Chess Olympiad 2024: Hungarian GM Richard Rapport in Awe of India's Rise in The Sport

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Hungarian Grandmaster Richard Rapport is in awe of India's phenomenal rise in Chess following the country's historic double gold in the recently concluded Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest, Hungary.

India on Sunday (September 22) clinched their first-ever gold medal in the Chess Olympiad. The Indian contingent in fact managed to win the yellow metal in both the open and the women's section, having previously winning a bronze at best.

Rapport, who was one of the two players to manage a draw against an unstoppable D Gukesh in the Chess Olympiad, acknowledged India's rise in the sport, but added that he is "not entirely depressed".

"I like to be challenged by the strongest players on the planet even though it's going to get more difficult with this young Indian generation coming up. But I am not entirely depressed," Rapport told PTI.

The Indian men's team consisting of Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Srinath Narayanan, Pentala Harikrishna and R Praggnanandhaa secured 10 wins and 1 draw in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's chess team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, and Tania Sachdev also sealed their gold medal after beating Azerbaijan in the final round.

Rapport, who became Hungary's youngest GM when he achieved the title at 13 years of age after taking up chess to improve his grades in mathematics, also said he was also impressed with the performance of the Indian women's team in the 2024 Chess Olympiad.

"The ladies team was actually surprising. We are all focussing on the Open team but in that team, you had two players (Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi) who were playing just unbelievably. If you have (even) one player, you have a very good chance of winning a tournament but you had two," Rapport added.

"But in the ladies team, it was a very tight competition. They stood their ground and played really well, that's really impressive. I mean, look at Kazakhstan, they had a very strong ladies' team but, I don't want to insult anyone, an unremarkable team in the men's section. I mean decent players but not top players," he said. "...(but) your country is up there when it comes to chess."