Uzbekistan Ends India's Win Streak In Open, Kazakhstan Takes Women's Lead

Uzbekistan is the first team in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad to keep from losing a match against India, holding an equal 2-2 match score with four draws. India still leads by two points. GM Leinier Dominguez led the U.S. to a 2.5-1.5 victory against Hungary with the team's only victory on board three, against GM Sanan Sjugirov. Our Game of the Day is GM Vladimir Fedoseev's win with the black pieces against GM Magnus Carlsen, and Slovenia defeated Norway 3-1.

17-year-old Alua Nurman's clutch win over WIM Alicja Sliwicka saw Kazakhstan defeat Poland to take the sole lead in the Women's 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad with two rounds to go. India is in sole second place a point behind after IM Vantika Agrawal beat GM Irina Krush on demand to rescue a draw against the United States. Eight more teams join the U.S. a further point back, including comeback kids China. 

Round 10 of the 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad starts on Saturday, September 21, at 9 a.m. ET/15:00 CEST/6:30 p.m. IST.

• Open: Uzbekistan Puts Stop To India's Rampage, Fedoseev Upsets Carlsen
• Women's Section: Kazakhstan Takes Lead As India Escapes Against U.S.

Open: Uzbekistan Puts Stop To India's Rampage, Fedoseev Upsets Carlsen

Though India was "slowed down" from its eight-round winning streak, it continues to lead the event by two points. Uzbekistan has, for the rest of the field, "stopped the bleeding."

See full results here.

While four draws on paper look like a quiet grandmasterly affair, the games were not peaceful—with the exception of a quick draw on board four in a London System. 

Board one was the second game to finish, and though GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov came ready for a fight in the Sicilian Najdorf, GM Gukesh Dommaraju dialed down the flames with the quieter 6.a4 variation, and the players shook hands after 32 moves. No headway for either player, and Game Review shows an accuracy score of about 98 percent for both sides.

Boards two and three could have been decisive, however. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu had an alarming position with Black in the French Defense but managed to crawl his way back in after GM Javokhir Sindarov didn't find a precise way forward. 25.h5 and then 26.h6 was the best way for White to continue, but instead after 25.Nf6? Qd8, natural enough, the Indian GM prevented a breakthrough from ever happening.

GM Arjun Erigaisi gained an opening advantage in the Ruy Lopez Berlin until it evaporated with 24.Qg6?, though the reasons were subtle. Arjun's clearest chance of winning came three moves before the time control when both players had under two minutes, but the opportunity left as quickly as it came: 

Uzbekistan's captain GM Vladimir Kramnik spoke to FM Mike Klein after the match. About the games, he said he expected more than a draw: "I think we were very close to winning the match, unfortunately... but I'm proud of my guys. They really showed that they can play real chess."

Kramnik also filed an official complaint at the beginning of the day about the phones ChessBase India was using to record the games. Although the arbiters approved the phones on airplane mode and without SIM cards, Kramnik maintained that transmission devices have no place in the playing venue, and he stressed that he was not accusing team India of receiving assistance.

You can listen to the full interview here, and we will publish updates as they arise.

Despite not winning the match on Friday, India is still two points ahead of the field. They've already played some of their closest trailers—Uzbekistan, China, Hungary, Serbia. Number-one-seed U.S. will have their only shot to slow them down in the penultimate round. 

After suffering an early upset against Ukraine, the U.S. got back to the top of the table by defeating Hungary in a close match. The result, whether it would be a draw or victory for the U.S., wasn't clear until the final minutes of the round.

The quietest game was board four, a Nimzo-Indian where GM Levon Aronian equalized comfortably with a central pawn break and then traded all the pieces. Then there was board two, where GM Peter Leko ran into what might have been a surprise in the opening, the French Winawer Armenian Variation, by GM Wesley So. A tense position ultimately fizzled out with mass trades, and they drew a knight and rook endgame.

The only decisive game was Dominguez's, and he first missed an opportunity to win on the spot after the opening moves were played. After the players rehashed 18 moves of theory in the Sicilian Najdorf, Sjugirov failed to find the 19th move—in fact, anything but 19...Qa5 loses. But Dominguez missed that first, early chance to win material, albeit with a sick tactic (covered in the diagram below the tweet).

Leinier Dominguez missed an apparently winning move on board three for the U.S.!https://t.co/jebAWSnC5v#ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/sCLMCR9FAI

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

The players entered a complex endgame, and it was on the fateful move 41, just as both players received another 30 minutes, that Sjugirov made the losing blunder when a draw was just on the horizon. Once the b-pawn marched to b7, the only outcome on the horizon was checkmate for Sjugirov and he resigned.

GM Fabiano Caruana looked like he was the one pressing in a Sicilian Rossolimo for most of the game against GM Richard Rapport. In fact, he had objectively winning positions just after move 40. Deep in the queen and knight endgame, however, it was Caruana fighting for his life, and at one point he incorrectly claimed a threefold repetition.

Caruana, fighting for his life, claims a threefold repetition, but it's only the second time!

The eval bar says White can defend with only moves, but he has a tremendous task to save the match for the U.S.https://t.co/zXGof368zT#ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/r1kMqeq2ba

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

A few moves later, Rapport played a check for what might have been an attempt to repeat moves and gain time, but to his horror he realized that he had miscalculated, and he had nothing better than a perpetual.

Just as Uzbekistan has a shared history with India (they drew round 10 after Abdusattorov pulled victory from the jaws of defeat vs. Gukesh), so does the U.S. In 2022, India 2 (there were three Indian teams) defeated the U.S. 3-1, and notably Gukesh scored his eighth win out of eight games against Caruana on board one. Both players will have something to prove in their matchup.

Meanwhile, China is the third team on 15 points after defeating Iran 2.5-1.5. After sitting out for two rounds, GM Ding Liren was back on board one, and he managed to get a winning position against GM Parham Maghsoodloo. However, with 49 seconds to make two more moves, he failed to find 39.Kf3!, leading by force to a winning pawn endgame.

If it feels like it's been a while since Ding won a classical game, it's because it has been. His last classical victory was on January 27, 2024, against GM Max Warmerdam at the Tata Steel Chess Masters. He defeated Gukesh in round three of that tournament too, and they have a world championship match to play in two months. Which Ding will we see in Singapore?

GM Wei Yi won the only decisive game of the match after GM Amin Tabatabaei, who had an advantage earlier, placed a knight on an undefended square and dropped an exchange to a tactic.

As far as individual upsets go, it's hard to top a victory against the player who received an award from FIDE for being the best player in the last 100 years (more on this below). Fedoseev shared that the preparation by both players went to the endgame, and that even 20...Rh5 is in his file at home. When Carlsen tried to pull the brakes, he seized his chance.

Fedoseev's preparation against Carlsen stretched to the endgame, and he felt the momentum shift: "... after he pulls back I understood I should be in chances in this game."#ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/pF8EKxvClT

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the Game of the Day below. He writes, "A shocking defeat for the world's number-one and a deserved victory for Fedoseev, one of the greatest fighters in the chess world."  

You can also listen to GM Hikaru Nakamura's recap of the game below.

At the FIDE100 Gala on Thursday, Carlsen accepted the award while also pointing out that he believes GM Garry Kasparov's career is more deserving (something he's said before). In honor of Kasparov, Carlsen expressed solidarity with Ukraine in his speech: "I'm sure he would take the opportunity to advise against reinstating the Russian and Belarusian chess federations so that is what I will do as well."

Thank you❤️pic.twitter.com/ji8kJk0vgJ

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 19, 2024

You can read more about the gala and a potential vote to lift sanctions on the Russian and Belarusian federations in our report here.

The U.S. and India will have a score to settle in the marquee matchup on Saturday. Hungary and Uzbekistan, the other two teams on 14 points, will look to keep their dreams of gold alive, while Serbia and China will fight to get back on the scoreboard.

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 10 Team Pairings: Open (Top 15)

Women's Section: Kazakhstan Takes Lead As India Escapes Against U.S.

Round nine of the Women's Chess Olympiad once again came down to the finest of margins, with 10th-seed Kazakhstan scoring a crucial win over co-leader Poland, while India drew against the United States.

See full results here.

The most dramatic match of the day in the Women's section was the United States vs. India, which had echoes of the final round of the 2022 Olympiad. Back then in Chennai, the U.S. team inflicted a painful loss on the hosts, and a repeat would have seen them leapfrog the pre-tournament favorites. It didn't happen, but it was incredibly close!

IM Tania Sachdev had lost in that 2022 matchup but looked on course to achieve redemption when she castled on opposite sides of the board and whipped up a huge attack against young IM Alice Lee. In the end it came down to the position after 20...g6?!, when Tania took on g6 with the bishop but had the crushing 21.e6!! instead.

Relief for Alice Lee as she survives a huge attack from Tania Sachdev, who made a draw by repetition with very little time remaining! https://t.co/9okPZR90t8 #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/YhvGvZGxqp

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

"Tania will not sleep well tonight," said GM Judit Polgar in the clip above, but the decision to repeat moves at the end was ultimately justified by the evaluation of the position—and events elsewhere in the match.

Tania's regret was her time management, since she'd seen the winning move but lacked time to calculate it: "When I’m doing commentary, I always say the clock is the 17th piece, and I wasn’t able to apply that to my own game today." 

"Mismanagement of time" says Tania Sachdev, after noting she'd seen the winning e6 vs. Alice Lee, but just had no time to calculate it!#ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/7J4SUF8G7D

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

The reason the draw looked bad at the time is that GM Vaishali Rameshbabu had blundered or seriously underestimated the two-move tactic 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Qd4!, which threatened checkmate on g7 and, therefore, won the a7-pawn. 

IM Begim Tokhirjonova went on to prove Black had no checkmating threats on the kingside and won smoothly, later explaining that her opponent had over-pushed, likely based on team orders since Team India's biggest advantage, on paper, was on the top-two boards. 

IM Carissa Yip made a draw, so all the United States needed to win the match was for GM Irina Krush to make a draw with White in the final game against IM Vantika Agrawal, who had suffered heartbreak against Poland a day earlier in a similar deciding game. Tokhirjonova commented:

"I hoped that Irina would stand up to look at the games and what’s going on because it was very important for me to see that she understood that she just needs to hold her game. Luckily for me, I finished very quickly and now she knows." 

Begim felt her opponent Vaishali pushed too hard for a win! https://t.co/3QNfcMxaJd #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/e7FhE8cArW

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 20, 2024

Krush knew what she needed to do, but it didn't help. Vantika launched a ferocious attack on the kingside and could even afford to miss the first chance to crash through—by putting either knight on f4.

That win meant India had avoided their fate from Chennai of losing to both Poland and the United States, and they would also end the day in sole second place. That was because the match of their co-leaders before round nine was decided by a single, nervy game.

Three games were relatively quiet draws, with Kazakhstan being the side to push in two of them, leaving the outcome of the match depending on the clash of two team heroes from the day before: 17-year-old Nurman and 23-year-old Sliwicka.

The tactics began early with Nurman picking up a pawn but briefly finding herself in trouble before grinding out a win when Sliwicka this time failed to find the saving moves.

🇰🇿 Alua Nurman prevails against 🇵🇱 Alicja Śliwicka - Kazakhstan beats Poland. Round 9 | Women | #ChessOlympiad

After three draws in the 🇵🇱 Poland vs Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 match, only the game between Alicja Śliwicka and Alua Nurman remained. After a long and evenly matched fight, the… pic.twitter.com/nl25hSVEa5

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 20, 2024

That is the fourth win in a row for Nurman.

That means that while Kazakhstan leads with two rounds to go, Poland drops into the nine-team tie for third, two points behind. The tie includes pre-tournament favorites Georgia and China, who finally seem to be hitting their stride. Georgia defeated France 3.5-0.5, while China has now scored three thumping wins in a row after two consecutive losses seemed to have ended the team's chances. 

In round 10, Kazakhstan faces second-seed Georgia, while India takes on their Chinese rivals. A win by any of the teams on 14 match points should give them medal chances in the final round.

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 10 Team Pairings: Women (Top 15)

Colin McGourty contributed reporting to this article.

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad is a massive team event for national federations that takes place every two years. In 2024 it's being held in Budapest, Hungary, with 11 rounds that run September 11-22. In Open and Women's sections, teams of five players compete in a Swiss Open, 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.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 8: Gukesh, Arjun, Vidit Lead Indian Men To 16/16; Polish Women Defeat India
• Round 7: Gukesh Grinds Out Endgame Masterpiece, Both Indian Teams On Perfect 14/14
• Round 6: Indian Teams Sole Leaders After Ding Defeat Costs China
• Round 5: Arjun Hits 5/5 As India Powers On; Armenian Women Topple China
• Round 4: Ivanchuk Beats So As Ukraine Topples Olympiad Top-Seed United States
• Round 3: Carlsen Bikes To Win As Giri, Keymer Suffer Shock Defeats
• Round 2: Caruana Back In 2800 Club; Canada Hold Carlsen-less Norway To Draw
• Round 1: Aronian, Mamedyarov, Arjun Live Dangerously As Top Teams Win
• 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad: 7 Talking Points
• U.S. Top Seeds, India Close 2nd As Chess Olympiad Teams Announced