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India won two medals (two silvers) at the Asian Games 2023 that took place in Hangzhou, China. The chess events took place from September 24 to October 7.
Ten chess players, including four grandmasters, plied their trade in the tournament. Gukesh D, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa formed the men’s team.
17-year-old Praggnanandhaa hogged the headlines after he gave Magnus Carlsen a run for his money in the final of the Chess World Cup.
The women’s team consisted of Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agarwal, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Savitha Shri B. Vaishali happens to be the sister of Praggnanandhaa.
The men’s team faced Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Philippines respectively in the nine rounds.
The women’s team, on the other hand, locked horns with Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and South Korea respectively in the nine rounds.
No joy for India in chess individuals at Asian Games 2023
While in team events, India did a fantastic job, the same cannot be said about the individual rounds. Harika Dronavalli finished fourth in the women’s individual event. Koneru Humpy, who was a part of the silver medal winning team, finished seventh in the women’s event.
Back in 2006, Humpy won the gold medal in both the individual and team events when the Asian Games took place in Doha. Harika clinched the bronze medal back in the 2010 Games in Guangzhou, but could not finish on the podium this time around.
In the men’s individual events in Hangzhou, Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi finished fifth and sixth respectively. Overall, India now have six medals in chess (two gold, two silver and two bronze) in the history of the Asian Games. Chess returned to the Asian Games after 13 years since last being played back in 2010 in Guangzhou.
