Chess, Olympiad 2024: 88 games, 50 wins, 6 gold medals – India usher in golden era in Budapest

The Indian open and women’s teams at the 2024 Chess Olympiad played a total of 88 games across 11 rounds in Budapest. They won a mind-boggling 50 of those, drew 32, and lost only six. Seven out of the ten Indian players who played in the tournament remained unbeaten.

Four out of the seven unbeaten players – Gukesh Dommaraju, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal – returned with individual gold medals. The individual medals usually do not really matter in a team event like the Olympiad. But the fact that all four of them are aged 21 and under makes it hard to overlook.

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✨About last night ????

India end the 2024 Chess Olympiad by clinching the open and women’s teams titles and a further four gold medals on individual boards!

Open event ????: India

Women’s event ????: India

Gaprindashvili Cup for best overall performance by… pic.twitter.com/IsQiRuckZ2— The Field (@thefield_in) September 23, 2024

“That [rise of the youngsters] is very important,” said Pravin Thipsay, the first Indian to earn a Grandmaster norm, in a conversation with Scroll. “When we were playing, we were told you will play your best chess at 45-50 years of age. But after 35, my game started declining.”

“If you look at it, [Gioachino] Greco was just 10 when he was playing his best chess in the 1600s. [Paul]...

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