, winning nine of his 10 matches, while Arjun Erigaisi won gold in the third by winning 10 out of his 11. In the women’s tournament, India’s Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal won gold on boards three and four.
India, in the past, has won the men’s tournament, doing so in an online version in 2020, being named the joint winner alongside China. And with bronze wins in both men’s and women’s tournaments in 2022, India won the Gaprindashvili Cup that year.
This tournament has given a big boost to several Indian players in the world rankings. With their stellar performances, Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh D have climbed to fourth and seventh in world standings, respectively, while Praggnanandhaa currently sits at 12th.
Gukesh, who is just 18 years old, will also face World Champion Ding Liren of China for the title in November 2024. He got the opportunity after winning the prestigious Candidates Tournament, finishing over the likes of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in that competition.
Check Out: India Wins Golds At 2024 Chess Olympiad
Get the Latest Chess News & Indian Chess Team Squad at IceCric.News and Follow for Live Updates – Facebook & Instagram.
