In a Historic Win Indian Women's & Men's Team Bring Home Gold at 45th Chess Olympiad

By: WE Staff | Monday, 23 September 2024

Team India marked a historic win grabbing gold medals in both women's and men's team at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, solidifying its status as a chess powerhouse. The men's team remained unbeaten, and the event saw record-breaking participation with 193 teams in the Open section and 181 teams in the Women's section. The event was organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Hungarian Chess Federation in Hungary from September 10 to 23, 2024, and featured initiatives to promote gender equality and support players with young children.

The Indian women's team consists of Harika Dronavalli leading the team with strong performances, Divya Deshmukh, Tania Sachdeva, Vantika Agrawal. The Indian top-seeded Indian women's team demonstrated strategic prowess and resilience, winning most matches and securing a convincing win with a score of 3.5-0.5. It is the first time since 2018 that any nation has grabbed both top Olympic prizes. However, the women's team lost a single match against Poland in round eight following a tie with the U.S. Indian women's team made a comeback winning against China and Azerbaijan. China dropped boards against the USA, while India and Kazakhstan share top spot with 17 points.

Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh won a historic gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary, defeating Russian Vladimir Fedoseev. Arjun Erigaisi also won against Serbian Jan Subelj. The Indian team, including Gukesh, Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa R, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, and Srinath Narayanan, secured a 3-0 victory over Slovenia. India won their first gold medal at the Olympiad in person, following bronzes in 2022 and 2014.