India galloped to a historic, first-ever gold medal by defeating Slovenia with a 3.5-0.5 score in the final 11th round of the 45th Chess Olympiad to tally 21 points out of a possible 22 — the most dominating performance by any team in the last two decades. The Indian women also rose magnificently to the occasion, making it a double delight for India by winning the team gold, also a historical first defeating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 to tally 19 points. Both the Indian teams emerged clear cut champions and retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup awarded for the best Federation (Open + women standings). In fact, it was a clean sweep for India, winning all three titles at stake in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday. It was an amazing team effort by both the Indian teams in the fray.

Gold like never before