45th FIDE Chess Olympiad to begin in Budapest, Hungary

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad will begin today in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The 12-day biennial event will feature over 1,800 players, with 193 national teams registered in the open section and 181 teams competing in the women’s section.

India will enter the open section as the second-seeded team, just behind the USA. It boasts a supremely talented lineup, including world championship challenger D. Gukesh, world no. 4 Arjun Erigaisi, and world no. 12 R. Praggnanandhaa.

They are well supported by the experienced shoulders of Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna, making India one of the strongest contenders.

In the women’s section, India has fielded an equally strong lineup led by Dronavalli Harika. Newly minted GM R. Vaishali will be joining the team with Divya Deshmukh, along with Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev.

As the second-seed team behind Georgia, India is well-positioned to make a strong impact. India, which hosted the previous edition, bagged bronze medals in both open and women’s sections.