45th Chess Olympiad: India dominates open; women’s event goes down to the wire

India is unstoppable! The crucial match of the Chess Olympiad, India vs. USA, ended in a 2.5-1.5 victory for India, marking their ninth win.

The first ceremonial move in this important encounter was made by Hungarian legends Susan and Sofia Polgar. Wesley So opened the scoring for the USA by defeating Praggnanandhaa R, but this was merely a consolation for team USA. By the time this game ended, two prodigies of the Indian team, Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi, were already winning their games against Fabiano Caruana and Lenier Dominguez, respectively. Vidit Gujrathi secured a draw with Black against Levon Aronian.

Gukesh was the first to finish the job, triumphing over Fabiano Caruana. Speaking about the game on the FIDE broadcast, Gukesh said: “It was crazy. He surprised me in the opening with his move order, and we reached an initially equal position. His problems started from Ne7.” Reflecting on the later stages of the game, he added: “Arjun was completely winning, so I thought even a draw would be fine, but I kept finding all the good moves.” Commenting on his own incredible performance at this Olympiad, he said: “I am glad, but the main thing was to perform as a team!”

China defeated Uzbekistan in a close and tough match. Ding Liren was much better but could not convert his chances against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Shamsiddin Vokhidov prevailed over Wang Yue, but China struck back with wins by Yu Yangyi against Javokhir Sindarov and Wei Yi against Nodirbek Yakubboev. China is now trailing India by two points. If India loses in the final round and China wins, the two teams will share first place. The tiebreaks will then decide the outcome, and although India has a much better tiebreak at the moment, there is still a slim chance China can prevail.

Slovenia is a surprise of the tournament as they beat the Netherlands, thanks to Matej Sebenik defeating Benjamin Bok. Now, the team of Vladimir Fedoseev, seeded 27th, is in sole third place with 16 points and is facing India in the last round – an incredible achievement.

The first move in the match between Hungary and Serbia was made by legendary Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch. He played 1.e4 for Richard Rapport, and the leader of the Hungarian team didn’t take it back, as often happens, but started the game with this move. Unfortunately for the local fans, this inspiration didn’t convert into a match victory. A 2-2 draw means Hungary is in a big group of teams on 15 points sharing fourth place.

Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., made the first ceremonial move in the top women’s match in the presence of Mr. Abzal Saparbekuly, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Hungary. Kazakhstan, the sole leader in the women’s section, faced the mighty team of Georgia.

With three games drawn, Alua Nurman saved the day for Kazakhstan. She held a draw, saving a losing position against Bella Khotenashvili on the fourth board, and secured a 2-2 tie in the match.

Meanwhile, India beat China 2.5-1.5 thanks to Divya Deshmukh’s defeating Ni Shiqun. All other games ended in draws. Divya is having an amazing event. With 8.5 out of 10, she’s the main contender for individual gold on board three.

After leading for most of the event, India stumbled with a loss to Poland and then a draw against the USA, but they are gaining momentum back. Before the final round, they are sharing first place with Kazakhstan. The fight for medals is very much open in the women’s section as the USA and Poland trail the leaders only by a single point.

Position of the day:

Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan, 2677) – Yu Yangyi (China, 2703)

Put yourself in Sindarov’s shoes. Where do you go, Kh1 or Kh2?

Sindarov opted 30.Kh1 and this was a grave mistake. After 30…Nh5 31.Nf3 Ng3+ 32.Kh2 Nf1+ 33.Kh1 Ne3, Black’s position became totally winning. Instead, 30.Kh2 could keep the balance as Black has to deal with Nxf7 threat.

Results of the top matches:

Open:

(17) India 2.5-1.5 USA (15)
(15) Uzbekistan 1.5-2.5 China (15)
(14) Hungary 2-2 Serbia (14)
(14) Ukraine 2-2 Armenia (14)
(14) Slovenia 2.5-1.5 Netherlands (13)

Women:

(14) Georgia 2-2 Kazakhstan (16)
(15) India 2.5-1.5 China (14)
(14) Poland 2.5-1.5 Germany (14)
(14) USA 2.5-1.5 Ukraine (14)
(14) Spain 2-2 Armenia (14)
(14) Vietnam 1.5-2.5 Hungary (13) 

Top standings after 10 rounds:

Open:

1. India – 19
2. China – 17
3. Slovenia – 16

Women:

1-2. India, Kazakhstan – 17
2-4. USA, Poland – 16

Full results: Chess-results.com – 45th Chess Olympiad

Written by WGM Anna Burtasova

Photos: Michal Walusza, Mark Livshitz, Maria Emelianova and Gergő Kapás

See more Round 10 photos on FIDE Flickr

Official website: chessolympiad2024.fide.com