18-year-old World Championship Challenger D Gukesh and 21-year-old Arjun Erigas once again performed well in crucial games while 19-year-old R Praggnanandhaa also found form in the final round to ensure India's comfortable win in the Open section. On the fourth board, 29-year-old Vidit Gujrathi played a marginal draw to give the team another impressive win. “I feel great, especially with the quality of my game and the way we played as a team,” said Gukesh after the team won the gold medal. Chess legend Viswanathan Anand, who has won five World Championship titles, was present at the arena to watch the next generation of Indian players rule the world.
For the women's team, 33-year-old D Harika showed her technical superiority on the top board and 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh once again outplayed her opponent Givor Bedullayeva on the third board to secure the individual gold medal. After 23-year-old R Vaishali drew, the Indian team confirmed victory when 21-year-old Vantika Agrawal won the last game to turn the tables on Khanim Balajayeva. Against Slovenia, Gukesh showed his best in the technical phase in the game with black pieces against Vladimir Fedoseev. Though it was a tough win, the 18-year-old Grandmaster showed his class with his tremendous strategic display. Erigassi won with black pieces in a stunning centre counter defence game against Jan Subeli on the third board.
If that wasn't enough, Praggnandha hit form and registered a stunning win over Anton Demchenko. The Indian men scored 21 points out of a possible 22, winning 10 matches and drawing the only 2-2 draw against previous Olympiad winners Uzbekistan. Such was the tale of dominance that out of a total of 44 games, the Indian team suffered just one defeat when Praggnandha was beaten by USA's Wesley So in the final round. However, two of the remaining three Musketeers, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigas and Vidit Gujrathi scored 2.5 points each to beat the USA.
Like Praggnanandhaa, D Harika too found her form in the final round game of the women's section, winning a highly technical rook and pawn endgame against Gunay Mammadzada. Divya Deshmukh remained the best performer in the team with another win in the final round, taking her individual score to 9.5 points out of a possible 11. While two points would have been enough, Vantika Agrawal also rubbed salt to Azerbaijan's wounds, winning her game from a poor position. On the other board, R Vaishali drew to complete the attack. The women's team scored a total of 19 points and needed to win to make it to the final round. By the time they won the match against Azerbaijan, the gold medal was already in their bag, as it was clear that overnight co-leaders Kazakhstan were only going to draw with the United States.
Indian results: Final Round Open: Vladimir Fedoseev lost to D Gukesh; R Praggnanandhaa beat Anton Demchenko; Jan Subelj lost to Arjun Erigas; Matej Sebenik drew with Vidit Gujrathi. Women: Dronavalli Harika beat Gunay Mammadzada; Ulviya Fatalieva drew with R Vaishali; Divya Deshmukh beat Govar Bedullayeva; Balajayeva Khanim lost to Vantika Aggarwal.
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