9/13/2024 – The second round of the Women's Chess Olympiad saw most matches ending with expected victories for the tournament's rating favourites. In terms of team results, the biggest upset of the round took place on board 36, where Singapore (the 77th seeds) stunned Latvia (36th) with a 2½-1½ victory. There were also surprises on a few individual boards, as the margin for error narrows in Budapest. | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Whether it’s a weak pawn, a vulnerable king, or poor piece coordination, this course will teach you how to pinpoint the critical targets, prioritise your attack, and execute a clear, effective plan.
€39.90
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 77th seeds) stunned Latvia (36th) 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.
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.
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
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Ukraine barely managed to beat Lithuania in round 2 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Looking for a realistic way to play for a win with Black against 1.e4 without taking unnecessary risks? The Taimanov Sicilian is a reliable system, and hence one of the best options out there!
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
It doesn't get any better than this: the premium equipment perfect for tournament players and professionals: with ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, CORR-Database and much more.
Even more power forFritz. Even more Chess knowledge for you.
€89.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
