2026 Samarkand Olympiad Rounds 1–3: the USA, India, Uzbekistan, and China in 1st

Schedule

Lichess Coverage (Interviews)

Lichess will be covering the Chess Olympiad with player interviews, which can be found on our YouTube. Look out for the highlights on our social media channels (Mastodon, Discord, Bluesky, and Instagram) as well!

Interviews from our channel will also be embedded throughout this post.

Lichess Broadcast

The links to all of our Lichess Olympiad broadcasts can be found in our preview article.

Overview (Open)

Of the top 15 seeds by average rating, the only team to drop a match point was England, which drew against Lithuania in round 3. Otherwise, sorted by TB2, TB3, and TB4, the teams on 6/6 match points are: Romania, France, Poland, Uzbekistan, China, Spain, Germany, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Czechia, Israel, Ukraine, the United States of America, Argentina, Greece, Türkiye, Singapore, Serbia, India, the Netherlands, and Hungary. As can be seen by the order of this list, some of the top-seeded teams, such as the USA and India, have been barely scraping by toward match victory, while others, such as Romania and France, have had dominant performances. Of course, with the tournament still barely a quarter-way through, the leaderboard remains very dynamic.

The Leaders

#1: The United States of America

The tournament started off roughly for the first seeds, who already dropped half a point after GM Levon Aronian was held to a draw against CM Ali Ehsan Aryan of Iraq.

The shaky form did not stop there as the USA scraped by against both Mongolia and Denmark, winning each match with a 2.5-1.5 margin.

In the Mongolia match, GM Hans Moke Niemann drew against IM Amilal Munkhdalai (game), while GM Awonder Liang lost as he played the enterprising but risky Benoni against Mongolia's IM Khuyagtsogt Itgelt.

Against Denmark, Liang also lost, but GM Fabiano Caruana saved the day by uncorking a draw against GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre, who was completely winning at some point.

Moreover, GM Niemann's win against GM Mads Andersen (game) and GM Wesley So's win against GM Jesper Sondergaard Thybo were crucial, with So's game being particularly flashy:

With the USA set to face off against Ukraine in round 4, their tournament will not become any easier, so renewed focus is needed if they want to achieve the coveted golden trophy.

#2: India

India dropped a full game point in the first round as GM Arjun Erigaisi lost to IM Prin Laohawirapap, who talked to our director of operations, Theo Wait, after his powerful victory in what was an electric game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq9zLViq55Y

The ship remained somewhat unsteady for the Indian team as a draw fest in round 2 against Indonesia necessitated a win from GM Nihal Sarin, who played an incredibly topsy-turvy game.

In round 3 against Italy, all three top boards were in trouble to varying degrees, but ultimately GM R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun drew against GM Lorenzo Lodici and GM Luca Jr. Moroni, respectively (game 1, game 2), while Nihal won against GM Francesco Sonis (game), and so too did world champion GM Gukesh D against GM Sabino Brunello (game).

#3: Uzbekistan

In contrast to the top two seeds, the third seed and host country, Uzbekistan, has been having a good showing so far. They won the first round against Jamaica 4-0 and only dropped half a point against the strong Peruvian team, with IM Fernando Miguel Fernandez Sanchez playing a very solid game against GM Mukhiddin Madaminov.

Round 3 saw GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and GM Nodirbek Yakubboev draw against GM Kirill Alekseenko and IM Lukas Dotzer, respectively (game 1, game 2), but GM Javokhir Sindarov corrected the course of the match, playing a model Italian positional squeeze against GM Felix Blohberger.

On board 4, Madaminov played an impressive Ruy Lopez game against IM Konstantin Peyrer.

Other Leaders & Results

• China won 3.5-0.5 against Bulgaria, with GM Ding Liren scoring a brilliant victory in the Anti-Berlin Ruy Lopez against GM Arkadij Naiditsch (game).

Our interview with GM Ding Liren:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2VgePlKCj0

• The Netherlands narrowly defeated Australia 2.5-1.5, with an important victory coming from GM Anish Giri against GM Bobby Cheng, when the game seemed to be drawn (game).
• Hungary also pulled off a a win by half a point, despite GM Richárd Rapport's loss to GM Anton Demchenko (game).

The Biggest Upsets

Round 1

As per usual with the first round of the Olympiad, the potential for upsets is huge. Palestinian Ahmad Abdel Wahab (2066) defeated Lichess streamer GM Felix Blohberger (2552) and shared his thoughts about the game with our director of operations, Theo Wait:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IWDYlASkyc#0

Another non-titled player also beat a GM: Homayoun Mohtaat from Afghanistan won against GM Khumoyun Begmuratov of Uzbekistan.

Other upsets include:

• CM Matthew Portelli (2187) of Malta won against GM Benjamin Gledura (2620) of Hungary (game).
• FM Santiago Jose Guevara Ruiz (2160) of El Salvador defeated GM Lelys Stanley Martinez Duany (2440) of Cuba (game).
• Khaled AlJamaat (1810) of Qatar drew against FM Daniel Pinto (2337) of Bolivia (game).
• Edmond Meng Zhang (1896) of Hong Kong, China drew against GM Casper Schoppen (2582) of the Netherlands (game).

Round 2

Erfan Mohamad Firdaus (1852) of Qatar won against FM Diogo Alho (2212) of Cape Verde in a topsy-turvy game with a sacrificed exchange.

Philip Hanna Jr. (1838) of the Bahamas swindled Tapiwa Jele (2204) of Zimbabwe

More upsets:

• IM Ilja Sirosh (2385) of Estonia defeated GM Vasyl Ivanchuk of Ukraine (2630) (game).
• IM Nikola Nikolovski (2393) of North Macedonia emerged victorious against GM Casper Schoppen (2582) of the Netherlands (game).
• IM Nikita Khoroshev (2340) of Kyrgyzstan got the best of GM Nikolozi Kacharava (2525) of Georgia (game).
• IM Nayaka Budhidharma (2383) of Indonesia drew against GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2697) of India (game).
• IM Santiago Lopez Rayo (2431) of Colombia drew against GM Peter Leko (2676) of Hungary (game).

Round 3

Lichess streamer Mafaaz Khalid (2057) of Pakistan, Art-Vega, played a back-and-forth game against FM Ahmed Kandil (2353) of Egypt, ultimately winning after his opponent blundered a mating tactic.

Mohamed Djerbi of Qatar (1666) continued his tear, winning his third game in a row against a higher-rated opponent, with his third win being against CM Alex Bullen (2096) of Wales.

Additional upsets:

• Markus Krieger (2184) of Liechtenstein won against IM Ahn Hongjin (2328) of South Korea (game).
• CM Sachin Dhilan Pitamber (1991) of Guyana drew against GM Andreas Kelires (2532) of Cyprus (game).
• Mohammed Dhaidan N Alotaibi (1868) of Saudi Arabia drew against FM Abdulrahman Akintoye Abdulraheem (2316) of Nigeria (game).

Round 4 Pairings

Overview (Women's)

Of the top 10 seeds by average rating, one team dropped one match point, while two teams dropped two match points: Georgia lost a match point after drawing Montenegro, while Ukraine surprisingly lost 0.5-3.5 against Argentina, whom they outrated on every board, and France lost 1-3 against Iran, whom they similarly outrated on all boards. Otherwise, sorted by TB2, TB3, and TB4, the teams on 6/6 match points are: the United States of America, Romania, India, Poland, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Israel, Armenia, Kazakhstan, China, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Iran, England, Hungary, and Spain.

The Leaders

#1: India

India started off well, winning 4-0 against the Dominican Republic and only conceding one draw in round 2 against Finland after GM Vaishali Rameshbabu could not find much to play for against WIM Anastasia Keinanen.

Round 3 proved to be no different, with India continuing to dominante, again only dropping one draw, this time on board 2 with GM Divya Deshmukh drawing against FM Anastasia Avramidou (game). It has to be said, though, that IM Savitha Shri B was in trouble for one brief moment against Lichess streamer WFM Antonia Christodoulaki.

#2: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan also left no point on the board against Botswana in round 1, but they did drop a full game point against Bosnia & Herzegovina, drawing on board 1 (more on that later) and board 4 (game).

In round 3, Kazakhstan comfortably won 3.5-0.5, with the sole draw coming from Lichess commentator and streamer IM Laura Unuk against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva.

#3: China

China similarly won easily in the first round, defeating Zambia with a 4-0 margin. Round 2 saw IM Song Yuxin drop a draw to WIM Valentina Argote Heredia of Colombia, but otherwise, the score was a resounding 3.5-0.5 success.

Round 3, however, proved to be a particularly narrow escape for the Chinese team as both boards 3 and 4 were completely lost at some point. Fortunately for China, board 3 took a repetition in a winning position, while board 4 could not find the correct path toward accurately converting the endgame.

Other Leaders & Results

• The USA tops the leaderboard, but WIM Ineymig Hernandez Gil of Cuba held IM Rose Atwell to a draw today.
• Argentina defeated Ukraine 3.5-0.5 in what was a stunning upset (games 1, 2, 3, and 4).
• Iran won 3-1 against France in what was also an unexpected underdog victory (games 1, 2, 3, and 4).
• Indonesia lost 1-3 to Uzbekistan, with WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih on board 1 (game) and WIM Laysa Latifah on board 2 (game) scoring draws.

Our director of operations, Theo Wait, caught up with WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9OWD5YiQ4

The Biggest Upsets

Round 1

The Maltese team had a great showing against Germany, with the top two boards drawing their games against their much higher rated opponents.

WFM Oana Caruana Pulpan (1967) played a very solid game against IM Dinara Wagner (2399).

Milena Stagno (1771) was winning for most of the game against WGM Hanna Marie Klek (2293), but could only manage a draw in the end, which was still a very big upset.

More upsets:

• Isabelle Mamah (1886) of Togo defeated WIM Marjona Malikova (2149) of Uzbekistan (team 2) (game).
• WFM Catherine Kaslan (1866) of Suriname drew against WGM Gabriela Antova (2236) of Bulgaria (game).
• WCM Liu Tian Yi (1799) of Hong Kong, China drew against GM Elina Danielian (2382) of Armenia (game).
• WCM Remy Al Asmar (1784) of Lebanon drew against WIM Gulenay Aydin (2213) of Türkiye (game).
• Wu Pei-Xuan (1573) of Chinese Taipei drew against WFM Nguyen Thu Giang (2086) of Australia (game).
• Kung Fan-Hsuan (1496) of Chinese Taipei drew against WFM Phan Nguyen Mai Chi (2093) of Australia (game).
• Kothar Al Mamary (1587) of Oman drew against WGM Niina Koskela (2074) of Norway (game).
• Rose Ann Pin-Ag Flores (unrated) of Cambodia drew against WFM Hallgerdur Thorsteinsdottir (1995) of Iceland (game).

Round 2

WFM Milana Babic (2196) of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a strong game against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (2536) of Kazakhstan, drawing without any issues. Theo Wait caught up with Babic after her draw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSmtAcN00yY

Mahri Agamuradova (1939) of Turkmenistan played an impressive, principled game against WGM Alicja Sliwicka (2324) of Poland.

Other upsets include:

• WFM Michelle Chiamaka Nwankwo (1997) of Nigeria drew against IM Jovanka Houska (2297) of England (game).
• WIM Anastasia Keinanen (2220) of Finland drew against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (2469) of India (game).

Round 3

Sina Tadesse Negi (1447) of Ethiopia won against WIM Anzel Laubscer (1817) of South Africa, consolidating her material advantage after some adventures.

An additional upset:

• Angel Maharjan (1644) of Nepal drew against WIM Isabelle Yixuan Ning (2114) of New Zealand (game)

Round 4 Pairings