Gukesh outplays World no.3 Caruana, India on the verge of making history at 45th Chess Olympiad

India just a draw away in the Open, win in Women to claim double Gold

If the penultimate round battle between Uzbekistan and China ended in a draw, India would have won Gold in Open with a round to spare. However, that did not happen. There is a mathematical chance of China catching up to India. Considering the form and performance of India, it is very likely that they will be able to hold a draw against Slovenia. However, Slovenia won't go down without a fight because they have medal chances too.

Both India and Kazakhstan are at 17/20 each. India has a slightly better tie-breaks. They need to beat Azerbaijan first and hope Kazakhstan either draws or loses to USA. Then India becomes a clear champion in Women. However, if both India and Kazakhstan have the same result - win or draw, tie-breaks will come into play and Poland may join them, provided they beat Georgia.

Open: India - USA: 2.5-1.5

GM D Gukesh (2764) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2778) scored the wins over GM Fabiano Caruana (2798) and GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2748) respectively. GM Vidit Gujrathi (2720) drew with GM Levon Aronian (2729). GM R Praggnanandhaa (2750) suffered the sole loss against GM Wesley So (2752).

Gukesh - Caruana

Gukesh defeated Caruana in the eighth round of previous Olympiad. Out of their six Classical battles, both of them won a game each and the remaining four ended in draws. It goes without saying that Gukesh was determined and he is having the best tournament of his career. 21.f4 might seem harmless but it is posing some important questions to Black. 21...Qh5 22.f5 Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Qe2 24.fxe6 Qxd2 25.exf7+ Kxf7 26.Qxc5 Kg8 27.Rf1 Kh7 tucking the king into safety 28.Qe5 pinning the knight and immobilising both rook and knight Qe3+ 29.Kh1 d3 well the pawn cannot promote but Black cannot do much either 30.Bh3 d2 31.Bg4 Qd3 32.Kg2 Qxc4 33.a4 Qc6 34.Qd4 Qg6?

Black should have brought the knight into play 34...Ng6 when he finally got a chance. 35.Rf4 Qg5 36.h4 Qg6 37.Qxd2 Rb8 38.Qd7 h5 39.Be6 Rb6 40.Bf7 White grabbed the h5-pawn and won the game in the next few moves.

Arjun - Leinier

Leinier sacrificed an exchange 22...c5 to regain some semblance of the position. 23.Nxa8 Rxa8 24.Nb5 Qc6 25.a4 g6 26.Rc3 Bxb5? Black needed to keep pieces on the board as the knight was not doing that much damage 27.axb5 Qxb5 28.Rd1 and White eventually converted his material advantage into a win.

Replay India - USA games

If Uzbekistan and China drew their match against each other in the penultimate round, India would have won Gold with a round to spare.

Vishy Anand also tweeted about the mathematical possibility

Upsets:

Slovenia - Netherlands: 2.5-1.5

Norway - Moldova: 2-2

Brazil - Hungary B: 2.5-1.5

Croatia - Kazakhstan: 1.5-2.5

Lithuania - Slovakia: 2-2

Denmark - Chile: 1.5-2.5

Austria - Mexico: 2-2

Australia - Faroe Islands: 1.5-2.5

Turkmenistan - Singapore: 3-1

Japan - Iceland: 3-1

Women: India - China: 2.5-1.5

IM Divya Deshmukh (2483) scored the crucial and decisive win over WGM Shiqun Ni (2348). GM Harika Dronavalli (2502), GM R Vaishali (2498) and IM Vantika Agrawal (2370) drew their respective games against GM Jiner Zhu (2487), IM Guo Qi (2367) and IM Miaoyi Lu (2438).

Divya - Shiqun

34.g4 is the obvious break in the position. That is why Divya played 33.Rh1 in the previous move to keep h4-pawn protected. 34...hxg4 35.fxg4 g5? 36.hxg5 Rh8 37.Rh6 Rd6?? 38.Rxh8 Qxh8 39.Rxe6 and White won as Black cannot avoid material loss by any means. With this win, Divya became India no.2 among Women in live ratings.

Miaoyi and Vantika had a wild game which ended in a draw

Replay India - China games

Upsets

Georgia - Kazakhstan: 2-2

Vietnam - Hungary: 1.5-2.5

France - Slovakia: 2-2

Uzbekistan - England: 3-1

Iran - Netherlands: 2-2

Lithuania - Switzerland: 2-2

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Schedule

Everyday round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST from 11th to 22nd September 2024. The final round on 22nd September starts 11 a.m. local time, 1:30 p.m. IST. Rest day is on 17th September.

Replay Round 10 Open games

Replay Round 10 Women games

Round 10 Open results

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Standings after Round 10

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Round 11 pairings

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Round 10 Women pairings

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Standings after Round 10

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Round 11 pairings

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