Favourites still ahead

As anticipated, most of the higher-seeded teams continued their march forward in the second round of the Women's Chess Olympiad. Powerhouses such as India, Georgia, Poland and China secured convincing victories against their lower-ranked opponents. Featuring GMs or IMs on their top boards, their talent and preparation were on full display.

However, a few individual boards saw unexpected results. For example, Montenegro's Nikolina Koljevic defeated the much higher-rated Salome Melia from Georgia, or Lithuania's Olena Martynkova toppled the Ukrainian Yuliia Osmak. In both cases, the underdog prevailed with the black pieces.

In terms of team results, the biggest upset of the round took place on board 36, where Singapore (the 77^th seeds) stunned Latvia (36^th) with a 2½-1½ victory. Wins by Kay Yan Eden Pang and Kun Fang, both with the black pieces, gave their team overall victory. The fact that Singapore will host the World Championship match at the end of the year might have served as motivation for the national teams to work extra hard to show their best at the Olympiad.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

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These upsets, while not enough to greatly alter the standings, demonstrated the competitive spirit and unpredictability of the Olympiad. It's a reminder to the higher-seeded teams that every board matters and that a single upset can have significant consequences.

Nikolina Koljevic from Montenegro playing black against Salome Melia from Georgia on board | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

As the tournament moves into Friday's third round, several high-profile matchups promise more thrilling games. The top teams are now beginning to face more evenly matched opponents, and as the stakes rise, so will the level of play.

In the top match of round 3, the rating favourites from India will face Switzerland, led by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Another exciting match will feature Georgia taking on Romania, which has the experienced Irina Bulmaga on the top board. Much like Romania, the Greek team will include a player who has recently faced the best in the world on the top board - Stavroula Tsolakidou - as they will look to upset the strong Polish squad.

With each round, the margin for error narrows, and every game becomes crucial as teams aim for glory in Budapest.

India's Divya Deshmukh might play on board 2 or board 3 in Friday's key match against Switzerland | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Osmak 0 - 1 Martynkova

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Ukraine barely managed to beat Lithuania in round 2 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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The flexible Taimanov Sicilian + A Complete Guide for Black against the Anti-Sicilian

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Standings after round 2 - Women

...180 teams

Round 3 pairings - Women

...84 boards

• Full pairings and standings on Chess-Results: Open | Women
• All games on Live.ChessBase.com: Open | Women

All games - Round 2 (Women)

Links

• Official website
• Chess Olympiad Open Section: Who will reign supreme in Budapest?
• Women's Olympiad preview: Rising stars and veterans
• Budapest gets ready for the 2024 Chess Olympiad
• Previous ChessBase reports: Chennai 2022 | Batumi 2018 | Baku 2016
• Pairings and standings on Chess-Results: Open | Women