Gukesh, Erigaisi on a high

India’s D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi. Pics/FIDE CHESS

Bagging a bronze in the last Chess Olympiad at Chennai in 2022, the Indian team, from the very first round of the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad at Budapest, has made it loud and clear that this time they are gunning for gold.

Eight wins on the trot

Eight consecutive match victories and a draw against defending champion Uzbekistan in the ninth round has the team perfectly perched at the top of the points tally with a 17/18 score. Top seeds USA, Uzbekistan and China follow closely with 15 points each, which made the India versus USA encounter in the penultimate 10th round scheduled late on Saturday night a crucial one.

Pole position on the podium appears very much on the cards for the Indian team at this stage, but what has been most heartening and a proud moment for India has been the power-packed performances of D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi which has resulted in two Indians featuring in the Top 5 of the world ratings (Live) for the very first time in the history of the game. Erigaisi, hailed as the wonder boy from Warangal, has been the highest rated Indian and justified this with a whopping 8/9 points at this Olympiad. D Gukesh with an equally fantastic 7/8 effort has catapulted himself to the fifth position in the Live world rankings, just behind Erigaisi.

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It is not often that a team, barring the erstwhile USSR have played in such a dominating fashion at the Olympiad. The Indian team have maintained a clean slate; all five players Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna undefeated in this tournament.
Gujrathi has also been in fine form, scoring 6.5/8 and Harikrishna tallying 2.5/4. Pragg, generally on the aggressive side, has been a bit subdued, conceding six draws and eking two victories. Four players are fielded for every round with one player enjoying a rest day.

That match against Wei Yi

Eighteen-year-old Gukesh, scheduled to play for the world title in November this year against Ding Liren of China, is also in contention for an individual gold on the top board. His games have bordered on the brilliant; the victory against Wei Yi of China in the seventh round literally a masterclass for the enthusiasts. Fine focus, determined dedication and Gukesh's chess have been on the intense and strong side, exhibiting his phenomenal positional strength.

Twenty-one-year-old Erigaisi, on the other hand, sprinted to an astonishing 6/6 before conceding a draw in the seventh round and is also a strong contender for an individual gold medal on the third board. "An objective outlook and playing the position as per the situation," has been the magical mantra in Erigaisi's own words. Erigaisi also said that this team believe in "chilling it out" and they shared jokes even as they chalked out strategies for teams and individual players.

The Indian team have always appeared in great spirit and the camaraderie is difficult to overlook before and after games. Most of the top players in the world are also seen hovering and keenly watching this young Indian team in action, including the highest rated player in the world, Magnus Carlsen.

The Indian think tank spearheaded by non-playing captain GM Srinath decided to field Gukesh on the top board and Erigaisi on the third board, a tactic which has paid rich dividends.

Interestingly, in the 10th round, all the USA players are rated higher than their Indian counterparts and an upset victory or even a draw for Team India would put the gold medal within touching distance.