2024 Budapest Olympiad Round 3: Upset Wins in Open, Upset Draws in Women's

Tournament Information

Information about the schedule, Lichess broadcast, and Lichess stream coverage can all be found in our preview article.

Lichess will be covering the Chess Olympiad with live camera feeds and rotating commentators: GM Illia Nyzhnyk, IM Eric Rosen, and FM Gauri Shankar! Make sure to tune in today September 14 at 13:00 UTC for Round 4 with our hosts IM Eric Rosen and FM Gauri Shankar.

Overview (Open)

Round 3 in the Open was absolutely chaotic, with upsets — both individual and team — all over the place. In fact, there were so many upsets that it would be difficult to cover them all in any level of sufficient detail. The upsets on the top boards included Italy's (2544.75 average rating) 3-1 win over the Netherlands (2681.75) (board 6) and Lithuania's (2565) 2.5-1.5 win over Germany (2662) (board 7). Other notable results on the top boards included Denmark's (2560.5) draw with England (2652.5) on board 8 and Georgia's (2547) draw with Iran (2640.75) on board 9. Apart from results, there were other talking points in round 3 of the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. GM Magnus Carlsen was late to his match as he arrived to the venue on a bike; he narrowly escaped a loss by forfeit. GM Fabiano Caruana is now #2 in the world after a strong, long win against GM Ivan Cheparinov; GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, GM Dommaraju Gukesh, GM Wei Yi, and GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa have all gained rating points to shake up the world's top 10 rating list.

You can find more results here.

The Top Teams

India and the USA, the only two teams with a rating average higher than 2750, proved their rating once more as they, alongside defending champions Uzbekistan, were the only teams on the top 19 boards to win with a 3.5-0.5 margin. Notably, on the 20th board, Norway, led by GM Magnus Carlsen, won 3.5-0.5 against Colombia. There were multiple precise and well-played games by these teams. Caruana's endgame grind against Cheparinov is one example:

Carlsen caused GM Roberto Garcia Pantoja's position to collapse as the latter incurred many weaknesses:

World champion challenger Gukesh completely outmaneuvered his opponent and crashed through to end the game in style:

Attacking virtuoso GM Arjun Erigaisi's game was even more flashy, though, as his opponent allowed him to demonstrate checkmate on the board:

On board 2, Hungary defeated Austria; on board 4, China defeated Slovenia, and on board 5, Uzbekistan defeated Croatia. The Netherlands were not so lucky, however, as GM Anish Giri lost to GM Lorenzo Lodici, GM Max Warmerdam lost to GM Francesco Sonis, and GM Erwin L'ami lost to GM Sabino Brunello — GM Jorden van Foreest's win against GM Luca Jr Moroni was not enough to shift the tide for the Netherlands.

Lodici's dark-squared crush was nothing short of spectacular:

Germany had an even tougher time as, despite GM Vincent Keymer's loss to GM Titas Stremavicius, the match was not yet lost. Indeed, GM Alexander Donchenko was at one point significantly better against GM Valery Kazakouski, but in trying to win the match for Germany, he overpressed and blundered in a complicated endgame.

With eight more rounds to go, however, the tournament is just getting started. Many teams are still in the running, even the ones who faced upsets in this round.

The Biggest Upsets (Games)

Sri Lanka's K K Dinujaya Kodithuwakku's (1827) win against Angola's FM Domingos Junior (2183) was an impressive attacking display:

FM Alisher Karimov's (2240) win against Jagadeesh Siddharth (2514) was pivotal for Tajikistan to draw its stronger opponent, Singapore; Karimov kept playing on for hours, trying to find any slight advantage. Just as the game looked to be headed to a draw, Karimov found an accurate way to win as Siddharth blundered.

Upsets (Teams)

Montenegro (vs. France), Sweden (vs. Romania), Canada (vs. Czech Republic), Malaysia (vs. Portugal), Jordan (vs. Finland), Sri Lanka (vs. Angola), and the Cayman Islands (vs. Aruba) scored upset wins, while Slovakia (vs. Turkiye), Mongolia (vs. Israel), Tajikistan (vs. Singapore), South Korea (vs. Belgium), and El Salvador (vs. Peru) scored upset draws. In particular, Jordan's (2108.5 average rating) win against Finland (2409) was significant, and so too was Malaysia's (2192.75) against Portugal (2459.75). South Korea's (2195.75) draw against Belgium (2449) and El Salvador's (2201.25) draw against Peru (2459.75) were also remarkable. Below are some games.

Anas Khwaira had another chance to cause an upset:

IM Hongjin Ahn, who drew GM Aryan Tari in round 1, went all in on the attack:

Brilliant Games

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has a reputation for attacking chess, and he did not disappoint today as he parted ways with his queen to crush FM Jegor Lashkin's king on the dark squares:

Lichess blogger FM Jonathan L B Blackburn of Wales played a stunning mating combination against Hamid Harmon Gulamo Jamal of Mozambique reminiscent of Joseph Henry Blackburne's combinations:

Round 4 Pairings

In particular, China's match against Armenia will be intriguing as Armenia has a strong lineup with four 2600+ GMs and has historically performed very well at Olympiads. Interesting matchups include GM Wesley So vs. GM Vasyl Ivanchuk and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. GM Le Quang Liem.

Overview (Women's)

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's win against GM Harika Dronavalli was not enough for Switzerland as they lost 1-3 to the Indian team. This was surely a much welcome result for the Indian team as a round of upset draws meant that out of the top 10 best teams according to pre-tournament ratings, only India, the United States of America, China, Ukraine, Spain, and Kazakhstan remain unscathed with three match wins as Georgia, Poland, Azerbaijan, and Germany have dropped points. The latter four teams drew Romania, Greece, Argentina, and Slovenia, respectively.

You can find more results here.

The Top Teams

Kosteniuk's game against Dronavalli was equal for a long time, but Kosteniuk powerfully outcalculated Dronavalli at a critical juncture and converted with precision:

Alexandra Kosteniuk was all smiles before her game with Harika Dronavalli. Pictured alongside her is international arbiter and FIDE senior trainer Boris Postovsky.
Photo: Maria Emelianova / Chess.com

Unfortunately for Switzerland, the other boards would go on to lose, netting India a 3-1 victory over Switzerland.

IM Divya Deshmukh ended her game in style against WIM Sofiia Hryzlova:

The upset of the day occurred on board 2 (which is a fixed board for Hungary) as the outrated Uzbek team narrowly defeated Hungary. WIM Zsoka Gaal was at some point much better against WIM Afruza Khamdamova, but she blundered in the rook endgame and allowed Khamdamova to create a strong passed pawn as her rook was stuck to the f-file and could not avoid a trade with Khamdamova's rook.

GM Nino Batsiashvili of Georgia showed how White can positionally crush the Benoni as she dismantled WGM Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky's kingside fort.

That result was not sufficient, though, as GM Bella Khotenashvili was facing a strong attack from WIM Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu of Romania. Khotenashvili tragically blundered a mate in 3 in what was a dynamically equal position.

Lichess streamer IM Laura Unuk drew an important game against IM Dinara Wagner of Germany to secure a draw for Slovenia against Germany.
Photo: Maria Emelianova / Chess.com

The Biggest Upsets (Games)

Begimay Zhanybekova (1784) of Kyrgyzstan converted well against Simona Limontaite (2177) of Lithuania:

Upsets (Teams)

Apart from the aforementioned upsets on the first 9 boards, there were other notable upsets. South Africa drew Colombia, Kyrgyzstan won against Lithuania, Zambia drew Mexico, Thailand won against Ireland, and Haiti won against Angola.

Jesse Nikki February of South Africa talked to Theo Wait, director of operations at Lichess, after her pivotal win.

Merisena Cadeau of Haiti and WIM Esperanca Caxita of Angola were playing IM Eric Rosen's favorite connect-four on the queenside as Caxita went for an incorrect sacrifice in a desperate position:

Brilliant Games

Larisa Sokolova of Cyprus completely dismantled El Salvador's Angie Garcia's king in a wonderful king hunt as she sacrificed both of her central pawns:

Round 4 Pairings

Apart from Denmark vs. Hungary, where the Hungarian team has a significant rating advantage, all matches are reasonably close. India's (2447.8 5-board average rating) match against France (2335.2) promises to be particularly tough for the favorites.

Olympiad Tactics

The Turkish chess trainer and FM Nazmi Can Doğan alias @NaSil is taking tactical snippets from the Olympiad:

Olympiad Miscellany

Lichess streamer GM Tamas Banusz had a tough game against Praggnanandhaa today.
Photo: Maria Emelianova / Chess.com

Lichess streamer GM Kacper Piorun won today against GM Diego Flores.
Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Mounguen Jose Evrard Koumba of Gabon deep in thought
Photo: Mark Livshitz / FIDE