India's chess teams made history in Budapest on Sunday as they won gold in the open and women's categories at the 2024 Chess Olympiad. The open team of D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala beat Slovenia in round 11 to upgrade their bronze from 2022.
The women's team also traded in their bronze for gold as Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev got past Azerbaijan in the final round to cap off a stellar campaign.
Here's a round-by-round breakdown of just how India won two golds at the 2024 Chess Olympiad:
Round 1
Open: 4-0 win vs Morocco | Women: 3.5-0.5 win vs Jamaica
A routine win for both Indian teams to get underway at the Olympiad.
Defining moments: Arjun won a tricky game where he made a risky piece sacrifice that threatened to take the game away from him but regrouped to win in a long endgame against Jacques Elbilia. Divya, on debut, faced a resilient challenge from Rachel Miller and snapped up the win after Miller made an error in the endgame.
���� Team India before round 1 kicks off! #ChessOlympiad https://t.co/lty9MLFd6O pic.twitter.com/v6BUs2y4ea
- International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 11, 2024
Round 2
Open: 4-0 win vs Iceland | Women: 3.5-0.5 win vs Czech Republic
The Indian men became only the third team - alongside Slovenia and Georgia - to score a perfect 8/8 in the first two rounds.
Defining moments: Gukesh marked his arrival with a neat win on the top board and all four men posted wins as their winning spree extended to eight games. Harika also began her campaign with a hard-fought win and Vantika earned her first Olympiad win by getting past Tereza Rodshtein in a see-saw battle.
The World Championship Challenger @DGukesh wins his first game at the 45th Chess Olympiad#chess #chessbaseindia #gukesh #india #hungary #fide pic.twitter.com/aZtO98Kf9L
- ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) September 13, 2024
Round 3
Open: 3.5-0.5 win vs Hungary [B] | Women: 3-1 win vs Switzerland
India's 100% record in the open category was snapped as Vidit was held to a draw, while Harika was handed a loss in the women's division.
Crucial moments: Gabor Papp, rated 170 Elo points below Vidit, held him to a draw while Harikrishna came back from the jaws of defeat to limit the 'damage' to a half-point drop. Harika was stunned by Alexandra Kosteniuk - the first time an Indian had been beaten at the 2024 Olympiad. Gukesh and co. led the open standings while the women were among the 16 teams tied with 6 match points.
Round 4
Open: 3.5-0.5 win vs Serbia | Women: 3.5-0.5 win vs France
Just two draws in 16 individual games for India in the open category and the whispers turned into murmurs: can this Indian team be stopped?
Defining moments: World #4 Arjun made it four in four as he beat Aleksandar Indjic with black pieces and inched closer to a 2800 rating. Harika bounced back to winning ways, but the real highlight was Divya's nerve-wracking win against Mitra Hejazipour. Divya had gotten herself into a winning position but got caught out in time trouble. Luckily for her, Hejazipour couldn't capitalize and the Indian teenager picked up her fourth win.
Round 5
Open: 3-1 win vs Azerbaijan | Women: 2.5-1.5 vs Kazakhstan
Two draws for India as they dropped a whole point for the first time in the open category. Arjun became the only player to win five in five in the open section.
Defining moments: A tough contest against the defending champions went India way as Arjun, the highest-ranked among the Indian men, brought up his fifth win and Gukesh followed suit. Harika was handed her second loss of the Olympiad after attempting a risky variation in the Petroff, but Vaishali and Vantika's victories ensured the Indian women topped the rankings.
Post the day's play, China's Ding Liren, the reigning world champion, said Gukesh might be the favourite going into their clash for the world title later this year. "I can see my opponent (Gukesh) playing extremely well in this tournament. Maybe he is a favourite in the World Championship Match. He also has a higher rating than me," Liren would say.
Round 6
Open: 3-1 win vs Hungary | Women: 2.5-1.5 win vs Armenia
Both Indian teams broke away from the pack and claim the sole lead. The Indian women remained the only team to win each of their first six matches.
Defining moments: India appeared to be in a spot as Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa were both held to draws on the top two boards and India needed a win on the third board to consolidate their lead and Arjun delivered in style for a six straight win.
Divya played an all-important clash on the third board and India would not have won the tie if not for her win.
Round 7
Open: 2.5-1.5 win vs China | Women: 3-1 win vs Georgia
The Indian teams were up against their closest rivals. Both needed outright wins to consolidate their lead. Gukesh vs Liren was on the cards...but Liren was rested for this tie.
Defining moments: Gukesh might not have faced Liren, but he had to dig deep over six hours to beat World #8 Wei Yi. Arjun's winning spree was halted by Bu Xiangzhi while Vidit and Pragg had played out draws. The Gukesh vs Wei clash also seemed to be heading for a draw before the Indian pounced on an error on move 71 and closed out a memorable triumph. Vantika and Vaishali produced clinical wins in the women's division as India maintained their undisputed lead.
Raw Final moments of Gukesh winning against Wei Yi | India vs China#chess #chessbaseindia #gukesh #chessolympiad pic.twitter.com/fdvlCbOGMw
- ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) September 18, 2024
Round 8
Open: 3.5-0.5 win vs Iran | Women's: 1.5-2.5 loss to Poland
The Indian men were again up against one of their closest rivals with their best players not having lost a game -- Gukesh and Parham Maghsoodloo (who beat Magnus Carlsen) -- and they stepped up big time. The Polish women were touted to upset India and did just that.
Defining moments: Arjun found his mojo again and Gukesh employed the Dubov variation to beat Maghsoodloo. The wins took the two Indians close to the 2800 ratings points mark --- this was the first time ever that two Indians featured in the top five of the live world rankings. On the other hand, the Indian women were handed their first loss as Harika and Vaishali were beaten, while Divya bounced back from an inferior position to get past Aleksandra Maltsevskaya. It was also a sense of deja vu for the Indian women's team as they won their first seven contests in 2022 as well, before losing to Poland in round 8 and eventually finishing with the bronze.
With India well-poised to retain the Chess Olympiad trophy, the AICF realized that the rolling Gaprindashvili Trophy, awarded to the nation with the best overall performance across open and women's divisions, was missing.
Round 9
Open: 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan | Women: 2-2 draw with USA
A match-up against the defending champions was never going to be easy and India saw their winning run cut short in the open category, while the women's team pulled out a much-needed draw.
Defining moments: Back in 2022, Gukesh won eight of his first nine games and was touted to go all the way before Nodirbek Abdusattorov played spoiler and led Uzbekistan to the gold. Two years on, the duo clashed in the exact same stage of the Olympiad and Gukesh did well this time around to force Abdusattorov to a three-fold repetition draw. The women's team was in a spot of bother, and it was Vantika who rescued them as she converted a Ragozin Defence of Queen Gambit Declined game against the USA's Irina Krush to ensure India drew the contest.
With two rounds to go, India remained sole lead in the open category while the women were a point behind Kazakhstan in the second spot.
Round 10
Open: 2.5-1.5 win vs USA | Women: 2.5-1.5 win vs China
Gukesh and co. stunned the top seeds with dominating performances. Harika and co. were in a have-to-win position, and did just that.
Defining moments: Gukesh was at his best yet again as he took down world #3 Fabiano Caruana, while Arjun also snapped up a win against Leinier Dominguez Perez. The win against USA all but guaranteed India the gold medal in the open category. It was Divya once again who came in clutch for the women's team as her outstanding win against Ni Shiqun put the Indians back in contention for the gold medal.
Round 11
Open: 3.5-0.5 win vs Slovenia | Women's: 3.5-0.5 vs Azerbaijan
On the cusp of history. The women's team needed an outright win for the gold, while the men in the open category had it slightly easier owing to their superior tally... and they both delivered in style
Defining moments: Gukesh was in complete control of this contest as he had a massive +3.33 advantage around 30 moves in and needed less than 10 moves to beat Vladimir Fedoseev and seal the gold medal for India in the open category with two games still to finish.
Over in the women's category, Vantika struggled against time pressure, but Khanim Balajayeva made an error in the 34th move and the Indian grabbed onto that mistake to clinch the gold medal in the women's section.