45th Chess Olympiad R4: Gukesh channels Magnus, Ukraine and Vietnam upset USA and Uzbekistan

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/09/2024

Indian teams continue their winning streak at 45th Chess Olympiad 2024. Both men and women team registered their fourth win in Open and Women section. Serbia went down India by 0.5-3.5. D Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi showed their expertise in the endgame against Alexandr Predke and Velimir Ivic respectively. Gukesh channeled the endgame expert Magnus Carlsen in his game. Arjun Erigaisi once again showed his sharp play to score a win against Aleksandar Indjic. Among the Women, India defeated France 3.5-0.5. GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Tania Sachdev scored with ease against IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette and WIM Natacha Benmesbah respectvely. IM Divya Deshmukh defeated WGM Mitra Hejazipour in a rollercoaster battle which could have ended either way. Indian men will face Azerbaijan and women Kazakhstan in Round 5. It starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Indian teams maintain their perfect score

The top seed USA which showed vulnerability as early as Round 2 against Singapore, succumbed to defeat against Ukraine 1.5-2.5. Apart from GM Fabiano Caruana, the remaining team does not seem to be in a harmony. It became evident in Round 4. China defeated Armenia by a minimum margin 2.5-1.5. GM Yangyi Yu (CHN) scored the decisive victory against GM Gabriel Sargissian (ARM). Vietnam defeated the defending champions, Uzbekistan 3-1, without conceding a single game. It certainly has to be the biggest upset of the round. GM Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) and GM Tuan Minh Le (VIE) defeated GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) and GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) respectively.

D Gukesh played the endgame which would make the endgame maestro, Magnus Carlsen proud of him | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

Among the Women, Turkiye held the defending champion, Ukraine to a 2-2 draw. Mongolia and Uzbekistan defeated Spain and Bulgaria respectively.

45th Chess Olympiad 2024 Official logo | Photo: Official site

Open: Serbia - India: 0.5-3.5

GM D Gukesh (2764), GM Arjun Erigaisi (2778) and GM Vidit Gujrathi (2720) scored the wins over GM Alexandr Predke (2671), GM Aleksandr Indjic (2611) and GM Velimir Ivic (2599) respectively. Gukesh and Vidit had to grind in the endgame. Arjun seized his decisive advantage when his opponent allowed a tactical finish. GM Pentala Harikrishna was rested.

Predke - Gukesh

Position after 20...Rc6

The last time GM Alexandr Predke faced GM D Gukesh in a Classical game was at Chennai Grand Masters 2023. Gukesh won that encounter in the fourth round and went on to qualify for the Candidates. Once again Gukesh beat him in Round 4. Of course this time things are much different as it is a team event and Gukesh is now a World Championship Challenger. 21.Qxc7+ Kxc7 the resultant double rook and knight endgame is relatively balanced. However, Gukesh kept creating imbalances, chances and grinded it into a win. Something the world no.1, Magnus Carlsen is known familiar to do in his games. This game certainly evokes the thoughts that Gukesh is ready for the biggest challenge of his chess career.

D Gukesh scored a hat-trick of wins in a fantastic way | Photo: Amruta Mokal

R Praggnanandhaa is yet to beat a Russian player in a Classical rated game in 2024 | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Indjic - Arjun

Position after 38.Rb3??

GM Aleksandar Indjic blundered 38.Rb3?? in an already difficult position. Find out the winning continuation which GM Arjun Erigaisi executed in the above position.

Aleksandar Indjic - Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi is in great form | Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz

Vidit - Ivic

Position after 55.Kh4

GM Vidit Gujrathi is making an attempt to capture the h5-pawn. Of course, he cannot take it immediately as the f3-pawn will fall after the trade of rooks and the resultant opposite color bishop endgame would end in a draw. Vidit's opponent, GM Velimir Ivic made a mistake 55...Rd1 56.f4 Rh1+ 57.Kg5 White not only managed to improve his king's position but also advance his passed f-pawn a bit. 57...Rh3 58.Rh7+ Ke8 59.Be1 Rh1 after repeating once to gain time 62.Bf2 Rh2 63.Bc5 Rg2 64.Re7+ Kd8 65.Re3 White defended the critical g3-pawn and let go of the expendable b2. 65...Rxb2 66.Bb6+ Kd7 67.Kxh5 and White went on to win the game using correct technique.

Vidit Gujarthi - Velimir Ivic, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

The rook and opposite color bishop endgame between GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Velimir Ivic caught everyone's attention | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Serbia - India: 0.5-3.5

USA - Ukraine: 1.5-2.5

Singapore has showed the vulnerability of team USA. Ukraine got the opportunity and seized it. GM Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2798) scored the sole win of the match against GM Andrei Volokitin (UKR, 2660).

India may have the best players in the world, we are used to the pressure - Fabiano Caruana | Video: ChessBase India

Ivanchuk - So

Position after 44...Re2??

GM Wesley So blundered 44...Re2?? The legend, GM Vasyl Ivanchuk is not someone to miss this 45.Rd7 Re5 46.Rxf7 g5 47.h5 Kxh5 48.Rf6 and it's over.

GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) scored a crucial win over GM Wesley So (USA) | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GM Ray Robson's (USA) double exchange sacrifice did not work out against GM Anton Korobov (UKR) | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

USA - Ukraine: 1.5-2.5

GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA) scored a hat-trick in a brilliant fashion by defeating the mighty - GM Peter Leko (HUN) | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA) joined IM Sagar Shah and GM Harshit Raja in the live commentary for analysis after his game | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Viktor Gazik, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR) defeated GM Viktor Gazik (SVK), powering his team Norway to 3-1 victory over Slovakia | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Magnus Carlsen enjoying his teammates's games | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Upsets:

USA - Ukraine: 1.5-2.5

Vietnam - Uzbekistan: 3-1

Vietnam beating the defending champions, Uzbekistan 3-1 without conceding a single game, is the biggest upset of the round | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Georgia - England: 2-2

Canada - Greece: 2.5-1.5

Women: India - France: 3.5-0.5

GM Harika Dronavalli - IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette: 1-0 | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Divya - Mitra

Position after 22...Nxb3!?

WGM Mitra Hejazipour made an interesting practical sacrifice 22...Nxb3!? 23.cxb3 Qc3 24.Rd1 Qxb3 25.Qe1 Bxd5 26.Nh4 Kg8 27.Rg3 Qxa4 Black managed to get four pawns for the sacrificed knight. After few moves, the tables turned and it was Black who had a winning chance.

Position after 38.Qh4

Black needed to play 38...Qxf3 39.Qxf6+ Rg7 40.Qxg7+ Kxg7 41.exf3 a5 and the resultant endgame is winning for her. Instead, 38...Kg7 evaporated her chances and once again White managed to turn things in her favor and win the game.

IM Divya Deshmukh and WGM Mitra Hejazipour had a back and forth battle which could have gone either player's way | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

IM Tania Sachdev was tactically alert against WIM Natacha Benmesbah | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Replay India-France games

Captain of the India Women's team - GM Abhijit Kunte is seen applauding IM Divya Deshmukh for winning a rollercoaster game | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

India - France: 3.5-0.5

China is definitely a team to watch out | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Round 4 in progress | Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz

Upsets

Ukraine - Turkey: 2-2

Spain - Mongolia: 1.5-2.5

Uzbekistan - Bulgaria: 2.5-1.5

Argentina - Germany: 2-2

Monaco - Israel: 2-2

Scotland - Canada: 2-2

Replay live stream

Replay Round 4 Live Commentary by Amruta Mokal, IM Sagar Shah and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Video Gallery

Round 4 recap by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Can players come late for the Olympiad? | Video: ChessBase India

Ding Liren patiently waits for a fan to find his pen | Video: ChessBase India

Team India mobbed by fans in Budapest, Hungary | Video: ChessBase India

Where is Magnus Carlsen? | Video: ChessBase India

These girls got a selfie with Magnus and won their first game | Video: ChessBase India

Fans are excited to meet their stars| Video: ChessBase India

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. IST. Rest day is on 17th September.

Replay Round 4 Open games

Replay Round 4 Women games

Round 4 Open results

No.	SNo	FED	Team	Pts.	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Pts.	Team	FED	SNo
1	1	USA	United States of America	11	6	1½	:	2½	6	10	Ukraine	UKR	15
2	9	HUN	Hungary *)	10	6	2½	:	1½	6	9½	Italy	ITA	28
3	16	SRB	Serbia	9	6	½	:	3½	6	11½	India	IND	2
4	3	CHN	China	10½	6	2½	:	1½	6	10	Armenia	ARM	17
5	21	VIE	Vietnam	10½	6	3	:	1	6	10½	Uzbekistan	UZB	4
6	11	POL	Poland	10	6	2½	:	1½	6	10	Lithuania	LTU	29
7	36	MNE	Montenegro	9½	6	1	:	3	6	10	Azerbaijan	AZE	12
8	40	SWE	Sweden	10	6	½	:	3½	6	10	Spain	ESP	13
9	6	NOR	Norway	9	5	3	:	1	5	8½	Slovakia	SVK	43
10	32	GEO	Georgia	10	5	2	:	2	5	8½	England	ENG	8
11	30	DEN	Denmark	7½	5	1	:	3	5	8½	Iran	IRI	10
12	42	LAT	Latvia	8½	5	1½	:	2½	5	9	Turkiye	TUR	22
13	50	CAN	Canada	8½	5	2½	:	1½	5	8½	Greece	GRE	23
14	5	NED	Netherlands	7½	4	3	:	1	4	9½	North Macedonia	MKD	62
15	7	GER	Germany	8	4	3½	:	½	4	8	Mongolia	MGL	63
16	65	BAN	Bangladesh	8	4	½	:	3½	4	7½	France	FRA	14
17	66	FAI	Faroe Islands	6½	4	1	:	3	4	8	Romania	ROU	18
18	20	ISR	Israel	8	4	4	:	0	4	8½	Albania	ALB	68
19	69	SCO	Scotland	8½	4	1	:	3	4	7½	Bulgaria	BUL	24
20	25	HUN	Hungary B	7½	4	3	:	1	4	7½	Japan	JPN	70

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo	FED	Team	Games	+	=	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	IND	India	4	4	0	8	69	15	18
2	13	ESP	Spain	4	4	0	8	57	13,5	18
3	3	CHN	China	4	4	0	8	54	13	18
4	21	VIE	Vietnam	4	4	0	8	52	13,5	16
5	12	AZE	Azerbaijan	4	4	0	8	50	13	16
6	11	POL	Poland	4	4	0	8	49	12,5	16
7	9	HUN	Hungary	4	4	0	8	46	12,5	16
8	15	UKR	Ukraine	4	4	0	8	44	12,5	16
9	6	NOR	Norway	4	3	1	7	52,5	12	18
10	10	IRI	Iran	4	3	1	7	44,5	11,5	16

Details

Round 5 pairings

No.	SNo	FED	Team	Pts.	MP	:	MP	Pts.	Team	FED	SNo
1	2	IND	India	15	8	:	8	13	Azerbaijan	AZE	12
2	15	UKR	Ukraine	12½	8	:	8	12½	Hungary *)	HUN	9
3	13	ESP	Spain	13½	8	:	8	13	China	CHN	3
4	21	VIE	Vietnam	13½	8	:	8	12½	Poland	POL	11
5	22	TUR	Turkiye	11½	7	:	7	12	Norway	NOR	6
6	10	IRI	Iran	11½	7	:	7	11	Canada	CAN	50
7	33	ARG	Argentina	10½	6	:	6	12½	United States of America	USA	1
8	4	UZB	Uzbekistan	11½	6	:	6	11½	Moldova	MDA	34
9	35	CUB	Cuba	10½	6	:	6	10½	Netherlands	NED	5
10	36	MNE	Montenegro	10½	6	:	6	11½	Germany	GER	7

Details

Round 4 Women pairings

No.	SNo	FED	Team	Pts.	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Pts.	Team	FED	SNo
1	1	IND	India	10	6	3½	:	½	6	10½	France	FRA	13
2	55	DEN	Denmark	8	4	½	:	3½	4	9	Hungary *)	HUN	14
3	15	ENG	England	11	6	0	:	4	6	11½	China	CHN	4
4	5	UKR	Ukraine	9	6	2	:	2	6	10	Turkiye	TUR	16
5	7	USA	United States of America	11	6	3½	:	½	6	10	Netherlands	NED	17
6	9	ESP	Spain	11	6	1½	:	2½	6	9½	Mongolia	MGL	18
7	19	SRB	Serbia	9	6	1½	:	2½	6	9½	Kazakhstan	KAZ	10
8	11	ARM	Armenia	11	6	3	:	1	6	11½	Vietnam	VIE	20
9	34	UZB	Uzbekistan	9½	6	2½	:	1½	6	10½	Bulgaria	BUL	12
10	2	GEO	Georgia	9	5	3	:	1	5	8½	Greece	GRE	23
11	22	ROU	Romania	9	5	1	:	3	5	10	Poland	POL	3
12	28	SLO	Slovenia	8½	5	1	:	3	5	9	Azerbaijan	AZE	6
13	26	ARG	Argentina	10	5	2	:	2	5	9	Germany	GER	8
14	56	BIH	Bosnia & Herzegovina	7	4	½	:	3½	4	8	Switzerland	SUI	21
15	24	ITA	Italy	7	4	3½	:	½	4	8	North Macedonia	MKD	57
16	58	MNC	Monaco	7½	4	2	:	2	4	8½	Israel	ISR	25
17	59	SCO	Scotland	9½	4	2	:	2	4	7	Canada	CAN	27
18	61	MDA	Moldova	8	4	1½	:	2½	4	8½	Cuba	CUB	29
19	30	AUT	Austria	6½	4	3	:	1	4	8½	Bangladesh	BAN	62
20	63	POR	Portugal	7½	4	1	:	3	4	8½	Hungary B	HUN	31

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo	FED	Team	Games	+	=	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	4	CHN	China	4	4	0	8	65	15,5	17
2	1	IND	India	4	4	0	8	60	13,5	18
3	7	USA	United States of America	4	4	0	8	59,5	14,5	17
4	11	ARM	Armenia	4	4	0	8	56	14	17
5	10	KAZ	Kazakhstan	4	4	0	8	48	12	18
6	34	UZB	Uzbekistan	4	4	0	8	46	12	16
7	18	MGL	Mongolia	4	4	0	8	45	12	17
8	3	POL	Poland	4	3	1	7	49	13	16
9	16	TUR	Turkiye	4	3	1	7	45	12	17
10	2	GEO	Georgia	4	3	1	7	43	12	16

Details

Round 5 pairings

No.	SNo	FED	Team	Pts.	MP	:	MP	Pts.	Team	FED	SNo
1	10	KAZ	Kazakhstan	12	8	:	8	13½	India	IND	1
2	14	HUN	Hungary *)	12½	6	:	6	12	Estonia	EST	38
3	4	CHN	China	15½	8	:	8	14	Armenia	ARM	11
4	18	MGL	Mongolia	12	8	:	8	14½	United States of America	USA	7
5	34	UZB	Uzbekistan	12	8	:	7	12	Georgia	GEO	2
6	3	POL	Poland	13	7	:	7	12	Turkiye	TUR	16
7	6	AZE	Azerbaijan	12	7	:	7	11	Ukraine	UKR	5
8	8	GER	Germany	11	6	:	6	12	Sweden	SWE	33
9	35	NOR	Norway	10	6	:	6	12½	Spain	ESP	9
10	12	BUL	Bulgaria	12	6	:	6	10½	Latvia	LAT	36
11	13	FRA	France	11	6	:	6	13	Iran	IRI	37
12	39	PER	Peru	12½	6	:	6	11	England	ENG	15
13	17	NED	Netherlands	10½	6	:	6	11	Croatia	CRO	40
14	19	SRB	Serbia	10½	6	:	6	11½	Czech Republic	CZE	41
15	42	MNE	Montenegro	12	6	:	6	12½	Vietnam	VIE	20
16	21	SUI	Switzerland	11½	6	:	6	8	Brazil	BRA	43
17	24	ITA	Italy	10½	6	:	6	12½	Philippines	PHI	47
18	50	FIN	Finland	12½	6	:	6	12	Argentina	ARG	26
19	52	EGY	Egypt	10½	6	:	6	11	Cuba	CUB	29
20	30	AUT	Austria	9½	6	:	6	10½	Luxembourg	LUX	53

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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