Higher-rated teams prevail

The top five teams in the women's section of the Chess Olympiad all have average ratings above 2400 Elo points: India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and the United States.

India are the defending champions after winning gold in Budapest. Three members of that team are back: Vaishali Rameshbabu (who is set to challenge Ju Wenjun in the next match for the Women's World Championship title), Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal. They are joined by India's highest-rated woman player Humpy Koneru and rising star Savitha Shri.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

Kazakhstan took silver two years ago despite entering the Olympiad in Budapest as the 10^th seeds. They return this time as the 3^rd seeds, with three members of the 2024 squad again representing the country.

Fourth-seeded China are without their three highest-rated players, who are also the three highest-rated women in the world: Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie. Even so, their lineup remains strong, with Zhu Jiner, Song Yuxin and Lu Miaoyi occupying the top three boards. All three young players were also part of the Chinese team in Budapest and have already become established names on the women's circuit.

The United States, bronze medallists in 2024, are led by youngsters Carissa Yip and Alice Lee. Experienced GM Irina Krush and Tatev Abrahamyan are also in the squad, alongside Olympiad debutante Rose Atwell.

Georgia, meanwhile, once again field an experienced team headed by Nana Dzagnidze, a long-standing member of the women's elite.

Humpy Koneru playing on the top board for the defending champions from India | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Alua Nurman played on board one for Kazakhstan, as Bibisara Assaubayeva rested on the first round | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

The women's squad from Suriname | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Polish GM Bartosz Socko is the captain of the women's squad from the United Arab Emirates | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

There were no upsets in terms of match results in the opening round, with most encounters ending either 4–0 or 3½–½. In fact, nine of the top 10 seeds recorded 4–0 victories. The only exception was Germany, seeded 10^th, who defeated 104^th-seeded Malta by 3–1 after draws were recorded on boards three and four.

There were no major individual surprises either, as the higher-rated players generally converted their rating advantage.

Schulze (Germany) 1-0 Miceli-Farrugia (Malta)

Annotations by Martina Gerdts

Mastering the London System

In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5...cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines

One of the players attracting particular attention in Samarkand is Bodhana Sivanandan, England's 11-year-old top board. The teenager recently won the Women's British Championship and, despite her age, is already ranked 15^th among girls under 20. She began her Olympiad campaign with a victory over Hanna Wilson of Barbados in the first round.

The magnificent playing hall | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Andorra's representatives having fun in Samarkand | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

• Official website
• Read the full regulations
• Full teams' compositions and pairings on Chess-Results: Open | Women's

Round 2 pairings

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

...96 boards

All games

• Official website
• Read the full regulations
• Full teams' compositions and pairings on Chess-Results: Open | Women's