Indian men's and women's teams win maiden double Gold in Chess Olympiad history

India men's team registered a dominant win over Slovenia to clinch their first-ever gold in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Sunday, September 22. Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi registered impressive wins in their respective round 11 to lead India to their maiden gold in the open section at the 45th Chess Olympiad.

Meanwhile, India celebrated double gold success in Budapest as India's women's team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal and Tania Sachdev defeated Azerbaijan in round 11. Divya Deshmukh defeated Govhar Beydullayeva to give India an early lead in round 11. 

India women's team defeated Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 to go top of the standings with Harika Dronavalli beating Gunay Mammadzada and Vantika Agarwal defeating Khanim Balajayeva in round 11. Ulviyya Fataliyeva managed to draw against R Vaishali but it didn't make any difference to India's



lead.

Meanwhile, In-form Gukesh Dommaraju enjoyed an unbeaten campaign and ensured India's win earlier on Sunday. Arjun Erigaisi was also impressive with a strong win over Jan Subelj, stretching India's lead to 2-0. After ensuring a gold, India continued to dominate Slovenia with youngster R Praggnanandhaa defeating Anton Demchenko to make it a 3-0 lead.

Notably, India shared gold with Russia during the 2020 Chess Olympiad which was held virtually due to a global pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. India's previous best performances came with two bronzes in 2014 and most recently in 2024 (Chennai). 

The United States of America's Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Domínguez, Levon Aronian and Ray Robson settled for a silver in the men's open section while the Chinese team of Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Bu Xiangzhi and Wang Yue finished third to win bronze.