Vidit Gujrathi hails Olympiad 2024 win: 'Golden era for Indian chess'

After winning the Chess Olympiad 2024 Vidit Gujrathi a member of Indias victorious mens squad remarked that the golden era of chess has just begun for his countryIndia delivered a remarkable performance at the Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest securing gold medals in both the mens and womens events on SundayWe can call it a golden era for Indian chess as gold has been won The same team competed in the Asian Games but I think everyone has stepped up their game over the past year We were winning by significant margins and it was a dominant performance Vidit said while speaking to ANIThe chess player also addressed the incident where he missed shaking hands with his opponent Levon AronianI have a routine of meditating before every match which helps me stay focused and perform better I was busy with that which is why I missed shaking hands with him When I opened my eyes I then shook hands with him the 29yearold explainedAlso Read Say ChessVidit also highlighted the Indian teams stellar achievement of remaining unbeaten in the tournament which included 43 wins and one draw in 44 matches stating that it would be difficult to break this record even for themselvesEveryone was saying we were among the favourites but nobody expected this level of performance from us In the history of the Chess Olympiad this is the highest score ever recorded It was unprecedented and I dont think even we will be able to break our own record in the future he addedThe 29yearold player also spoke about the growth of chess in IndiaIts similar with every sport People discovered Neeraj Chopra after he won gold at the Olympics and then they began staying up late to watch his events Similarly cricket gained massive popularity after India won the 1983 World Cup These moments act as catalysts for increasing engagement with sports that arent traditionally popular They inspire youngsters to take up these sports Vidit saidAlso Read Rookja nahin tu kahin haarkeHe concluded by praising his teammates D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi for their outstanding performances throughout the tournamentEveryone played their part but Arjun and Gukesh went above and beyond Gukesh won a crucial match against China for us and Arjun was winning with both black and white pieces These two were exceptional and its hard to deny that Vidit concludedThe USA secured second place in the mens competition and bronze in the womens Uzbekistan won the bronze in the mens competition while Kazakhstan took silver in the womens eventIn the final round Indias mens team consisting of D Gukesh R Praggnanandhaa Arjun Erigaisi Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna beat Slovenia to claim the gold medalIt was the victories from D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi that gave India a 20 lead securing the gold medal Later in the final round Praggnanandhaa also won his game and Vidit ended his with a draw India defeated Slovenia 3505 to seal the gold medalMeanwhile the Indian womens chess team of Harika Dronavalli R Vaishali Divya Deshmukh Vantika Agarwal and Tania Sachdev also won gold after defeating Azerbaijan 3505Harika Dronavalli Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agarwal won their respective matches in the final round while R Vaishali drew her game against Ulviyya FataliyevaWith agency inputs