India Open With Men’s Win and Women’s Sweep at Chess Olympiad

India opened the 2026 Chess Olympiad with a 3-1 victory over Thailand in the Open section, while the defending women’s champions made an emphatic start by sweeping Dominican Republic 4-0 in Round 1. Gukesh Dommaraju, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi delivered wins for the Open team after Arjun Erigaisi suffered a surprise defeat on the first board.

The two results gave India a positive beginning across both sections. The men recovered strongly from Erigaisi’s setback to secure the tie, and the women completed a clean four-board result in their opening match of their title defence.

India’s Open team recover to beat Thailand 3-1

Thailand claimed the first point of the tie when Prin Laohawirapap defeated Arjun Erigaisi. Erigaisi’s 0-1 result was the sole loss for India, but the remaining three boards all went India’s way.

Nihal Sarin beat Thanadon Kulpruethanon to level the match, while Gukesh Dommaraju defeated Faris Rashid Alriyami. Vidit Gujrathi then completed the 3-1 scoreline with a win over Tupfah Khumnorkaew.

Gukesh’s victory was a key part of India’s response after the loss on the top board. With Sarin and Gujrathi also taking full points, India avoided an opening-round stumble and began their campaign with a clear team win.

The wider Open section produced an early statement from hosts Uzbekistan, who defeated Jamaica 4-0. The United States, the top seeds, dropped half a point in their opener after Levon Aronian drew against Iraq’s Ali Ehsan Aryan. Those results underlined that even the leading teams faced testing moments at the start of the Olympiad.

For India, the immediate outcome was encouraging: a three-point margin over Thailand and wins from three members of the four-player lineup. Erigaisi’s defeat stood out in an otherwise successful first-round performance for the Open side.

Women begin title defence with four straight wins

India’s women had no such complication against Dominican Republic, winning all four games to begin their defence in perfect fashion. Koneru Humpy beat Franchesca Ramirez, R Vaishali defeated Miguelina De La Rosa Martinez, Vantika Agrawal overcame Mary Gonzalez and Savita Shri Baskar won against Karla Mya Nunez Diaz.

Humpy, Vaishali and Savita Shri Baskar won their games comfortably, according to the match account. The closest contest came on board three, where Vantika had been promoted to the board in place of the resting Divya Deshmukh.

Vantika’s game against Gonzalez was largely even before a decisive error on move 45. Gonzalez offered a trade of queens, giving Vantika a straightforward route to promote a pawn and convert the point. That result sealed another win in a tie that India controlled from start to finish.

The 4-0 result gives the women’s team an ideal opening platform as the defending champions. Across the two sections, India finished Round 1 with seven wins from eight individual games, with the lone reverse coming in the Open match against Thailand.