Chess Olympiad 2026: Gold medals slip further away from reigning champs India

World champion D Gukesh, GMs Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa again showed the way as the Indian men scored a comprehensive 3.5-0.5 victory over Uzbekistan-2 in the 10th and penultimate round of the 2026 Chess Olympiad on Saturday.

B Savitha Shri ensured the Indian women survived some anxious moments before settling for a 2-2 draw with leaders China to keep their hopes alive.

This was Savitha Shri’s eighth victory in the event coming at the expense of Zhai Mo and the Indian has made a staggering 8.5 points from her nine games.

Meanwhile in the open section Uzbekistan-1 continued to remain ahead on 18 points following another comprehensive victory against Armenia. The Uzbeks also scored a 3.5-0.5 victory and they currently look invincible.

Indian men on 17 are in sole second spot and are well-placed to win the silver medal. However to repeat their gold medal winning performance from the last Olympiad, they need to win handsomely and also hope for Uzbekistan to lose their match.

In the women’s section the Chinese also took their tally to 18 points and remain a full point ahead of Kazakhstan that moved to sole second spot beating France 2.5-1.5. The Indian eves are on the third spot on 16 points.

Nihal Sarin was the first to score a victory in the match against Uzbekistan-2 as the Indian grabbed a couple of pawns early with his black pieces to force matters against Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov.

GM Gukesh was the next to step in as Ortik Nigmatov was no match and Arjun meanwhile drew on the second board.

Praggnanandhaa finally scored over Jakhongir Vakhidov to complete the victory.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)