B. Savitha Shri, who has won all her four games, with captain Swayams Mishra.
| Photo Credit: FIDE
India’s open and women’s teams scored identical 3-1 victories in the fourth round of the Chess Olympiad at Samarkand on Saturday. The men didn’t take long to dismiss the challenge from Spain, but the women had to wait a bit before overcoming Mongolia.
Both Indian teams have thus won all their four matches so far. The Indian contingent will particularly be pleased with Arjun Erigaisi’s fine win against Maksim Chigaev on the second board. It hadn’t been a great start for him in Uzbekistan, having lost his first game and then drawn the second.
World champion D. Gukesh, playing on the fourth board, also won, against Alexei Shirov, who was the finalist when Viswanathan Anand brought the World championship to India for the first time back in 2000. There were draws for R. Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin.
In the women’s section, India’s victory was fashioned by B. Savitha Shri, who has won all her four games so far, and Divya Deshmukh.
Important results (fourth round):Open: India bt Spain 3-1 (R. Praggnanandhaa drew with David Anton Guijarro; Arjun Erigaisi bt Maksim Chigaev; Nihal Sarin drew with Jaime Santos Latasa; D. Gukesh bt Alexei Shirov).
Uzbekistan bt Turkiye 2.5-1.5; USA bt Ukraine 3.5-0.5; China bt Serbia 3-1; Germany bt Poland 2.5-1.5; Azerbaijan drew with Czech Republic 2-2; Hungary bt Israel 2.5-1.5; France drew with Romania 2-2; Armenia bt Argentina 2.5-1.5; Lithuania bt Croatia 3-1; England bt Singapore 3-1; Iran bt Moldova 4-0; Georgia bt Belgium 3-1; Norway bt Kyrgyzstan 3.5-0.5.
Women:India bt Mongolia 3-1 (Koneru Humpy drew with Bat-Erene Mungunzul; R. Vaishai drew with Turmunkh Munkhzul; Divya Deshmukh bt Khishigbayar Bayasgalan; B. Savitha Shri bt Batkhuyag Munguntuul).
Uzbekistan bt Argentina 3-1; Kazakhstan bt Armenia 3-1; USA bt Spain 3.5-0.5; China bt Hungary 3.5-0.5; Azerbaijan bt England 2.5-1.5; Poland bt Vietnam 3-1; Germany bt Israel 3-1; Bulgaria bt Romania 3.5-0.5; Serbia bt Iran 3.5-0.5; Georgia drew with Austria 2-2; Netherlands bt Estonia 2.5-1.5; Switzerland bt Czech Republic 3-1; Greece drew with Singapore 2-2.
Published – September 19, 2026 10:17 pm IST
