The Indian Men’s team started their campaign in the Chess Olympiad 2024 with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Morocco; while the Women’s team scored a 3.5-0.5 win over Jamaica.
R Praggnanandhaa took the top board for India’s opening match as D Gukesh sat out in the first round against Morocco in the Chess Olympiad 2024. Praggnanandhaa gave India a 1-0 lead in the Open section by defeating Tissir Mohamed.
Vidit Gujrathi claimed victory over Ouakhir Mehdi Pierre, P Harikrishna won against Moayad Anas and Arjun Erigaisi sealed a dominant victory against Elbilia Jacques.
The Indian team is seeded second in the open section behind Team USA.
In the Women’s section, D Harika was rested on the top board. R Vaishali led from the front as she converted her position with black pieces on the top board. On the second board, Divya Deshmukh, the world junior girls’ champion, proved her mettle to pull out a victory.
India’s Vantika Agarwal was forced to concede a draw in the endgame on board three while Tania Sachdev scored a fine victory on board four despite a little mess-up.
In this edition of the Chess Olympiad, each team and player will get 11 matches. As 196 teams are competing in the open section and 184 in the women’s section, the tournament could not be conducted in a full round-robin format. Therefore the Swiss System of 11 rounds is employed.
Round 1 Indian Results Round 1
Open Section
- R Praggnanandhaa beat Tissir Mohamed
- Arjun Erigaisi beat Jacques Elbilia
- Vidit Gujrathi beat Ouakhir Mehdi Pierre
- P Harikrishna beat Anas Moayad
Women Section
- R Vaishali beat Adani Clarke
- Divya Deshmukh beat Rachel Miller
- Raehanna Brown drew with Vantika Agrawal
- Tania Sachdev beat Gabriella Watson
