**Historic Double Gold for India at the 2024 Chess Olympiad**
India has made history by clinching gold medals in both the Open and Women’s sections of the 45th Chess Olympiad. The men’s team, led by 18-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh, defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the final round to secure their first-ever Olympiad gold. The women’s team, comprising Tania Sachdev, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal, also secured gold, marking a historic double for the country.
Gukesh, who played a pivotal role in India’s victory, said he was prepared to do “whatever it takes” to steer his team to gold. “I feel great, especially with the quality of my games and how we played as a team. We managed to dominantly win this time, and I’m just super happy right now,” he said.
The Indian men’s team had earlier won two bronze medals, in 2014 and 2022, but Gukesh was relieved to get the job done this time around. “This tournament for me, especially since what happened last time, we were so close as a team to win gold. This time I thought no matter what, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win the team goal,” he said.
Gukesh’s outstanding run included a fine victory over world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in Saturday’s crucial match against the USA. “I guess it’s just sticking with the discipline and staying focused on the tournament. And once you get into the rhythm, everything happens automatically,” he said.
The Indian women’s team, who had clinched bronze in the 2022 edition, were determined to go one better this time. “I’m so overwhelmed right now. I’m so proud of my team, everything that we’ve done in the open category and in the women’s now when I look back, I think this is the moment that we were meant for this,” Tania Sachdev said.
The team’s coach, Abhijit Kunte, accompanied the players throughout the tournament and was thrilled with their performance. “I’m just so happy right now. We played all the strongest teams here, and I think we deserve it,” Harika Dronavalli said.
The Indian teams will celebrate their historic victories with a night out, laughing and reliving their moments of triumph. As Gukesh said, “Hopefully tonight, when all the duties are done, we’ll get together and maybe just hang out, laugh a bit.”
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