Gukesh, Arjun lead India's unprecedented domination, healing wounds of the past as mentor Vishy Anand gets perfect gift
D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi & Co wiped out the hurt of multiple Chess Olympiad failures of India by clinching the team gold medal in grand manner in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday.
The hunger of this team is remarkable. In the final round, they defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 with Vidit Gujrathi drawing and the other three - Gukesh, Arjun and R Praggnanandhaa - winning. They did not need the tiebreak as they were out of reach of any team with 21 matchpoints..
India team captain N Srinath described Gukesh and Arjun's performance as superhuman. Gukesh scored 9/10 and Arjun 10/11 for live rating of 2794 and 2797 respectively. Their performance rating was in excess of 3050.
P Harikrishna won the Olympiad gold in his 11th attempt with a crucial contribution against China, a team India had never beaten. Praggnanandhaa (6/10) and Vidit Gujrathi (7.5/10) also played their roles to perfection.
The surge from the men is not a flash in the pan. Besides having players in the top echelons of world rankings, Team India has made steady progress - two bronze medals (2014 and 2022), a couple of fourth-place finishes (2016 and 2022) and now this golden shine at the temple of chess.
V Anand, the pioneer of India's elite chess, could not win a single team medal in the biennial Swiss League events. But he could not have given a greater gift to Indian chess as his mentees (Garry Kasparov calls them 'Anand's children') tallied a whopping 21 matchpoints after 11 rounds leaving all other rivals way behind.
Gukesh later told Chess24 webcast: "We were in celebration mode since last night, I must admit. I didn't want to play today... I mean I wanted to play but hoped that there won't be a game (easy draw). We were very happy after the 10th round but forced ourselves to focus and come here, do the job and celebrate."
Winning the team gold meant a lot to the 18-year-old World Championship challenger. "Since what happened last time (India were in the contention for gold but Gukesh lost to Abdusattorov in the penultimate round), this time I told myself that no matter whatever it takes, I will do it to win the team gold. I did not think too much about the individual performance."
In the 18 classical games after the Candidates tournament, Gukesh had just one win and 17 draws. But playing for the flag, Gukesh won eight of 10 games.
R Praggnanandhaa told Chessbase India, "This tournament was a chill because boards 1 (Gukesh) and 3 (Arjun) would win. Yes, I played well against Sindarov (in the 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan). The overall tournament wasn't entirely satisfactory for me, but the goal was to win the team gold."
Anand was involved in two Olympiad disasters - 22nd in 1992 and 30th, despite being the second seeds, in 2006. Both these ghosts have been well and truly exorcised with Anand's contribution invaluable as he took the youngsters under his wings.
Anand was expecting good results from Indian players from 2026 onwards after his entry into serious mentorship. But even the path breaker got pleasantly
surprised by the quick elevation of these new teenage path breakers.
The collective guru dakshina could not have been more precious.
