Sun Sep 22 12:00:57 UTC 2024: ## India on the Verge of Historic Chess Olympiad Gold
**Budapest, Hungary:** The Indian men’s chess team is poised to claim their first-ever gold medal at the Chess Olympiad after defeating the USA 2.5-1.5 in a thrilling round 10 matchup.
The victory puts India two points ahead of China in the standings with just one round remaining. Dommaraju Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi secured crucial wins against Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez respectively, while Vidit Gujrathi’s draw against Levon Aronian sealed the team’s triumph.
Despite the commanding lead, India’s gold medal victory isn’t mathematically confirmed yet. Chess legend Vishwanathan Anand initially congratulated the team, believing the gold was secured, but later issued an apology for prematurely celebrating.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team also delivered a strong performance, defeating China 2.5-1.5 in round 10. Divya Deshmukh’s decisive win against Alua Nurman was instrumental in the victory, while Tania Sachdev, Harika Dronavalli, and Vaishali Praggnanandhaa drew their matches. This puts India in a tie for first place with Kazakhstan with 17 points, one point ahead of the USA and Poland.
The final round of the 45th Chess Olympiad promises to be a nail-biting conclusion, with India’s men’s team on the cusp of history and the women’s team fighting for top honours.
First Piper 