India scripted history on Sunday in the Chess Olympiad as both its men and women teams bagged their maiden titles in an extremely rare clean sweep of gold medals as both teams outclassed their respective opponents in the final round here. The Indian men's team defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 while their women counterparts crushed Azerbaijan with identical margin in the 11th and final round of the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad that concluded here.
Only China and the former Soviet Union had managed to grasp the gold medals in both men's and women's categories in the same edition of the Chess Olympiad. The Indian men had earlier taken home two bronze medals, which was in 2014 and then in 2022. While the women's team had fetched a bronze in the 2022 edition which was held in Chennai.
The 18-year-old World Championship challenger D Gukesh and 21-year-old Arjun Erigaise proved deliverable once again in crucial games, while 19-year-old R Praggnanandhaa regained form too in the final round to make the open section smooth sailing for India. On the fourth board, 29-year-old Vidit Gujrathi played out an inconsequential draw to give the team yet another resounding victory.
"I feel great, especially with the quality of my games and how we played as a team," said Gukesh after the team secured the gold. Chess legend Viswanathan Anand, who has won five World Championships titles, was present at the arena to watch the next generation of Indian players ruling over the world.
For the women's team, it was D Harika, 33 years of age, who was at her technical best on the top board, and 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh once again outplayed her opponent Givhar Beydullayeva to confirm her individual gold medal on the third board. With the 23-year-old R Vaishali ending in a draw, the Indian team confirmed the victory when 21-year-old Vantika Agrawal won the last game by turning the tables on Khanim Balajayeva.
In addition to the two gold medals, the Indian players won several other golds by way of individual performances on the different boards. On the first and third boards in the open section, Gukesh and Erigaise had won gold medallions. Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal had won gold for best individual performances on boards three and four, respectively, in the women's section.
Going up against Slovenia, Gukesh was at his very best in the technical phase of the game with the black pieces against Vladimir Fedoseev. Though it was a laboured victory, the 18-year-old Grandmaster was spot on with his tremendous strategic display. Erigaisi also won with black pieces on the third board against Jan Subeli out of a surprising Centre Counter defense game. If this was not enough, youngster Praggnanandhaa struck form and took apart Anton Demchenko with a crushing victory.
The Indian men ended with a tally of 21 points out of a possible 22, winning 10 matches while conceding a lone 2-2 draw against last Olympiad winner Uzbekistan. The tale of domination was such that out of a total 44 games, the Indian team suffered just one loss when Praggnanandhaa was beaten by Wesley So of the USA in the penultimate round. However, two of the remaining three musketeers, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaise, and Vidit Gujrathi scored 2.5 points between them to beat the United States.
Like Praggnanandhaa, the form of D Harika also emerged in the final round game of the women's section. She converted a highly technical rook and pawns endgame against Gunay Mammadzada. Divya Deshmukh remained the best performer in the team as she won another game in the final round to take her personal score to an awe-inspiring 9.5 points out of a possible 11. Though two points were already enough, Vantika Agrawal also added some salt to Azerbaijan's wounds by winning her own game from what seemed a worse position. R Vaishali played it safe on the other board to draw and add yet another battle-axe to the onslaught.
The women's team scored 19 points in all and must have been worried going into the last round; it was a must-win situation. However, by the time they beat Azerbaijan, the gold was in the bag because overnight co-leader Kazakhstan were only going to make a draw with the US. The open section saw the United States win silver while Uzbekistan took the bronze. In women's event, Kazakhstan earned the silver medal; the US secured bronze.
Indian results: Final Round
Open: Vladimir Fedoseev went down to D Gukesh; R Praggnanandhaa defeated Anton Demchenko; Jan Subelj was defeated by Arjun Erigaise; Matej Sebenik drew with Vidit Gujrathi.
Medals: Gold: India; Silver: USA; Bronze: Uzbekistan
Women: Dronavalli Harika won against Gunay Mammadzada; Ulviyya Fataliyeva - R Vaishali; Divya Deshmukh defeated Govhar Beydullayeva; Balajayeva Khanim - to Vantika Agrawal. ***
Medals: India; Kazakhstan; USA.
Individual medals for performance:
Open: Board 1: Gold: D Gukesh (Ind); Silver: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb); Bronze: Magnus Carlsen (Nor).
Board 2: Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze); Tony Lazov (North Macedonia); Ediz Gurel (Tur). Board 3: Erigaise Arjun (Ind); Yu Yangyi (Chn); Le Tuan Minh (Vie). Board 4: Shamsiddin Vakhidov (Uzb); Levon Aronian (USA); Alon Pichot (Esp). Board 5: Frederic Swane (Ger); Gledura Benjamin (Hun); Ivic Velimir (Srb).
Women: Board 1: Gold: Zhu Jiner (Chn); Silver: K Sarasadat (Esp); Bronze: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo).
Board 2: Carissa Yip (USA); Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger); Song Yuxin (Chn).
Board 3: Divya Deshmukh (Ind); Sabrina Vega (Esp); Elina Danielian (Arm).
Board 4: Vantika Agrawal (Ind); Alice Lee (USA); Anna Sargsyan (Arm).
Board 5: Dana Kochavi (Isr); Nodira Nadirjanova (Uzb); Lu Miaoyi (Chn).
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