Explained: How can Indian men's and women's teams win gold at Chess Olympiad?

The Indian men's and women's chess teams are on the brink of winning historic gold medals at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary on Sunday. In the 11th and final round, the Indian men's team will face Slovenia, while the women will take on Azerbaijan.

A win or a draw against Slovenia would secure the gold medal for the Indian men, making it impossible for anyone to overtake them. However, if China beat the USA and India lose to Slovenia, the outcome will be decided by tie-breakers, specifically the Olympiad Sonneborn-Berger system.

The Sonneborn-Berger tie-breaker takes into account how a team performed against each of their opponents. It multiplies the board points India scored against each opponent by the final match score of those opponents.

Scenario: Indian men's road to gold

As per the Olympiad handbook, if teams finish with the same number of match points, their final positions are determined by this tie-breaking system.

The performances against Morocco and the Dominican Republic, the first-round opponents of India and China respectively, are likely to be excluded, as these teams had the lowest scores, and their results against India and China were identical.

Likewise, India and China had only one team in common, Uzbekistan, whose score was identical at 2.5. Hence the results of Uzbekistan's match will not impact their tie-breakers.

If both India and China win their final rounds, the performances of these opponents will also contribute to the final standings.

Slovenia, currently in third place, will not be an easy opponent for India, but given the form the Indian men have shown, it will be a tough test for Slovenia as well.

Meanwhile, the USA, led by Fabiano Caruana and having lost to India in the 10th round, will aim to end their tournament with a win against China. If that happens, India will have the upper hand and win the gold medal.

Indian women aim for outright win over Azerbaijan

In the women's section, the Indian team, who defeated China in the 10th round, are currently tied with Kazakhstan at 17 points after 10 rounds.

In the 11th and final round, India face Azerbaijan, while Kazakhstan take on third-placed USA. The outcomes of these matches will be crucial in determining the gold medal winners.

India are highly likely to secure the gold medal. However, if Kazakhstan beat the USA by a significant margin (3.5-0.5), India’s chances will be in jeopardy.

On the other hand, if India draw and the USA defeats Kazakhstan, the USA will win the gold.

Another possible scenario is if India draw and Kazakhstan win, Kazakhstan will claim the gold medal.

However, if both India and Kazakhstan end with draw, India will emerge as the champions. If India loses to Azerbaijan, they will be out of contention for the gold.

The final round is set to begin at 2:30 PM IST.