At the 45th Chess Olympiad, the Indian men’s team in the open section secured a 3-1 victory against Hungary, while the women’s team triumphed over Armenia by a margin of 2.5 over 1.5 in round six in Budapest yesterday. Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams registered their sixth consecutive win at the Chess Olympiad, keeping them at the top of the table.
In the open section, Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, currently World No. 4, has won six matches in a row and remains unbeaten in the tournament. Arjun defeated Russian-turned-Hungarian Sjugirov Sanan. In the first match of the rubber, D Gukesh drew with Hungary’s top player, Richard Rapport. R Praggnanandhaa also settled for a draw against veteran Peter Leko, while Vidit Gujrathi secured India’s victory with a win over Benjamin Gledura.
In the women’s section, Divya Deshmukh was India’s sole winner in the match against Armenia, defeating Elina Danielian to give India the lead. D Harika and R Vaishali both drew their games against Lilit Mkrtchian and Mariyam Mkrtchyan, respectively. Tania Sachdev also settled for a draw against Anna Sargsyan, ensuring India’s win in the tie. The tournament takes a one-day break and will resume tomorrow with Round 7. Five rounds remain in the Chess Olympiad.
