Telangana CM announces cash reward of Rs 25 lakhs for Indian chess grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi, Harika Dronavalli

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 27 (ANI): After winning the double gold medals at the Chess Olympiad, Telangana Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, on Friday announced a cash reward of Rs. 25 lakhs for each Indian chess grandmaster, Arjun Erigaisi and Harika Dronavalli.

In the recently-concluded Chess Olympiad, India's men's and women's teams made history, securing gold medals for the first time in their respective categories and joining the elite company of countries to have pulled off a double of gold medals in the same edition of the competition. Revanth Reddy also felicitated the Arjun and Harika, who hail from the state of Telangana. Telangana Ministers Tummala Nageswar Rao and MLA Naini Rajender Reddy were also present during the event, along with Telangana Sports Authority Chairman Shiva Sena Reddy.

"Chief Minister @revanth_anumula garu congratulated Telangana's chess champions, @HarikaDronavali garu, (Khammam) and @ArjunErigaisi garu (Hanumakonda), for winning gold at the #FIDE 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest. This marks a historic achievement as they are the first Indian players to clinch gold at this prestigious event. During a special meeting at his Jubilee Hills residence, the CM honoured their incredible accomplishment by announcing a reward of Rs 25 lakhs each. Minister @Tummala_INC garu, MLA @naini_rajender garu, Telangana Sports Authority Chairman @ShivaSenaIYC garu and the athletes' families were attended the program," Telangana CMO wrote on X.

USA secured the second spot in men's competition and a bronze in women's competition. Uzbekistan won the bronze in men's competition, while Kazakhstan got silver in women's competition. In the final round of the tournament, India's men's team of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna beat Slovenia to clinch the gold medal.

It was the wins from D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi that gave India a 2-0 lead and confirmed the gold medal. Later in the final round, Praggnandhaa also won his game, and Vidit ended his bout with a draw. India defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 to seal the gold medal.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's chess team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, and Tania Sachdev also won gold after beating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5. Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal won their respective matches in the final round. While, R Vaishali drew her match against Ulviyya Fataliyeva. (ANI)