Clear win for China in Women's Chess Olympiad, while Kazakhstan and India complete the podium

by Martina Gerdts
9/28/2026 – In the final round of the Women's Chess Olympiad, China, led by top board Zhu Jiner, defeated Vietnam 3–1 to secure first place outright with 20 match points. Their rivals did not fare as well. Kazakhstan drew with Poland, while India drew with Georgia. As a result, Kazakhstan's 18 points were enough for second place, while India took third on tiebreak ahead of the United States, Poland, Armenia and Mongolia, all of whom finished on 17 points. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase
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Zhu Jiner excels across the board

The Chinese team remained unbeaten in the women's section. The team suffered only two individual losses in total. The Chinese women also won in round eleven, defeating Vietnam 3-1. In the team matches in which they suffered an individual defeat, China drew 2-2 instead of winning. With a total of 20 match points, China pulled clear of the competition and won gold. Zhu Jiner also stood out with her individual performance on board one. For scoring 7 points from 9 appearances and achieving a tournament performance rating of 2638, Zhu received individual gold. According to the live ratings, she gained 9 Elo points, bringing her to 2554 in the live ratings. This makes her the world number two among women again in the live ratings, behind Hou Yifan, who has a rating of 2596.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Zhu Jiner are honoured for their individual performances on board one | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Several of Zhu Jiner's teammates also finished in the top ten on their respective boards. Like Zhu Jiner, Lu Miaoyi finished first in the individual standings on board three. She scored 9½ points from 11 games and achieved a tournament performance rating of 2576.

Frederik Svane and Lu Miaoyi win individual gold (board three) | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

For her results on board two, Song Yuxin received the bronze medal in the individual standings. She scored 8 points from 11 games and achieved a tournament performance rating of 2492. On the reserve board, Mo Zhai finished sixth in the individual standings with 5 points from 8 games and a tournament performance rating of 2295.

China team statistics

China defeats Vietnam 3-1

China secured first place on their own terms with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam. Kazakhstan were able to hold on to second place because they ultimately had one match point more than India and the USA, who would otherwise have had the better tiebreak.

China against Vietnam in round eleven | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Lu Miaoyi 1–0 Phuong Hanh Luong

In the game between Lu Miaoyi and Phuong Hanh Luong, Lu Miaoyi gained a large advantage in the endgame after her opponent surely regretted considering the alternatives instead of playing a mistaken knight manoeuvre.

With this move, Black wins a pawn and attacks the bishop directly. White, however, wants to move the bishop to e7 anyway. After 41.Be7, Rh6 to protect the pawn would have failed because 42.Re4+ wins the knight. Black therefore played 41...Ng6, and 42.Bxd6 followed immediately. Had Black not captured the pawn beforehand and instead played 40...Ng3, e4 would have been protected and the rook could not have attacked the king via that square. Then 41.Be7 Kf4 could also have followed, and if the bishop subsequently captured on d6, the trap would spring with 42...Ne4+ (a double attack on the king and bishop). In addition, Rh6 becomes possible for Black after 40...Ng3 because e4 would be protected.

The game ended when White was three pawns up, including connected passed pawns.

Kazakhstan take silver

In round eleven, Poland and Kazakhstan drew, as did India and Georgia. The United States defeated Romania 3-1. Kazakhstan therefore kept the USA at a distance with their draw and were fortunate that India did not defeat Georgia.

Team Kazakhstan at the awards ceremony | Photo: Niels Rohde / ChessBase

Bibisara Assaubayeva remained unbeaten in Samarkand | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Results: Poland v. Kazakhstan

Oliwia Kiolbasa remained unbeaten for the Polish team. Although she is rated 150 Elo points lower than Bibisara Assaubayeva, she managed to hold the Kazakh player to a draw with white. Earlier, in round five, she had also drawn against Humpy Koneru (2509). Kiolbasa gained 19 Elo points from the tournament. Poland missed out on the team bronze medal by the narrowest of margins. Even so, the Polish team certainly need not reproach themselves for failing to defeat Kazakhstan.

The race for third place

The battle for third place was extremely close. Five teams finished the tournament with 17 match points: India, United States, Poland, Armenia and Mongolia. The tiebreak ultimately decided the matter in India's favour.

Team India took bronze | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

In addition to the team prize, there were also medals for individual Indian players. According to the live ratings, Savitha Shri gained 23 Elo points at the Chess Olympiad, taking her above the 2400 mark again to 2405. This moves her up to 41st in the women's world rankings by live rating, a jump of 19 places. With 9 points from 10 games and a tournament performance rating of 2569 on the reserve board, she earned individual gold!

Humpy Koneru received bronze for her score of 7 points from 10 games on board one. Divya Deshmukh took silver with 6½ points from 10 games and a tournament performance rating of 2465, while Vantika Agrawal received bronze on board four with 6/8 and a tournament performance rating of 2437.

Results: India v. Georgia

Final standings

Rk SNo Team Matches + =

-

 TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 4
China 11 9 2 0 20 463 33 161
2 3
Kazakhstan 11 7 4 0 18 395 29 160
3 1
India 11 7 3 1 17 424 31 161
4 5
United States of America 11 8 1 2 17 418 32.5 150
5 9
Poland 11 8 1 2 17 381 28.5 160
6 16
Armenia 11 8 1 2 17 369 28.5 154
7 15
Mongolia 11 8 1 2 17 331 27 149
8 2
Georgia 11 6 4 1 16 360 28.5 151
9 21
Vietnam 11 8 0 3 16 348 28.5 149
10 25
Slovenia 11 7 2 2 16 336 29.5 138
11 26
Turkiye 11 7 2 2 16 323 28 138
12 8
France 11 7 1 3 15 368 30 145
13 13
Uzbekistan 11 7 1 3 15 358.5 28.5 152
14 11
Bulgaria 11 7 1 3 15 358 28.5 150
15 20
England 11 7 1 3 15 357.5 30.5 136
16 7
Azerbaijan 11 7 1 3 15 355 28.5 150
17 23
Romania 11 7 1 3 15 323.5 29.5 133
18 17
Switzerland 11 6 3 2 15 322 28 137
19 35
Indonesia 11 7 1 3 15 321.5 28 139
20 6
Ukraine 11 7 1 3 15 319.5 28 137
21 14
Serbia 11 6 3 2 15 318.5 27.5 138
22 28
Argentina 11 7 1 3 15 317 27.5 136
23 24
Greece 11 6 3 2 15 315 26.5 145
24 19
Spain 11 6 3 2 15 302 26 140
25 18
Hungary 11 6 3 2 15 290.5 26 138
26 36
Czech Republic 11 6 3 2 15 276 26 130
27 31
Latvia 11 7 1 3 15 269 25 136
28 38
Canada 11 6 2 3 14 318.5 28 138
29 10
Germany 11 7 0 4 14 313.5 25.5 145
30 29
Sweden 11 5 4 2 14 310.5 27.5 133

... out of a total of 189 teams in the women's section

Overview of the individual medals

The individual medals were awarded based on tournament performance and the number of appearances. The players were divided into five groups according to the position in which they were registered for their team. For example, if Dinara Wagner sat out and Elisabeth Pähtz played once on board one instead of board two, the result of that game still counts towards her board-two classification in the individual standings.

Board 1

Rk. Name Team
1 Jiner Zhu China
2 Carissa Yip USA
3 Humpy Koneru India
4 Oliwia Kiolbasa Poland
5 Stavroula Tsolakidou Greece
6 Bibisara Assaubayeva Kazakhstan
7 Afruza Khamdamova Uzbekistan
8 Lilit Mkrtchian Armenia
9 Eline Roebers Netherlands
10 Deysi Cori T. Peru
11 Laura Unuk Slovenia
12 Mai Narva Estonia
13 Bodhana Sivanandan England
14 Ena Cvitan Croatia
15 Teodora Injac Serbia

According to the live ratings, Carissa Yip gained 16 Elo points, rising from 2468 to 2484. This lifts her to 13th place in the women's world rankings. Koneru also gained 9 Elo points.

Board 2

Rk. Name Team
1 Alice Lee USA
2 Mariam Mkrtchyan Armenia
3 Yuxin Song China
...
6 Elisabeth Pähtz Germany

Mariam Mkrtchyan made an even bigger Elo leap: the Armenian gained 47 points thanks to the tournament in Samarkand. The 22-year-old now has a live rating of 2421.

Board 3

Rk. Name Team
1 Miaoyi Lu China
2 Deshmukh Divya India
3 Bella Khotenashvili Georgia

Lu Miaoyi reached a live rating of 2399 after gaining 28 points. Dutch player Eline Roebers now has the same live rating as Lu Miaoyi. Roebers gained 21 rating points. The two consequently occupy 49th and 50th places in the women's world live rankings.

Board 4

Rk. Name Elo Team Perf. Games
1
WIM Elnaz Kaliakhmet 2347 Kazakhstan 2486 9
2
WIM Ineymig Hernandez Gil 2157 Cuba 2443 9
3
IM Agrawal Vantika 2395 India 2437 8

Among the individual medal winners on board 4 was Cuba's Ineymig Hernandez Gil. Her team finished 31st, directly behind Germany and Sweden. With 8 points from 9 appearances, she was a particular standout for her team. Compared with Elnaz Kaliakhmet and Vantika Agrawal, who won gold and bronze respectively alongside her for their performances on board four, Hernandez Gil is also rated around 200 Elo points lower! That makes her tournament performance rating of 2443 all the more remarkable. The tournament in Samarkand brought her a gain of 57 Elo points.

Reserve board

Rk. Name Team
1 Shri B Savitha India
2 Thi Mai Hung Nguyen Vietnam
3 Vesna Mihelic Slovenia
...
12 Lara Schulze Germany

Alice Lee on her tournament results

Charlize van Zyl talks to Alice Lee | Video: FIDE

Arne Kähler talks to Carissa Yip

Carissa Yip prepares before her games | Video: ChessBase

Overall standings: Gaprindashvili Cup

In the Gaprindashvili Cup, the points scored by a country's teams in both sections, Open and Women's, are combined. India, United States and China top the table.

Rk. Team Rank sum TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 India 5 35 829.5 59.5 323
2 United States of America 8 34 809.5 61.5 307
3 China 9 36 837.5 61 321
4 Armenia 12 34 708.5 55.5 308
5 Uzbekistan 14 35 814 61 313
6 Poland 19 32 729 57 306
7 Azerbaijan 21 32 719.5 57 301
8 France 21 31 734.5 58.5 296
9 Turkiye 24 31 684.5 55.5 290
10 Kazakhstan 27 33 694 56.5 292
11 England 27 31 693 58 281
12 Vietnam 28 31 674.5 59 279
13 Ukraine 31 31 670 56 285
14 Germany 32 32 700 54 305
15 Hungary 32 32 611 50.5 290
16 Mongolia 33 32 623.5 54.5 276
17 Spain 34 31 656.5 54.5 287
18 Romania 34 30 663 57.5 276
19 Georgia 36 30 686 56.5 291
20 Slovenia 41 30 652.5 59.5 261

... out of 187 teams

Arne Kähler talks to Bodhana Sivanandhan (ENG)

Bodhana earned her final WGM norm and an IM norm in Samarkand | Video: ChessBase

Bodhana is the youngest player to hold the WGM title

Bodhana Sivanandan talks to Charlize van Zyl | Video: FIDE

All games - Round 11

Replay all games on Live.ChessBase.com

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Topics: Chess Olympiad 2026
Martina Gerdts studied Portuguese and Spanish linguistics and nowadays teaches language classes and writes about chess and languages. Having started playing chess for a tournament trip to Paris, she is now active not only as a player but in a diverse range of activities connected to chess. This includes among others teaching chess classes, writing about chess and being active as an arbiter.
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