India has won a historic gold medal in the open category of the Chess Olympiad. For the first time in the 97-year history of the Olympiad, India has won the team event gold. In the 10th round match in Budapest, India defeated USA 2.5-1.5. India's total is 19 points. Out of 10 rounds, India have won 9 and drawn 1 round.
The final round match is to be held on Sunday. Even if the Indian team loses this round, it is almost certain that the team will remain in the first position. The official announcement of India becoming the gold winner in the open category will be made after the 11th round of the Games.
India is still in the race for gold in the women's category. Indian girls beat defending champions China by a margin of 2.5-1.5 in the 10th round. India is currently at number one in this category.
Gukesh beat world no.2 In the 10th round of the open category, India faced America. In the open category, teams can have both male and female players. However, most teams have only male players in the open category.
In the match against America, D. Gukesh defeated Fabiano Caruana on Board-1. Caruana is the number-2 player in the world ranking. Pragyananda faced defeat on Board-2. Arjun Irigasi beat Domniguez Perez on board-3. Vidit Gujrathi drew with Levon Aronian on Board-4.
Arjun won India's gold by winning the last match in the open category.
How to get points? In the Chess Olympiad, one team had to compete against another team in each round. In each match, matches are played on 4 different boards. That means one round is worth 4 points. The team that scores 2.5 or more points wins the round match. In case of win in each round, the team gets 2 points. You get one point for a draw and no points for a loss.
India won 9 out of 10 rounds and ended in 1 draw. So India has 19 points.
You get 2 points for a win and one point for a draw. India achieved 16 points by winning 8 matches in a row just 2 days ago. In the ninth round, the team drew with Uzbekistan, leaving the team in first place with 17 points. Now the team has won the first place with 19 points after defeating America.
One more round left With one round left in the Chess Olympiad, India is currently ranked first and China second. The last match of both will be on Sunday. In this, if China wins and India loses its match, both having equal 19 points each, the matter will go to tie breaker. India is already ahead in the tie-breaker position, so even after losing in the last round, India will get the gold. This is India's first gold in the open category team event.
India reached the first position in the women's category India was second with 15 points after 9 rounds in women's category. Kazakhstan was ranked first with 16 points. In the 10th round, India defeated China by a margin of 2.5-1.5. With this, the team has reached the top with 17 points. However, the result of the match between Kazakhstan and Georgia in the women's group is pending. After which the 10th round ranking will be decided. If India wins the 11th and final round, the country can get a chance to win gold in the open as well as the team event in the women's category.
Divya Deshmukh won the only match Divya Deshmukh got the only win from India in the women's category. He defeated Ni Shikun of China. While Vantika Aggarwal, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Dronavalli Harika drew their respective matches. Due to which India defeated China by a margin of 2.5-1.5.
Divya Deshmukh led India to victory in the 10th round of the women's category.
The first Chess Olympiad was held in 1927 The first Chess Olympiad was organized in 1924, although it was an unofficial event. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) then began organizing official Chess Olympiads from 1927. The Olympiad was held annually until the 1950s, not being held during the World Wars. But from 1950 it started to be held once every 2 years. Chess Olympiad was organized for the 45th time in Hungary.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
