Chess Olympiad Part II
Hi Friends!
The final five rounds (Rounds 7–11) turned both sections into real medal races: Uzbekistan recovered from its only Open loss to win at home, while China built and then protected a narrow lead to take the Women’s title, as predicted in Chess Olympiad Part I. For our #TLDR readers, the final podiums were Open: Uzbekistan, India, Germany; Women: China, Kazakhstan, India. There were tons of great stories from the second half of the tournament, and we'll share a few of them with you today.
Here is one major highlight from each of the last five rounds:
Round 7: Uzbekistan beat China 3-1, with Abdusattorov defeating Ding on board 1 and Yakubboev besting Yangyi on board 3. After this, the hosts were at a perfect 14/14 match points and that win opened up a two-point lead.
Round 8: Germany shocked Uzbekistan by winning 2.5-1.5, with key wins from the Svane brothers, Frederik and Rasmus on boards 3 and 4, making the title race close as Uzbekistan would be at 14/16.
Round 9: Uzbekistan bounced back immediately, beating top-seeded USA 2.5-1.5 with Abdusattorov and Yakubboev again scoring the key wins. They regained sole first with 16/18. India also edged Germany 2.5-1.5, with Gukesh beating Alexander Donchenko in the decisive game.
Round 10: Uzbekistan beat Armenia 3.5-0.5, while India beat Uzbekistan 2. Uzbekistan was now at 18/20, while India was one match point behind at 17/20 with one round to go.
Round 11: Uzbekistan beat Ukraine 2.5-1.5 to hold on to gold, with the decisive win from Mukhiddin Madaminov. Gleb Dudin, the winner of reserve gold, had a clutch upset win for Hungary over World Champ Gukesh of India, but Arjun Erigaisi beat Peter Leko to retain a draw 2-2. India finished level with Germany with 18 match points, but India’s tiebreak win over Germany in Round 9 decided silver and bronze.
Host Uzbekistan’s resilience was the defining theme for this Olympiad. After Germany stopped their perfect run in Round 8, they beat the USA in Round 9 and Armenia in Round 10, then closed out a second Olympiad gold after their 2022 win.
Abdusattorov was a major backbone: he went undefeated on board one and took individual board-one gold, including an endgame win over World #3 Fabiano Caruana from the USA.
Yakubboev supplied repeated pivotal points, especially in the team wins over China and the United States; his win over Nihal Sarin in the India match was also a table-turning moment.
As for India, they had a strong finish, but it was not enough for gold. Gukesh’s Round-9 win against Donchenko was an especially clutch result, while the reigning champs’ earlier win over Germany ultimately protected silver on tiebreaks.
Uzbekistan 2 (B team) was the surprise of the tournament; their 3.5-0.5 win over the Netherlands in Round 9 placed it in the mix with the leaders with two rounds left.
Among individuals, big ups to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan for the top performance rating in the tournament, 2869, earning board 1 gold. Wei Yi of China took board 2 gold, Frederick Svane of Germany board 3 gold, Ukrainian teen prodigy Ihor Samunekov board 4 gold, and Gleb Dudin of Hungary the reserve gold.
On the Women's side, China was the steadiest team under pressure. They finished unbeaten, with nine match wins and two draws, for 20 match points and 33 board points.
The China–India draw in Round 10 was the practical turning point. India needed a win to create a final-round shot at gold, but the draw preserved China’s lead; Kazakhstan then cut the gap to one by beating France.
Kazakhstan’s unbeaten run earned silver. They did not lose a match, finishing with 7 wins and 4 draws for 18 match points, but the Round-11 draw against Poland meant China’s win over Vietnam put gold out of reach.
India took bronze despite a missed final-day chance. The draw with Georgia left India tied on 17 match points with the USA, Poland, Armenia, and Mongolia, but India won the tiebreak for third.
Zhu Jiner led China on top board, including the final-round 3–1 win against Vietnam, taking board 1 gold. Huge shoutout to IM Alice Lee of team USA taking the board 2 gold, IM Lu Miaoyi of China taking board 3 gold, WIM Elnaz Kalakhmet of Kazakhstan taking board 4 gold, and IM Savitha Shri Baskar of India taking the reserve gold, earning a whopping 8 wins and 2 draws for the Indian women's squad.
I think I'll leave it there for now. You can find all the information and games from the Olympiad here: 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026 - All the Information - Chess.com.
That's all for today! See y'all next time! Sarang out.
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