Khel Vaani | 45th Chess Olympiad: India Brings Home 64-square Kings and Queens for the First Time

A historic moment unfolded for India at the SYMA Sports and Conference Centre in Budapest, Hungary, on September 22. Emotions were running high before the final (11th) round of the Forty-Fifth Chess Olympiad got underway four hours before normal time (to make way for the closing ceremony). For the first time in the history of the Chess Olympiad, an Indian team had gone this far and was on the verge of making history.

On the Brink of the Abyss

In the Open category, India were unstoppable, beating the top seeded team United States 2.5-1.0 to reach the top; in the tenth round match, GM Gukesh Dommaraju defeated higher seeded GM Fabiano Caruana, while GM Arjun Erigaisi ousted GM Leinier Dominguez.

Going into the final round, there were only slim statistical odds that would prevent India from claiming the outright gold medal: “China winning 4–0 and India losing 0–4 in the eleventh round.”

But the final round of the women’s event was nothing short of exciting. After beating China in the 10th round, India sat joint first with Kazakhstan, just one point ahead of the US. Even the Polish team was competing for gold.

What a day it was

And what a day it was on September 22! Team India finally triumphed in style at the 45th Chess Olympiad by winning both the open and women’s events, thus bringing home both the Kings and Queens of the Sixty-Four Squares for the first time. Here’s what happened:

One, Pure Gold: Finishing second behind the USA in the open section of the competition, the Indian team, comprising Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala and captained by Srinath Narayanan, won 10 out of 11 rounds and drew only once. And in the final round, needing only a draw, they beat Slovenia 3.5–0.5 to win their first gold medal.

Two, Extraordinary: While all the members of Team India performed admirably in the open competition, it was a remarkable tournament for Gukesh and Arjun. Gukesh performed brilliantly, scoring a near flawless 9 in 10 games and winning the individual gold medal on the top board. Arjun Erigaisi went one step further, becoming the hero of the team, scoring 10 in 11 games and coming home with the individual gold medal on the third board. In the process, both Arjun and Gukesh improved their FIDE ratings significantly and came very close to crossing the 2800 bar, the dream of every chess master.

In fact, Erigaisi is just a few points away from this success

Three, tear-jerking stagecraft: The women’s team’s journey to the top was a real tearjerker. After a perfect mid-way score where the team won all seven rounds to lead their group, they stumbled in the eighth and ninth rounds, losing to Poland and drawing with the USA, before regrouping in spectacular fashion. Going into the final round, India were tied for first place with Kazakhstan, and the medal race went all the way to the end.

Four, double happiness: Going into the eleventh round in a must-win final, the team comprising Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev, captained by Abhijit Kunte, held their nerves and played in style, displaying perfect composure, winning the final match against Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5. At the same time, Kazakhstan could only draw 2-2 with the USA, leaving India as the sole winners of the event.

Five sensational debuts: The real sensation was the arrival of 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh, who had just joined the team just three months after being crowned World Junior Chess Champion, and she was unstoppable throughout the tournament. She played in all the matches, earned a score of 9.5 and secured the crucial victory in the final match. The individual gold on the third board is a well-deserved tribute to her determination, persistence and perseverance.

Never before

Not only did the country win gold medals for the first time in both the open and women’s events, four members of Team India — Gukesh Dommaraju (Board 1) and Arjun Erigaisi (Board 3) in the open event, Divya Deshmukh (Board 3) and Vantika Agrawal (Board 4) — were declared the best players on their respective boards.

A Journey Beyond Words

In the tournament where 1,884 competitors (975 open and 909 women) participated, with 245 Grandmasters in the open and 17 Grandmasters in the women’s category, Team India shone like never before in both the Open and Women’s categories; in 11 rounds, India won ten rounds, drew one and lost none, while suffering only one defeat in the women’s open round.

The individual performances were also breathtaking: In the open competition, Arjun Erigaisi led the way with 10 points in 11 rounds (9 wins, 2 draws), D. Dukesh with 9 points in 10 rounds (8 wins, 2 draws), Vidit Gujrathi with 7.5 points in 10 rounds (5 wins, 5 draws), R. Praggnanandhaa with 6 points in 10 rounds (3 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss) and P. Harikrishna with 2.5 points in 3 rounds (2 wins, 1 draw).

India lost just one match in the 44 matches they played in 11 rounds of the Open tournament.

In the women’s section, the star player was Divya Deshmukh with 9.5 points in 11 rounds (8 wins and 3 draws). She was followed by Vartika Agrawal with 7.5 points in 9 rounds (6 wins, 3 draws), R. Vaishali with 6 points in 10 rounds (4 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses), D. Harika with 3 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses) and Tania Sachdev with 3.5 points in 5 matches (2 wins and 3 draws).

Extraordinary

Some moments make history, some define it. In Budapest, the Indian men’s and women’s teams made and defined history: India became the second country in the world after the erstwhile USSR to hold the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup of the Chess Olympiad. This trophy is given to the team with the best overall performance in the open and women’s divisions. India received this trophy for the first time at the Chennai Chess Olympiad in 2022. India also won both the Open and Women’s Gold Medals in a surprising move, becoming the third country after the USSR and China to achieve this feat in the 100 years of the Chess Olympiad.

Under Construction

The young Turkish team of the Indian chess brigade tied for first place at the Chennai Chess Olympiad in 2022, winning bronze medals in both the open (India B Team) and women’s category. Also, India-A team finished fourth in the open category in 2022. This performance led to the country winning the famous Nona Gaprindashvili Cup, given to the team that performs best overall.

India’s previous performance had fluctuated, with the country ranking 4th in 2016, 6th in 2018 and 2004, 8th in 2000 and 10th in 1990.

It has been a tough climb for the women’s team, which will win bronze in 2022. They had previously finished 4th in 2012, 5th in 2016, 8th in 2018, 9th in 1982 and 2004, and 10th in 2014.

The legendary Vishvanathan Anand expected India’s youth brigade to reach the pinnacle of the 2026 Chess Olympiad, but they gave him the perfect gift two years in advance, proving Garry Kasparov’s prophecy, who had said earlier this year after Gukesh won the candidates’ final that the “India earthquake in Toronto is a sign that the power dynamics in world chess are changing”, was correct.

It all started here

Chess was invented in India during the Gupta period in 5 AD under the name “Chaturanga”. Unfortunately, by the time of independence, it had mysteriously disappeared from the national sporting scene, except for Premchand’s story Shatranj Ke Khiladi.

How India Became a Chess Powerhouse? I encourage my readers to read my opinion piece titled “Khel Vaani | Checkmate: How India Became the World’s Chess Grandmaster” published in News18 on January 3, 2023.

A number of young chess players are looming on the horizon: according to my to-date data, there are 85 Grandmasters (GM), 124 International Masters (IM), 23 Women Grandmasters (WGM) and 42 Women International Masters (WIM)

Pioneers

Undoubtedly, the entire story of chess becoming a household game began with World Champion Vishwanathan Anand, who was awarded the grandmaster title in 1987. Since then, the country has developed a strong ecosystem where Anand and other early chess wizards have rendered significant services.

However, when I talk about the pioneers of Indian chess, I have to mention two of them:

Mir Sultan Khan: Born in undivided India in the 1920-30s, belonging to Punjab (Pakistan side), he would beat the world’s best players. He was posthumously awarded the Grandmaster norm by FIDE in 2024.

Manuel Aaron: Post-independence, chess re-emerged on the Indian scene when the first chess pioneer emerged. Lo and behold, it was not Viswanathan Anand in 1988. India’s first chess superstar was Manuel Aaron. He was the first Indian to become an International Chess Master in 1961 and the first chess player to be awarded the Arjuna Award in 1962, 24 years before Viswanathan Anand. It is assumed that Anand attended chess lessons early in his life.

Once Anand arrived on the scene, India looked no further.

All Roads Lead Somewhere…

The question is: after the Olympic double gold medal, what’s next?

From here, all roads lead to the Singapore 2024 FIDE World Championship, where Challenger D Gukesh will face Chinese title defender Ding Liren in a tournament to be played from November 20 to December 15, 2024.