India’s chess Avengers are assembling in Budapest with the goal of winning the
gold medal at the Chess Olympiad, the sport’s most prestigious team competition.
An Indian team had previously won an Olympiad gold medal, but that had been
shared with Russia at the Online Chess Olympiad in 2020, when a different format
was used. The Indian team has won bronze medals from its campaigns in 2014
and 2022.
The top-seeded Indian women’s team, led by D Harika and R Vaishali, would be a
strong podium contender due partly to a reduced field. The men’s team,
spearheaded by D. Gukesh, would also be hoping for success when the 45th Chess
Olympiad gets underway on Wednesday. The team’s prospects have not been
greatly hurt by Koneru Humpy’s withdrawal from the competition because
Vaishali has moved up the ranks and is now a formidable force in the women’s
circuit.
Grandmaster D Harika will lead the board in Humpy’s absence, followed by
Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agarwal, who will act as the mainstay. As
the reserve player, Tania Sachdev is on the sidelines and probably plays a fair
number of games. China’s squad looks to be a hugely depleted one. Examining the
September rating list published by the World Chess Federation, or FIDE, reveals
that all four of the top female players are from China, and none of them are part
of the contingent here.
Russia will be unable to compete in the biennial event for a second time due to
sporting sanctions, and Ukraine will also be unable to field its strongest team, so
all eyes will be on the Indian women’s team, which has a good mix of youth and
experience. Georgia is ranked second, only behind the Indian women.
China and Ukraine are the first two seeds in the event, with Poland as the third.
Even though more than half of the United States players are recent immigrants, it
appears to be a closer match in the open section. Fabiano Caruana will be wearing
the top board for the side that is most likely going to miss Hikaru Nakamura’s
services. With Robson Ray, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, and Lenier Perez
Dominguez, this team still appears to be the one to beat for everyone else.
The youthful Indian squad, which consists of Vidit Gujrathi, R Praggnanandhaa, D
Gukesh, Arjun Erigaise, and P Harikrishna, has every reason to surpass their
bronze-winning performance from their last outing. The team is ranked second
this time around. World No. 4 Erigaise has been steadily moving up the ranks,

much like Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, while older players Vidit Gujrathi and
Harikrishna offer much-needed steadiness.
Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion, has chosen not to compete in
the world’s largest chess tournament for the second consecutive year, even
though he hasn’t formally hung up his boots. In the open section, the Chinese
have fielded a full-strength team, with Ding Liren, the current world champion, on
the top board. The Chinese will start as the third seed in the tournament.
Both the women’s and open sections will have an 11-round format, with two
match points awarded to the winning teams for each victory. The game points will
be used if there is a tiebreaker at the end of the event. There are 191 teams in the
open division and 180 in the women’s division anticipated to compete; the final
participation total will be released after all the teams have arrived.
This is certainly the strongest team India has ever sent to an Olympiad. They have
a pretty decent chance of winning the gold. Although this is the same team that
India sent to the 2023 Asian Games (where they won silver), I think everyone has
certainly become stronger in the last year, Srinath Narayanan, the captain of the
Indian team, told reporters.