Chess Olympiad: Indian men beat Spain 3-1

The Indian men’s team continued their fine performance to defeat Spain 3-1 with World Champion D Gukesh leading the way with a very clean win over former World Cup challenger Alexei Shirov.

On a day when Arjun Erigaisi paved the way for Team India to go up early with a finely crafted attacking play at the second plate, R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by David Anton Guijarro while Nihal Sarin achieved the same against Jaime Santos Latasa.

Gukesh seems to have put aside thoughts of slipping below 2700 a few days ago and this second win on the trot is a testament to the true mettle the world champion possesses.

For the record, Shirov played the Sicilian Taimanov, but it never went according to his plans as Gukesh took the initiative early in the middle game with solid control over the dark squares. Shirov had reason to panic and did so by sacrificing the rook for a smaller piece, but the compensation was never enough. Gukesh correctly opened the middle and the rest was child’s play in this 42-run game.

Meanwhile, Arjun gave the team an early advantage with his white pieces as he countered the Queen’s Indian defense with a transposition. The middle game emerged with a dynamic balance and Arjun cashed in with a kingside attack, resulting in the creation of weaknesses around Black’s kingside. Arjun stormed in with his queen in seventh position to deliver the knockout blow.

Meanwhile, in the women’s section, India’s Evas lead 2-0 with B Savitha Shri continuing to impress with her fourth win on the trot against seasoned fighter Munguntuul Batkhuyag, while World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh also scored over Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar to give Team India an unassailable lead.

India Open Round 4 Results: India (8) beat Spain (6) 3-1; (David Anton Guijarro drew with R Praggnanandhaa; Maksim Chigaev lost with Arjun Erigaisi; Jaime Santos Latasa drew with Nihal Sarin; Alexei Shirov lost with D Gukesh).

Important results open 4th round: Uzbekistan (6) vs. Turkey (6); United States (6) vs. Ukraine (6); Serbia (6) vs. China (6); Germany (6) versus Poland (6); Greece (6) versus the Netherlands (6); Azerbaijan (6) vs. Czech Republic (6); Israel (6) versus Hungary (6); France (6) versus Romania (6); Argentina (6) versus Armenia (6); England (5) versus Singapore (6).

Indian Women’s Round 4 Results: India (6) Vs. Mongolia (6); (Mungunzul Bat-Erdene vs Koneru Humpy; Munkhzu Turmunkh vs R Vaishali; Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar vs Divya Deshmukh; Munguntuul Batkhuyag vs B Savitha Shri).

Important results round 4 women: Uzbekistan (6) vs. Argentina (6): Mongolia (6) vs. India (6); Armenia (6) versus Kazakhstan (6); China (6) versus Hungary (6); Spain (6) vs. United States (6); England (6) v Azerbaijan (6); Vietnam (6) versus Poland (6); Germany (6) versus Israel (6); Romania (6) versus Bulgaria (6); Serbia (6) versus Iran (6).

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

19 Sep 2026 21:52 IST