Chess Olympiad | Indian teams continue winning run

Vantika Agrawal in the third round of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
| Photo Credit: FIDE

The Indian men and women made it three out of three at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Friday. In the third round, the men defeated host Hungary-B 3.5-0.5 while the women beat Switzerland 3-1.

D. Harika’s defeat was the first for an Indian player in the tournament. She was beaten on the top board by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who used to represent Russia in the past.

All the other Indian women won as the team justified its billing as the top seed. On the second board, R. Vaishali beat Ghazal Hakimifard while Divya Deshmukh defeated Sofiia Hryzlova on the third. Vantika Agrawal overcame Mariia Manko on the fourth.

In the open section, India’s 100% record was broken by the second team of the host nation. After winning all its eight games on the first two days, the second seed was forced to drop half-a-point as Vidit Gujrathi was held to a draw on the fourth board by Gabor Papp, rated 170 Elo points below.

But, the young trio of D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi prevailed over Adam Kozak, Tamas Banusz and Peter Prohaszka respectively. Eight rounds remain.