Power shift: Indian teams sweep the golds at 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest

At the Paris Olympics this summer, Indian athletes went home with zero gold medals. 

The country’s chess players more than made up for it at the just-completed 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, with both the open and women’s teams taking home the gold. It was the first gold medal for either squad in the biennial event and the first national sweep of the two tournaments since China pulled it off in 2016.

Following a trail blazed by former world champion Viswanathan Anand and female star GM Humpy Koneru, a generation of young Indian superstars confirmed what looks to be a tectonic shift in the game’s balance of power. A record 194 countries sent teams to a competition that is one of the broadest and most inclusive in the world of sport.

The U.S. open team captured the silver medal, although it ranked as a slight disappointment for the pre-tournament No. 1 seed, with 2022 champion Uzbekistan taking the bronze. The U.S. women’s team also brought home some hardware, earning a hard-fought bronze behind India and women’s silver medalist Kazakhstan.

There were numerous heroes for the Indian squads, with top board GM Donnemaru Gukesh and No. 3 GM Arjun Erigaisi claiming individual board prizes in the open competition, while GM Divya Deshmukh also taking an individual gold with an undefeated 9½-1½ score on Board Three for the Indian women’s team.

In an event that featured hundreds of matches and over 4,000 games, no game was more critical to the outcome than Gukesh’s Round 10 clash with American top board GM Fabiano Caruana, a Catalan in which Black’s unusual 5…Rb8!? led to some original and complex play. With Gukesh providing a critical point, India would take the match by a 2½-1½ score and virtually clinch the gold medal.

The position clarifies after 12. Nd2 Ne7 13. e3, with Black having a very playable game but with White holding the tiniest of advantages by virtue of his three-to-two advantage in central pawns and the possibility of a timely central break. Black’s 15. e4 c5?! (the exchange 15…dxe4 16. Nxe4 Qg6! holds the balance, as 17. Nc5 Bd5 18. Nd7?! Bxg2 19. Nxf8 Qc6! 20. Qxc6 Bxc6 cleverly traps the White knight), played after a long think, leads to trouble after 16. Qa3! b6 17. Rab1 Rfe8 18. dxc5, and Black has to find a string of tough moves just to stay in the game.

With his queenside in danger of collapse, Caruana skillfully deploys his queen — 19…Qg5! and 23…Qe2! — to complicate the play and pose annoying problems for White. By 27. Rf1 Kh7, Black is a pawn down but has acquired valuable compensation in the passed d-pawn that Gukesh must constantly monitor.

Both players were short on time in the game’s deciding passage: 33. a4 Qc6! (planning to meet the nasty-looking 34. Rf7 with 34…Qg6! 35. Bh5 Qxf7 36. Bxf7 d1=Q 37. Bxe8 Qe2+, and White dare not try to flee with 38. Kh3 Qf1+ 39. Kg4 Qe2+ 40. Kf4?? g5+) 34. Qd4 Qg6? (a tragic time pressure blunder when Black could finally reach safe harbor with 34…Ng6! 35. Bf5 [Qxd2 Qxe4+ 36. Bf3 Qxa4 37. Qd3 Re6 38. Bh5 Qc6+] Qc2 36. Kh3 Rf8 37. Qd6 Rf6, holding) 35. Rf4!, and the rook covers all White’s weaknesses and allows him to capture the dangerous d-pawn at his leisure.

A second pawn falls on 41. Qxd6 Rxd6, and Caruana resigns five moves later; given Gukesh’s superb recent form, there was little doubt he would convert the winning endgame.

Team chess can be a nerve-wracking affair, with one unexpected result putting the whole squad behind the eight-ball. Today’s diagram shows one such moment, when American second board GM Wesly So was battling Ukrainian great GM Vaily Ivanchuk, once one of the top players in the world, in a Round 4 match. Play is delicately balanced with So as Black holding three pawns for the White knight but needing to keep Ivanchuk’s scattered pieces from organizing a kingside mating attack.

Unfortunately for the U.S., So grabs the wrong rook: 43…R4a3+? (R2a3+!, keeping the possibility of a later …Rb4, was the way to go, as it’s equal after 44. Nf3 [Kf4?? f6] Rb4! 45. Rxb4 [Rc5? Rbb3] axb4 46. Rh8+ Kg7 47. Rb8) 44. Nf3 Re2?? (when it rains, it pours; Black could at least fight on after 44…Kg7 45. Rd7 Kf6 46. Rbb7 e5 47. Rxf7+ Ke6 48. h5 gxh5 49. Kf4 Rg2) 45. Rb7!, and the mating attack Black was trying to avoid arrives in full force.

Ivanchuk clinched the game (and the match upset for Ukraine) after 45…Re5 (Kg7 46. Rdd7 is just as bad) 46. Rxf7 g5 47. h5! Kxh5 46. Rf6, and Black resigned as he can only delay the inevitable with 48…Rxf3+ 49. Kxf3 Rf5+ 50. Rxf5 exf5 51. Rd5, with an easy endgame win.

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The American MVP in Budapest was WGM Carissa Yip, who took an individual gold for her sterling 9½-1½ score on Board 2 for the overachieving American women’s team. No win was more impressive or vital than the 21-year-old Yip’s Round 11 dismantling of strong Kazakh WGM Meruert Kamalidenova in a King’s Indian, in which White channels her inner Karpov to weave a positional masterpiece and clinch a 2-2 draw and secure the bronze for Team USA.

The retreat 13. Rab1 a5 14. b3 Bd7 shows that things have already not gone quite right for Black — despite solid development she has none of the usual KID counterplay as Black and no real way to hinder White’s patient build-up.

By 18. Nf3 exf4 19. Bxf4 Re8, the Black d-pawn is backward and weak, and, even worse, the d5-square in front of it is a perfect jumping-off place for White’s better-placed pieces. The half-open f-file represents yet another avenue for Yip to pressure the cramped Black defense.

Karpov-like moves such as 27. a3! (evicting Black’s only well-placed piece) and 31. Kh1! (taking one last precaution while advertising the helplessness of one’s opponent to resist) fuel a strong build-up and what seems an inevitable central breakthrough: 35. Bg3 (all White’s pieces are operating at maximum efficiency) Rd8 36. c5! (as powerful as it was inevitable; White’s position — almost — plays itself) Rfe8 37. cxd6 Ng5 38. Bc4!, introducing a new threat: 39. Bb5, winning the exchange.

Kamalidenova’s attempts to complicate the play only hasten her demise, as another pawn break seals the deal for Yip: 41. d7 Nf7 (Black has three pieces and a pawn trained on the e5-square, but it’s not enough) 42. e5! Nxe5 43. Rxe5! Qxa3 (fxe5 44. Rxf8+ Bxf8 [Rxf8 45. d8=Q wins] 45. Bxe5+) 44. Re8 Qxb4 45. Rfe1 (Bd6 was perhaps even more crushing, but Yip’s idea is plenty good enough) a3 46. Rxd8. Black resigns as White crashes through in lines such as 46…Rxd8 47. Re8+ Bf8 48. Qf7 a2 49. Qxf6+ Kg8 50. Bc4+! Qxc4 51. Qxf8 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Gukesh-Caruana, India vs. U.S., 45th Chess Olympiad, Budapest, September 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nf3 Rb8 6. cxd5 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 exd5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Nd2 Ne7 13. e3 Be6 14. Qa4 a6 15. e4 c5 16. Qa3 b6 17. Rab1 Rfe8 18. dxc5 d4 19. c4 Qg5 20. Rfd1 bxc5 21. f4 Qh5 22. f5 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Qe2 24. fxe6 Qxd2 25. exf7+ Kxf7 26. Qxc5 Kg8 27. Rf1 Kh7 28. Qe5 Qe3+ 29. Kh1 d3 30. Bh3 d2 31. Bg4 Qd3 32. Kg2 Qxc4 33. a4 Qc6 34. Qd4 Qg6 35. Rf4 Qg5 36. h4 Qg6 37. Qxd2 Rb8 38. Qd7 h5 39. Be6 Rb6 40. Bf7 Qd6 41. Qxd6 Rxd6 42. Bxh5 Nc6 43. Be2 a5 44. Bb5 Ne5 45. Rf5 Re6 46. Kf2 Black resigns.

Yip-Kamalidenova, U.S. vs. Kazakhstan, 45th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Budapest, September 2024

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 Nfd7 7. Nf3 a6 8. Qd2 c5 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Rfd1 Be6 13. Rab1 a5 14. b3 Bd7 15. Ndb5 b6 16. f4 Na7 17. Nd4 e5 18. Nf3 exf4 19. Bxf4 Re8 20. Bd3 Bc6 21. Bg5 f6 22. Bh4 Nc8 23. Bc2 Ra7 24. Nd4 Ba8 25. Rf1 Rf7 26. Rbe1 Na7 27. a3 Nc6 28. Nxc6 Bxc6 29. b4 Ne6 30. Bb3 Kh8 31. Kh1 Qd7 32. Nd5 Bxd5 33. Qxd5 a4 34. Ba2 Rff8 35. Bg3 Rd8 36. c5 Rfe8 37. cxd6 Ng5 38. Bc4 Qc8 39. Bb5 Qc3 40. Kh2 Rf8 41. d7 Nf7 42. e5 Nxe5 43. Rxe5 Qxa3 44. Re8 Qxb4 45. Rfe1 a3 46. Rxd8 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.