Chess Olympiad: Two years after Chennai heartbreak, Gukesh on another winning spree

Playing on the top board of the India B team at the Chess Olympiad in 2022, Gukesh (back then ranked World No 20) had gone on a rampage, smiting away at anyone who sat in front of him, even the world’s best players like Fabiano Caruana. But all of his work had been undone in a sense as he had lost against Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the 10th round, which meant that the team lost the tie. What had stung in that game more than the defeat itself was the realisation that even if he had taken a draw in that game, India would have more or less been assured gold as Praggnanandhaa had put India ahead. Eventually, the Indian team had claimed bronze while Uzbekistan took gold.

India’s Gukesh in action in Round 2 of the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024. (PHOTO: FIDE/Anna Shtourman)

Two years after that heartbreak, Gukesh has arrived at the Olympiad in Hungary’s capital like a man who has unfinished business. In the four games he has played so far at the Olympiad in Budapest after sitting out the first round, he’s accounted for four strong grandmasters — Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (Iceland), Adam Kozak (Hungary), Alexandr Predke (Serbia) and finally Aydin Suleymanli (Azerbaijan) — with an average rating of over 2600.

On Sunday, he claimed his fastest win at the 2024 Olympiad rather than the slow death that he has delivered to other opponents.

Playing with white pieces in a game that saw the Giuoco Pianissimo Variation of the Italian game being used, Gukesh had engine-like accuracy. By the 10th move, he held a 30-minute advantage on the clock. By the 13th move, he was the evaluation bar’s preferred pick to win the contest. By the 15th move, he had a material advantage on the board, with Suleymanli being a rook, and two pawns down.

It was really a matter of playing the perfect moves and letting the opponent make mistakes. And Gukesh, who is one of the best calculating players in the sport, did just that, squeezing the life blood out of his opponent’s pieces on the board slowly one move at a time until he was ready to throw in the towel.

By the time both queens were beheaded in the 38th move, Gukesh was one move away from reincarnating a pawn into a queen. It was a completely lost position, and his opponent resigned.

Thanks to the win, Gukesh now has 2775.9 points in the live ratings and is ranked No 5 in the world, just behind compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the live rankings (which are updated real time as opposed to the FIDE published rankings, which are announced at the end of each month).

Gukesh had, in fact, moved to fifth spot on Saturday itself after winning his almost six-hour battle against Alexandr Predke of Serbia.

INTERACTIVE: How Gukesh defeated Aydin Suleymanli

India thus have three players in the live rankings, with Arjun fourth, Gukesh fifth and Praggnanandhaa in 10th spot.

Spurred by Gukesh, the Indian team defeated the strong Azerbaijan team in the fifth round with a 3-1 scoreline to take two more game points. While Arjun also defeated Rauf Mamedov to claim one full point for India, Praggnanandhaa (facing Nijat Abasov) and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (taking on Shakhriyar Mamedyarov) settled for draws.

Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. … Read More