The Indian women's team lost to Poland in the 8th round as Harika and Vaishali lost their battles while Divya Deshmukh won hers.

The men's team's statement victory propelled Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh's rating close to the mark of 2800 and this is the first time ever that there are two Indians in top five of the world rankings.

China decided against making World Chess Champion Ding Liren play against challenger D Gukesh as India defeated China in the seventh round of 45th Chess Olympiad.

India beat arch-rival China in round seven of the open section of the Chess Olympiad 2024 at the SYMA Sports and Conference Centre in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

The Indian kept the applying the pressure with accurate moves and Wei eventually crumbled as he blundered while looking to promote his pawn. The game lasted nine more moves before the Chinese surrendered as Gukesh registered a win with the white pieces in a contest that lasted nearly six hours.

Uzbekistan became the first team to halt India's winning run at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in open section as both scored two points each with four draws in their round 9 match. Meanwhile, Vantika Agrawal scored a crucial win for India women as they drew their match against the USA to stay in contention for the gold medal.

The Indian men took their tally to 16 points out of a possible 16 to sit top of the standings. Of 32 games played, India haven’t lost a single one.

India are fast becoming the clear No 1 nation of world chess, with a ­dominance reminiscent of the ­legendary USSR teams of the 1950s and 1960s. After Thursday’s eighth round (of 11) at the 188-team ­Olympiad in Budapest,