The first ceremonial move in the open section of 45th Chess Olympiad was made by Mr. László Bekefi, General Manager of Coca-Cola HBC Hungary, and Mr. Alexey Dmitrenko, Supply Chain Leader at Coca-Cola HBC Hungary. Coca-Cola, the official beverage partner, supplies the Olympiad with free soft drinks and water for players, media, and the organising team.

This ceremonial move set in motion the most important match in the open section: India vs. China. The highly anticipated first board encounter between Gukesh D and Ding Liren did not happen. Although the two are set to play the world championship match in November, China allowed Ding Liren to rest for this match. Tournament commentator GM Peter Svidler had a strong opinion about this: “I don’t think you will find very many examples of the reigning World Champion not playing board 1 in an absolutely critical central match of the Chess Olympiad… If China wants to win this Olympiad, they need to win today. It is very difficult to take points off this Indian team. The fact that Ding Liren is not sitting down to play chess today after the rest day is, I think, quite significant.”

The first game to finish in the match was a draw between Praggnanandhaa R and Yu Yangyi on board two. One of the intrigues of the round was whether Arjun Erigaisi, with a perfect 6/6 record so far, would continue his winning streak. Following the crazy complications in the middlegame, which were “all just forced”, as Arjun said after the game, Erigaisi, playing White, ended his winning streak by drawing with Bu Xiangzhi. It is worth noting that before going for a threefold repetition through a perpetual check, Bu thought for some 15 minutes, constantly checking on the other two games, trying to consider whether he might continue the game. “It’s only White who could, in fact, push,” commented Erigaisi. “If the situation on the other two boards was different, I might have needed to risk, but my teammates were doing fine.”

As Pentala Harikrishna made a draw with Wang Yue, the game where India could hope for a win was Gukesh D vs. Wei Yi. For a long time, it looked like it would also finish in a draw. However, Black’s defending task was anything but easy. Finally, after an excruciating battle, on move 71, Black erred, and Gukesh didn’t let go of this chance. A narrow 2.5-1.5 win for India! “I thought I’ll press this forever and see what happens,” commented Gukesh after the game. “I couldn’t lose it, so there was no pressure on me.”

Iran stopped the Vietnam miracle, confidently defeating them by 2.5-1.5. Three draws and Pouya Idani’s win on the last board elevated Iran to a clear second place. The team, headed by Parham Maaghsoodloo and Amin Tabatabaei, initially seeded 10th, will meet India in the next round. “They are a strong team, so we’ll just come and play some good chess!” said Gukesh.

In the women’s section, the first move for Harika was made by H.E. Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and Hussein Abdullah Khoury, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chess Club. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will host the 47th Chess Olympiad in 2028. With this, the crucial match between India and Georgia started.

India has had an ideal tournament so far, winning all their matches. Divya Deshmukh, on board three, had been the hero of the team with 5.5 points in 6 games. This time, she made a draw, but her teammates Vaishali R and Vantika Agrawal took the flag and raised it high, winning their games.

An amazing 3-1 victory against one of the favorites, Georgia, leaves no doubt that India means serious business to improve on their bronze finish in 2022!

An important match between Poland and Ukraine in the women’s section ended in a draw. After Alina Kashlinskaya, on the first board, defeated Yuliia Osmak in a nerve-wracking time trouble, things looked bright for Poland. However, Ukraine struck back with a win by Nataliya Buksa against Oliwia Kiolbasa on the third board. It means that India is now two match points ahead of the pursuers.

The Chess Olympiad broke another record in Round 7. Syria was the last team to arrive and get paired in the open section. It brings the total to 188 teams, setting an absolute record for the Chess Olympiads. In 2022 in Chennai, there were 186 teams in the open section. The women’s tournament also boasts the highest participation numbers: 169 teams are taking part, compared to 159 in Chennai.

Position of the day:

Yuliia Osmak (Ukraine, 2471) – Alina Kashlinskaya (Poland, 2490)

Black to move

28…Be4! Black is winning, but really needs to simplify and extinguish White’s kingside attack. 29.Rxe4 Nxd2 30.Rf4 Qb8, and soon (not without more tactical complications) Black set her queenside pawns in motion and won the game. 0-1

Results of the top matches:

Open:

(12) India 2.5-1.5 China (11)
(11) Iran 2.5-1.5 Vietnam (11)
(10) Uzbekistan 3-1 Ukraine (10)
(10) Serbia 3-1 Netherlands (10)
(10) Armenia 2.5-1.5 England (10)
(10) Lithuania 1.5-2.5 Hungary (10)
(10) France 2-2 Georgia (10) 

Women:

(12) India 3-1 Georgia (11)
(10) Ukraine 2-2 Poland (11)
(10) Azerbaijan 1-3 Kazakhstan (10)
(10) Armenia 2-2 USA (10)
(10) Mongolia 2-2 Germany (10)
(10) Spain 1.5-2.5 France (10)

Top standings after 7 rounds:

Open:

1. India – 14
2. Iran – 13
3-6. Uzbekistan, Hungary, Armenia, Serbia - 12

Women

1. India – 14 
2-4. Poland, Kazakhstan, France – 12

Full results and standings: Chess-results.com - 45th Chess Olympiad

Written by WGM Anna Burtasova

Photos: Michal Walusza, Mark Livshitz and Maria Emelianova

See more Round 7 photos on FIDE Flickr

Official website: chessolympiad2024.fide.com