Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh Shine as India’s Men Stay Unbeaten at Chess Olympiad

The Indian men maintained their winning run at the 46th Chess Olympiad, defeating the Netherlands 3-1 in the fifth round, while the top-seeded Indian women suffered a 1.5-2.5 defeat against Poland here on Saturday.

Led by R Praggnanandhaa on the top board and world champion D Gukesh on the fourth, the Indian men registered their fifth consecutive victory and strengthened their bid to defend the gold medal they won at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad.

Praggnanandhaa produced a crucial victory over in-form Dutch player Anish Giri after beginning the tournament with three draws. Playing the closed Ruy Lopez as White, the Indian briefly allowed Giri an advantage after the Dutchman sacrificed his rook for a minor piece. However, Giri quickly went wrong, allowing Praggnanandhaa to reach a superior endgame. The Indian then converted his advantage into a win in 58 moves.

Gukesh, meanwhile, defeated Erwin L'Ami with the black pieces in 53 moves. The game arose from a Sicilian Rossolimo, with L'Ami making an optical error in a tenable position. Gukesh capitalised on the opportunity amid complicated play and eventually reached a winning endgame.

On the second board, Arjun Erigaisi drew with Jorden Van Foreest, while Nihal Sarin held Loek Van Wely to a draw on the third board.

India, Germany and hosts Uzbekistan now share the lead with 10 match points each. Germany produced one of the day's major upsets by defeating top seeds USA, while Uzbekistan registered a commanding 4-0 victory over eighth seeds Hungary.

For the Indian women, however, the fifth round brought disappointment. R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya on the second board, while Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal all drew their games. Poland therefore secured a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over India.

The Indian women, who entered the round with eight match points, will now look to recover with six rounds still remaining in the world's biggest team chess event.