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2026 Chess Olympiad: Uzbekistan Maintains Lead, Pursued By India; China Continues To Lead Women’s

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September 26, 2026
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Uzbekistan held on to its sole lead with 18 points, while India continued to pursue closely behind on 17 points after the 10th and penultimate round of the 46th Chess Olympiad 2026. Uzbekistan and India scored dominating 3.5-0.5 victories over Armenia and Uzbekistan 2, respectively. Germany, Ukraine, and Hungary all follow the leaders with 16 points, after defeating France, China, and Spain, respectively.

In the 2026 FIDE Women’s Chess Olympiad, China and India had a thrilling draw with scores tied at 2-2 at the end of a match of fluctuating fortunes. Kazakhstan jumped to second place with 17 points after an unexpected 2.5-1.5 win over France. China with 18 points and Kazakhstan with 17 points are in the top two places in the points table. They are followed by India, Poland, and Vietnam with 16 points apiece.

Thus, both sections promise last-round action, which will settle the quest for medals.

The 11th and final round will be on Sunday, September 27, starting at 2:15 a.m. ET / 8:15 CEST / 11:45 a.m. IST.

Open: Uzbekistan And India Score Dominating Victories

Round 10 Results | Open Top 10


Full results

Open Standings After Round 10: Top 25

# Seed Fed Team Games + = – MP TB1 TB2
1 3 Uzbekistan 10 9 0 1 18 378 30
2 2 India 10 8 1 1 17 343.5 26.5
3 5 Germany 10 8 0 2 16 320 26
4 12 Ukraine 10 8 0 2 16 292 26.5
5 8 Hungary 10 7 2 1 16 250 22.5
6 1 United States of America 10 7 1 2 15 328.5 26
7 7 Azerbaijan 10 6 3 1 15 291 26
8 14 Turkiye 10 7 1 2 15 288.5 26.5
9 17 Croatia 10 7 1 2 15 285 28
10 30 Uzbekistan 2 10 7 1 2 15 283 24.5
11 6 Netherlands 10 7 1 2 15 281 24.5
12 10 Armenia 10 6 3 1 15 273 24
13 15 Serbia 10 7 1 2 15 267 24.5
14 4 China 10 6 2 2 14 301.5 25
15 16 Poland 10 6 2 2 14 290.5 26.5
16 18 Iran 10 6 2 2 14 289.5 26.5
17 9 France 10 5 4 1 14 286.5 25
18 29 Georgia 10 6 2 2 14 285 27
19 47 Vietnam 10 6 2 2 14 281.5 28.5
20 13 Spain 10 7 0 3 14 280.5 25.5
21 11 England 10 6 2 2 14 275 25
22 26 Italy 10 6 2 2 14 274.5 27
23 25 Denmark 10 6 2 2 14 272 26.5
24 35 Kazakhstan 10 6 2 2 14 253.5 25.5
25 51 Mongolia 10 7 0 3 14 237 25.5

Just as the event enters its most crucial phase, there is no question that the team captains are at their most pressed selves, and they have their own ways of coping with the tension.

But it was a different story for spectators, as the final rounds bring the best of the excitement of watching tense games.

A fight to the finish makes it a treat for spectators, irrespective of age. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE.

Uzbekistan and India scored smooth victories to still keep alive the fight for medals till the last round. For the former, GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov,  Javokhir Sindarov, and Mukhiddin Madaminov scored victories.

In any team tournament, common advice to players would be not to play in a way that worries the other members of the unit. But soon after the round started, the top three players of the Uzbekistan team looked determined to ignore the diktat. Abdusattorov adopted the unorthodox Scandinavian Defense with Black, Sindarov uncorked the sacrifice of an exchange, and GM Nodirbek Yakubboev  had given up the center to his opponent.

Abdusattorov defended patiently in the middlegame and the early endgame and exploited his chances in a subtle endgame involving rooks and bishops of opposite color.

The most exciting game of the match was between Sindarov and GM Robert Hovhannisyan, where the world championship challenger sacrificed an exchange early in the game to set up an exciting middlegame, where he had a knight and two pawns for his opponent’s rook. This is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

In the other two games of the match, Yakubboev drew with GM Shant Sargsyan, while Madaminov defeated GM Gabriel Sargissian.

It was GM Nihal Sarin who provided the first break for India, winning a game where he held the advantage from the get-go. 

World champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju seemed to be playing somewhat uncharacteristically, opting for the quiet London System for this crucial game. He continued playing in the same way, playing a measured game where he increased his advantage systematically to win deservingly after 47 moves.

On the top board too, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa outwitted GM Jakhongir Vakhidov in a major-pieces endgame, while GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Abdimalik Abdisalimov ended in a draw.

Against China, the crucial win for Ukraine came on the top board when GM Igor Kovalenko defeated former world champion GM Ding Liren, while 18-year-old IM Roman Dehtiarov defeated 17-year-old GM Xiangrui Kong. 

Germany’s win over France was achieved thanks to brothers and GMs Frederik Svane and Rasmus Svane triumphing over GMs Maxime Lagarde and Marc’Andria Maurizzi, respectively.

All the encounters of the Hungary-Spain match ended decisively, with the crucial win for the former coming through a long-drawn endgame by GM Richard Rapport.

An important matchup of the day was between two of the most exciting contemporary prodigies of the game—the 15-year-old GM Yagiz Erdogmus of Turkiye, the youngest ever to reach Elo 2700, and 12-year-old GM Faustino Oro of Argentina, the youngest grandmaster in the world currently. 

Talking to Chess.com’s FM Mike Klein after his win, Erdogmus displayed his maturity and ambitiousness with measured words.

Final Round Pairings: Top 10 Open

# Seed Fed Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team Fed Seed
1 3 Uzbekistan *) 30 18 : 16 26½ Ukraine 12
2 2 India 26½ 17 : 16 22½ Hungary 8
3 6 Netherlands 24½ 15 : 16 26 Germany 5
4 1 United States of America 26 15 : 15 26½ Turkiye 14
5 15 Serbia 24½ 15 : 15 26 Azerbaijan 7
6 10 Armenia 24 15 : 15 28 Croatia 17
7 4 China 25 14 : 15 24½ Uzbekistan 2 30
8 9 France 25 14 : 14 26½ Denmark 25
9 26 Italy 27 14 : 14 25 England 11
10 13 Spain 25½ 14 : 14 27 Georgia 29

Women: Thrilling Action On The Top Board; Unexpected Win For Kazakhstan

Round 10 Results | Women’s Top 10

Women’s Standings After Round 10: Top 20

# Seed Fed Team Games + = – MP TB1 TB2
1 4 China 10 8 2 0 18 376 30
2 3 Kazakhstan 10 7 3 0 17 326 27
3 1 India 10 7 2 1 16 363.5 29
4 9 Poland 10 8 0 2 16 319 26.5
5 21 Vietnam 10 8 0 2 16 298 27.5
6 5 United States of America 10 7 1 2 15 334.5 29.5
7 13 Uzbekistan 10 7 1 2 15 319.5 27.5
8 2 Georgia 10 6 3 1 15 313 26.5
9 16 Armenia 10 7 1 2 15 300 25.5
10 23 Romania 10 7 1 2 15 293 28.5
11 25 Slovenia 10 7 1 2 15 276.5 27.5
12 15 Mongolia 10 7 1 2 15 276 24.5
13 24 Greece 10 6 3 1 15 259 25
14 8 France 10 7 0 3 14 313.5 28
15 11 Bulgaria 10 7 0 3 14 305 26.5
16 35 Indonesia 10 7 0 3 14 269 26
17 26 Turkiye 10 6 2 2 14 260 25
18 77 Sri Lanka 10 7 0 3 14 246.5 27
19 19 Spain 10 6 2 2 14 245 24
20 31 Latvia 10 7 0 3 14 222 23

The top encounter between China and India was the highlight of the round, as the latter looked to level the difference in scores by winning the match. The Indians definitely had hopes on the lower boards, as both IMs Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri were undefeated till this point, with individual scores of 5.5/6 and 7.5/8 points, respectively, in the tournament. Of course, Vantika faced IM Lu Miaoyi who had scored 7.5/9 and Savitha faced WGM Zhai Mo who had scored 4.5/6 till this point of the tournament. But a curious and important factor of these two encounters was that all four players had stayed undefeated till this time.

The tense China-India matchup seemed to have its first casualty when the best player for her country so far in the tournament blundered a pawn in an equal position.

But subsequently, the game went through so many twists and turns, resulting in commentator GM Robert Hess exclaiming, “This game is giving everybody heart palpitations!”

This game is giving everybody heart palpitations!

—Robert Hess

At this point, the top two encounters of the match were proceeding peacefully, while Lu-Vantika was an almost level game where the latter was defending a slightly inconvenient position. 

But as time went on, Vantika got into trouble in an endgame and went on to lose.

A delighted Lu after winning her game against Vantika. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

But Savitha fought back into the game, and it ended in her favor after many twists and turns.

Thanks to this dramatic encounter, India managed to level the scores with a 2-2 result.

Vantika and Savitha with the Indian women’s team captain, GM Swayams Mishra. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE.
But down below in the encounter between third-seeded Kazakhstan and eighth-seeded France, there was an even more dramatic happening.

France seemed to be winning this encounter comfortably, as IMs Sophie Millet and Pauline Guichard were seemingly enjoying a huge advantage in their respective games. This was after the top board encounter between Kazakh GM Bibisara Assaubayeva‘s game had ended in her favor against IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette.

However, after Millet did win her game, the other game produced a huge blind spot for Guichard who blundered and lost to 16-year-old IM Elnaz Kaliakhmet.

Kazakh WIM Kaliakhmet benefited from an unfortunate blunder. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Thus, Kazakhstan defeated France to climb up the standings and landed in second place behind leader China, with a total of 17 points. They are followed by India, Poland, and Vietnam, all with 16 points in the final standings.

Round 11 Pairings: Top 10 Women’s


The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is a massive team event for national federations that takes place every two years. In 2026 it’s being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with 11 rounds that run September 16-27. In Open and Women’s sections, teams of five players compete in a Swiss system, with each match played over four boards. There are two match points for a win and one for a draw, with board points taken into account only if teams are tied. Players have 90 minutes per game, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move.

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