Backed by the two in-form stars in World Championship challenger D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, the Indian men scored the necessary 2.5 points out of the possible three against Azerbaijan in the fifth round of the 45th Chess Olympiad here today.
It seems like Gukesh and Arjun can do nothing wrong in this Olympiad as they overpowered Aydin Sulemanli and Rauf Mamedov, respectively, with their white pieces in quick time.
R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw against Nijat Abasov on Board 2, ensuring an Indian victory irrespective of the result of Vidit Gujrathi, who drew against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
After scoring the fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men maintained a clean slate on 10 points and they were joined by Vietnam who continued with their impressive show and downed Poland 2.5-1.5.
The other two teams that entered the leaders' pack were China and Hungary who registered 2.5-1.5 victories against Spain and Ukraine, respectively.
In the women's section, Grandmaster D Harika suffered a shock defeat to give Kazakhstan an early lead. Better for most of the game, Harika misplayed after many pundits believed her position to be winning against Bibisara Assaubayeva.
On the fourth board, Vantika Agarwal yet again played the anchor and won a clean game with white pieces against Alua Nurman, while Divya Deshmukh split the point with Xeniya Balabayeva. Grandmaster R Vaishali defeated Meruert Kamalidenova to seal the match for India, who joined Armenia and Mongolia in the lead on 10 points.
