India Secures Historic Gold At 45th Chess Olympiad In Budapest, D Gukesh Leads the Way

Chess Olympiad: Indian chess star D Gukesh helped India win a historic gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary by defeating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev. Arjun Erigaisi also performed well, beating Serbia’s Jan Subelj on the final day.

🇮🇳 India wins the 45th FIDE #ChessOlympiad! 🏆 ♟️

Congratulations to Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna and Srinath Narayanan (Captain)! 👏 👏

Gukesh D beats Vladimir Fedoseev, and Arjun Erigaisi prevails against Jan Subelj; India… pic.twitter.com/jOGrjwsyJc

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 22, 2024

How India Secured Gold

India’s first-ever gold in the Olympiad was confirmed when China lost some crucial boards against the USA. The Indian team for the open category included top players like Gukesh, Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa R, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, and Srinath Narayanan.

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This was India’s first gold in an in-person Chess Olympiad. Previously, India shared gold in the online Olympiad during the pandemic. The country’s best previous performances were bronze medals in 2022 (Chennai) and 2014 (Norway).

Final Standings

Heading into the last round, India led the standings in the open section with 19 points, followed by China with 17 and Slovenia with 16.

Women’s Section Update

In the women's section, India and Kazakhstan were tied for first place with 17 points, with India holding a narrow lead due to tiebreakers. The USA and Poland were close behind with 16 points.

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