India etched its name in chess history on September 22 as both men’s and women’s teams won their first-ever gold medal in the 45th Chess Olympiad, breaking the 97-year-long jinx. Since Chess Olympiad’s inception in 1927, India couldn’t win any gold until now. India, thus, became only the third country after USSR and China to win gold medals in both Open and Women’s section in the same Chess Olympiad.
Following the men’s team’s historic gold medal win, the Indian women’s team also secured a gold medal in the Chess Olympiad. The team, consisting of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev, and Abhijit Kunte, achieved this feat by defeating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 in the final round. Harika, Divya, and Vantika won their respective matches against Azerbaijan, while Vaishali secured a draw. Despite this victory, India’s gold medal was not guaranteed. The outcome depended on the USA stealing points from Kazakhstan in their match.
India secured the championship title when the USA held their opponent to a 1-1 draw. The competition would have gone into tie-breaks if Kazakhstan had defeated the USA.
On Friday, September 20, International Master Vantika Agrawal played a crucial role in India’s 2-2 draw against the United States in the ninth round. Her victory over Grandmaster Irina Krush proved to be a turning point for the Indian team.
The Indian team made a strategic decision to rest the out-of-form Grandmaster D Harika. However, this did not significantly impact the outcome on the top board, as R Vaishali lost to Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. Divya Deshmukh played a comfortable draw as black against Carissa Yip.
Tania Sachdev, playing on the fourth board, had a promising position but struggled to find the best attacking moves. She ultimately settled for a draw with Alice Lee. This left Vantika with the responsibility of equalizing the score, and she rose to the occasion, displaying exceptional determination and skill to defeat her higher-rated opponent.