The Indian teams at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary took the sole lead in both the open and women’s event respectively at the end of the sixth round of competition on Monday.
Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi scored wins in their respective games as India beat Hungary 3-1 in the open section, whereas the women’s team beat Armenia 2.5-1.5 with the young Divya Deshmukh notching up the only win of the contest.
Playing on the third board with the black pieces, Erigaisi recorded his sixth win in as many matches. The 21-year-old from Warangal outplayed GM Sanan Sjugirov from an equal position to maintain his winning run.
Erigaisi has a live rating of 2791.3 and is on the cusp of breaking the 2800 rating barrier with five more rounds of play left at the Chess Olympiad.
Gujrathi, meanwhile, gained an advantage straight out of the opening with the white pieces on the fourth board and converted it to an easy win over Benjamin Gledura to secure the win for India over the hosts.
In the remaining two games, Gukesh Dommaraju played out a solid draw with the black pieces against GM Richard Rapport on the top board, while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was made to work hard but hung on from an inferior position for a draw against GM Peter Leko on the second board.
India is now slated to go up against China, who are second in the standings, in the seventh round on Wednesday. A possible high profile clash between the reigning world champion Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh could well be on cards, if neither of them decide to rest it out.
India women beat Armenia
IM Deshmukh beat a higher rated GM Elina Danielian on the third board with white pieces to keep India’s winning streak going in the women’s event on Monday.
Deshmukh continues to be unbeaten at the 2024 Chess Olympiad, having won five out of her six games and drawing the other so far. The 18-year-old from Nagpur landed in a better position out of the opening and then promptly converted the game to secure a much needed win for India.
Earlier, GM Harika Dronavalli and GM Vaishali Rameshbabu drew their games against Lilit Mkrtchian and Mariam Mkrtchyan respectively on the top two boards.
Tania Sachdev, meanwhile, had an advantage against Anna Sargsyan on the fourth board but had to settle for a draw.
India will take on Georgia in the seventh round on Wednesday.
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