Gukesh Dommaraju
India created history in chess when its men’s and women’s teams defeated their respective opponents in the final round of the 45th Chess Olympiad to win gold for the first time in this tournament. The Indian men’s team defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the 11th and final round while the women’s team also defeated Azerbaijan by the same margin. The Indian men’s team had earlier won bronze medals in the tournament in 2014 and 2022. The Indian women’s team won the bronze medal in 2022 in Chennai.
D Gukesh made a strong start in the match
World Championship Challenger and Grandmaster D Gukesh (18 years), Arjun Erigesi (21 years) and R Praggnanandhaa (19 years) once again performed well in the crucial matches to help India win their first title in the Open category. In the match against Slovenia, Gukesh performed best in the technical phase against Vladimir Fedoseev with black pieces. Though he got the win with difficulty, the 18-year old Grandmaster adopted a brilliant strategy. Erigesi defeated Jan Subelj playing with black pieces on the third board. Praggnanandhaa then came into form and won a brilliant victory over Anton Demchenko. This was followed by a draw with Vidit Gujrathi (29 years) on the fourth board.
D Gukesh said- I am feeling good
D Gukesh said, “I am feeling very good, especially with my level of play and our performance as a team.” Chess legend and five-time world championship winner Viswanathan Anand was present in the arena to watch the next generation of Indian players rule the world. The Indian men’s team scored 21 out of 22 points. The players only played a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan.
D Harika is back in form
For the Indian women’s team, D Harika (33) found form in the final round and showed technical superiority on the first board to win over Gunay Mamadzada. 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh once again outclassed her opponent to secure an individual gold medal on the third board as she beat Govhar Baydulayeva, scoring 9.5 points out of 11. After R Vaishali (23) drew with Ulviya Talieva, Vantika Agrawal (21) came back from a difficult situation to win over Khanim Balazayeva to secure the gold medal for the Indian team.
The women’s team scored a total of 19 points, which was all they needed to win in the final round. The gold medal was within reach with a win over Azerbaijan after joint leaders Kazakhstan drew with the USA last night.
(Input: PTI)
