PM Narendra Modi gets a special gift from Indian chess star Vantika Agarwal for winning double gold

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a special gift from chess star Vantika Agarwal during his meeting with the double gold winners of the Chess Olympiad 2024. During the meeting, PM Modi recalled that he had organized the ‘Swarnim Chess Mahotsav’ as part of his Khel Mahakumbh initiative in 2010 as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 2012, he organized the ‘Swami Vivekananda Women’s Chess Festival’ in Gandhinagar, in which 3,500 women chess players participated. Vantika also participated in the event and presented a photo of that event to PM Modi.

In the picture, Prime Minister Modi is seen felicitating Vantika during the event and he expressed his happiness on receiving such a ‘special’ gift.

An amazing interaction with the Indian Chess Team that won the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Must watch! https://t.co/1fALfjTOe7

– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 26, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday witnessed a game of bullet chess between two members of India’s 45th Chess Olympiad winning team, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, during the visit of the Indian men and women chess teams to his residence.

In the recently concluded Chess Olympiad, India’s men’s and women’s teams created history by winning gold medals in their respective categories for the first time, joining the league of countries to win double gold medals in the same edition of the competition.

Following this remarkable achievement, Prime Minister Modi met the Indian men’s and women’s chess teams at his residence on Wednesday and celebrated their success at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess Olympiad.

The Prime Minister shared a video of Praggnanandhaa and Arjun playing bullet chess on his official social media, captioning it: “Bullet chess by two Grandmasters. Unbelievable! India’s chess future is very bright.”

In the men’s event, the US finished second, while Uzbekistan won the bronze medal. In the women’s event, Kazakhstan won the silver medal, while the US won the bronze medal.

In the final round of the tournament, the Indian men’s team—consisting of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna—defeated Slovenia to win the gold medal. Gukesh and Arjun’s wins gave India a 2-0 lead, securing the gold medal. Praggnanandhaa later won his game and Vidit drew his game, resulting in India winning 3.5-0.5.

Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team—comprising Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev—also won the gold medal after beating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5. Harika, Divya and Vantika won their respective matches in the final round, while Vaishali drew her game against Ulviya Fataliyeva.

(With ANI inputs)