In the 45th Chess Olympiad, the Indian men’s team in the open section sealed the match 3-1 against Azerbaijan, while the women’s team defeated Kazakhstan by a margin of 2.5-1.5 in round five at Budapest yesterday.

In the open section, Gukesh secured an easy victory as his opponent, GM Aydin Suleymanli, lost a pawn and subsequently wrecked his position. The World Championship Challenger made no mistakes and was the first to win on the top board. Arjun Erigaisi scored his fifth win in a row, outplaying GM Rauf Mamedov with the white pieces in an endgame. GM Praggnanandhaa had a comfortable draw with the black pieces against Nijat Abasov, while compatriot Vidit Gujrathi missed a winning chance and eventually ended up drawing his game. Team India continues to lead the leaderboard.

In the women’s section, GM Harika Dronavalli lost a rollercoaster game against IM Bibisara Assaubayeva on the top board. GM R. Vaishali scored a critical win with the white pieces on board 2, outplaying IM Meruert Kamalidenova. IM Vantika Agrawal defeated WIM Alua Nurman with the white pieces on board 4, whereas IM Divya Deshmukh drew her game against WIM Xeniya Balabayeva. Six more rounds remain in the Chess Olympiad.