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Gukesh Grinds Out Endgame Masterpiece, Both Indian Teams On Perfect 14/14
Gukesh went on to grind out a spectacular victory to bring India its seventh match win. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Gukesh Grinds Out Endgame Masterpiece, Both Indian Teams On Perfect 14/14

AnthonyLevin
| 84 | Chess Event Coverage

China, who replaced GM Ding Liren with GM Wei Yi on board one, came agonizingly close to ending India's winning streak in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad, but with a long endgame grind GM Gukesh Dommaraju brought India its seventh win for a perfect 14/14 score. Iran's GM Pouya Idani delivered the sole victory against Vietnam's FM Gia Huy Banh on board four to reach second place.

The Indian women now lead Poland, Kazakhstan, and France by a full two points after they moved to a perfect 14/14 in the Women's 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad with a 3-1 win over their main title rivals, Georgia. India's young stars GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and IM Vantika Agrawal grabbed wins with the black pieces—despite Vantika being down to under a minute by move 21!  

Gukesh with India's Captain Srinath Narayanan after the game. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Round eight of the 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad starts on Thursday, September 19, at 9 a.m. ET/15:00 CEST/6:30 p.m. IST.


Open: Gukesh Clutches For India, Iran Surpasses Vietnam To Reach 2nd Place

For most of the day, it looked like China was on the verge of slowing down India with a 2-2 draw. With draws secured on the other three boards, Wei showed excellent defense for many hours, but a determined Gukesh continued India's perfection.

See full results here.

After the rest day, all eyes were on India vs. China, where board one was expected to be a preview for the upcoming world championship match: Gukesh vs. Ding. It would have been the last classical game between the two before their match in Singapore, as Ding confirmed earlier in the tournament that he has no other events planned. After his loss in the previous round, however, Ding was replaced by Wei.

It was a logical substitution, in fact, as Wei is currently the Chinese number-one and world number-eight. Ding, who was number two in the world just two years ago, has sunk to 22nd since becoming world champion. GM Peter Svidler pointed out that Ding's absence was unusual for such a situation, though even with the loss, GM Robert Hess said on the broadcast, "I still think it was the right decision."

With two knights against a rook, Gukesh relentlessly squeezed in one of the longest games of the day. GM Daniel Naroditsky concluded, "Sometimes it's not so much that you lose but your opponent wins," and Gukesh sent a powerful message just two months before the world championship match. GM Rafael Leitao unpacks the brilliant Game of the Day below.

You can listen to GM Hikaru Nakamura's recap video of the game below:

India's team captain posted on X that "I feel Gukesh's win today is a bit of a statement." Rising to the rating of 2780, Gukesh has now entered the world's top five.

Image: 2700chess.

The truth is that while China's number-one player was on board one, India's current number-one player was actually on board three. After winning a perfect 6/6 games, GM Arjun Erigaisi made his first draw of the tournament in an incredibly sharp Petroff, in the opposite-sides castling Nimzowitsch Attack variation, against GM Bu Xiangzhi.

The race for India's number-one is one that evolves rapidly. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Bu was one of just two people to defeat Arjun in classical chess this year, and he finally brought the rampage to an end—lowering Arjun's performance rating to "only" 2985.

With a very quick draw on board two and a longer draw on board four, though GM Pentala Harikrishna had a significant advantage at one point, India won yet another match against one of its most formidable opponents.

GM Wang Yue saved a dangerous position, but it wasn't enough to save the match. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

You can see the full team scores listed below:

Besides China, there were two teams a point behind the tournament leaders, and they went head-to-head in the match, Vietnam vs. Iran.

Maghsoodloo vs. Le on board one of Iran vs. Vietnam. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The three draws still had plenty of life to them, especially on board one where GM Parham Maghsoodloo pulled again from his deep reservoir of creativity:

It was Idani who scored the win for Iran on board four. The opening went well for his FM opponent, who repeated an opening novelty that GM Nijat Abasov had played against his fellow Candidates participant, GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, earlier in this same tournament. But Idani pounced with the pawn sacrifice 25...g4!, and the initiative shortly provoked a costly mistake:

Idani scored the necessary point for Iran. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

GM Bardiya Daneshvar had several opportunities to win an endgame against GM Tuan Minh Le on board three, but seeing as they were the last game to finish, he already knew that a draw was good enough to clinch the match. 

We now have India in clear first and Iran in clear second. They will face one another in round eight.

There are four teams on 12 points just behind. Uzbekistan defeated Ukraine 3-1 with wins by GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov on board one and GM Javokhir Sindarov on board two. For the Uzbek number-one, on his 20th birthday, it's 6.5/7 points now and a nearly 3000 performance rating.


In his latest demonstration, against GM and esteemed author Andrei Volokitin, Abdusattorov looked like he was getting attacked on the queenside, but suddenly showed that Black's queen—once looking so threatening on a3—was actually a liability.

Hometown heroes Hungary won a dramatic match against Lithuania 2.5-1.5. GM Tomas Laurusas could have drawn the match had he won the game on board four against GM Benjamin Gledura, but after missing the last chance directly on move 40, he got a losing position—and then managed to draw.

Richard Rapport vs. Titas Stremavicius on board one. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Legendary GM and commentator Peter Leko  brought in the sole victory Hungary needed, in an opening disaster for GM Paulius Pultinevicius in the Rossolimo Sicilian. After the game, he told FM Mike Klein: "India's just way too strong. I mean, they are just very strong and very young, very determined, brilliantly prepared, and also fantastic chemistry, so it's a very tough team for anyone to beat."

India's just way too strong.

—Peter Leko

Serbia defeated the Netherlands 3-1, though the match result could have just as easily been equal. On board two, GM Jorden van Foreest achieved a winning position, then in one move blundered into a virtually losing one, and then GM Alexey Sarana was also unable to convert. In such cases, a draw may seem "fair."

Last but not least, GM Haik Martirosyan brought Armenia victory against England by making the most of his bishop pair against GM Nikita Vitiugov on board one.

Carlsen watches the action on board one of Armenia vs. England. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

GM Magnus Carlsen wasn't just watching other games, of course, and he brought his performance back to approximately his actual rating after cutting short his two-game draw streak. Though Norway defeated Austria 3-1, they're three points behind India.


The match everybody will have their eyes on in the Open section in round eight will be Iran vs. India. Neither Gukesh nor Maghsoodloo have lost a game yet, but especially the latter's combative style means we will have a fight on our hands. Iran can still bring India back down to earth, but if the latter team wins, they will have a two-point lead on the rest of the field.

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 8 Team Pairings: Open (Top 15)

No. SNo FED Team MP : MP Team FED SNo
1 10 Iran 13 : 14 India 2
2 9 Hungary 12 : 12 Armenia 17
3 16 Serbia 12 : 12 Uzbekistan 4
4 1 United States of America 11 : 11 France 14
5 3 China 11 : 11 Romania 18
6 21 Vietnam 11 : 11 Norway 6
7 32 Georgia 11 : 10 Netherlands 5
8 7 Germany 10 : 10 Croatia 27
9 8 England 10 : 10 Lithuania 29
10 28 Italy 10 : 10 Azerbaijan 12
11 13 Spain 10 : 10 Denmark 30
12 33 Argentina 10 : 10 Ukraine 15
13 19 Czech Republic 10 : 10 Moldova 34
14 35 Cuba 10 : 10 Israel 20
15 36 Montenegro 10 : 10 Turkiye 2

Women's Section: India Beats Georgia To Take 2-Point Lead

India rolled on in the Women's section, beating second-seed Georgia 3-1, while third-seed Poland was held to a draw and slipped two points behind the leaders. Kazakhstan and France joined Poland within touching distance by beating Azerbaijan and Spain.  

See full results here.

The traditional way to win team matches is to make draws with Black and win with White, but the Indian women did the opposite to defeat their closest rivals for Olympiad gold.

The match outcome—in contrast to the epic drama of India-China in the Open—seldom felt in doubt, but that didn't mean it was all smooth sailing.

Vaishali ensured another big win for India. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Vaishali was never worse but let her advantage wax and wane before defeating IM Lela Javakhishvili, while Vantika added an element of chaos by making her 21st move 21...c5!? (the move would have been much stronger two moves previously) with just 33 seconds on her clock. She had to make another 19 moves, relying on the 30 seconds added each move, before she would get an extra 30 minutes at move 40—to her great credit, she barely put a foot wrong! 

Vantika explained afterward that the team is very much focused on the dream of scoring a perfect 22/22 score, something only Russia (in 2010) has managed since the Olympiad has been played over 11 rounds with two match points for a win.

The next team they will face is third-seed Poland, that needs to win to catch the leaders after being held to a draw by fifth-seed Ukraine. Poland had looked on course for a crucial victory after IM Alina Kashlinskaya found a brutal finish in her game against IM Yuliia Osmak.

Alina Kashlinskaya has been in great form since becoming a mother. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

The whole game was full of sparkling tactics... and one or two misses:

IM Nataliya Buksa hit back to beat IM Oliwia Kiolbasa in a tricky knight endgame, however, and saved a draw in the match.

Nataliya Buksa was congratulated by her team captain, Natalia Zhukova. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Poland was caught in second place by two teams—Kazakhstan, who eased past Azerbaijan 3-1, and France, who shrugged off an opening disaster on one board to win two topsy-turvy games and take a 2.5-1.5 win over Spain.

The U.S. team looked to have great hopes when their two young stars scored again...

...but Armenia hit back on the remaining two boards to draw an all-decisive match.

IM Alice Lee noted the U.S. is "definitely in medal contention," pointing out their strong tiebreaks. 

One team not in medal contention is 94th placed Palestine, but their top board, 2007-born WFM Eman Sawan, is pulling off a sensation. She moved to 6/6 with her latest win and a staggering 2661 rating performance (of course, a 100 percent score is hard to rate accurately).

That means she currently leads the race to gain an individual gold medal on board one—a huge achievement for any player.

Rk. FED Name Rtg Team Rtg. Per. Games
1 WFM Sawan, Eman 1972 Palestine 2661 6
2 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2483 Switzerland 2643 6
3 IM Kashlinskaya, Alina 2490 Poland 2520 6
4 IM Mkrtchian, Lilit 2366 Armenia 2517 7
5 WIM Gaal, Zsoka 2385 Hungary 2513 6
Alexandra Kosteniuk (right) could not have expected to face such a rival for an individual medal. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.com.

It could have been 7/7, but Sawan's teammates didn't make it to Budapest in time for round one.

India currently looks unstoppable but, as mentioned, Poland has a chance to catch them if they can win their head-to-head encounter in round eight. The other two teams on 12/14, Kazakhstan and France, also clash in a crucial matchup.

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 8 Team Pairings: Women (Top 15)

No. SNo FED Team MP : MP Team FED SNo
1 3 Poland 12 : 14 India 1
2 14 Hungary 11 : 11 Ukraine 5
3 10 Kazakhstan 12 : 12 France 13
4 2 Georgia 11 : 11 Bulgaria 12
5 34 Uzbekistan 11 : 11 United States of America 7
6 17 Netherlands 11 : 11 Germany 8
7 11 Armenia 11 : 11 Mongolia 18
8 28 Slovenia 10 : 10 China 4
9 6 Azerbaijan 10 : 10 Italy 24
10 9 Spain 10 : 10 Slovakia 32
11 15 England 10 : 10 Lithuania 45
12 16 Turkiye 10 : 10 Philippines 47
13 70 Malaysia 10 : 10 Vietnam 20
14 21 Switzerland 10 : 10 Turkmenistan 73
15 39 Peru 9 : 9 Serbia 19

Colin McGourty contributed reporting to this article.

How to watch?

You can watch our live broadcast on the chess24 YouTube and Twitch channels, while GM Hikaru Nakamura will also be streaming on his Twitch and Kick channels. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad events page

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Robert Hess, GM Daniel Naroditsky, and John Sargent.

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad is a massive team event for national federations that takes place every two years. In 2024 it's being held in Budapest, Hungary, with 11 rounds that run September 11-22. In Open and Women's sections, teams of five players compete in a Swiss Open, with each match played over four boards. There are two match points for a win and one for a draw, with board points taken into account only if teams are tied. Players have 90 minutes per game, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move.


Previous Coverage:

AnthonyLevin
NM Anthony Levin

NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.

Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.

Email:  anthony.levin@chess.com

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