 "D Gukesh defeated Jan Subelj of Slovenia in the final round on Sunday to hand India a historic gold medal at the 2024 Chess Olympiad. AP")
India clinched a historic gold medal at the 2024 Chess Olympiad’s ‘Open’ as well as ‘Women’s’ categories in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday.
India confirmed their title in the Open event following Arjun Erigaisi’s victory over Jan Subelj of Slovenia in the final round of the competition. India were virtually assured of the top spot after their 10th round victory over USA, and Erigaisi’s win confirmed gold for them.
The Americans would go on to defeat China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th round in what was a must-win clash for the latter with Wesley So beating Wei Yi.
India would end up beating Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the Open section and register a victory over Azerbaijan by a similar margin in the final round of the Women’s category on Sunday.
India had begun the 2024 Chess Olympiad campaign in Hungary with eight back-to-back victories. In the ninth round, however, India were held to a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan.
The Indian team’s hopes of clinching their maiden title was revived once again in round 10. While the open team defeated USA 2.5-1.5, the women’s team got the better of China by the same margin.
In Round 11, D Gukesh played with black pieces against Vladimir Fedoseev and showcased his technical and strategic brilliance, despite having had to work hard for the win. Erigaisi too won with the black pieces against Subelj from a Centre Counter defense on board three.
R Praggnanadhaa extended India’s dominance with a thumping win over Anton Demchenko to put India 3-0 ahead and all but seal the gold medal.
Vidit Gujrathi was the only Indian to not register a win in the final round, settling for a draw against Matej Sebenik.
The India open team topped the standings with 21 points, beating all of their opponents barring Uzbekistan.
The women’s team also won a historic gold medal after they defeated Azerbaijan with a 3.5-0.5 score. Their gold medal was confirmed after Kazakhstan were held to a draw by USA, as both India and Kazakhstan were level on 17 points before the 11th round.
D Harika proved her technical skills against Gunay Mammadzada whereas Divya Deshmukh outplayed her rival Govhar Beydullayeva, to seal her individual gold medal.
R Vaishali then drew her game against Ulviyya Fataliyeva, but victory was confirmed for the Indian women after Vantika Agrawal’s triumph over Khanim Balajayeva.
India’s best performance at the Chess Olympiad prior to this edition came in 2022, when the country had won bronze in Chennai. The nation had won a bronze medal at the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Norway’s Tromso as well.