Congratulations on the gold medal! With a couple of days gone since the big triumph at Budapest, can you grasp the importance of the double gold achieved by India?

It is still a bit early. But I can grasp that it is an historic achievement and I happened to be the captain of one of the strongest teams in the illustrious history of Chess Olympiads.

You received a heroes welcome in your home country. Everyone seems to want to have a moment with the heroes, to get a photo, handshake, or an autograph. How does that feel?

It feels great to receive such adulation from our honourable Prime Minister, Chief Minister, the union sports Minister, the State Sports Minister and our chess federation. It makes us feel as if our achievement matters. The love and affection shown by the people also fills us with immense joy.

Before the Olympiad you mentioned in the interview that “this team needs help more to relax rather than to be pushed” The result says that you have succeeded! Were there any difficulties on the path of achieving this relaxed state? Was there a moment where pressure could be felt?

It wasn’t difficult. The players were also on the same page. We decided that we will be positive in general with each other and not play blame games. We also awarded a star medal for one player on the each day. We kept this tradition all through. Overall we had a lot of fun. The only game where we felt some pressure was before the round against USA, as we knew at some level that we could almost finish the tournament by that point, and our opponents were very dangerous. But in general it was a smooth sail.

See: Gold for Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi / Final standings Olympiad

You had the spotlight on yourself from day 1 with choosing the board order and placing Arjun Erigaisi on board 4. Now that the Olympiad is gone, can you tell us the secret about this move?

Gukesh and Pragg have mostly played in elite events recently, with opposition rated 2700+ and in some cases 2750+. Arjun had been playing a lot of opens with players below 2700, with impressive success. The idea was to simply let them continue what they did well.

Both Arjun and Gukesh are at the door of the 2800 club. With the rating deflation hitting the top players, what does this mean for the future of Indian chess?

It is normal that in every cycle the new generation takes over and challenges the existing generation. In most cases the top representatives of the existing generation continue to fight and compete for a long time. I expect the continuation of the same in this cycle as well. Gukesh and Arjun reaching 2800 is quite impressive, but it’ll be a challenge for them to continue rising, with so many top players losing rating in recent times. I believe that there are a lot of underrated top players now who are not even rated 2700 anymore, but in terms of strength, continuing to retain their class.

You said in the previous interview, ” I feel optimistic about Gukesh’s chances. ” Has this optimism increased after he placed the second highest performance in history

I think Gukesh is certainly stronger at the present moment than Ding, and the same pattern continued in Olympiad. In terms of history, I think it is similar situation to the match between Carlsen and Anand in 2013 in Chennai. But Ding can draw hope from the fact that the stronger player/team doesn’t necessarily always win in sporting events. Despite being stronger, one has to continue to keep motivation and do a number of things right and not get complacent. In this sense, the match will definitely be interesting.

How about the ladies team. They had a blast, winning the title and two individual gold medals – Deshmukh Divya and Agrawal Vantika

The women’s team were great. Like the open team, the young girls in their team really shined. Before the 10th round, they were behind Kazakhstan but in the last two rounds, they really showed the difference. Winning the last round by a margin of 3.5-0.5 under pressure is not something I have seen before, and also highlighted the mettle of our women’s team.

In the past several days you and your team were meticulously giving interviews, answering questions, visiting celebratory events, and even answering tweeter congratulatory messages.

As I mentioned earlier, the love and affection by people fill us with immense joy as essentially any sport is played for the people watching. This victory is as much theirs as it is ours.

What do you think of the random chess player club?

The random chess player club :) The one tweet with Vishy and Gukesh was original and witty, but I am not impressed with the copies :P

Team India Open: Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna (captain Srinath Narayanan)

Team India women: Harika Dronavalli, Rameshbabu Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev (captain Abhijit Kunte)

Developing story, stay tuned for updates

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Top performer: Gukesh D with 3056 TPR

Board medals (open): Gold for Gukesh D, Nguyen Thai Dai Van, Arjun Erigaisi, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and Frederik Svane

Board medals (women): Gold for Zhu Jiner, Carissa Yip, Diviya Deshmukh, Agrawal Vantika, Dana Kochavi

The captain of the open section Srinath Narayanan said in an interview for Chessdom before the start of the Chess Olympiad, “With each edition the Indian team definitely seems to be having a step up.” Now India have the double gold and the Gaprindashvili Cup respectively, the highest achievement any national team can have in the sport in chess.

India started with the highest combined ELO in the competition. The open team took the sole lead in round 6 and never gave a chance to their opponents to catch them. A dramatic round 10 encounter between India and USA saw the Americans take the lead with Wesley So winning on board 2. However, World Championship Challenger Gukesh D and the highest rated Indian player Arjun Erigaisi stroke back to bring the match and the title for India, which practically secured the title

The women team of India had a more difficult task. Up until the last moment it was not known if India can secure the gold. Divya Deshmukh was the star of the team. She carried the Indian team on her back trough the competition and her last round victory contributed again for the success of the women team. Vantika Agrawal was also amazing, deserving a gold board medal. Replay games of India women team here

India also won the Gaprindashvili Cup for a second consecutive time the Gaprindashvili Cup, which is currently being searched for by the police

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Top performer: Gukesh D with 3056 TPR

Board 1

Gold: Gukesh D
Silver: Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Bronze: Magnus Carlsen

Board 2

Gold: Nguyen Thai Dai Van
Silver: Toni Lazov
Bronze: Ediz Gurel

Board 3

Gold: Arjun Erigaisi
Silver: Yu Yangyi
Bronze: Le Tun Minh

Board 4

Gold: Shamsiddin Vokhidov
Silver: Levon Aronian
Bronze: Alan Pichot

Board medals from Chess Olympiad 2024

The Olympiad had its ups and downs for the European teams. In the open section the team of Serbia, led by captain Miodrag Perunovic, was the most successful European team. They finished shared 2-6 with the same points as the medalists, but the tiebreak sent them to 5th position. All positions between 5th and 23rd were occupied by European teams.

In the women section Spain, led by Ivan Salgado Lopez, was tremendous and finished 4th – again only the tiebreak kept them away from the medals.

In the Gaprindashvili Cup Armenia won the bronze medal

Top 10 European teams open

5. Serbia
6. Armenia
7. Germany
8. Azerbaijan
9. Slovenia
10. Spain
11. Hungary
12. Turkiye
13. Greece
14. Norway

Final standings open section here

Top 10 European teams women

4. Spain
5. Armenia
6. Georgia
8. Ukraine
9. Poland
10. Bulgaria
13. Israel
14. Hungary
15. Azerbaijan
17. Greece

Final standings women section here

There were a total of 15 board medals won – 3 gold , 5 silver, and 7 bronze

Magnus Carlsen (NOR) – board 1 open bronze medal

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (SPA) – board 1 women silver medal

Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) – board 1 women bronze medal

Nguyen Thai Dai Van (CZE) – board 2 open gold medal

Toni Lazov (MKD) – board 2 open silver medal

Ediz Gurel (TUR) – board 2 open bronze medal

Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) – board 2 women silver medal

Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (SPA) – board 3 women silver medal

Elina Danielian (ARM) – board 3 women bronze medal

Alan Pichot (SPA) – board 4 open bronze medal

Anna Sargsyan (ARM) – board 4 women bronze medal

Frederik Svane (GER) – board 5 open gold medal

Benjamin Gledura (HUN) – board 5 open silver medal

Velimir Ivic (SRB) – board 5 open bronze medal

Dana Kochavi (ISR) – board 5 women gold medal

More: Board medals open section / Board medals women section

HT: SchachKatze

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Top performer: Gukesh D with 3056 TPR

Board medals (open): Gold for Gukesh D, Nguyen Thai Dai Van, Arjun Erigaisi, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and Frederik Svane

Board medals (women): Gold for Zhu Jiner, Carissa Yip, Diviya Deshmukh, Agrawal Vantika, Dana Kochavi

Alternative stream

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Top performer: Gukesh D with 3056 TPR

Board 1

Gold: Zhu Jincer
Silver: Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
Bronze: Nana Dzagnidze

Board 2

Gold: Carissa Yip
Silver: Elizabeth Paehtz
Bronze: Yuxin Song

Board 3

Gold: Deshmukh Divya
Silver: Sabrina Vega Gutierrez
Bronze: Elina Danielian

Board 4

Gold: Agrawal Vantika
Silver: Alice Lee
Bronze: Anna Sargsyan

Board 5

Gold: Dana Kochavi
Silver: Nodira Nadirjanova
Bronze: Lu Miaoyi

Board medals from Women Chess Olympiad 2024

Gaprindashvili team is awarded to the best team performance of the Chess Olympiad 2024, based on the sum of the ranks of the open and women teams. India won the cup, ahead of USA (silver) and Armenia (bronze)

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Chess Olympiad 2024 standings

Next: Chess Olympiad 2026 is in Uzbekistan

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Chess Olympiad 2024 standings

The gold medal of Gukesh is a special boost for his confidence ahead of the World Chess Championship match. His performance of 3056 is the second best in history.

Greg Mustreader says, “The highest ever performance rating in classical belongs to Fabi, with 3100 in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. Gukesh is now winning against Fedoseev in the last round of #ChessOlympiad2024, which will give him the 2nd best tournament performance of all time – around 3070, 9/10.”

Final standings open: India gold, USA Silver, Uzbekistan bronze (complete standings)

Final standings women: India gold, Kazakhstan Silver, USA bronze at the Women Chess Olympiad 2024 (complete standings)

Gaprindashvili cup: India wins ahead of USA and Armenia (final standings)

Top performer: Gukesh D with 3056 TPR