Chess olympiad: Indian men secure big win over Iran

The Indian men’s team scored yet another thumping victory over Iran by 3.5-0.5 points to stake its claim for the gold medal in the open section of the 45th Chess Olympiad. The Indian men took their tally to 16 points out of a possible 16.

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World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi started the rampage with his black pieces and crashed through the defences of Bardiya Daneshwar. World Championship challenger D Gukesh then put it across Parham Maghsoodloo with black pieces.

R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Amin Tabatabai to make sure of an Indian victory but Vidit Gujrathi had other plans as he outclassed Idani Pouya.

In live ratings now, Arjun is now at 2793 points and if he does cross the 2800 mark, he will only be the 16th player ever in history and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to do so.

In the women’s section, the Indian team suffered its first defeat of the tournament after losing 1.5-2.5 against Poland.