Hail Kings and Queens of 64 Squares: Indian men and women win maiden Chess Olympiad gold medals

Budapest, Sep 22 (PTI) India on Sunday 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 here.

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

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

The 18-year-old World Championship challenger D Gukesh and 21-year-old Arjun Erigaise yet again delivered in key games while R Praggnanandhaa, 19, regained form too in the final round 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 after the team secured the gold.

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

For the women’s team, D Harika, 33, was at her technical best, striking on the top board, and the 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh yet again outclassed her opponent Givhar Beydullayeva to confirm her individual gold medal on the third board.

After the 23-year-old R Vaishali drew, the Indian team confirmed the 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 defense 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 22in all, winning 10 matches and conceding a lone 2-2 draw against last Olympiad winner 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.

However, two of the remaining three musketeers, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaise and Vidit Gujrathi scored 2.5 points between them to beat the United States.

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 Deshmukh 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 Agrawal also rubbed some salt on Azerbaijan, winning her game from a seemingly worse position. On the other board, R 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-leader Kazakhstan were only going to make a draw with the United States.

Indian Results: Final Round Open: Vladimir Fedoseev lost to D Gukesh; R Praggnanandhaa beat Anton Demchenko; Jan Subelj lost to Arjun Erigaise;

Matej Sebenik drew with Vidit Gujrathi.

Women: Dronavalli Harika beat Gunay Mammadzada; Ulviyya Fataliyeva drew with R Vaishali; Divya Deshmukh beat Govhar Beydullayeva; Balajayeva Khanim lost to Vantika Agrawal.SPORTSBUDAPEST