Chess Olympiad: Gukesh beats Caruana, India eyes maiden gold

Grandmaster and World Championship challenger D Gukesh put it across Fabiano Caruana of the United States to raise visions of a gold medal for the Indian men in the 45th Chess Olympiad here.

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.

Under pressure, Caruana crumbled like a cookie and soon after lost a second pawn to let Gukesh enter a winning endgame. Earlier, R Praggananandhaa went down fighting against Wesley So to give the American team an early lead but the Indian men were in no danger anytime as Arjun Erigaise was always in command against Lenier Dominguez Perez.

Arjun held a winning position, while Vidit Gujrathi played a rock-solid game against Levon Aronian.

In the event of Arjun’s victory, which was the most likely result, Indian team is expected to win the event by a round to spare.

Indian eves beat China

Divya Deshmukh yet again proved to be the team’s star performer as she defeated Ni Shiqun on board three, while the other three games ended in draws as the Indian eves thwarted China’s challenge to post a 2.5-1.5 victory.

R Vaishali was the other Indian who deserved a lot of praise for her spirited defense in a difficult position against Guo Qi and in the end capitalised on a tactical shot to force the draw.