After 97 years, India won 2 golds in Chess Olympiad

New Delhi (Team Newsbuddy): In the world of chess, has been recorded in golden pages for India forever. For the first time in the history of chess, India has won the gold medal of the Olympiad. In the Chess Olympiad 2024 going on in Hungary, India became the champion in the open section (men) and women’s category simultaneously for the first time. The Indian men’s team comprising 5 players including D Gukesh, R Pragnanandha, Arjun Erigesi won the gold medal in the open category. After this, the women’s team comprising Tania Sachdev, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh also created history by winning the gold medal. India not only won gold in both categories for the first time, but also created a stir by winning both golds simultaneously.

This was the crucial first result of the match, giving India the lead. Gukesh D and Praggnanandhaa R followed up with victories, making history as India secured their first place.
India was already considered a contender for the title in the 45th Chess Olympiad going on for the last several days in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), this is the world’s biggest team tournament of chess, in which different countries participate. India hosted it for the first time in 2022. Then India won bronze medals in the open section and the women’s event. Indian men had won bronze before that in 2014 as well, but for the first time India became champions in both the events.

Champion with a big win in the last round

This time, the team of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigesi, Vidit Gujrati and P Harikrishna were in the open section from India. The Indian team had almost confirmed its gold medal with the win against America on Saturday. Then India was in the first place with 19 points, while China was second with 17 points behind it. On Sunday, India needed only a draw in the 11th and last round but India won the match 3-0 and captured the title. Grandmaster Gukesh, Arjun and Praggnanandhaa won their respective matches and thus India won the title along with this round with one match remaining. India scored 21 out of 22 points in all 11 rounds.
The women’s team became champion by defeating Azerbaijan
On the other hand, apart from Vaishali, Tania, Divya, D Harika and Vantika Agarwal were also included in the women’s section. Before the last round, the Indian team and Kazakhstan were jointly in the first position. In such a situation, the Indian team needed to defeat Azerbaijan in the last round match at any cost to win the title. From India’s side, Harika, Divya and Vantika won their respective matches, while Vaishali’s match was a draw. In this way, the Indian team won this round with 3.5-0.5 points and created history by winning the gold medal.