Chess Olympiad 2024 Round 8 Highlights: Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi win; Pragg draws

The Indian team defeated Iran 3.5-0.5 after victories for Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi while Praggnanandhaa drew on the second board. 

The result means India are now on 16 points while Iran, who were second in the standings coming into the 8th round, are still on 13 match points!

Three more rounds to go in the Budapest Chess Olympiad! 

Also pertinent to note that while Gukesh is up a knight, Parham has three more pawns on the board.

Meanwhile, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa both down to single digits on the clock. Parham Maghsoodloo has a full 10-minute advantage over Gukesh with 25 moves in the book. This means the 18-year-old who will play in the World Chess Championship later this year has to play 15 more moves in just over 14 minutes (including the 30 seconds you get as increment for each move).

A very fascinating position on the board in the fourth game between Vidit Gujrathi and Pouya Idani. Vidit currently up a knight. But just look at those three pawns who are standing in a straight line in front of his king. Idani's pieces on the prowl. But Vidit has done well to organise his defence. Both players with almost the same time on the clock. Expect fireworks soon enough on board four of India vs Iran.

An overview of all the four boards in the open section in the round 8 game between India and Iran. If India win today, they will put daylight between themselves and the rest of the field. And the evaluation bar shows Gukesh, on the top board, having an advantage over his opponent Parham Maghsoodloo. He's also ahead on time, which is critical because Gukesh is a calculation-based player who loves to have time on the clock to plot lines. 

Meanwhile, on board 2, Pragg is almost 20 minutes behind on the clock against his opponent.

On the top board of the India vs Iran round 8 match in the open section, Gukesh is down a pawn and a bishop while Parham is down a knight. The Indian teenager is slighty behind on time.

The eval bar suggests both players are in a equal position. 

Here are the first 11 moves from the Arjun Erigaisi vs Bardiya Daneshvar game on board 3 in the open section. 

1 Nf3 d5
2 g3 Nf6
3 Bg2 c5
4 O-O e6
5 c4 d4
6 d3 Nc6
7 e3 Nd7
8 Na3 e5
9 Nh4 dxe3
10 fxe3 Nf6
11 Nb5 Bg4

So Daneshvar opting for a King's Indian Attack against Arjun Erigaisi. Arjun has a slight advantage on the clock while on material, both players are still equal. The eval bar also very indecisive at the moment. 

A Queen's Gambit Declined in the Pragg vs Amin Tabatabaei game as well. Pragg playing with white pieces.

12 moves into the game, this is how the game has developed. 

Here are all the moves on the board so far:

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nf3 Nf6
4 g3 Be7
5 Bg2 O-O
6 O-O dxc4
7 Qc2 a6
8 a4 Bd7
9 Qxc4 Bc6
10 Bf4 Bd6
11 Qc1 h6
12 Nc3 Nd5 

The Iranian top board player has had three wins and three draws in six games so far at the Chess Olympiad. 

Round      Name                                          Federation                 Rating               Result    
1               CM Tan Jun Ying                           MAS                           2322                    WIN    
3               GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil               GEO                          2574                     WIN    
4               GM Bjerre Jonas Buhl                   DEN                           2648                  DRAW    
5               GM Rodrigue-Lemieux Shawn      CAN                           2509                    WIN    
6               GM Carlsen Magnus                     NOR                           2832                   DRAW   
7               GM Le Quang Liem                       VIE                             2741                   DRAW   

We have a Queen's Gambit Declined (the Queen's Knight Variation) on the board in the game between Gukesh and Parham. After defeating China's Wei Yi in the seventh round with white pieces in a 80-move epic, Gukesh is playign with black pieces on the top board against Parham. 

Here are all the moves so far:

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 c3 c5
4 cxd5 exd5
5 f3 f6

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the round 8 of the Chess Olympiad. 

The Indian team is taking on Iran in the open section while the Indian women's team is taking on Poland.