It is the Chess Olympiad season! Taking place from the 10th to the 23rd of September in Budapest, thousands of players will be representing their countries in the battle to win one of the most prestigious tournaments in the chess world and see their country’s flag at the top of the podium.

Seeded at number 2 in both the Open and the Women’s section, with an average rating of 2755 and 2458 respectively, Team India is one of the clear favorites to clinch the top spot. The teams compose of some of the brightest talents standing high in the world’s top ranking lists. 

India breathes and lives chess. With approximately 85 Grandmasters, 124 International Masters, 23 Woman Grandmasters (including some who also hold the IM title) and 42 Woman International Masters in the country, India is, no doubt, a chess powerhouse.

Join us as we learn more about Team India and the growth of chess in the country.

History of Chess in India

Chess is not new in India. Since the ancient times of Mahabharata and Ramayana there has been evidence of chess, then known as Chaturanga, an Indian version of the game and it is believed that chess originated first in India. The rules of the games were modified, and was then known as Shatranj as it is called today in many countries.

Centuries later came the era of Mir Sultan Khan who was born in 1905 in Mitha Tiwana (British India at that time, now Pakistan). He learned chess at the age of nine and was considered the strongest player of Punjab by 21. He became a national champion in 1928, and went on to win British championships in 1929, 1932, and 1933. He was often dubbed as the world's most natural player during his active years. Every mention of Sultan Khan must definitely include his win over Jose Raul Capablanca!

Masters from India

Manuel Aaron is India's first International Master, and he attained the title at the age of 26 in 1961. 

In addition to being a player, Aaron has contributed significantly to the growth of Indian chess by organizing many events and camps. His work as an administrator gave a big boost to Indian chess. He worked as a secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Association and as a chairman of the All India Chess Federation for many years.

Viswanathan Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1988 at the age of 19. He is a five-time World Champion and regarded as one of the greatest of the game. He won three consecutive world titles against Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand. His streak as the World Champion ended in 2013 when he lost to GM Magnus Carlsen 6.5-3.5 in Chennai, his hometown, considered the Mecca of Chess.

Viswanathan Anand’s contribution to the growth of chess in India has been very crucial. Being the first grandmaster and World Champion in the country he gave birth to a new era in the sport. He soon became the idol of many upcoming talents and those prodigies are now the face of Indian chess such as Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, Nihal Sarin, and many more.

To this date, Anand plays a huge role in every top chess player’s life from giving useful tips to training them to becoming champions of the game.

The Indian Olympiad Teams:

Open Section:

Captain: GM Srinath Narayanan

GM Arjun Erigaisi: India number one as of August 2024 and the 2022 National Champion - and rated number 4 in the world as we write this article!

GM Gukesh D: Winner of the 2024 Candidates Tournament, and the man who will challenge Ding Liren for the World Championship in Singapore.

GM Praggnanandhaa R: Bronze medal winner in the 44th Chess Olympiad and the youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final. 

GM Vidit Gujrathi: Winner of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 and captain of the 2020 Online Olympiad gold medal winning team.

GM Pentala Harikrishna: Youngest grandmaster of India at the time of attaining the title in 2001 and member of the gold medal winning Online Olympiad team.

Women’s Section:

Captain: GM Abhijeet Kunte

GM Harika Dronavalli: Second woman grandmaster from India and winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China.

GM Vaishali Rameshbabu: Third woman grandmaster of India and the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2023 and the sister of Indian prodigy GM Praggnanandhaa R.

IM Divya Deshmukh: 2022 Women's Chess National Champion, 2023 Asian Women's Chess Champion and the Women's Under-20 World Championship.

IM Vantika Agrawal: Bronze medal winner of the 2023 National Women’s Championship.

IM Tania Sachdev: Two-time Indian Women's Chess Champion and three-time and current Commonwealth Women's Chess Champion.

Indian Chessable Authors

From a pool of hundreds of extraordinary players of the game, we’re sure it would’ve been a hard decision to decide whom to field for the Olympiad. There are various other players who have engraved their name for being champions of the sport. Some of them are successful Chessable authors who consider themselves proud owners of their courses.

GM Surya Ganguly

GM Surya Ganguly is the former second of GM Viswanathan Anand in three of his world championship matches against Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand. He is also the trainer of GM Vidit Gujrathi and is an Arjuna Awardee. GM Ganguly is the author of one of the most popular Nimzo Indian courses on Chessable! You can check out his other courses here.

GM Ramesh RB

GM Ramesh RB is the chess coach of prodigies such as GM Praggnanandhaa R, GM Vaishali R, GM Aravindh Chithambaram, and many more. He was awarded the Dronacharya Award by the Government of India for his contribution to chess in India. He is also known for his Chessable courses Improve Your Chess Calculation and The Strategy Instructors!

GM Adhiban Baskaran

Nicknamed ‘The Beast’, GM Adhiban won the 2008 World Under-16 Champion and the 2009 Indian champion. He is also a two-time time Bronze medal winner for the Indian team in 2014 and 2022 and is the author of some finest Lifetime Repertoires such as the Lifetime Repertoires: 1. b3 and Lifetime Repertoires: Adhiban's 1. e4.

GM Swapnil Dhopade

GM Swapnil is the 3rd place winner with a score of 6.5/9 at the Isle of Man International Masters tournament 2017. He was also the coach for the Indian women's team at the World Team Chess Championship in 2019. He has a lot of Chessable courses written with Lifetime Repertoires: Benko Gambit being one of the people’s favorites!

GM S.P. Sethuraman

GM Sethuraman is the 2016 Asian Chess Champion and the bronze medal winner with the Indian team at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. He has authored some of the finest Chessable courses, such as Lifetime Repertoires: Sethuraman's 1. e4 e5.

This team has the ability to create history. Being one of the top-seeded squads, it will be interesting to watch what they can pull off in the 45th Chess Olympiad! In honor of the upcoming Olympiad and to celebrate India’s Independence Day, we’re putting all courses by Indian authors on sale now - and you can get up to 40% off. 

Check out these courses by our authors and make sure to show your support to them!