Arjun Erigaisi notched up his fourth successive win as India beat Serbia 3.5-0.5 in the open section in the fourth round of the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest. The women's team also continued their winning ways with a similar scoreline win against France. India currently lead the standings in the open section and are second in the women's section.
Erigaisi, the world number four, played a perfect counter attacking game against Indjic Aleksandar to inch closer to the 2800 rating barrier. Grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi and D. Gukesh enjoyed earned smooth wins against Evic Velimir and Alexandr Predke, respectively, while R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Alexey Sarana.
In the women's division, India's #1 D. Harika bounced back from a loss in the previous round to outwit Deimante Daulyte-Cornett, while Tania Sachdev got the better of Natacha Benmesbah. Divya Deshmukh was in a thrilling match-up as she had done well to get into a winning position against Mitra Hejazipour, but got caught out in time trouble. However, Hejazipour failed to capitalize on Divya's error and the Indian debutant recovered to snap up the win. R Vaishali drew her game against Sophie Millet as India extended their winning spree.
The 🇮🇳 Indian team has scored an impressive 15/16, conceding only one point in 4 rounds! #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/YjPvKpUmU8
- International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 14, 2024
Earlier in round three, Indian men dropped their first point but carried enough steam to beat Hungary 'B' 3.5-0.5 to maintain a clean slate in the tournament. In the women's section, a shock defeat for Harika on the top board did not deter the other Indians as Vaishali, Divya and Vantika Agarwal scored victories to ensure a 3-1 victory for the team that kept them in joint lead on six match points.
The Indian men's B team in the open category and the women's team had won bronze at the 2022 edition of the Chess Olympiad.
(With inputs from PTI)