File image of Gukesh D.© X (Twitter)
The Indian men's chess team continued their solid show, moving closer to country's first ever medal in the open category at the ongoing International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess Olympiad at Budapest on Saturday. India defeated USA by 2.5-1.5 in the 10th round. D Gukesh, India's FIDE Candidates tournament winner, won against Fabiano Caruana by 1-0 to start things off. Though the prodigious R Praggnanadhaa recorded a rare failure against Wesley So by 0-1, India bounced back in the round with Arjun Erigaisi's 1-0 win against Leinier Perez while Vidit Gujrathi had a 0.5-0.5 draw against Levon Aronian.
Before this, Indian men's team had won eight rounds in a row before their streak came to an end with a draw in ninth round. India sits at the top of the table with 19 match points after 10 rounds.
With final round set to take place on Sunday, India is just one step away from getting the first-ever open section gold.
India's best performances in the Chess Olympiad include two bronze medals in 2014 and 2022. In an online Olympiad back in 2020 during COVID-19 though, India shared the gold with Russia.