The Indian teams at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary got off to winning starts on Wednesday with seven outright wins and a draw across two ties.
While the Indian team in the open section blanked Morocco 4-0 in the absence of the rested Gukesh Dommaraju, the women’s team beat Jamaica 3.5-0.5 with IM Vantika Agarwal playing out a draw with the black pieces.
The young Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu played on the top board (meant for the strongest player) for India in the open section with Gukesh absent from the match.
The 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa defeated IM Mohamed Tissir with the white pieces to give India an early edge. Arjun Erigaisi and Harikrishna Pentala followedsuit with the black pieces in their respective games on the second and fourth board.
Whereas, Vidit Gujrathi took down Mendi Pierre Oaukhir with white pieces to help India out play Morocco without breaking a sweat.
The Indians will next take on Iceland in the second round on Thursday.
India women beat Jamaica
The Indian team in the women’s event beat Jamaica 3.5-.0.5 in the opening round. Vaishali Rameshbabu played the top board for India as the experienced GM Harika Dronavalli was rested for the contest.
Playing with the black pieces, Vaishali registered an outright win over WFM Adani Clarke. The Indian looked stuck in seemingly equal position for a long time, but managed to grind out a win.
Divya Deshmukh and Tania Sachdev, in second and fourth boards respestively, won their matches with the white pieces, while Agarwal held her own against Raehanna Brown on the third board with the black pieces for a draw.
The Indian women’s team will next go up against Czech Republic in round two on Thursday.
