All posts tagged: Indian chess team

How India came to dominate the chessboard | Chess News

Published by Parlour News

At the felicitation function for the Indian chess contingent, back from the Budapest Olympiad with four individual golds and the team golds, grandmaster Abhijit Kunte had an anecdote to share from his first Olympiad. The year was 1998, and the scene was set in Elista, a city in Russia’s Kalmykia republic. “Garry Kasparov was playing in the Elista Olympiad. We used to go before the games started to take his autograph. Kasparov would give autographs only on chess books written by him,” recounts Kunte. “This time, when I went to the Olympiad in Budapest, I saw children running for autographs of our Indian players. We are no more seeking autographs, we are giving them,” said Kunte, captain of the women’s team. Over the course of a heady fortnight in Budapest, the axis of the world of chess had tilted decisively — towards India. At this year’s Chess Olympiad in the Hungarian capital, the Indian chess contingent swept the three team gold medals on offer — the ‘Hamilton-Russell Cup’ for the open section, the ‘Vera Menchik …

INTERVIEW with AICF president Nitin Narang on India’s grand chess plan

Published by Webster

The historic double gold for India’s Open and Women’s teams at the Olympiad shifted the power equation in world chess and put the country’s GenNext players in the limelight. All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang spoke to The Indian Express on the road ahead — India’s own player rating system, contracts for top players and the challenges of generating sponsorships. Excerpts: India has a bunch of very talented players. Do you see this as a big responsibility? Nitin Narang: The achievements of these golden boys and girls are because of their efforts and the sacrifices of their parents. When I was in Budapest for the Olympiad I saw how much parents were sacrificing. The federation’s role is to support players. Yes, there is a huge responsibility on my shoulders; one to continue the momentum, and second to make sure these players, who have outperformed everyone in the world, get the best of the facilities and support. How was the reaction of other players and fans during the Olympiad? Nitin Narang: India’s chess players were …

AICF announces 3.2 crores INR prize money for Indian Chess teams

Published by Webster

Delhi: The All India Chess Federation announced a big sum of money in rewards for the historic 45th Olympiad-winning Indian teams during a felicitation ceremony here on Wednesday. The winners will get a total of 3.2 crore INR with each player from the winning teams receiving Rs 25 lakh, while the coaches of the men’s and women’s teams, Abhijeet Kunte and Srinath Narayanan, will be rewarded with Rs 15 lakh each. Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, head of the Indian delegation, will receive Rs 10 lakh, and the assistant coaches will be rewarded Rs 7.5 lakh. Announcing the reward, AICF President Narang said, “The hunger for gold ended in Hungary, but the desire for success continues. In the open section, we dominated and in the women’s section we owned it.” While the men’s team dominated throughout the tournament and assured the gold medal before the final round, the women’s team suffered a setback in between against Poland but came back stronger to win against Slovenia in the final round. Our players are sharpshooters on the chessboard. The …

What made Indian women’s team tick and claim gold

Published by Webster

The Indian women’s team endured some drama in Budapest but managed to snatch a gold medal from the hands of Kazakhstan in the final round of the Chess Olympiad. Team India was leading the women’s standings at the Chess Olympiad after seven rounds, but round 8 saw them lose a close game to Poland and they were then held to a draw by Team USA. But the Indian women’s team claimed gold after their closest rivals Kazakhstan were held to a draw by USA, while the Indian women’s team beat Azerbaijan. The team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev, with Abhijit Kunte as captain, was missing veteran Koneru Humpy, the top-ranked Indian woman in the world. On the top board for India at the Chess Olympiad, Harika had a sobering tournament, losing three games out of the nine she played. On board 2, Vaishali also endured two defeats in back-to-back games. But the Indian team was propelled to gold by 18-year-old Divya, who played in all 11 games and …

Indian chess team on cusp of history after beating USA

Published by Parlour News

Both the Indian chess teams find themselves on the cusp of history-making gold medals in the open section and the women’s sections at the Chess Olympiad, the most prestigious team event in chess for national teams. Heading into Sunday’s final round of matches, both Indian teams are on top of the Olympiad standings, with the team in the open section defeating USA on Saturday, the top seeds heading into the tournament but who have been shaky heading into the home stretch. For India, Gukesh took down World No 2 Fabiano Caruana while Arjun Erigaisi defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez after another long marathon game to offset Praggnanandhaa’s loss to Wesley So. Vidit Gujrathi played out a draw against Levon Aronian. The Indian women’s team, who was in second place in Chess Olympiad standings coming into the 10th round, defeated a depleted version of China, which was missing all their top players like Tan Zhongyi, Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie, who have been women’s world champions or contenders for the women’s world champion’s crown. While …

Indian chess teams on cusp of history

Published by Webster

Both the Indian chess teams find themselves on the cusp of history-making gold medals in the open section and the women’s sections at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the most prestigious team event in the sport for national teams. Heading into Sunday’s final round of matches, both Indian teams are on top of the Olympiad standings at the time of going to press. In the open section India defeated the USA, the top seeds heading into the tournament but who have been shaky heading into the home stretch. Gukesh took down World No 3 Fabiano Caruana while Arjun Erigaisi defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez after another long marathon game to offset Praggnanandhaa’s loss to Wesley So. Vidit Gujrathi played out a draw against Levon Aronian. The Indian women’s team, who was in second place in Chess Olympiad standings coming into the 10th round, defeated a depleted version of China, which was missing all their top players like Tan Zhongyi, Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie, who have been women’s world champions or contenders for the …

India’s domination at Chess Olympiad: 32 games, zero defeats

Published by Webster

By the time the end was near, Gukesh had taken to prowling around his seat like he was circling a hapless prey. Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo, Gukesh’s crestfallen opponent, was left clutching his forehead with both palms like a man who had gambled away his life’s savings guided by a hunch. When he resigned at last, the Iranian could not even bear looking Gukesh in the eyes. His heartbreak was understandable. After 25 moves in the book on the top board of the India versus Iran game in the 8th round of the Chess Olympiad, Parham had held a 10-minute advantage on the clock and had two additional pawns on the board compared to 18-year-old Gukesh, the boy who had pipped him to secure a spot at the Candidates chess tournament late last year. Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo greets India’s Gukesh ahead of their clash on Thursday. FIDE via Michal Walusza But over the course of four moves, where he erred thrice, Maghsoodloo had managed to cause irreversible damage to his chances of beating Gukesh. The first …

Indian teams look to extend lead at 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest

Published by Webster

45th FIDE Chess Olympiad Round 8 2024 Live: The Indian chess team is taking on Iran in the 8th round of the ongoing Chess Olympiad in Budapest, while the Indian women’s chess team will face Poland. The Indian team in the open section has 14 match points while Iran are just behind with 13 match points. The Indian women’s team also has 14 match points with Poland on 12 points along with Kazakhstan and France. You can follow our live updates from Round 8 of the Olympiad by scrolling down INTERACTIVE: You can follow the move-by-move action from the Chess Olympiad game between GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2723) vs GM D Gukesh (2764) below and also click on the notations at the right of the board to retrace the way the game developed: INTERACTIVE: You can follow the move-by-move action from the Chess Olympiad game between GM Praggnanandhaa R. (2750) vs GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2714) below and also click on the notations at the right of the board to retrace the way the game developed: …

Gukesh on win spree 2 years after Chennai heartbreak

Published by Webster

Eyebrows shot up, heads were cocked and frowns made appearances as some of the world’s top players, including former and current world champions like Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Ding Liren caught a glimpse of Gukesh’s battle against Azerbaijan’s Aydin Suleymanli, which the teenager from India ended up winning in 38 moves. There’s something about Gukesh and Olympiads. Two years back, at the Chess Olympiad hosted in his hometown of Chennai, a 16-year-old Gukesh had given one of the first indicators that he was going to be a problem for the rest of the world. Playing on the top board of the India B team at the Chess Olympiad in 2022, Gukesh (back then ranked World No 20) had gone on a rampage, smiting away at anyone who sat in front of him, even the world’s best players like Fabiano Caruana. But all of his work had been undone in a sense as he had lost against Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the 10th round, which meant that the team lost the tie. What had stung …

Gukesh rises to World No 5 in live ratings, 3 Indians in top 10 in live rankings

Published by Webster

The fourth round of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest experienced massive tremors as some of the top teams slipped up while India consolidated their position at the top of the standings. The Indian players also saw their ratings rise in the live ratings. After the fourth round there are only eight teams left in the Chess Olympiad standings that have eight match points: India, Spain, China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine (listed according to tiebreaks). India defeated Serbia 3.5-0.5 on Saturday with Gukesh (vs GM Alexandr Predke), Arjun Erigaisi (vs GM Aleksandar Indjic) and Vidit Gujrathi (vs GM Velimir Ivic) all winning their matches while Praggnanandhaa had accepted a draw on board 2 against GM Alexey Sarana. Gukesh ground out a clinical win after nearly six hours of chess. His win saw him vault into the 5th spot in the FIDE live ratings (which are updated in real-time as compared to FIDE’s published ratings which are updated at the end of every month). Interactive: How Gukesh defeated Serbian GM Alexandr Predke In the live …