The All India Chess Federation, on Saturday, announced a strong Indian contingent that will participate in the 45th Chess Olympiad that will take place in Budapest, Hungary in September.
Spearheading the men’s team are the three top 10 players in the world rankings: India No 1 and world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi, world No 7 and FIDE Candidates winner Gukesh Dommaraju, and world No 8 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
Also in the team are the experienced Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala.
The AICF also announced the women’s team, that will feature Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev, and recently crowned Under-20 World Champion Divya Deshmukh.
Incidentally, apart from Erigaisi, all the other members of the men’s team have won an Olympiad medal in the past.
India had won a joint-gold in a virtual edition (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) held in 2020. The following year, the Indians won bronze in another virtual edition, followed by another third-place finish at the 2022 Olympiad held in Chennai.
Overall, India has won one gold medal at the Olympiad, in 2020, and three bronze medals, in 2014, 2021 and 2022.
Indian squads
Men’s team: Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Vidit Gujrathi, Harikrishna Pentala
Women’s team: Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev, Divya Deshmukh
