Best performance in history of Chess Olympiad: Vishy Anand lauds India's dominance

Legendary Vishwanathan Anand hailed India's performance at the Chess Olympiad 2024 as the best in the history of the tournament. Anand said that this kind of domination by a country has never been seen before.

In Short

• India won their first ever Chess Olympiad
• India clinched a historic double in Budapest in men's and women's section
• Vishwanathan Anand lauded India's incredible double medal haul

Legendary India Grand Master Vishwanathan Anand hailed India's double gold win at the Chess Olympiad 2024 as the greatest in the competition's history. Speaking to Revsportz after India's win in the 2024 competition, Anand said that the competition had not seen this kind of domination before.

India on Sunday scripted history by clinching its maiden gold medal in the 45th Chess Olympiad after D. Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R. Praggnanadhaa won their respective matches against Slovenia in the 11th and final round. World Championship challenger Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi delivered once again in key games, helping India secure its first title in the open category. Facing Slovenia, Gukesh was at his very best during the technical phase of the game as Black against Vladimir Fedoseev. Though it was a hard-fought victory, the 18-year-old Grandmaster showcased a tremendous strategic display.

"Just unbelievable performance by India. The Indian men have dominated this Olympiad in a way that I am struggling to find, a counter-example too, of course, the days of the Soviet Union. But then the gap was so much bigger. Here they are outperforming people in their general rating bracket and comparable strength in multiple tournaments. And that the Indian team, all cylinders are firing," Anand said about the men's team after the conclusion of the tournament.

"You can take Arjun and Gukesh, obviously who have attracted the most attention. But we had a very, very strong plus five. And, we have won every single match except one. I cannot. I think the Soviets might have comparable results, but not against comparable opposition. This is one of the best chess performances in the history of the Chess Olympiad. On top of the huge accomplishment that it is that, India wins its first Chess Olympiad and the result that narrowly escaped us two years ago," he further added.

On Sunday, it was Erigaisi who began India's charge with Black on the third board against Jan Subelj, utilizing a surprising Centre Counter defense. To top it off, Praggnanadhaa found his form and secured a crushing victory over Anton Demchenko, leading India to a 3-0 triumph over Slovenia with one game still remaining. The Indian men finished with an impressive 21 points out of a possible 22. They conceded just a single 2-2 draw to Uzbekistan while defeating all other opponents.

Anand also spoke about the women's team comprising of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev and Abhijit Kunte who also secured the gold medal completing a historic double for India in the Chess Olympiad.

"About the Indian women's team, fantastic resilience. They were doing very well again, leading comfortably. Then they had this one accident, but they didn't allow it to stop them. They kept fighting," Anand concluded.