Chess Olympiad 2024: Star-studded India look for historic title win – All you need to know

Two years after Chennai hosted the Chess Olympiad – a prestigious team event in the individual sport landscape – the event returns with its 45th edition in Budapest, Hungary from Wednesday.

The 2024 Chess Olympiad will see a total of 197 teams in the Open event and 184 teams in the women section are expected to battle it out over 11 rounds until September 22 as the Chess Olympiad returns to Budapest for the first time in almost a century.

The European city hosted the second unofficial Olympiad back in 1926 with just six teams. But before the event could start, Austria and Czechoslovakia withdrew. Hosts Hungary were crowned the champions ahead of Yugoslavia, Romania, and Germany.

Unlike the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai where India had the opportunity to field six teams (three each in open and women’s section) by virtue of being the hosts, the country will have just two teams in fray in Budapest – one each in open and women’s event.

With an average Elo rating of 2753, the Indian team in the open section will start as the second seeds in the competition behind the United States (2757), who will be without the services of world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura.

China – led by Wei Yi, Yu Yangi, and world champion Ding Liren – are the only other team with an average Elo rating over 2700.

India will be competing in the open event without veteran Viswanathan Anand. In the absence of the former world champion, the Indian team will be led by the experienced Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna.

The duo will be joined by the young brigade of Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and the 2024 Candidates winner and world championship challenger Gukesh Dommaraju.

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Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh were a part of the India B team that bagged a bronze medal in front of their home crowd in Chennai in the 2022 edition. The latter in particular was in good form then, winning eight matches in a row.

Apart from the United States and China, India will face a stiff challenge from reigning champions Uzbekistan, who are playing an unchanged team in the open section. Led by the young world No 6 Nodirbek Abdusattorov and 17-year-old Javokhir Sindarov, Uzbekistan will be the fourth seeds in the competition.

With Gujrathi and Harikrishna not having played a lot of tournaments in recent times, India will hope youngsters Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi, and Gukesh will do much of the heavy-lifting.

While the board orders remain yet to be decided, the Olympiad could also throw up a Gukesh verus Ding clash as a prelude to the World Championships, which is scheduled to begin in November.

The Indian team will be assisted by Srinath Narayanan as the non-playing captain in the open section, while Abhijit Kunte will don that hat in the women’s event.

Despite the absence of Koneru Humpy, India will start as the top seeds in the women’s event with an average rating of 2467. The experienced Harika Dronavalli will lead the charge on the top board for India, having not missed a single Olympiad since making her debut in 2004.

Dronavalli will have the young brigade of GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, U-20 women’s world champion Divya Deshmukh, IM Vantika Agarwal, and the experienced IM Tania Sachdev, who trades her commentator’s mic for over the board play.

The Indian quintet had won a bronze medal in the women’s event in Chennai two years ago and will aim to retain their spot on the podium in Budapest.

Traditional superpowers Georgia, and reigning champions Ukraine will be two of the biggest threats for India in the women’s event.

China – the most successful team in the women’s event, meanwhile, have fielded a completely young team with the likes of four-time women’s world champion Hou Yifan, reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, women’s candidates winner Tan Zhongyi, former women’s candidates winner Lei Tingjie all missing in action.

India have never won the Chess Olympiad – neither in open nor in women’s event – barring the shared title with Russia in the online Olympiad at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

With one of their strongest teams ever to be fielded by India, in both events, a historic title seems well within reach.

The first round matches are expected to start at 6.30 pm IST on Wednesday.

India Teams

Open: Vidit Gujrathi, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna

Women: Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, Tania Sachdev