Chess Olympiad 2024 Round 7 Highlights: Gukesh defeats Wei Yi to hand India victory; Vantika Agrawal, Vaishali help women’s team win

And with that, we have come to the end of our live coverage from round 7 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. 

Here are the standings from the women's section after India's win over Georgia. India were already the sole leaders heading into Round 7, but Wednesday's victory sees them take a two-point lead over Poland, Kazakhstan and France. 

Here are the standings from the open section after India's win over China. India were already the sole leaders heading into Round 7, but Wednesday's victory sees them sustain their one-point lead over Iran. 

In the end game, Gukesh had two more knights on the board whiel Wei Yi had a rook. Gukesh out-maneuvered Wei Yi and ensured he claimed a famous victory from there to hand India two more game points as they lead the standings by 14 points. There are four more rounds left at the Chess Olympiad. 

One of the most famous wins for Gukesh, who was in trouble at one stage but ground out a win over China's Wei Yi. remember, China had prevented a battle between Gukesh and Ding Liren on the top board but resting the world champion. 

WHAT A VICTORY FOR HTE 18-YEAR-OLD FROM INDIA! 

Gukesh defeats Wei Yi in a 80-move thriller that raged for almost 6 hours!!!

The result means India have now beaten China and have 14 points after round 7. 

The Indian team has brought down the mighty Georgian team with two draws and two wins. 

The star of the round for India should be Vantika Agrawal, who is playing on the fourth board, and takes down a grandmaster in the form of GM Bella Khotenashvilli. Vaishali also defeated IM Lela Javakhishvili. The Georgian team were among the favorites before the event started.

They are a traditional chess superpower with nine medals in total (four gold, two silver, three bronze). While their latest Olympiad medal was a silver in 2022 after losing a close contest with champions Ukraine, their golds were won in the 90s, with the team still led by the legendary Nona Gaprindashvili.

After two draws, Vantika hands India an advantage with victory. 

Take a look at how that game played out: 

Harika draws with India holding the edge in the other two boards. Both Vantika and Vaishali hold steep edge over their opponents. 

Here's how the Harika game played out: 

So in the endgame of the Gukesh vs Wei Yi match, Gukesh has two inter-connected knights while his opponent has a rook on the board. 

Vaishali and Vantika both hold the upper hand over their opponents as India take on Georgia in the seventh round of the women's section.

A special mention for Vantika here: By the time she had made her 20th move, Vantika was down to just 6 minutes on the clock while her opponent, Bella Khotenashvili had over 25 minutes on the clock! By the time she had played her 21st move, Vantika was further down to just over one mintue on the clock. She had 19 more moves left before reaching the time control. But she's played her heart out and now finds herself with a heavy advantage on the board. She has an additional knight and an additional pawn on the board, while her opponent has an extra bishop. 

Just take a look at how the game has played out so far. 

Another draw for India, this time in the women's section. 

International Master Divya Deshmukh holds grandmaster Nino Batsiashvili to a draw! This draw hands India a slight advantage in the tie against Georgia as Vantika (playing with black pieces) and Harika (white) both hold slight edge over their opponents. 

And Vaishali, with black pieces, holds a massive advantage over her opponent. 

So there are two draws in the India vs China clash after Arjun Erigaisi agrees to a draw! Here are all the moves in the game so far! 

1 e4 e5
2 f3 f6
3 xe5 d6
4 f3 xe4
5 c3 xc3
6 dxc3 e7
7 e3 O-O
8 d2 d7
9 O-O-O f6
10 d3 e8
11 h3 d7
12 he1 c5
13 g5 h6
14 xf6 xf6
15 e4 a5
16 a3 ab8
17 f4 b5
18 xd6 b4
19 xf6 bxc3
20 bxc3 xc3
21 d6 xa3+
22 d2 a5+
23 c1 a1+
24 d2 a5+
25 c1 a1+
26 d2 a5+

The game between Arjun Erigaisi and Bu Xiangzhi has ended in a draw after 26 moves. Here's a look at how the game played out. 

So we now have two draws in the India vs China match in Round 7 as Pragg also drew.

After his 19th move, Gukesh, who is playing on the top board for India, is worse on the board according to the evaluation bar. 

Gukesh has 18 minutes to make 21 moves! This is what the board looks like after Gukesh played his move. 

Arjun Erigaisi takes 32 minutes to make his 23rd move! from having just over 49 minutes on the clock, Arjun is now down to 17 minutes. He moves his king out of harm's way: his king on the d2 square was under a check from Bu’s queen on a5. Arjun shifts the king to c1 and the engine's eval bar still shows that both positions are equal. 

Vaishali Rameshbabu's game against Lela Javakhishvili saw a Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation on the board. 

After 13 moves, we had to bid adieu to both the queens on the board. Vaishali up a knight, Lela up a bishop on the board.

The evaluation bar shows a slight advantage for Vaishali! 

Here's how the GM Harika Dronavalli (2502) vs GM Nana Dzagnidze (2508) game has shaped up, where the Indian has has a slight advantage on the clock. She has one additional bishop on the board while Nana has one more knight in the fray. 

Arjun has 30 more minutes on the clock after 20 moves. 

Bu Xiangzhi's queen bearing down on Arjun's king! Arjun is down a pawn, while the Chinese player is down a knight. This is a very exciting game already and Arjun, who has won all his six games so far, could have another decisive result today. 

Just look at how Bu Xiangzhi has managed to carve open Arjun Erigaisi's queen side! 

Here's what the board looks like: 

A DRAW FOR PRAGG! A decent result for India as Pragg chooses to draw with the black pieces. He had five more minutes on the clock. 

Recap of the start from the Pragg vs Yu Yangyi game: We saw a Queen's Gambit Accepted on the board from Pragg. Yu Yangyi's rooks were very active, but we have a photographic draw on the board after 17 moves.

Here are all the moves played on the board: 

1 d4 d5
2 c4 dxc4
3 f3 f6
4 e3 e6
5 xc4 c5
6 O-O c6
7 e2 a6
8 d1 b5
9 dxc5 c7
10 d3 xc5
11 a4 bxa4
12 xa4 O-O
13 d2 b7
14 c1 d6
15 d1 c7
16 c1 d6
17 d1 c7

Here's what the final board looks like: 

The Chinese grandmaster, playing with black pieces today, has opted for a modern variation of the Sicilian Defence against Gukesh. After a very quick start, the match has slowed down as we enter the middle game. So far, while Gukesh has lost a bishop, his opponent has lost a knight. 

Remember, it could have been Gukesh vs Ding Liren, in a match that would have foreshadowed the World Chess Championship battle in November-December this year. 

But China chose to rest Ding Liren after he lost in the previous round against Vietnam's Le Quang Liem.

Here are the first 10 moves from both players: 

1 e4 c5
2 f3 d6
3 c3 f6
4 e2 e5
5 c4 e7
6 d3 c6
7 g5 O-O
8 xf6 xf6
9 d5 e6
10 d2 a6

Here is what the board looks like after the first 10 moves from both players:

The organisers of the Chess Olympiad announce that the Syrian contingent has arrived. Syria thus becomes the last team to arrive and get paired in the open section starting from Round 7.

This takes the total number of teams competing at the Chess Olympiad's open section to 188 teams, which is the new recordat the Chess Olympiads.

At the 2022 edition in Chennai, there were 186 teams in the open section.  

The women’s tournament at the Budapest Olympiad also boasts the highest participation numbers: 169 teams take part, in comparison to 159 in Chennai.

On Tuesday, the only rest day at the Chess Olympiad, the organisers of the Budapest event put together a special exhinition football game. A few chess players competing in the Olympiad took part. The most notable name among those was world champion Ding Liren.

Here are a few glimpses of Ding Liren playing football. (PHOTOS via Michal Walusza/FIDE)

The Chess Olympiad resumed today with the round 7 being played. After round 6, there was a rest day. There was also a Bermuda Party on the evening of Monday.

The Bermuda Party is now a tradition at Chess Olympiads, with a rich history and really colourful tales. 

Chess events ordinarily are grim affairs with players being 'in the zone' all throughout. But the Bermuda Party allows players to let their hair down for a few hours. 

Read more about the colourful history of the Bermuda Party.

So the India versus China game will not see a Gukesh vs Ding Liren clash after China decide to rest the world champion. Gukesh and Ding are to play each other in the world championship in Singapore later this year. 

Ding had lost his last game with white pieces against Vietnam's Le Quang Liem while Gukesh had drawn against Richard Rapport, the man who assisted Ding Liren at the world championship where became the world champion.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage from the round 7 of the Chess Olympiad where India face China in the open section while the Indian women's team is taking on Georgia.