Vidit Gujrathi, helped India crush a strong Iran in the eighth round of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest
| Photo Credit: FIDE
India’s men overcame one of their strongest opponents at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in some style on Thursday (September 20, 2024). They crushed Iran 3.5-0.5 in the eighth round to retain their sole lead position with just three rounds remaining.
D. Gukesh, fresh from his brilliant win against Wei Yi of China in the previous round, defeated Iran Parham Maghsoodloo with black pieces.
On the second board, R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Amin Tabatabaei. That was the only draw for India.
Arjun Erigaisi was back to his winning ways, defeating Bardiya Daneshvar on third board, while Vidit Gujrathi outwitted Pouya Idani.
India has a perfect score of 16/16 and has a two-point lead over Uzbekistan and Hungary, who are sharing the second spot. In the ninth round on Friday (September 21, 2024), India will take on fourth seed Uzbekistan.
The magnificent run of the top-seeded Indian women, however, finally came to an end. They lost to Poland 1.5-2.5 in a match that saw fortunes fluctuate wildly.
India was off to a bad start, with Monika Socko defeating R. Vaishali on the second board. But, Divya Deshmukh made it 1-1 with her win on the third board against Aleksandra Maltsevskaya.
Now, it all depended on the first and fourth boards. D. Harika lost to Alina Kashlinskaya, for her third defeat in the tournament.
India needed Vantika Agrawal to beat Alicja Sliwicka to draw the match, but the game was draw, giving Poles the match and a share of the lead with India and Kazakhstan. Vantika had clear chances of a win, but she buckled under time pressure.
India thus remains on 14 points, the same as Kazakhstan and Poland. In the ninth round, India will take on the seventh-seed United States.
Published – September 20, 2024 02:20 pm IST