D Gukesh wins as India’s men beat Italy 3-1; women remain top after round three

World champion D Gukesh returned to winning ways as India’s men defeated Italy 3-1 in the third round of the 46th Chess Olympiad on Friday, while the Indian women beat Greece 3.5-0.5 to stay atop the standings after three rounds.

India fielded its strongest men's lineup for the first time in the tournament and Gukesh made an immediate impact on the fourth board, playing Black against Sabino Brunello. Employing the Queen's Indian Defence, Gukesh created a sharp, dynamic position and converted the advantage in just 33 moves; the report notes he was already close to winning by around move 20 and finished the game 13 moves later.

Nihal Sarin continued his fine form by defeating Francesco Sonis after opening with a Trompowsky Attack as White. Sarin capitalised on an error from Sonis, took over on both flanks and won material when the Italian lost a rook, a mistake from which Sonis could not recover.

India’s top-board pairings produced draws: R Praggnanandhaa was held by Lorenzo Lodici for the second successive day, and Arjun Erigaisi secured a half-point after surviving some difficult moments against Luca Moroni Jr. Those results combined with the two wins ensured a 3-1 overall victory against an Italy side composed entirely of Grandmasters.

The Indian women's team produced a comprehensive 3.5-0.5 win over Greece. Koneru Humpy defeated Stavroula Tsolakidou, Vantika Agrawal beat Ekaterini Pavlidou, B Savitha Shri registered her third straight win by defeating Antonia Christodoulaki, and Divya Deshmukh drew with Anastasia Avramidou, leaving India top of the standings after three rounds.

With eight rounds remaining in the 11-round tournament, the competition will now become significantly tougher as the leading teams begin facing one another, and the next few rounds could prove important for India's men's and women's teams as they look to stay in contention for medals at one of the biggest events on the chess calendar.