Indian men score resounding 3-1 victory over Spain, women crush Mongolia
The Indian men's team continued its fine performance, downing Spain 3-1 as world champion D Gukesh led the way to success with a very clean victory over former world championship challenger Alexei Shirov at the Chess Olympiad here on Saturday.
Arjun Erigaisi paved the way for Team India to go one up early thanks to a finely crafted attacking game on the second board. Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by David Anton Guijarro, and Nihal Sarin settled for the same result against Jaime Santos Latasa.
Gukesh apparently put aside the thoughts of going a little below 2700 behind him just a couple of days ago, and this second victory on the trot proves the true mettle that the world champion possesses.
For the record, it was a Sicilian Taimanov by Shirov which never went according to plan, as Gukesh seized the initiative early in the middlegame with firm control over the dark squares.
Shirov had reasons to panic and he did so by sacrificing a rook for a minor piece, but the compensation was never enough. Gukesh correctly opened up the centre and the rest was child's play in this 42-move game.
Arjun gave an early advantage to the team with his white pieces as he faced the Queen's Indian defense by transposition. The middle game appeared with a dynamic balance and Arjun cashed in with some king side attack that resulted in creating weaknesses around the black king side.
Arjun invaded with his queen on the seventh rank to deliver the knockout punch.
In the women's section, meanwhile, the Indians scored an identical 3-1 win over Mongolia.
B Savitha Shri continued to impress with her fourth victory on the trot against seasoned Munguntuul Batkhuyag while World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh also scored over Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar for an unassailable lead for team India.
Much later, R Vaishali and Koneru Humpy drew their games to ensure another fine win for the team that is seeking its second gold in the biennial event.
Indian results round 4 open: India (8) beat Spain (6) 3-1; (David Anton Guijarro drew with R Praggnanandhaa; Maksim Chigaev lost to Arjun Erigaisi; Jaime Santos Latasa drew with Nihal Sarin; Alexei Shirov lost to D Gukesh).
Important results round 4 open: Uzbekistan (8) beat Turky (6) 2.5-1.5; United States of America (8) beat Ukraine (6) 3.5-0.5; Serbia (6) lost to China (8) 1-3; Germany (8) beat Poland (6) 2.5-1.5; Azerbaijan (7) drew with Czech Republic (7) 2-2; Israel (6) lost to Hungary (8) 1.5-2.5; France (7) drew with Romania (7) 2-2; Argentina (6) lost to Armenia (8) 1.5-2.5; England (7) beat Singapore (6) 3-1.
Indian results round 4 women: India (8) beat Mongolia (6) 3-1; (Mungunzul Bat-Erdene drew with Koneru Humpy; Munkhzu Turmunkh drew with R Vaishali; Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar lost to Divya Deshmukh; Munguntuul Batkhuyag lost to B Savitha Shri).
Important results round 4 women: Uzbekistan (8) beat Argentina (6) 3-1: Mongolia (6) vs India (6); Armenia (6) lost to Kazakhstan (8) 1-3; China (8) beat Hungary (6) 3.5-0.5; Spain (6) lost to United States of America (8) 0.5-3.5; England (6) lost to Azerbaijan (8) 1.5-2.5; Vietnam (6) lost to Poland (8) 1-3; Germany (8) beat Israel (6) 3-1; Romania (8) beat Bulgaria (6) 3.5-0.5; Serbia (8) beat Iran (6) 3.5-0.5.- EndsPublished By: Saurabh KumarPublished On: Sep 19, 2026 21:52 IST
