At the 45th Chess Olympiad, the Indian open section team secured a resounding victory over Iran by a massive score of 3.5 to 0.5 in Round Eight, strengthening its claim for the gold medal in Budapest, Hungary. However, the Indian women’s team suffered its first loss, falling to Poland by a margin of 1.5 to 2.5.
India, which had been the clear leader in both sections prior to this round, continues to hold its lead with 16 match points in the open section. In the women’s section, however, there is now a three-way tie for the top spot between India, Kazakhstan, and Poland after eight rounds, with each team having 14 match points.
In the open section tie, World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi started the rampage with the black pieces, crashing through the defenses of Bardiya Daneshwar, who proved no match for the highly skilled display by the Indian. Following Arjun’s win, World Championship challenger D. Gukesh defeated Parham Maghsoodloo with the black pieces, outplaying the Iranian towards the end of the first time control. R. Praggnanandhaa played to a draw with Amin Tabatabai, securing an Indian victory, but Vidit Gujrathi had other plans. He outclassed Idani Pouya in all departments of the game, delivering another dominant win for the team.