In a first for India, men and women win Chess Olympiad team golds

India won its first-ever double team gold at Chess Olympiad in Budapest Sunday - only the third country after the Soviet Union (four times from 1982 to '86) and China (2018) to do so in 45 Olympiads.

The second-seeded men were almost assured of top podium finish Saturday night itself, but the top-seeded women had to fight it out.

The Indian men beat Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the final round to tally the highest-ever 21 points. The women jumped to 19 points with the same scoreline against Azerbaijan.

The Indians also won four board gold medals - two in each section - with D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal shining bright.

India's previous best Olympiad finish was in 2022 when it won two team bronze.

The most remarkable aspect of India's win in the open section was they lost just one of their 44 games. China had managed this feat in 2014.


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