Halfway Through the 45th Chess Olympiad: India Sets the Pace

As we reach the midpoint of the 45th Chess Olympiad, it's the perfect time to recap this grand event and prepare for its thrilling finale. Let’s take a look at the teams that have shown exceptional form so far and are contending for the Olympic chess gold.

Sticking to its traditional format, the 2024 Chess Olympiad spans 11 rounds. Yesterday, on September 17th, the 6th round concluded, and the participants are now enjoying a well-deserved rest day. So far, India has emerged as the most successful team in both the open and women’s sections.

India Leads in Both Open and Women’s Sections of the 45th Chess Olympiad

Six wins in six matches is an achievement only the Indian teams have managed to accomplish in this Olympiad. Both the women’s and open teams have been unstoppable, defeating every opponent they’ve faced. In the previous Olympic games in Chennai, India secured two bronze medals, and this year, the teams seem determined to surpass that result.

Photo by Maria Emelianova / FIDE's Flickr Page

Interestingly, India fielded two teams in the previous Olympiad, with its second team winning bronze. This year, they’ve combined the best young talents from both teams to create a formidable contender for the Olympic Champion title. The team features three young superstars — Gukesh (2764), Praggnanandhaa (2750), and Erigaisi (2778) — supported by the experienced GMs Vidit (2720) and Harikrishna (2686). Their team rating of 2753 is second only to the US team, which, unsurprisingly, entered the event with five 2700+ GMs.

Although the Indian team wasn’t the highest-rated in the open section, the women’s team started the Olympiad as the top seed and has justified that ranking so far. With two grandmasters — Harika Dronavalli (2502) and Rameshbabu Vaishali (2498) — on the top boards, India’s women’s team looks poised to continue their impressive performance as the event progresses.

Open Section Standings at the 45th Chess Olympiad

While India has done everything in its power in the first 6 rounds to take the sole lead, three other teams have also been highly successful in the early phase of the event. Vietnam, China, and Iran have all won 5 matches and drawn one, closely trailing the leaders by just 1 match point. In the Olympiad, a match win counts as 2 points, and a draw counts as 1 point. Ten more teams, led by Uzbekistan, are tied for fifth place with 10 match points. The competition remains fierce, with plenty of excitement ahead as we enter the final race for the Olympic gold.

See full standings on chess-results

Women’s Section Standings at the 45th Chess Olympiad

After six rounds, the leaderboard in the women’s section almost mirrors that of the open section. While India leads with a perfect 12/12 points, Georgia and Poland follow closely with 11 points, and nine teams are just 2 points behind. Right after the rest day, India will face one of its closest rivals — Georgia — in the seventh round.

See full standings on chess-results

Upcoming Schedule for the 45th Chess Olympiad

Except for the final round, the remaining rounds will start at 1 PM GMT (3 PM Hungarian Local Time). The final round will begin 4 hours earlier to accommodate the closing ceremony.

• Sep 18, 2024: Round 7, 3:00 PM GMT+2
• Sep 19, 2024: Round 8, 3:00 PM GMT+2
• Sep 20, 2024: Round 9, 3:00 PM GMT+2
• Sep 21, 2024: Round 10, 3:00 PM GMT+2
• Sep 22, 2024: Round 11, 11:00 AM GMT+2

Where & How to Watch the 45th Chess Olympiad

As usual, the Chess Olympiad is being streamed by major chess websites such as Chess.com and Lichess.org. Just a month ago, Chessify also released its new livestreaming page with a unique multi-game view, which works perfectly for team events like the Chess Olympiad. Our livestreaming page allows you to open up to 9 games side by side, enabling you to follow all the games of your country’s team in a single browser tab.

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All the games on Chessify’s livestreaming page are analyzed with the newly-released Stockfish 17 chess engine at 10,000 kN/s speed. Join our Discord community to discuss the games with other chess enthusiasts and to get quick help with Chessify-related questions.