Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi was just another Indian kid who dreamt of becoming a cricketer in his childhood before an accidental initiation to chess, which he feels was a 'very happy accident'.
Inspired by the iconic trophy lift of cricket captain Rohit Sharma during the 2024 T20I World Cup in June, the chess players replicated the gesture.
Harika Dronavalli, a seasoned player, fulfilled her lifelong dream of winning an Olympiad medal after two decades.
The Indian women's chess team etched their names in history by securing their maiden Chess Olympiad title, defeating Azerbaijan in a decisive 3.5-0.5 victory in Budapest.
Chess governing body FIDE's general assembly agreed to consider lifting parts of a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in a vote on Sunday in Budapest.
At the end of the 10th round, the Indian Open team is leading the pack with 19 points and the Women's team is ranked second with 17 points.
With Georgia likely to post a victory against overnight leader Kazakhstan, it seemed that the Indian eves were likely to regain the top position and become the firm favourites for the gold medal again.
Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis's double earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory.
An "embarrassed" All India Chess Federation (AICF) has filed a police complaint after a Chess Olympiad trophy its team won in the last edition of the tournament at home went missing from its office, forcing the sports body to arrange for a replica of the prized possession and tender an apology.
India became only the third country to win both the men's and women's gold medals at the same Chess Olympiad.
Following Arjun's win, World Championship challenger D Gukesh put it across Parham Maghsoodloo with black pieces, swindling the Iranian towards the end of the first time-control.
Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh sealed a remarkable Chess Olympiad campaign with a decisive victory over GM Vladimir Fedoseev on Sunday in Hungary.
'I like to be challenged by the strongest players on the planet, even though it's going to get more difficult with this young Indian generation coming up. But I am not entirely depressed.'
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi and Vaishali have trained at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) that the bespectacled chess wizard set up four years ago in Chennai. The 18-year-old Gukesh and the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa have often stated that they would not be where they are without "Vishy sir".
World number four Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi registered his sixth victory in as many games as the Indian team was poised to score its sixth straight win in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary on Monday.
Joining the elite 2,800 rated chess players club will get Arjun invites for top chess tournaments as well as better appearance fees.
Vantika Agrawal delivered when it mattered most as she defeated Grandmaster Irina Krush, helping India secure a 2-2 draw against United States.
World No 1 Magnus Carlsen narrowly avoided forfeiting his third-round game against Roberto Garcia Pantoja at the Chess Olympiad due to a late arrival.
India men dropped their first point, but carried enough steam to beat Hungary to maintain a clean slate in the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad.
In the open section too the Indian men were poised for an easy victory against Hungary 'B' team. The hero of the day was Arjun Erigaise who played a brilliant attacking game against Peter Prohazska and ended with a checkmate after a queen sacrifice.
India made history as both its men's and women's teams clinched their first-ever gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad. The men's team defeated Slovenia and the women's counterparts overcame Azerbaijan in the final round.
AICF officials are in search of the Gaprindashvili Cup that was won by Indian teams at the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai in 2022.
Defending champion Ding Liren says the in-form Dommaraju Gukesh is the big favourite to win their World Chess title showdown in November.
D GukeshGrandmaster R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal put up impressive performances as Indian women defeated Georgia while World Championship challenger D Gukesh led the men to victory over China in the seventh round as both teams continued their unbeaten streak in 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
The Indian men's team got off to another 3-0 start, led by Dommaraju Gukesh's triumph over H Stefansson of Iceland, in the second round.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi scored his fourth victory on the trot and gave India an early lead in the match against Serbia in the fourth round of the ongoing 45th Chess Olympiad.
Koneru Humpy's non-participation in the event has not hampered the team's chances much as Vaishali has jumped significantly in rankings and is a force to reckon with in the women's circle.
After scoring their fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men maintained their joint lead with 10 points along with China, Vietnam and Hungary.
'The Indian Open team was extremely well prepared and motivated to win the gold medal.' 'With two players in the world top 10 club, and four players with over 2,700 ELO points (GMs Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, all below 20) and Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna, it was a solid team.'
Erigaisi may have had to work harder but the Indian youngster, who is currently World number four, was never quite away from winning his game.
Chess icon Viswanathan Anand feels the current crop of Indian players, that he has had a role in shaping, has turned out to be "great" in grabbing crucial opportunities.
France overcame a slow start to beat neighbours Belgium 2-0 for their first points of the Nations League campaign.
Neeraj Chopra produced a season's best effort of 89.49m in his last attempt.
Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed a silver in the Paris Olympics on August 8 with a 89.45m throw
Brazil return to winning ways with dreary win over Ecuador in their World Cup qualifiers.
Anshu secured a Paris Games quota from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in April this year. Two months later, she won a silver medal at the Budapest Ranking Series.
Powered by awesome running from her team members Olympic 200m Gold medalist Gabby Thomas, 100m Bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, Sha'Carri Richardson ran a super fast final leg to ensure that the US won its first Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 relay since 2016.
The team couldn't maintain the momentum on the anchor leg.
Defending champion Neeraj Chopra signed off with a silver medal in the Olympics men's Javelin Throw in Paris on Thursday. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem was a class above the field, setting a new Games record of 92.97 metres for the gold medal.
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