The women’s team won the gold medal for India in the Chess Olympiad on Sunday.

India gave a historic performance in the 45th Chess Olympiad and won gold medals in the Open and Women’s categories. The country also got 4 gold in the individual category, 2 players each got the first position in both men’s and women’s categories.(Gukesh-Arjun did not lose a single match)

5-5 players represented India in both the categories. After 11 rounds, the Open team scored 21 points out of 22. The women’s team captured gold with 19 points.

In the story, let us know about 5-5 players of both the teams…

Women’s team defeated defending champion China

In the women’s team, Tania Sachdev, Vaishali Remshababu, Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Aggarwal and Divya Deshmukh won gold. The team won 9 out of 11 rounds and played only one draw. The team’s only defeat came against Poland. However, India secured the first position with 19 points. The team also defeated defending champion China in the 10th round.(Gukesh-Arjun did not lose a single match)

1. Tania Sachdev

Sports commentator Tania Sachdev became a Grandmaster in 2008 itself. However, at that time India was not doing anything special in women’s chess. Due to which he now got the first international gold of his career in the team event. She has won individual bronze in the 2012 Olympiad. Tania played 5 matches in Budapest, winning 2 while 3 were drawn. He did not lose a single match.

2. Harika Dronavalli

Harika Dronavalli achieved the title of Grandmaster in 2011. After winning silver in the individual event at the 2010 Asian Games, he also won bronze at the 2015 World Chess Championship. In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri award. In 2022, she was also a part of the team that won Asian Games silver. Harika has now won 3 out of 9 matches of the Chess Olympiad and played only 3 draws. However, they also had to face defeat in 3.

3. Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu, who became a Grandmaster in 2024 itself, won the Asian Games silver medal with the women’s team in 2022. He has now played 10 Chess Olympiad matches and won 4. He also lost in 2 matches, but by playing 4 matches he did not let the team’s score deteriorate.

4. Vantika Agarwal

Playing on board-4, Vantika Agarwal also won the women’s individual gold medal. They played 9 matches in 11 rounds and lost only one. They won 5, while they played 3 matches in draws. She achieved the title of Grandmaster in 2023, before that in 2022 she was also a part of the team that won silver at the Asian Games.

5. Divya Deshmukh

India’s strongest player in the women’s team was 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh. She is also the country’s number-1 women’s chess player. He played all 11 matches in the Olympiad, winning 8 and drawing just 3. He also won the individual gold of Board-3 with a score of 9.5 points.

Divya has also won individual bronze in the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. He also won the team event gold in the 2020 Online Olympiad. She has also won the gold in the individual event of the Asian Championship in 2023. He got the title of International Grandmaster only last year.(Gukesh-Arjun did not lose a single match)

2 players from open team also won individual gold

India’s open team included Pantala Harikrishna, R Praggnananda, Vidit Gujarati, D Gukesh and Arjun Irigasi. Among these, Gukesh and Arjun also won individual gold. The team remained unbeaten in 11 rounds, winning 10, while the only draw was against Uzbekistan. The team lost only one match against America in 11 rounds of 44 matches.(Gukesh-Arjun did not lose a single match)

1. Pantala Harikrishna

Pantala Harikrishna, the senior most player of the team, played only 3 matches, but remained unbeaten in them. They won 2 matches and drew one. After becoming a Grandmaster in 2001, he won 3 medals in the Asian Games. In 2006 he won gold with the mixed team, in 2022 he won silver with the men’s team and in 2010 also he won bronze with the men’s team.

2. Rameshbabu Pragannanda

R Praggnananda became a Grandmaster at the age of 12. Then he was the youngest Grandmaster in India and the second youngest Grandmaster in the world. He played 10 matches in the Chess Olympiad and won 3. India’s only defeat in the open event was against America. However, he played 6 drawn matches and did not let the team’s score deteriorate.

Praggnananda has won individual gold in the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. He then also won bronze with the men’s team. He was also a part of the men’s team that won the silver medal in the 2022 Asian Games. After which he was also awarded the Arjuna Award at the age of 17.(Gukesh-Arjun did not lose a single match)

3.Vidit Gujarati

Vidit Gujarati was India’s third best player in the open event. He played 10 matches, won 5 and drew only 5. After becoming a Grandmaster in 2013, he won his first major medal at the international level in the form of men’s team silver in the 2022 Asian Games. Now he also won his first gold in Chess Olympiad by securing first place in the team event.

4. Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh has been proving to be India’s top player in Chess Olympiad for the last 2 years. This time also he played 10 matches and won 8. The opposition could hold them to a draw in only 2 matches. He defeated world number-3 Fabiano Caruana of America in the 10th round.

Gukesh became a Grandmaster in 2019 at the age of 12. Then he became India’s youngest Grandmaster, surpassing Pragannanda. Now at the age of 18, he also won Individual Gold on Board-1 in Chess Olympiad. He has also won individual gold in Chennai Olympiad.

5. Arjuna Irigaceae

21-year-old Arjun Irigasi proved to be India’s best player in the 2024 Chess Olympiad. He won 9 out of 11 matches and also won individual gold on board 3. He also played two drawn matches. After becoming a Grandmaster in 2018, he also won individual gold in the Chennai Olympiad in 2022.