Golden moves: Indian teams create history, win maiden titles in Chess Olympiad

India scripted history in the Chess Olympiad as its men’s and women’s teams clinched their maiden titles in a rare sweep of gold medals after beating their respective opponents in the final round.

The Indian men defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 while their women counterparts crushed Azerbaijan with an identical margin in the 11th and final round in the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad.

The Indian men had earlier won bronze medals in 2014 and 2022, while the women had bagged a bronze in the 2022 edition held in Chennai.

D Gukesh, the 18-year-old World Championship challenger, and the 21-year-old Arjun Erigaisi yet again delivered in key games, while R Praggnanandhaa, 19, regained form to ensure a smooth victory for India in the open section. On the fourth board, Vidit Gujrathi, 29, played out an inconsequential draw to give the team another resounding victory. “I feel great, especially with the quality of my games and how we played as a team,” Gukesh said.

Chess legend Viswanathan Anand, who has won five World Championships titles, was present at the arena to watch the next generation of Indians ruling over the world.

For the women’s team, D Harika, 33, was at her technical best, striking on the top board. The 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh yet again outclassed her opponent — beating Givhar Beydullayeva on the third board — to confirm her individual gold medal. After the 23-year-old R Vaishali drew, the team confirmed its victory when Vantika Agrawal, 21, won the last game by turning the tables on Khanim Balajayeva.

Up against Slovenia, Gukesh was at his very best in the technical phase of the game with black pieces against Vladimir Fedoseev. Though it was a laboured victory, the 18-year-old Grandmaster was spot on with his tremendous strategic display.

Erigaisi also won with black pieces on the third board against Jan Subeli out of a surprising Centre Counter defence game. If this was not enough, Praggnanadhaa struck form and scored a crushing victory over Anton Demchenko.

The Indian men ended with a tally of 21 points out of a possible 22, winning 10 matches and conceding a lone 2-2 draw against last Olympiad winners Uzbekistan.

The story of the domination was such that out of a total 44 games, the Indian team suffered just one loss when Pragganandhaa was beaten by Wesley So of USA in the penultimate round.

Like Praggnanandhaa, D Harika also found her form in the final round game of the women’s section, winning a highly technical rook and pawns endgame against Gunay Mammadzada.

Divya remained the best performer in the team with another victory in the final round that took her personal tally to an awe-inspiring 9.5 points out of a possible 11.

While two points would have been enough, Vantika won her game from a seemingly worse position. On the other board, Vaishali drew to complete the onslaught.

The women’s team scored 19 points in all and were in a must-win situation coming in to the final round. By the time they won the match against Azerbaijan, the gold was already in their pocket as it was clear that overnight co-leaders Kazakhstan were only going to make a draw with the US.