Triple-gold Armenia leads the Olympiad halfway through

India’s 16-year-old prodigy Gukesh wins his sixth game in a row Three-time Olympic champions Armenia scored a huge win this afternoon in the 4 Points Sheraton Convention Centre, defeating India B by 2.5-1.5 in a very exciting match. Despite losing on board one – Sargissian was steamrolled by Gukesh – the Armenians were stronger on the lower boards, and GMs Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Robert Hovhannisyan (pictured below) won their games. Going into the rest day, they are the sole leaders of the open section with a perfect twelve match-point score. However, the man of the day was once again 16-year-old Indian prodigy Gukesh D, who scored his sixth win in a row. The feat is reminding many of us of the brilliant performance of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik at the 1992 Manila Olympiad. Barely known internationally, Vladimir scored 8.5/9, notching up a 2958 rating performance, and winning the gold medal on board five. Kramnik was only 17 at the time… Of course, both performances are not totally comparable – Gukesh is already a well-known grandmaster and the Olympiad is only halfway – but even so, his performance is already outstanding. The round began with a double-move opening ceremony. The Director of Citi Bank, Mr. Pradeep Sekar opened the Women’s India vs Georgia match while veteran Indian IM K. Murugan – representing NLC – played the ceremonial move on the India B vs Armenia first board. Murugan has been an Olympic team member for India on a few occasions and is highly respected in the national chess community. In addition to the key India B vs Armenia match, all eyes were focused on team India A. Would they be able to keep up the pace of the youngsters, against Uzbekistan, arguably an even younger team? A tough day in the office; a very focused Harikrisna defeated Abdusattorov with Black on board one, when the young Uzbek misplayed a topical Italian opening. On board four, Sasikiran was having trouble facing his young opponent’s attack, and in the end, it came crashing through: Vokhidov Shamsiddin scored a massive win putting the tie on the score boards. On board two Vidit drawed effortlessly but on board three Erigaisi was on the verge of losing. All in all, a lucky save for India A – 2-2 in the end – who now have the same points as India B. Fabiano Caruana went from villain to hero. His clear win this afternoon over Iran’s top player Parham Maghsoodloo – 2.5-1.5 was the final score for USA – leaves the Americans in prime position to continue climbing up the standings ladder. They are now clear second with 11/12 points and things are looking brighter for them every day. Spain – Cuba ended in a 2-2, probably leaving the Spaniards slightly disappointed. Board two and elite player Vallejo Pons was unable to play again due to a slight throat infection: many players are suffering the outside heat combined with the air conditioning inside the playing hall. These results on the top matches have permitted none less than ten teams to tie for third place with 10/12 and although there are still five rounds to go, these teams will clearly be medal contenders.  France, the Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, Peru … and the list goes on. The Netherlands are clearly an up and going team. Sporting first board Anish Giri, they seem to be on a roll after their unexpected loss against Israel. First a 4-0 win against Canada and this afternoon they defeated the always dangerous Georgian team by 2.5-1.5 with two wonderful exchange sacrifices on boards one and two. In his short postgame interview with FIDE Press Officer IM Michael Rahal, Giri was kind enough to offer some insight into the game.  Check it out to improve your chess skills!   Players will enjoy tomorrow’s day off and games will continue on August 5th according to schedule. India A vs India C will be the main dish on the menu although all eyes will be on Armenia vs USA for first place. Armenia (12) – United States of America (11) India A  (10) – India C (10) France (10) – Netherlands (10) Serbia (10) – Germany (10) Cuba (10) –  India 2 (10) Peru (10) – Uzbekistan (10) Games will begin at 3pm sharp and can be followed live on the tournament website. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/open-results/ Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Chennai Photos: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage

Women in Chess to be celebrated at FIDE’s first Queens Awards

Chennai, India – The International Chess Federation (FIDE) will be hosting its Year of the Woman in Chess Awards on August 5 at 8:00 p.m. as part of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. In January of this year, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced FIDE’s Year of the Woman in Chess. Throughout 2022, FIDE and its member organizations hosted a series of events to support women’s development in all areas of chess. The awards categories reflect this as, outside of the best player award, other awards include outstanding administrator, influencer, arbiter, and even an award to the federation with the most women. FIDE’s Managing Director, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, said the awards present a great opportunity. “These awards allow us to highlight and celebrate the work of women in our international chess community. It sheds light on the great work these women are doing, but the variety of awards also promote other opportunities in chess.” Reizniece-Ozola concluded, “We believe that for true equality, we must have women serving in all aspects of our sport.” The award is one of seven initiatives FIDE decided to invest in throughout 2022 to establish and promote gender equity policies, programs, and practices. Other initiatives for the year include the Queens’ pavilion at the Olympiad, a global exchange forum for women to share ideas to improve the environment for women in chess, and also the expansion of FIDE’s 2021 Queen’s Festival. Federations throughout the international chess community were asked to submit nominees for the Year of Women in Chess. Following nominations, winners were chosen by a committee based on published and weighted criteria for their specific category. The winners have been invited to attend the closing ceremony in Chennai, India. The awards have been provided by Dr Alwahshi Abdullah Salem of the Saudi Arabian Chess Federation, which fielded a women’s team at the Olympiad for the first time.  The Year of the Woman in Chess Awards will become a tradition celebrating men’s and women’s contributions to gender equality in chess.

South Korea to bid for FIDE World Cup 2023

In an interview given today, during the 6th round of the Chess Olympiad, Mrs Hyun In Suk, President of the South Korea Chess Federation, and Hando Oh, Vice-President, proudly announced their intention to host the FIDE World Cup in 2023.  “We are eager to stage big chess events and to work with FIDE. We planned to bid for the Chess Olympiad 2026, but the Olympiad takes a lot of time to prepare. We didn’t want to wait many years, so we decided that organising the World Cup 2023 worked better for us. We will submit the official bid in September”, said Mrs HyunIn Suk. FIDE’s Director-General Emil Sutovsky accompanied the representatives of the South Korea Chess Federation during the announcement. After explaining that their discussions started long months ago, he expressed his enthusiasm. “This is big news for the chess world because South Korea has never hosted any chess event of this level. This is a competition with more than one hundred countries represented, as well as all the top players. We also expect Magnus Carlsen to participate, because this is the only chess event he hasn’t won. South Korea is one of the major hubs in many industries, like modern technologies, and I believe it could be a breakthrough event. I am delighted that it materialises”.  The next edition of the FIDE World Cup is set to take place in the third quarter of 2023.

Women’s Olympiad: Three teams forge ahead with 10 and 9 points each

India A team, Georgia and Romania, lead the standings with 10 points each after the 5th round, closely followed by Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhastan on 9 points apiece. Fifteen teams are on 8 points each in the joint third place. India A team preserved their leading position thanks to the victory on the 4th board in the match with France: Tania Sachdev defeated Andreea Navrotescu on the white side of the Cambridge Springs QGD. In the remaining results, GM Humpy Koneru drew with GM Hoang Thanh Trang; GM Harika Dronavalli split a point with WGM Gara Ticia, and IM Vaishali drew with IM Szidonia Lazarne Vajda. Georgia also rallied up to the lead with 10 points after defeating a young India 2 team by a dominating 3-1 score. On the top board, Vantika Agarwal escaped to a hard-fought draw against the experienced Nana Dzagnidze, while Padmini Rout drew with Nino Batsiashvili. Georgia hit with a tail: Lela Javakhishvili outplayed Soumya Swaminathan on board 3, while Meri Arabidze bested Divya Deshmukh on board 4 to seal 3-1 victory for the Caucasian team. Ukraine and Azerbaijan proved to be worthy opponents drawing a very exciting match. Mariya Muzychuk put Ukraine on the scoreboard after winning against Gunayon Mammadzada on the top board, but Ulviyya Fataliyeva retaliated on board four, beating Buksa Nataliya. The games on boards two and three ended in draws. Team Romania produced a minor sensation by defeating a very strong Poland 2.5 – 1.5 and jumped to the joint lead. Mihaela Sandu beat Monika Socko on board 2 and Elena-Luminita Cosma defeated Michalina Rudzinska on board 4 for Romania. Oliwia Kiolbasa snatched the sole victory for Poland on board three, but it was not enough to outweigh two losses. Kazakhstan and Germany defeated Cuba and Mongolia respectively by identical 3-1 score. The seventh board match saw a major upset as team Peru scored a win over the fancied USA. Ann Chumpitaz beat experienced GM Irina Krush on board two while Paredes Bustamante Paula outplayed Yip Carissa on the third. Hungary trounced Sweden 3.5-.5, with only the experienced grandmaster Pia Cramling scoring a half point for the team on the top board against Hoang Thanh Trang. Complete results of Round 5 can be found at the official website for the Olympiad:  https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Standings after Round 5 can be found at: https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings. Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage

44th Chess Olympiad: Gukesh D scores his fifth win to cross 2715 mark

India B leads the Olympiad after five rounds tied with Armenia Without a doubt, the star of the day was India’s team B first board, 16-year-old Gukesh D. Not only did he win his fifth game in a row, defeating Spanish legend Alexei Shirov, but he also overtook Vidit on the live rating list, becoming India’s number three player with the live-rating of 2714. Gukesh was one of the torchbearers during the opening ceremony of the Olympiad, and he continues to light the way for his team, crushing the opposition on board one. His victory, combined with Adhiban‘s win on board four against Iturrizaga, allowed his team to take down Spain in a mighty clash between two undefeated squads and left India B leading the event, tied at 5/5 with Armenia. The other local team, India A, who dropped half a point yesterday against France, were able to press forward this afternoon by defeating Romania by a close 2.5-1.5 score – Erigaisi Arjun pulling off the decisive win against Mircea-Emilian Parligras, while the other three games ended in solid draws. The second team in contention with 100% is Armenia. The Caucasian squad, playing in Chennai without former teammate Levon Aronian, is still a force to be considered, and today they proved their strength once again by defeating England. All four games were equal, and three of them ended in a draw, but Hrant Melkumyan on board two managed to convert a slightly better rook ending into a full point against Luke McShane for the final 2.5-1.5 score. Armenia will play against India B in the sixth round for the lead in the event. Rating favourites, team USA, faced Israel this afternoon and were looking to get back on track after conceding a draw yesterday against Uzbekistan. In the end, they notched up a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory, thanks to a determined Leinier Dominguez, who took down Maxim Rodshtein. At first glance, it doesn’t seem that the USA is performing at the level required to fight for the medals but there are still six rounds to go and anything can happen: with five 2700+ elite players in the team, they definitely can’t be written off yet. These results in the top matches allowed some other teams to get closer to the top of the standings. After their 2-2 tie against USA yesterday, the young Uzbekistan squad put their foot down on the gas pedal and crushed Slovakia by 4-0, an unbelievable accomplishment against four seasoned +2500 grandmasters. They are definitely on a roll and, in my humble opinion, maybe on the way to a deserved medal. Dare I say that the most “surprising” result on the top boards was Cuba’s 2.5-1.5 win over Azerbaijan, which catapulted the Caribbean’s to tied third place. Seeded 32, Cuba fields four strong 2500 players, but Azerbaijan is a tough nut to crack, with three +2600 players headed by elite 2750 player Mamedyarov. A great result for Cuban chess. Iran has also made their claim for the lead. A 2-2 tie against Canada in the fourth round left them slightly out of contention, but today’s clear 3-1 win over Turkey has paired the Iranians tomorrow with the USA, a really difficult match-up for Maghsoodloo’s five. Another top contender, the Netherlands, bounced back from yesterday’s unexpected loss against Israel by defeating surprise team Canada by 4-0. A certain controversy occurred on board one when Canadian Eric Hansen, one of the world’s best blitz players, lost on time against Anish Giri. After verification, the arbiters certified his heart-breaking defeat in an unclear position.  The stage is set for tomorrow’s sixth round, the last one before the famous Bermuda party and free day.  India 2 (10) – Armenia (10)          Uzbekistan  (9) – India (9) USA (9) – Iran (9) Cuba (9) – Spain (8) Games will begin at 3 pm sharp and can be followed live on the tournament website. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/open-results/ Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Chennai Photos: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage

Women’s Chess Olympiad: Eight teams won all matches after four rounds

Tania Sachdev battled long and hard to rake in that precious point which allowed her team India A in the Women’s section, to edge out Hungary with a 2.5-1.5 score. All the other three encounters ended in draws, and the onus was on Tania, who rose brilliantly to the occasion. A tired but happy Tania quipped, “It was a tough position, and I was aware that our two boards had ended in a draw but was not able to really evaluate Humpy’s position as my position was a tough one”. Team Coach of Women’s Team A was upbeat about the Teams victory and commented: “The Teams are well balanced, and it is very important to take one round at a time. All the games today were well fought”. After three rounds, Bulgaria was a top scorer, having dropped only half a point in 12 games. But in Round 4, the young team led by IM Nurgyul Salimova could not stop mighty Ukraine. “Powerhouse Anna” on boards 2 and 3, Muzychuk and Ushenina, did their job winning against Peycheva and Krasteva, respectively, securing an overall victory. The third-seeded Georgian Women’s Team proved too strong for the India C Team, with P V Nandhidhaa winning her encounter against Nino Batsiashvili, rated higher than her. Eesha Karavade lost to Nana Dzagnidze, Sahithi Varshini to Lela Javakhishvili (in just 12 moves!), and Pratyusha fell to Salome Melia. The Netherlands did not manage to pose problems for Poland, strengthened this year by IM Alina Kashlinskaya on Board 1, and the ladies under the read-and-white flag won by convincing 3½-½. France and Romania complete the list of leaders after four rounds. Both teams won with the smallest of margins, 2.5-1.5, against Serbia and Germany. And if France was a favourite against Serbia and this result did not surprize, Romania’s victory is a serious blow to Germany’s hopes for medals as the team led by IM Elisabeth Paehtz was higher-rated on every board. 28th seed Mongolia kept up the good work and held 10th seed Kazakhstan to a draw in a minor flutter. The 11th seeded Indian Women B Team edged past Estonia with a 2.5-1.5 score, with Vantika Agrawal bringing the winning point for her team while the other three games ended in draws. Vantika has been in top form so far, scoring a superb 4/4. Top results in the women’s section: India A 2½:1½ Hungary Bulgaria1½:2½ Ukraine Georgia 3:1 India C Netherlands ½:3½ Poland France 2½:1½ Serbia Israel 1:3 Azerbaijan Romania 2½:1½ Germany Mongolia 2:2 Kazakhstan After four rounds, eight teams won all matches in the Women’s section of the Chess Olympiad: Azerbaijan Poland Ukraine India A France India B Georgia Romania Standings after Round 4 can be found at  https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage

USA stumbles in Chennai Olympiad

Armenia, England, India B, Israel and Spain still on 100% The fourth round began this afternoon with the traditional first-move, performed on this occasion on board one of the Women’s India-Hungary match by managing director of Microsense, Mr S. Kailasanathan. After some action-packed days with regard to media coverage – “India is crazy for chess” was my observation on social media – players are now much more relaxed when the entourage comes along for the opening ceremony. Four of the scheduled eleven rounds of intense play are in the books, and fewer and fewer teams have 100% of the points. The equality between the leading teams is maximum, and many encounters ended in 2-2 draws this afternoon. France vs India A was a solid match. All four games ended in draws, and at least from what we witnessed in the venue, there didn’t seem to be any clear chances of victory for either side. However, USA vs Uzbekistan was a completely different matter. The Americans pulled ahead early when Wesley So, playing on board three, captured a Benko pawn and held it to the end. A solid draw between Nodirbek Yakubboev and Levon Aronian on board two left everything to be decided on the outer boards. Uzbekistan coach Ivan Sokolov was understandingly very happy when both of the games seemed to be going his way, but suddenly on board four Jakhongir Vakhidov spoiled a winning position against Sam Shankland, which meant that Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s great win against Fabiano Caruana on board one was just enough to score the draw. In his post-match press conference at the media centre, Sokolov lamented his bad luck. “I would have immediately taken the draw before starting the match, but I think we have fallen short”. The tough matches between Poland vs Romania, Canada vs Iran and Turkey vs Azerbaijan also ended in 2-2 draws, allowing other strong teams to pull ahead in the standings. Spain’s victory over India C by 2.5-1.5 (Anton Guijarro scored the key point) will allow the Spaniards to start from pole position tomorrow. Still unbeaten individually, they have come to play with their best team in many years and the Olympic medal is the target. However, they have been matched up in the fifth round with India B, who took down Italy by 3-1 this afternoon and are also undefeated individually – for sure a great match ahead for all to enjoy. In addition to Spain and India B, three other teams went to dinner tonight with 8/8 match points. England, who defeated Serbia by 3.5-1.5, have been paired against Armenia, who took down Austria by 3-1. They have arrived in great form, led by their lifetime top board Michael Adams, and are all still unbeaten. However, David Howell is clearly the team’s mainstay at the moment, scoring 4/4 on third board. Nonetheless, they would do well not to sleep on Armenia: a very tough and experienced team, and Olympic medallist in previous years.  Michael Adams was kind enough to share his thoughts with FIDE Press Officer Michael Rahal in a short post-game interview. The final team on 8/8 is Israel, who perhaps made the biggest surprise of the day, defeating the Dutch team – led by Anish Giri – by 2.5-1.5, thanks to veteran Ilya Smirin‘s win on third board against Erwin l’Ami. Another very strong team, Israel has five very experienced +2600 players who are also unbeaten at the moment and in very good shape. Tomorrow’s match-up against number one seed USA will be a huge challenge to see what they are capable of in Chennai. Some other very surprising results today were Zambia – seeded 73 – once again defeating a much stronger team – this time Egypt – by 2.5-1.5 and above all, Norway vs Mongolia – after losing yesterday to Italy, everyone expected seed number three Norway, with Carlsen on board one, to bounce back with a win, but 45th seed Mongolia kept them at bay with a 2-2 tie. Games will begin at 3 pm sharp and can be followed live on the tournament website. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/open-results/ Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Chennai Photos: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage

Nepomniachtchi enters top-3 Open in August 2022 rating list

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 dominated the action in July and brought several changes at the top. The winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi, picked up 26 rating points, rose to #3 and entered the top 3 open for the first time in his career. Hikaru Nakamura earned 8 points in this competition and re-entered the top 10 at #8 after a three-year absence. Photo: Maria Emelianova / Chess.com On the other end of the spectrum are Alireza Firouzja (-15) and Fabiano Caruana (-7), who lost some rating points and slid down to fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Other notable firsts were Sanan Sjugirov crossing 2700 and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa making the top 100, while the women’s top 10 remained mostly unchanged. Biggest gains in top 100 Open and Women Fataliyeva, Ulviyya WGM 2413 (+41) Nepomniachtchi, Ian GM 2792 (+26) Narva, Mai WGM 2405 (+20) Padmini, Rout IM 2391 (+17) Injac, Teodora WGM 2389 (+17) Gukesh D GM 2699 (+15) Eljanov, Pavel GM 2695 (+14) Shuvalova, Polina IM 2510 (+12) Kamsky, Gata GM 2666 (+11) Melamed, Tatjana WGM 2391 (+11) Esipenko, Andrey GM 2692 (+10) There were several traditional chess festivals across Europe in July, including the competitions in Dortmund, Biel and Belgrade. Those who made a mark in these events ended up on the biggest gains list. Photo: Lennart Ootes Ulviyya Fataliyeva (pictured above) won this nomination following her excellent performance in a strong Serbia Open Masters 2022, where she netted impressive 41 rating points. Several female players, namely Mai Narva, Rout Radmini and Teodora Injac, also did a very good job in this competition, substantially increasing their rating. Pavel Eljanov (pictured below), the winner of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2022 Deutschland Grand Prix, became the primary rating beneficiary of this event, earning 14 points. Photo: Biel International Chess Festival Gukesh D has been steadily accumulating rating points since March, and July was no exception. The talented youngster notched up another 15 rating points after good showings in Cerrado Ciudad de Gijon XIV and Biel and came at the touching distance to the 2700 mark. Gata Kamsky and Andrey Esipenko also delivered in Biel, earning 11 and 10 rating points, respectively.

FIDE Job Offer: Marketing Director

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the world governing body of the sport of chess, and it regulates all international chess competitions. Constituted as a non-governmental institution, it was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization in 1999. Chess is nowadays a truly global sport, with dozens of millions of players in all the continents, and more than 100 million games on average played every day. We have an exciting opportunity in our marketing team, to identify commercial opportunities that will help the growth of FIDE and our official events, leveraging the current huge popularity of chess worldwide. FIDE MARKETING DIRECTOR Job information Contract type: Open ended Compensation: competitive salary + bonuses Start date: 1 November 2022 Location: preferably located/available to move to Lausanne (Switzerland), but not mandatory Working time: flexible Role The successful candidate would join our marketing team in the development and implementation of marketing plans, commercial partnerships, sponsorship acquisition and management. This person should be a competent professional, well-versed in marketing and commercial concepts, principles and tactics. The successful candidate should also be a very creative person, enthusiastic, highly energic and results-driven, able to detect and grasp new opportunities for chess and FIDE. Key responsibilities: Business development / working with sponsors, broadcasters and other commercial partners (proactively managing the sponsorship and other commercial rights sales process with each initiative to ensure financial and marketing goals are met; identifying potential sponsors and broadcasters; converting the leads into deals in close cooperation with FIDE Legal team; collaborating with FIDE Event Management team to ensure the fulfilment of FIDE commitments to sponsors, broadcasters and other commercial partners in relation to relevant FIDE events). Working in conjunction with other FIDE teams to develop innovative sponsorship proposals and packages Identifying market trends to drive to the development of innovative commercial rights sales strategies Developing and implementing specific aspects of FIDE marketing strategy, including branding, marketing communications and promotion of FIDE events, in close cooperation with other FIDE teams Developing and managing ad-hoc projects as assigned by FIDE Director General or other FIDE executives (FIDE President, FIDE Managing Director, FIDE Chief Communication & Marketing Officer) Reporting to: FIDE Director General Qualification and experience: Advanced education (university degree, preferably in business, marketing, advertising) Minimum 7 years of international experience in business development and/or marketing Demonstrable track record in sponsorship sales and management, preferably in a non-profit environment, as well as superior relationship development and account management skills Deep understanding of and experience within the international sports industry Experience in organising and managing events Strong PowerPoint expertise Willingness to travel internationally Knowledge of chess would be an advantage Languages: Fluent English required. Work proficiency in other languages is an advantage. Skills: Distinct sales and negotiation competencies Excellent presentation and communication skills (orally and in writing), including copywriting skills, as well as high attention to detail Strong interpersonal skills and ability in relationship building at a senior level Tech-savvy and well-versed with digital and online development trends in sports and media Strong analytical and project management skills Ability to adapt quickly to different environments and to work under tight deadlines If you have the necessary qualifications, skills and are keen to work for an international organisation, please send your CV with a cover letter in English to: hr@fide.com

Women’s Chess Olympiad: Mongolia stages a huge upset, favorites ease through

Twenty-eighth seed Mongolian women’s team caused the biggest upset in the Women’s Chess Olympiad, blanking seventh seed United States 3-1 in the third round of the Women’s Chess Olympiad here at the four points Sheraton.  A determined effort on the top two boards helped the Mongolian eves keep the balance, and on the last two boards, they proved superior to cruise to what would be remembered as a remarkable victory. This early loss for the United States might prove crucial. With eight rounds still to come in the 11-round team event, as many as 19 teams remained unscathed and now share the lead on 6 points apiece from three matches. With each match won by a minimal score of 2.5 points counted as two points, sometimes the relevance of the individual games between players gets under wrap. The three Indian teams in the fray, including the top seed India A got into the winner’s bracket for the third day running, but most of the closest rivals also cruised home with victories. Second seed Ukraine scored an impressive 4-0 victory over Slovakia, wherein top board player Mariya Muzychuk shrugged off her second-round loss and prevailed over Zuzana Borosova. Third seed Georgia had to work hard for a full match point, but Nino Batsiashvili came to the team’s rescue scoring an important win over Joanna Worek to secure a 2.5-1.5 victory as all other games ended in draws. Showing the resolve they are known for, the Polish team had a field day against Vietnam and romped home with a 3-1 win, while Italian eves could only eke out one point out of four against fifth seed France winning by the same score. With each round worth two points and most of the top seeds still in there with a clean score, the battles are only going to get tougher in the coming days. Standings after Round 3 can be found at  https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings. For a complete list of results, please visit the official website at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Text: Vishal Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage