Welcome to the live coverage of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Follow boards, streams and major updates from the marquee event in Mamallapuram.
RESULTS FROM DAY 11: India A (Open and Women) finish with bronze medals
This is the final day of the Olympiad in Chennai. Uzbekistan’s story is one of pure grit. Seeded 13th, these players are actually quite similar to the Indian B side in that this is a bunch of youngsters who managed some key wins to inch ahead of the likes of USA, Armenia and India. A gold for the host of 2026 edition and a well-deserved one at that. In round 11, the Uzbeks beat Anish Giri’s Netherlands 2.5-1.5 to seal their spot at the top of the podium. India B beat Germany 3-1 but results for the others in th fray were better, and losses from earlier in the week came back to haunt the young side.
There’s quite a bit of confusion in finalising the bronze medal position in the women’s category, a place India is desperately vying for. Coming into day 11 leading the field, India’s 1-3 loss to USA derailed the bid for gold but the mathematics worked out enough for Humpy, Tania, Vaishali and Bharati to finish with a bronze medal
TWO BRONZE MEDALS FOR INDIA. The team will be disappointed with this result but also relieved to finish on the podium in their home Olympiad.
UPDATE: Open: Uzbekistan wins gold, Armenia silver, India B bronze. India B placed higher than A
UPDATE: India A (Women) has lost 1-3 to USA. They began the day on the brink of a gold medal but things might get difficult in terms of staying on the podium too.
India A (Women)lose to USA 1-3.
Track the India Women’s boards here:
Track the India Men’s boards here:
RESULTS FROM DAY 10 OF THE OLYMPIAD:
The dice rolled in favour of the host in the women’s section with India 1 moving within the gold medal-grabbing distance in the Chess Olympiad.
In the 10th and penultimate round on Monday, the trio of K. Humpy, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni scored thumping victories to set up a resounding 3.5-0.5 over Kazakhstan, one of the three fellow-overnight leaders.
What gave India 1 a one-point lead at 17 points was the 2-2 deadlock involving the other two overnight leaders Georgia and Poland.
As things stand, a final-round victory over the US women will ensure the historic gold medal. In the Open section, India 1 also plays USA while India 2 takes on Germany.
The joy could have stood doubled if in-form D. Gukesh not slipped from a clearly better position to a heart-breaking loss against rising superstar Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the Open section. Gukesh’s defeat following a late one-move blunder in time-pressure nullified the lead provided by R. Praggnanandhaa and the match ended 2-2. Before Uzbekistan escaped with a draw to reach 17 points, Armenia reached the tally with a 3-1 drubbing of Azerbaijan.
With India 2 missing a golden opportunity to displace Uzbekistan from the pedestal, it now has the company of USA, India 1, Armenia at 16 points for a share of the third spot.
On a day when Magnus Carlsen drew and Norway (12) lost 1.5-2.5 to Moldova for its third loss, India 1 stayed in medal contention with a 2.5-1.5 victory over formidable Iran. P. Harikrishna’s loss on the top board was more than compensated by Vidit Gujrathi’s first victory, combined with S. L. Narayanan’s late, match-deciding triumph.
The Chess Olympiad is being held in India for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1927 with the honour coming to Chennai, considered the chess capital of the country. This is also the first time in 30 years that the Olympiad is coming to Asia.
If you’ve missed the Olympiad hype train, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about the biggest event in the game in brief:
- ⦿ The event will see the highest number of countries participating in an Olympiad
- ⦿ Nearly 350 teams in the Open and women’s sections from 187 countries will be in fray. Of these, 188 teams are in the Open section and 162 in the women’s.
- ⦿ Previously, the Batumi Olympiad in 2018 had set the record with 184 and 150 teams in the Open and women’s sections, respectively, from 179 countries.
- ⦿ India’s 30-member squad will be their biggest squad ever.
- ⦿ Given Russia and China’s non-participation, India Team A is seeded second while the USA tops the ranking list.
Live streaming of the Chess Olympiad will be available on the official YouTube channel of FIDE Chess Olympiad. The event will be telecast live on the Doordarshan TV channel in India. You can follow the boards and all the analysis from matches on each day on Sportstar too.
