Team India won the Gold medal in both the Open and Women’s section of the 45th International Chess Federation (FIDE- Fédération Internationale des Échecs) Chess Olympiad held in Hungary, Budapest.
- For the first time, India won gold in both the Open and women’s section of the Chess Olympiad.
- India became the 3rd country to achieve the feat after China (2018) and the Soviet Union (Between 1980 and 1986, the Soviet Union had a streak of double golds).
Team India:
Open Section:
Captain: Grandmaster (GM) Srinath Narayanan
GM Gukesh D; GM Praggnanandhaa R; GM Erigaisi Arjun; GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi; & GM Harikrishna Pentala
Women’s Section:
Captain: GM Abhijit Kunte
GM Dronavalli Harika; GM Vaishali Rameshbabu; International Master (IM) Divya Deshmukh; IM Vantika Agrawal; & IM Tania Sachdev
Winners of 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad:
Open section:
i.Team India received the gold medals and the Hamilton-Russell Cup, the original Olympiad trophy created in 1927 named after its donor, British attorney and chess sponsor Frederick Gustavus Hamilton-Russell.
ii.The United States of America (USA) team won the Silver in open section while Uzbekistan won the bronze.
Women’s section:
i.Team India won the gold medals and the Vera Menchik Cup.
ii.Team Kazakhstan received the silver medal and Team USA won the Bronze.
Note: The awards for the winners were presented by Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand (India) and Grandmaster Judit Polgar(Hungary)
Top 3 on Final Standing:
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Open Section | ||
| 1 | India | 21 |
| 2 | USA | 17 |
| 3 | Uzbekistan | 17 |
| Women’s Section | ||
| 1 | India | 19 |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 18 |
| 3 | USA | 17 |
Other awards:
Gaprindashvili Cup:
i.Team India also won the Gaprindashvili Cup, the special trophy which is awarded to the team with best combined result in the Open and Women’s section.
ii.FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Nona Gaprindashvili(Gerogia), first women to become a grandmaster and former women’s world champion presented the trophy to Team India.
Board Prize:
i.In open section, Gukesh D (Board 1) and Arjun Erigaisi (Board 3) won the gold medal as the best players on their boards.
ii.In the Women’s section Divya Deshmukh (board 3) and Vantika Agrawal(Board 4) won the gold medal as the best players on their boards.
Key points:
i.By winning this tournament, Arjun Erigaisi achieved 3rd rank and Gukesh D climbed to the 5th rank in the FIDE ratings.
ii.The All-India Chess Federation (AICF) announced a prize money of Rs 3.2 crore for Olympiad-winning Indian teams. Each player from the winning teams will receive Rs 25 lakh.
About Chess Olympiad:
i.The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament organised by the FIDE.
ii.The first unofficial edition, known as the Chess Olympic Games, was held in Paris in 1924.
iii.The 45th edition of the tournament had a total number of 1884 participants: 975 in the Open and 909 in the Women’s event. The number of registered teams was 197 from 195 nations in the Open section and 183 from 181 nations in the Women’s section.
FIDE 100 Awards:
i.FIDE introduced FIDE 100 Awards as a part of its centenary celebrations. This recognize the outstanding individuals and organizations that have significantly contributed to the development and promotion of chess globally.
ii.The awards are given in 19 categories such as Best Player(Male and Female); Best Arbiter(Male and Female); FIDE Trainers’ 100 Years Award (Male and Female) Etc.,
About International Chess Federation (FIDE – Fédération Internationale des Échecs):
President– Arkady Dvorkovich
Headquarters– Lausanne, Switzerland
Founded– 1924
