New Delhi [India], September 24 : Russian chess icon and former world champion Garry Kasparov lauded Team India for their historic double gold medal at the recently-concluded Chess Olympiad, saying that "Vishy's children" are all grown up, referring to the next generation of Indian chess after years of dominance of Viswanathan Anand.
In the recently-concluded Chess Olympiad, India's men's and women's teams made history, securing gold medals for the first time in their respective categories and joining the elite company of countries to have pulled off a double of gold medals in the same edition of the competition.
Following India's win, Kasparov lauded India by taking to X, posting, "A very impressive double gold achievement by India. "Vishy's children" are all grown up and chess is coming home! Two American flags on the podiums as well, worthy of note. Add Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with no European flags."
https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/1838282111989485772
USA secured the second spot in men's competition and a bronze in women's competition. Uzbekistan won the bronze in men's competition, while Kazakhstan got silver in women's competition.
In the final round of the tournament, India's men's team of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna beat Slovenia to clinch the gold medal.
It was the wins from D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi that gave India a 2-0 lead and confirmed the gold medal. Later in the final round, Praggnandhaa also won his game, and Vidit ended his bout with a draw. India defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 to seal the gold medal.
Meanwhile, the Indian women's chess team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, and Tania Sachdev also won gold after beating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5.
Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal won their respective matches in the final round. While, R Vaishali drew her match against Ulviyya Fataliyeva.
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