Indian Women's Team Shines in Chess Olympiad

Grandmaster R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal led the Indian women’s chess team to a dominant 3-1 victory over Georgia at the 45th Chess Olympiad. The Indian women maintained an unbeaten streak, securing 14 out of a possible 14 points. Meanwhile, the Indian men faced a tough challenge with a series of draws.

Grandmaster R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal delivered outstanding performances to defeat Lela Javakhishvili and Bella Khotenashvili, respectively, leading the Indian women's team to a commanding 3-1 victory over Georgia at the 45th Chess Olympiad on Wednesday. This win ensured the Indian women upheld an unbeaten record, having won all seven rounds.

On a day when D Harika settled for a draw with Nana Dzagnidze, and Divya Deshmukh was held to a draw by Nino Batsiashvili despite a stronger position, it was Vantika who showcased excellent time management, making nearly 20 moves with only a minute left on her clock to clinch her game. Vaishali then secured the team's seventh consecutive victory with a fine technical win.

With this triumph, the Indian women's team amassed an impressive 14 points out of a possible 14, keeping them ahead of their nearest rivals, Poland, who were poised to win against Ukraine.

In the open section, the Indian men's team ended up drawing on the last three boards after a series of intense games. World Championship finalist D Gukesh was still fighting to win a drawn endgame against China's Wei Yi.

Speculation arose about a possible showdown between Gukesh and Ding Liren, the contestants in the upcoming World Championship, but the Chinese side opted to rest the reigning world champion, shocking the chess community.

Elsewhere, R Praggnanandhaa quickly drew as black against Yangyi Yu of China, while P Harikrishna pushed for an advantage before his game petered out to a draw in a rook and pawns endgame. Earlier, Arjun attempted to go for the win against an alert Bu Xiangzhi, who countered with a piece sacrifice to force a draw through repetition.

(With inputs from agencies.)