India created history as they won their first-ever gold medals in both women's and men's events at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest on September 22. The Indian women's team comprising Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli Chandra secured a dominant 3.5-0.5 win against Azerbaijan. In the men's competition, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa pivoted India to victory against Slovenia in the 11th and final round matches.
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Team India At Chess Olympiad 2024
The Indian women's chess team put their best foot forward as they strategically won nine out of the 11 rounds at the 2024 Olympiad. Grandmaster D Harika, who has represented India at 10 Olympiads so far, was at the top of the leaderboard. Her first Olympiad was played in 2004 when she was 13.
Veteran chess champion, Harika Dronavalli Chandra
Aside from the team gold, the Indian women also won two individual gold medals -- Divya Deshmukh on Board 3, and Vantika Agrawal on Board 4. Their stellar performance received a rating of 2608 and 2558 respectively, adding to India’s tally of individual medals. Meanwhile, R Vaishali secured a draw.
The atmosphere at the Olympiad was nail-biting for Indian women as, despite the win against Azerbaijan, the team's victory depended on the USA versus Kazakhstan match. Fortunately, the match ended in a 2-2 draw, propelling India to be crowned the 2024 Chess Olympiad Budapest champions.
Earlier in the day, 18-year-old Grandmaster Gukesh knocked out Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia, followed by Arjun winning against Jan Subelj, and Praggnanandhaa against Anton Demchenko, earning a 3-0 victory with one game remaining. Meanwhile, Vidit played out a draw. India won with 21 points out of a possible 22.
Celebrations Galore
Following their historic victories, both teams were seen celebrating in a now-viral video posted by American-Hungarian Grandmaster Susan Polgar. The Indians performed a quirky 'robotic dance', seemingly a tribute to cricketer Rohit Sharma's victory moves after winning the T20 World Cup in June 2024.
India team spirit! Celebration time! Olympiad Champions!
Later, the Indian women's team recreated a viral reel that goes, "Everybody wants to know what I would do if I didn't win. I guess we'll never know." This trend emerged during the recent 2024 Paris Olympics when several winners including the US women's gymnastics team hopped on the bandwagon.
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