Year of the Woman in Chess Awards Granted in Chennai
Photo courtesy: FIDE/Anna Volkova We are happy to announce the winners of the Year of the Woman in Chess Awards honouring outstanding women and those supporting women in chess. The ceremony took place on the evening of August 5 in Chennai, India, as part of the 44th Chess Olympiad, and was broadcast live on our YouTube channel. In the months before the ceremony, national chess federations were encouraged to submit their nominations in more than a dozen award categories that covered nearly all aspects of chess life. Apart from the overall winner in each category, the awards were also presented to continental winners. FIDE Managing Director, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, opened the ceremony with an inspiring speech. “We must ensure that when a girl or a woman thinks of what she wants to become, she keeps in mind that chess is also a career path. It is our duty to create an environment where they can become the greatest players in the world, the greatest arbiters, managers, leaders of the chess world.” Dana is a women-in-chess movement enthusiast who works tirelessly to encourage more women to participate in every aspect of chess life, from playing to administrative roles. She received a special Spirit of FIDE prize for her contribution and passion. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich welcomed guests of the ceremony and praised the awardees: “Ladies who will be awarded today did a great job already for a long period of time, including this year. They are examples and role models for everyone who loves chess and who wants to contribute every day, every month, every year. 2022 was announced the Year of the Woman in Chess, but it should not be just one year; it should be the whole life.” Hungarian legend Judit Polgar, the strongest female chess player of all time, received the Fide ICON award. “It is a great honour to receive the FIDE ICON Award. This award is a recognition of my decades-long career as a chess player and my work promoting chess and encouraging women’s orientation towards chess. We must continue to work to ensure that more girls experience this ancient game’s beauty, knowledge, and benefits. I take every opportunity to convey the message to girls and people around them: strive to make the most of their talents. Because if we do not limit girls, if we encourage and inspire them to persevere and build their confidence, they will succeed in any field of life,” said Judit Polgar after receiving the award. 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. Some of the recipients of the Awards, like Anastasiya Karlovich, the overall winner of Outstanding photographer, came to Chennai for the occasion. Others, like Sonja Johnson (Outstanding chess administrator) or Anastasia Sorokina (Outstanding chess arbiter), were already at the Chess Olympiad performing other duties. Some winners, like Alexandra Kosteniuk (Outstanding chess player of 2021), could not be present but recorded a touching speech. Here is the complete list of winners. Our congratulations to all! Outstanding ‘game changer’ (social project leader, role model, etc.) Jennifer Shahade Susan Namangale (Africa) Tris-Ann Richards (Americas) G.S.Wijesuriya Mrs. (Asia) Nona Gaprindashvili (Europe) Outstanding chess administrator Sonja Johnson Christiana Ashley (Africa) Alejandra Beatriz Zavala Galindo (Americas) Medina Zhumashova (Asia) Gulkiz Tulay (Europe) Outstanding chess arbiter Anastasia Sorokina Tshepiso Lopang (Africa) Sabrina de San Vicente (Americas) Kaussar Bauyrzhan (Asia) Shohreh Bayat (Europe) Outstanding chess educator Alshaeby Razan Magret Ngugama (Africa) Sandra Torres Braiz (Americas) Rozaliya Vendrova (Asia) Nilufer Cinar Corlulu (Europe) Outstanding chess organiser Cristina Pernici Rigo Judith Kiragu (Africa) Beatriz Marinello (Americas) Gulmira Dauletova (Asia) Yana Sidorchuk (Europe) Outstanding chess player of 2021 Alexandra Kosteniuk Amanda Ngwinondebe (Africa) Maria Esther Granados Diaz (Americas) Bibisara Assaubayeva (Asia) Outstanding chess trainer Shadi Paridar Anzel Laubscher (Africa) Regina Ribeiro (Americas) Baktygul Tilebaeva (Asia) Natalia Popova (Europe) Outstanding influencer/commentator/social media star Tania Sachdev Jovita Nwansi (Africa) Alexandra Botez (Americas) Dilayla Sadvakasova (Asia) Ellen Fredericia Nilssen (Europe) Outstanding photographer Anastasiya Karlovich Patricia Claros Aguilar (Americas) Shakhnazi Musaeva (Asia) Eteri Kublashvili (Europe) Peter-Heine Nielsen received award for his wife from the hands of Vishy Anand Outstanding politician Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen Damaris Abarca (Americas) Zhansaya Abdumalik (Asia) Outstanding representation of ‘He-For-She’ Jean Michael Rapaire Erick Takawira (Africa) Carlos Rivero Gonzalez (Americas) Ye Jiangchuan (Asia) Wojciech Zawadzka (Europe) Woman with disability for outstanding fighting spirit Svetlana Gerasimova Valeska Rozas Lazcano (Americas) Dariia Kudainazarova (Asia) Handenur Sahin (Europe) Federation with the highest % of female rated players Vietnam – 37% Mozambique (Africa) – 34% Ecuador (Americas) – 24% Mongolia (Asia) – 35% Georgia (Europe) – 27%
FIDE CONGRESS 2022
2022 FIDE Congress will take place in Chennai, India, from 31 July – 9 August 2022. You can find all the information on the dedicated webpage https://congress.fide.com/
Indian eves crush Georgia to jump into sole lead
Led by Indian ace Koneru Humpy, top-seeded Indian eves won their sixth straight match, defeating former champions Georgia in the sixth round of the 44th chess Olympiad by a score of 3-1 here at the Four Points by Sheraton. The early indications gave an even fight between the two teams, but Vaishali R (pictured above), playing on the third board, proved to be the key factor as she cruised to a fine victory at the expense of experienced International Master Lela Javakhishvili of Georgia. The Berlin Defence of Ruy Lopez has a solid reputation, but on this day, Vaishali was well-prepared to punish it. The symmetrical set-up by the Indian gave her a slight but long-lasting advantage in the middle game, and the Georgian felt the heat as her pieces gasped for breath. Finding some solace in an exchange that cost her two pieces for a rook, Javakhishvili fought on, but Vaishali was relentless and romped home in 36 moves. Grandmaster D Harika played out an easy draw with Nino Batsiashvili on the second board. The mother-to-be Indian kept things under check right from the word go with black pieces, and routine exchange of pieces led to a drawn rook and pawns endgame where neither player had any hesitation in signing the peace treaty. On the top board, Indian ace Koneru Humpy facing Nana Dzagnidze, had things under control, and the consistent threat of pawn promotion from the advanced passer on the queenside forced the Georgian to resign on the move 42. On board four, Tania Sachdev held her forte quite nicely against Salome Melia, and a draw was agreed on the 35th move. This critical match victory will bolster Indian chances as their confidence in the rounds to come. On the second table, Romania held mighty Ukraine to a 2-2 score and remains in the hunt for a podium finish. Irina Bulmaga facing a former women’s world champion GM Mariya Muzychuk played innovative and fearless attacking chess from the get-go. Irina sacrificed an exchange to break through the centre on move 27 and got winning chances in the ensuing ending. Mariya had to summon all her defensive skills to draw the inferior ending. Mihaela Sandu faced the elder of the Muzychuk sisters on the second board. Anna, only the fourth woman in chess history to attain a FIDE rating over 2600, played an aggressive game pushing pawns on the kingside from the white side in a Ruy Lopez and forced resignation before the first time control. Two other games in this tense match were drawn. In a high stake clash, top teams Azerbaijan defeated Kazakhstan thanks to the victories on boards three and four. On the third board, Gulnar Mammodova came out on top against Xeniya Balabayeva in a complex French Defence encounter in which Black had a clearly better position in the middlegame. On the fourth board, Ulviyyan Fataliyeva outwitted Nakhbayeva Guliskhan to hand the match 3-1 to Azerbaijan. With five rounds still to come in the biggest chess extravaganza on the planet India A on 12 match points, has a full point lead over Romania and Azerbaijan, sitting on 11 match points. The battle resumes after the only rest day that will be preceded by the famous Bermuda party for the players and enthusiasts on late Wednesday night. The complete results for Round 6 can be found at the official website for the Olympiad, https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-results. Standings after Round 6 can be found at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/women-standings. Photo: Photo: Lennart Ootes, Mark Livshitz and Stev Bonhage
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