India displayed an amazing performance for the 45th Chess Olympiad and got a double gold medal for both the men’s and women’s chess teams in Budapest on the 22nd of September. This achievement is even more momentous since it is the first time that India has managed to bag gold in either of the two categories. The previous best was bronze medals—twice in the Open category (2014 and 2022) and once in the Women’s category (2022).
The Indian team members happily posed with the national flag of India on the top of the podium. They imitated the act of Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma, who was over the moon after India won the T20 World Cup 2024.
D. Gukesh was one such star performer in this chess Olympiad. Gukesh bagged his second individual gold at the Olympics. India had its first-time victory in the men’s division, thanks to his excellent performance as the team completed the tournament with ten matches, nine wins, and a draw.
Who is D. Gukesh?
He is an internationally renowned chess player who became the second youngest grandmaster in the world at age of 13 and just clinched the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament by scoring 9 out of 14 and thus earned his place as the challenger for the 2024 FIDE World Championship. Gukesh became a chess grandmaster at the age of twelve years only. Finally, in July 2022, he crossed the live rating of a 2700 player for the first time in his career and became the fourth-youngest player to achieve the feat. Then, in the FIDE rating list of September 2023, he was ranked eighth in the world and the first Indian.
Arjun Erigaisi also stood out and earned the best performance on Board 3 with 10 wins out of 11 games. Jointly, they contributed to Indian chess history, making it possible for India to score 21 out of 22 points.
Women’s Performance
The women’s team of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev, and Abhijit Kunte also performed exceptionally well. The girls won the gold by beating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 in the last round with victories by Harika, Divya, and Vantika, while Vaishali had a draw. But the team’s position was not assured until the USA could draw with Kazakhstan, thereby letting India top the table.
Breakdown of Medals
- Open event gold: India
- Women’s event gold: India
- Gold on Board 1 (Open): D. Gukesh
- Gold on Board 3 (Open): Arjun Erigaisi
- Gold on Board 3 (Women): Divya Deshmukh
- Gold on Board 4 (Women): Vantika Agarwal
This grand success has cemented India’s position on the global chess board. It’s a moment of pride for every Indian, celebrating the hard work and dedication of our talented players!
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