{"id":2077,"date":"2026-09-19T08:38:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T08:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/19\/giri-clinches-win-for-netherlands-as-upsets-rock-chess-olymp\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T08:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T08:38:40","slug":"giri-clinches-win-for-netherlands-as-upsets-rock-chess-olymp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/19\/giri-clinches-win-for-netherlands-as-upsets-rock-chess-olymp\/","title":{"rendered":"Giri clinches win for Netherlands as upsets rock Chess Olympiad round three"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Round three of the 46th Chess Olympiad, held in Samarkand in September 2026, largely followed expectations for the seeded favorites, yet a handful of shock results on both the open and women\u2019s sections added drama to the competition. The most notable moments included a game\u2011saving endgame by Grandmaster Anish Giri for the Netherlands, a pair of lower\u2011seed upsets in the open field, and a series of surprising defeats for Ukraine and France in the women&#8217;s tournament.<\/p>\n<h2>Open section: dominant seeds and surprise victories<\/h2>\n<p>In the open division, the top\u2011seeded teams largely marched to victory, but two matches on the lower half of the top\u201150 boards produced unexpected outcomes. The 79th\u2011seeded team from Kyrgyzstan defeated the 31st\u2011seeded Brazil side 2.5\u20111.5, despite Brazil fielding three grandmasters. The decisive board\u2011four win came from untitled player Timur Daudov, rated 2063, who outplayed International Master Diego Di\u202fBerardino in a pawn\u2011down knight ending, with Di\u202fBerardino\u2019s final error on move\u202f54 sealing the upset.<\/p>\n<p>Equally striking was the triumph of 50th\u2011seeded Singapore over 21st\u2011seeded Norway, also by a 2.5\u20111.5 margin. The Singaporean victory hinged on Grandmaster Jingyao Tin\u2019s commanding rook\u2011ending performance against Norway\u2019s Grandmaster Johan\u2011Sebastian Christiansen. Norway\u2019s line\u2011up lacked former world champion Magnus Carlsen, but the result still counted as a major surprise.<\/p>\n<p>Among the top\u2011ten board battles, the Netherlands (sixth seed) narrowly avoided a tie with Australia (32nd seed). Australian International Master Rishi\u202fSardana managed a win over Dutch Grandmaster Loek\u202fvan\u202fWely on board three, while Dutch Grandmaster Jorden\u202fvan\u202fForeest answered with a win against Australia&#8217;s Temur\u202fKuybokarov on board two. The remaining boards were drawn, leaving the match at 1.5\u20111.5 heading into the final board. In a decisive endgame on board one, Grandmaster Anish\u202fGiri outmaneuvered Australian Grandmaster Bobby\u202fCheng, converting a slim advantage into a win that secured a 2\u20111 match victory for the Netherlands. The game was later highlighted as the \u201cGame of the Day,\u201d with annotations promised by Grandmaster Rafael\u202fLeitao.<\/p>\n<p>The United States, a perennial contender, faced early trouble. Denmark\u2019s Grandmaster Bjorn\u202fMoller\u202fOchsner outplayed American Grandmaster Awonder\u202fLiang on board four, while Grandmaster Jonas\u202fBuhl\u202fBjerre obtained a large advantage against Grandmaster Fabiano\u202fCaruana on board one. Caruana managed to hold the position to a draw, but Liang succumbed to a second consecutive loss after navigating a complex endgame. The United States recovered on the remaining boards, with Grandmasters Wesley\u202fSo and Hans\u202fNiemann delivering wins on boards two and three. So\u2019s victory featured a queen sacrifice that forced a decisive tactical sequence after a blunder by Grandmaster Jesper\u202fThybo.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview conducted jointly with International Master Carissa\u202fYip, Chess.com\u2019s FM Mike\u202fKlein asked the American players about their medal aspirations. So emphasized the primacy of gold, stating, \u201cI think one gold is better than two silvers.\u201d Yip echoed the sentiment, adding, \u201cI want the boys to get gold!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other top\u2011seeded teams such as Kazakhstan, China and the United States secured expected wins, while Uzbekistan\u2019s debutant Grandmaster Mukhiddin\u202fMadaminov won his board\u2011four game against Austria\u2019s International Master Konstantin\u202fPeyrer after a successful exchange sacrifice.<\/p>\n<h2>Women\u2019s Olympiad: India\u2019s dominance and fresh upsets<\/h2>\n<p>The women\u2019s competition saw defending champions India continue their strong form, defeating Greece 3.5\u20110.5 in round three. Grandmaster Koneru\u202fHumpy avenged a recent loss to International Master Stavroula\u202fTsolakidou by securing a decisive win on the top board, reinforcing India\u2019s position as the tournament favorite. Humpy\u2019s victory came less than a week after she and the Indian team, led by Grandmaster Magnus\u202fCarlsen, lost the Global Chess League final, during which Tsolakidou was awarded a motorcycle as the event\u2019s MVP.<\/p>\n<p>Despite India\u2019s success, two higher\u2011seeded teams suffered unexpected defeats. Sixth\u2011seeded Ukraine was beaten 3\u20111 by 38th\u2011seeded Argentina, while eighth\u2011seeded France fell 3\u20111 to 30th\u2011seeded Iran. These upsets marked the first major surprises on the top tables of the women\u2019s Olympiad.<\/p>\n<p>Other notable performances included a 2\u20112 draw between Lithuania and England, where Lithuania\u2019s Grandmaster Paulius\u202fPultinevicius won on board three, offsetting England\u2019s Grandmaster Luke\u202fMcShane\u2019s win on board two. Moldova held Croatia to a draw, and Belgium did the same with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Only Poland managed a clean 4\u20110 sweep against Latvia, while Kazakhstan (third seed) beat Slovenia 3.5\u20110.5. Grandmaster Bibisara\u202fAssaubayeva, representing Kazakhstan, was held to a draw for the second consecutive day.<\/p>\n<h2>Individual highlights and upcoming round four<\/h2>\n<p>Among the individual standouts, India\u2019s Gukesh\u202fDommaraju rebounded from a brief dip below a 2700 live rating by defeating Italy\u2019s Grandmaster Sabino\u202fBrunello on board four, lifting his live rating back to 2702. Gukesh described his opponent\u2019s 14.Ng5 as \u201ca bit too creative\u201d and noted a critical mistake on 20.Nc2?, after which he executed a strong pawn sacrifice to seize the initiative. He also commented on logistical challenges, recalling that the Indian team waited six hours for a hotel room after the first round.<\/p>\n<p>World Champion Ding\u202fLiren recorded his second win in three rounds, beating Bulgaria\u2019s Grandmaster Arkadij\u202fNaiditsch as China posted a 3.5\u20110.5 match victory. Ding highlighted that his opponent missed the move 25.Nce2, allowing Ding to coordinate his pieces for a winning tactical sequence. He added that this was his first foreign tournament since winning the 2024 World Championship, noting that he had spent the intervening years playing sports and watching movies.<\/p>\n<p>Germany defeated Uzbekistan\u2019s second team 2.5\u20111.5, with Grandmaster Vincent\u202fKeymer securing a win on board one while the other boards were drawn. Azerbaijan beat Switzerland 3\u20111, and France, despite its earlier upset loss, later defeated Kazakhstan 3.5\u20110.5.<\/p>\n<p>Round four is scheduled for Saturday, September\u202f19, with matches beginning at 6:15\u202fa.m.\u202fET \/ 12:15\u202fCEST \/ 3:45\u202fp.m.\u202fIST. The pairings pit several of the day\u2019s victors against each other, including a clash between Uzbekistan and Turkey. Turkey\u2019s youthful line\u2011up features 15\u2011year\u2011old Grandmaster Ya\u011f\u0131z\u202fErdo\u011fan\u202fMu\u015f (rated 2716) on board one and 17\u2011year\u2011old Grandmaster Ediz\u202fG\u00fcrel (2636) on board two, promising an exciting encounter.<\/p>\n<p>As the Olympiad progresses, the competition remains fierce across both sections. The open field will see the Netherlands aim to build on Giri\u2019s decisive endgame win, while lower\u2011seeded teams like Kyrgyzstan and Singapore look to capitalize on their early upsets. In the women\u2019s tournament, India seeks to maintain its unbeaten streak, and the surprise defeats of Ukraine and France suggest that the battle for medals will remain open until the final rounds.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Round three of the 46th Chess Olympiad saw top seeds mostly prevail, but surprise victories by Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Argentina and Iran reshaped the leaderboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[470,2205,2204,1973,2206],"class_list":["post-2077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chess","tag-giri","tag-olympiad","tag-upsets","tag-womens-chess","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}