India won gold medal for the first time in both men's and women's Chess Olympiad, PM Modi met the players and congratulated them

New Delhi. For the first time in the history of 97 years, India has achieved the distinction of winning gold medals in both men's and women's categories in the Chess Olympiad. The 45th Chess Olympiad was held in Budapest, Hungary from 10 September, in which both the men's and women's teams of India performed brilliantly and won the gold medal. This is a historic achievement in the history of chess for India.

On Wednesday, September 25, the Indian team that participated in the Chess Olympiad returned to the country, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met all the players at his residence in Delhi and congratulated them for this unique success. The Prime Minister interacted with the players and appreciated their hard work and dedication. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also posed for a photo with the players. In a video released by ANI, it was seen that Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa also played a small chess match in front of PM Modi.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the Chess Olympiad winning team at his residence, in Delhi pic.twitter.com/7njupbpncK

— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024

Players met PM Modi

D. Harika, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdeva and Vaishali Rameshbabu represented India from the Indian women's team, while the men's team included R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, D. Gukesh, Harikrishna Pentala and Vidit Gujarati. The men's team secured its first position after 10 rounds and won the gold medal. At the same time, the women's team performed brilliantly in the 11th round and captured the gold medal.

The Chess Olympiad was started in 1927

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) started organizing the Chess Olympiad in the year 1927. India last hosted this tournament in Chennai in 2022. India's open team performed uniquely in this year's Chess Olympiad, in which they won 10 matches and drew one match.