India Poised to Grab Historic Gold Medal at Chess Olympiad (image-twitter/ FIDE_chess)
The ‘strongest Indian team at the Olympiad is at the cusp of history making gold medals in the open category at the ongoing International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Saturday.
India defeated the USA by 2.5-1.5 in the 10th round. In the tournament, the Indian men’s team had won eight rounds in a row before their streak came to an end with a draw in the ninth round. India now sits with 19 match points after 10 rounds.
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Grandmaster and World Championship challenger D Gukesh helped India edge closer to their first-ever gold medal in the Open section. He put it across Fabiano Caruana of the United States, leading the charge for India.
INDIA DOMINATE AND WIN OLYMPIAD GOLD 🇮🇳🥇
Their star-studded lineup was simply too strong for the world as @DGukesh @ArjunErigaisi @viditchess @rpraggnachess and @HariChess clinched India’s first-ever open gold! 🙌 #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/0B7s8hukgm
— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 21, 2024
Though the prodigious R Praggnanadhaa recorded a rare failure against Wesley So by 0-1, India bounced back in the round with Arjun Erigaisi’s 1-0 win against Leinier Perez while Vidit Gujrathi had a 0.5-0.5 draw against Levon Aronian.
With the final to take place on Sunday, India is just one step away from grabbing the first-ever open-section gold. India will face Solvenia while China has the USA as its opponent for the 11th round. In most scenarios, India is favored to take home the gold, while China’s chances depend on an unlikely combination of results, making India’s historic victory a strong possibility.
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Earlier on Friday, September 20, the Indian men’s team scored yet another thumping 3.5-0.5 points victory over Iran to stake a claim for the gold medal in the Open section.
India’s best performances in the Chess Olympiad include two bronze medals in 2014 and 2022. During the online Olympiad back in 2020 during COVID-19, India had shared the gold with Russia.
