Chess Olympiad 2024: Men seal third consecutive win; Women earn round win despite Harika defeat

The Indian men and women made it three out of three at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Friday. In the third round, the men defeated host Hungary-B 3.5-0.5, while the women beat Switzerland 3-1.

Dronavalli Harika’s defeat was the first for an Indian player in the tournament. She was beaten on the top board by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who represented Russia in the past.

All the other Indian women won, as they justified their billing as the top-seeded team. On the second board, R. Vaishali beat Ghazal Hakimifard, on the third, Divya Deshmukh defeated Sofiia Hryzlova, and on the fourth, Vantika Agrawal overcame Mariia Manko.

In the open section, India’s cent percent record was broken by the second team of the host nation. After winning all their eight games over the first couple of days, the second seed was forced to drop half-a-point, as Vidit Gujrathi was held to a draw on the fourth board by Gabor Papp, who is rated 170 Elo points below.

But, there were wins for the magnificent young trio of D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, who prevailed over Adam Kozak, Tamas Banusz and Peter Prohaszka, respectively.

Eight rounds remain.