World champion D Gukesh, along with GMs Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa, once again led the way as the Indian men secured a convincing 3.5-0.5 win over Uzbekistan-2 in the 10th and penultimate round of the 46th Chess Olympiad being held here.
The Indian women, meanwhile, survived a tense contest against tournament leaders China before settling for a 2-2 draw, keeping their medal hopes alive.
B Savitha Shri registered her eighth win of the tournament by defeating Zhai Mo. The Indian has now collected an impressive 8.5 points from nine games.
In the open section, Uzbekistan-1 continued to lead the standings with 18 points after another dominant win, this time against Armenia. The Uzbek team also secured a 3.5-0.5 victory and continued to look extremely strong.
India are alone in second place with 17 points and remain in a strong position to secure the silver medal. However, to successfully defend the gold medal they won at the previous Olympiad, India will need a convincing win in the final round while also hoping that Uzbekistan suffer defeat.
In the women's competition, China also moved to 18 points and maintained a one-point advantage over Kazakhstan, who climbed into sole second place after defeating France 2.5-1.5. India are third with 16 points.
Nihal Sarin was the first Indian player to register a win against Uzbekistan-2. Playing with the black pieces, he won a couple of pawns early on and applied pressure on Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov.
Gukesh then added another victory after Ortik Nigmatov was unable to match the world champion. Arjun Erigaisi drew his game on the second board, while Praggnanandhaa sealed India's comprehensive win by defeating Jakhongir Vakhidov.
Open results: Uzbekistan-1 (18) defeated Armenia (15) 3.5-0.5; India (17) defeated Uzbekistan-2 (15) 3.5-0.5 (R Praggnanandhaa defeated Jakhongir Vakhidov; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Abdimalik Abdisalimov; Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov lost to Nihal Sarin; Ortik Nigmatov lost to D Gukesh).
Women results: China (18) drew with India (16) 2-2; Koneru Humpy drew with Zhu Jiner; Divya Deshmukh drew with Song Yuxin; Vantika Agrawal lost to Lu Miaoyi; B Savitha Shri defeated Zhai Mo; Kazakhstan (17) defeated France 2.5-1.5; Mongolia (15) lost to Poland (16) 1-3; Vietnam (16) defeated Indonesia (14) 2.5-1.5.
