India won the 45th Chess Olympiad. The Men’s and the Women’s teams both won gold medals. Some sensational players from India Grandmaster D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Gujrathi were there from the men’s team. In the women’s team Vaishali Rameshbabu Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev, are the greatest among the emerging players. They performed well in the competition.
Gukesh, the 18-year-old Grandmaster after his poor show in the Rapid and Blitz chess tournament was amazing in the Olympiad. He now ranks World No. 4 in the latest FIDE live rankings. After Arjun Erigaisi lost to Turkiye’s Ediz Gurel in the German Bundesliga 2024-25 on Sunday. The World No.1 Magnus Carlsen has heaped praise on the Indian Grandmaster. Carlsen believes India’s young sensation was the best among upcoming players, alongside France’s Alireza Firouzja.
Gukesh and Arjun are part of India’s golden generation of chess players. They just won the 2024 Olympiad. The Indian men’s team in the open section was so dominant that they only lost once in 44 games, winning 27 and drawing the rest. They finished the tournament with three wins and one draw over Slovenia. Gukesh and Erigaisi, who played on boards 1 and 3, respectively, emerged victorious.
D Gukesh will surpass the legacy of Vishwanathan Anand
In the women’s category, the best players were Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal, who appeared on boards 3 and 4, respectively. Will Gukesh surpass the legacy of Vishwanathan Anand? It will be very difficult for Gukesh to surpass the legacy of the best Indian chess player. He still has a long way to go and he needs to work very hard and perform consistently to beat the 54-year-old’s legacy.
Carlsen said on the sidelines of the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024, “It remains to be seen if Arjun is quite 2800 strength yet, but Gukesh is good. I think he is by far the best apart from Alireza.” The youngster will face Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship. The World Chess Championship is scheduled to take place in Singapore between 25 November and 13 December 2024.
