D Gukesh And Co Stress On Team Spirit After Chess Olympiad Heroics

A dream come true, a nice feeling. The maiden Chess Olympiad gold meant different things for the members of the five-strong Indian men's team, spearheaded stupendously by the youngest ever challenger to the world title -- D Gukesh. The 18-year-old issued a statement of sorts ahead of his eagerly-anticipated world championship clash in November against Ding Liren of China by registering one of the best ever individual performances in the just-concluded 45th Olympiad. "I am just super happy right now," Gukesh said after winning his final round game against giant-killer Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia on Sunday.

It was a sensational display by the teenager on the top board for India as he notched up nine points out of his 10 games conceding just a couple of draws besides eight victories.

This phenomenal performance helped the team clinch gold as India scored a dominating 21 points out of a possible 22, winning 10 and drawing just one match against last Olympiad winners Uzbekistan.

"It was a very nice experience for me personally and for the team...this was basically a dream (come true)," Gukesh said in the final press conference of the Olympiad.

The women too won gold and both the teams were seen jumping in joy at the podium.

Another key contributor to the men's success was Arjun Erigaisi, who scored 10 points playing all the 11 games in the event. He has now elevated himself to number three in live world rankings behind Magnus Carlsen of Norway and American Hikaru Nakamura.

With a rating of 2797 currently, Arjun is just three points shy of the magical 2800 mark and totally five behind Nakamura. Carlsen, on 2830, is still some distance away.

Humble as he is, Erigaisi quickly pointed out that it did not matter too much.

"It's