Budapest R4 (open): Ukraine stun the US, as Ivanchuk beats So

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/15/2024 – Round 4 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest brought two major upsets: Ukraine stunned the top-seeded United States, with Vasyl Ivanchuk's victory over Wesley So securing the crucial win, while Vietnam defeated defending champions Uzbekistan in a hard-fought match. As the dust settles, eight teams now share the lead with 8/8 match points. Among them, India have emerged as the most dominant force so far, cruising to a commanding 3½-½ win over Serbia on Saturday, reinforcing their status as one of the top contenders. | Photo: FIDE / MIchal Walusza

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Ukraine take down the top seeds

Find below videos from the venue by Arne Kaehler and expert analysis by GM Daniel King and IM Robert Ris.

Round 4 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest produced decisive outcomes across the top nine matches, with eight teams now tied for first place, all holding perfect 8/8 match points. Two of the most surprising results came from Ukraine and Vietnam, who each secured significant victories. Ukraine stunned the top-seeded United States, while Vietnam handed a defeat to defending champions Uzbekistan, who are seeded fourth this year. These unexpected wins have shaken up the standings and added intensity to the competition.

Ukraine's victory over the United States came courtesy of strong performances from Anton Korobov and Vasyl Ivanchuk. Korobov defeated Ray Robson on board 4, while Ivanchuk, on board 2, managed to profit from a blunder by Wesley So. Fabiano Caruana continued his excellent form, winning his third game in as many rounds by beating Andrei Volokitin, but his efforts were not enough to salvage the match for the US. Ivanchuk's win was particularly noteworthy, as the 55-year-old had previously announced his retirement from chess after losing to a 16-year-old So at the 2009 World Cup.

Vasyl Ivanchuk

Vasyl Ivanchuk | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

Vietnam's 3-1 triumph over Uzbekistan was equally impressive. Le Quang Liem, playing on board 1, controlled his game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Le Tuan Minh delivered wins over higher-rated opponents on boards 3 and 4. This well-rounded performance propelled the Vietnamese team to face Poland, the 11th seeds, in Sunday’s fifth round.

In addition to Ukraine and Vietnam, six other teams are sharing the lead with 8/8 match points: India, China, Hungary, Poland, Azerbaijan and Spain. India has been particularly dominant, scoring 15/16 points on individual boards so far. Their standout player, Arjun Erigaisi, has maintained a perfect 4/4 record on board 3, consistently delivering crucial victories for his team.

Just 1 match point behind the leaders, four teams remain in close contention, including Norway, led by Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen secured a comfortable win over Slovakia's Viktor Gazik in round 4. Among the most surprising teams in this group is Türkiye, the 22nd seeds. Their youthful squad, featuring 15-year-old Ediz Gurel and 13-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus on boards 2 and 3, has been performing exceptionally well, with both teenagers holding perfect 4/4 scores.

Dommaraju Gukesh, Alexandr Predke

Dommaraju Gukesh facing Serbia's Alexandr Predke | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Ukraine v. USA

In an endgame with two rooks, a pawn and a knight against two rooks and four pawns, So faltered on move 44.

Ivanchuk v. So

Black should focus on dealing with his opponent's threat of attacking the f7-pawn - grabbing that pawn would also defend a potential doubling of the rooks along the third rank. Thus, the correct way to continue is with 44.Kg7 Rd7 45.Kf6 Rbb7 46.e5, and the battle goes on.

Instead, So's 44.Re2 allowed 44...Rb7 (not 44...Rd7 45.e5 Rxf7 46.e4), and after 45.Re5 Rxf7 46.g5 Ivanchuk found 46...h5, when Black would need to make major concessions to prevent White from giving checkmate. 

A visibly upset So resigned after 47.Kxh5 Rf6

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1.e4 4 c5 5 2.Nf3 4 d6 5 3.d4 5 cxd4 4 4.Nxd4 4 Nf6 3 5.Nc3 7 a6 5 6.Bd3 5 g6 3:17 7.f3 2:18 Qb6 26 8.Nb3 59 8.a3!? 8...Nbd7 3:32 9.Qe2 42 White is slightly better. Bg7 1:21 10.Be3 11 Qc7 4 11.g4 5       b5 29 12.g5 30 Nh5 17 13.Nd5 5 Qd8 9 14.0-0-0 29 Bb7 11:24 15.Qe1 15:31 e6 40:57 15...Bxd5= 16.exd5 0-0 16.Nf4! 2:57 Nxf4 5:38 16...Qxg5? is the wrong capture. 17.Nxe6 Qf6 18.Nxg7+ Nxg7 19.Na5+- 17.Bxf4 4 Ne5 9:12 18.Be2 55 Rc8 2:26 19.Qb4 20:11 d5 5:00 20.c3 20:06 Qe7 8:13 21.Qxe7+ 16:07 Kxe7 1 22.exd5 17 Bxd5 15 23.Be3 3 Bxf3 8:19 23...Nxf3? loses. 24.Rxd5 exd5 25.Bxf3+- 24.Bxf3 3 Nxf3 2 25.Nc5 4 Rhd8 57 Repels Rd7+ 25...h6! 26.h4 hxg5 27.hxg5 Rxh1 28.Rxh1 Kf8 26.Nxa6 5 Rxd1+ 35 27.Rxd1 6 Nxh2? 22 27...Be5 keeps the upper hand. 28.Bc5+ 1:33 White now steadily converts the win. Ke8 37
29.Bd6! 3 White is more active. Nf3 5 30.Nc7+ 3 Rxc7 26 31.Bxc7+- 4 Rd8+ would now be deadly. Nxg5± 4       Endgame.
KRB-KBN 32.Rd8+! 1:03 Ke7 1 33.Rb8 4 Strongly threatening Bd8+. Ne4? 1:16 33...Kd7 34.Bf4 34.Rxb5? too greedy. Kxc7 35.a4 Ne4-+ 34...Nf3 34.Rxb5+- 33 Kd7 55 35.Bh2 11 Kc6 10 36.Rb8 1:22 f5 54       37.a4 30       e5 41 38.a5 38 Nc5 29 Prevents a6 39.b4 31       Nd7 25 40.b5+ 21 Kc7 17 41.Re8 30:10 f4 9:13 42.a6 0 f3 2:40 43.Bg1 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.07 (flawless) /Black=0.54. Mistake: --- Black=5 Inaccurate: White=2 Black=3 OK: White=10 Black=10 Best: White=3 Black=3 Strong: White=2 ---
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2798Volokitin,A26601–0202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.1
Ivanchuk,V2635So,W27521–0202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.2
Dominguez Perez,L2748Ponomariov,R2654½–½202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.3
Korobov,A2650Robson,R27001–0202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.4

Anton Korobov

Anton Korobov | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Vietnam v. Uzbekistan

Tuan got to play a good-looking final move in his game with white against Javokhir Sindarov on the third board.

Tuan v. Sindarov

33.Nef5+ prompted the Uzbek GM's resignation, since after 33...gxf5 34.Rg3+ Kh6 35.Nxf5+ Kh5 there is checkmate with 36.Bf7#

Having seen this game, Nodirbek Yakubboev over-pushed in his game with white against Nguyen, and ended up losing the encounter.

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1.c4 4 c5 26 2.Nf3 13 Nf6 7 3.Nc3 1:10 Nc6 7 4.d4 59 cxd4 6 5.Nxd4 6 e6 7 6.a3 1:59 d5 4:08 7.cxd5 1:11 exd5 3 8.Bg5 6:05 Bc5 8 A33: Symmetrical English: 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e6 5 Nc3 Nc6. 9.e3 24 0-0 2:33 10.Be2 3:00 Nxd4 23 11.exd4 9 Bb6 44 12.0-0 1:22 Qd6N 13 Predecessor: 12...h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.d5 Qf6 17.Qb3 Rd8 18.a4 Bc5 ½-½ Fister,B (2148)-Zordick,M (2187) EU-ch 2017 pr05 email 13.Bf3 3:01 h6 2:29 14.Bxf6 2:28 Qxf6 5 15.Nxd5 17 Qxd4 13 16.Qe2 50 Bd8 10:29 17.Rfd1 1:32 Qa4 5:45 18.Rac1 16:43 Be6 18:06 19.Nc3 6:30 Qb3 3:12 20.Bd5 15 Bxd5 16 21.Nxd5 6 Bg5 2:05 22.Rc3 18 Qa4 1:15 23.Rc4 5:50 Qa5 4:30 24.h4 8:06 Rae8 11 25.Qd3 6:07 Bd8 58 26.Rb4 45 Re6 3:45 27.g3 3:49 Bb6 23 28.Kg2 2:40 Qc5 15 29.Nxb6 2:32 Rxb6 8 30.Rc4 12 Qb5 45 31.b4 2:05 a5 39 32.Qd5 2:35 axb4 33 33.Rxb4 1:10 Qxd5+ 14 34.Rxd5 7 Ra6 4 35.a4 22 Rfa8 3 36.Rdd4 32 h5 27 37.Kf3 1:03 Rf6+ 16 38.Rf4 1:32 Rxf4+ 5 39.Kxf4 10 Ra5 2:29 40.Ke4 4:56 Kh7 7:45 41.Kd4 32:14 b6 31:51 42.Kc3 6:01 Rc5+ 1:49 43.Rc4 3:39 Rf5 32 44.Rf4 47 Rxf4 4:01 45.gxf4 7 g6 1 46.Kc4 0 f6 0 47.Kd5 0 47.Kb5 g5 48.fxg5 fxg5 49.hxg5-+ 47...Kg7 0 48.Ke4 0 Kf7 0 49.Kd5 0 Ke7 0 50.Ke4 0 50.Kc6 g5 51.hxg5 fxg5 52.Kxb6 h4 53.fxg5 h3 54.g6 h2 55.g7 Kf7 56.f4 h1Q 56...h1R 57.a5= 57.Kc5 Qc1+ 57...Kxg7 58.a5 Kf6 59.Kd6 Qa8 60.Kc5 Qxa5+ 61.Kd4 Kf5 62.Kc4 Kxf4 63.Kb3 Ke3 64.Kc4 Ke4 65.Kb3 Kd3 66.Kb2 Qb4+ 67.Ka2 Kc3 68.Ka1 Qb2# 58.Kb6 Qxf4 59.Kb5 Kxg7 60.a5 Qc7 61.Kb4 Kf6 61...Qc6 62.a6 Qxa6 63.Kc3 Kf6 64.Kc2 Kf5 65.Kd2 Ke4 66.Kc3 Qb5 67.Kc2 Qb4 68.Kd1 Kd3 69.Kc1 Qb8 70.Kd1 Qb1# 62.a6 Ke5 62...Qb6+ 63.Kc3 Ke5 64.Kd3 Qxa6+ 65.Kc3 Kd5 66.Kc2 Kd4 67.Kb3 Qa1 68.Kb4 Qb2+ 69.Ka5 Kc5 70.Ka6 Qb6# 63.a7 Qxa7 64.Kc3 Qd4+ 65.Kb3 Kd5 66.Ka3 Kc4 67.Ka2 Qd2+ 68.Ka3 Qh2 69.Ka4 Qa2# 50...Ke8 0 51.Kd5 0 Kf7 0 52.Ke4 0 52.Kc6 g5 53.hxg5 fxg5 54.fxg5 h4 55.Kxb6 Kg6 55...h3 56.a5 h2 57.f4 Kg6 58.Kc7 h1Q 59.Kb6 Kf5 60.g6 Qg1+ 61.Kc6 Kxf4 62.g7 Ke5 63.Kb5 Qxg7 64.Kc6 Qg6+ 65.Kc5 Qc2+ 66.Kb5 Kd6 67.Kb4 Kd5 68.a6 Qb2+ 69.Ka5 Kc4 70.a7 Qb5# 56.f3 h3 57.f4 h2 58.Kc5 h1Q 58...h1R 59.a5= 59.a5 Qb7 60.Kd4 Qb4+ 61.Ke3 Kf5 61...Qxa5 62.Ke4 Qf5+ 63.Kd4 Qxf4+ 64.Kc3 Kxg5 65.Kb3 Qd4 66.Kc2 Qb4 67.Kd3 Kf4 68.Ke2 Qd4 69.Kf1 Qb2 70.Kg1 Kg3 71.Kh1 Qh2# 62.Kd3 Qxa5 62...Qxf4 63.a6 Qd6+ 64.Ke3 Qxa6 65.Kd4 Kxg5 66.Kc3 Kf4 67.Kb4 Qc6 68.Kb3 Ke3 69.Kb4 Kd3 70.Ka5 Qb7 71.Ka4 Kc4 72.Ka5 Qb5# 63.Kd4 Qd8+ 63...Kxf4 64.g6 Qb6+ 65.Kd5 Qxg6 66.Kc4 Ke4 67.Kc5 Qa6 68.Kb4 Kd4 69.Kb3 Kd3 70.Kb4 Qb6+ 71.Ka3 Kc3 72.Ka4 Qb4# 64.Ke3 Qd5 65.g6 Kxg6 65...Qe4+ 66.Kd2 Kxg6 67.Kc3 Kf5 68.Kb3 Qc6 69.Kb2 Ke4 70.Kb3 Kd3 71.Kb4 Qb6+ 72.Ka3 Kc3 73.f5 Qb3# 66.Ke2 Kf5 66...Qe4+ 67.Kd2 Kf5 68.Kc3 Kxf4 69.Kb2 Qb4+ 70.Kc1 Ke4 71.Kc2 Ke3 72.Kc1 Kd3 73.Kd1 Qd2# 67.Kf2 Kxf4 68.Ke2 Qd7 69.Kf1 Qd2 70.Kg1 Kg3 71.Kh1 Qh2# 52...Kf8 0 52...Ke6 53.f5+ gxf5+ 54.Kf4 Kd5 55.Kxf5 Kd4 56.Kg6 56.Kxf6 Ke4+- 56...Kc4 57.Kxh5 57.Kxf6 Kb4 58.Kg5 Kxa4 59.f4 b5 60.f5 b4 61.f6 b3 53.Kd5 0 Kg7 0 54.Ke4 0 Kh6 0 55.Kf3 0 g5 0 56.fxg5+ 0 fxg5 0 57.hxg5+ 0 Kxg5 0 58.Kg3 0 Kf5 0 59.Kh4 0 Kg6 0 60.Kh3 0 Kf5 0 61.Kh4 0 Kg6 0 62.Kh3 0 Kf5 0 62...Kg5!? 63.Kh4 0 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Le,Q2741Abdusattorov,N2766½–½202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.17
Yakubboev,N2666Nguyen,N26330–1202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.18
Le,T2564Sindarov,J26771–0202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.19
Vakhidov,J2571Tran,T2434½–½202445th FIDE Olympiad 20244.20

Chess Olympiad 2024

Vietnam defeated Uzbekistan | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz


Expert analysis

GM Daniel King

IM Robert Ris


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Standings after round 4 - Open

Rk. Team  TB1 
1 India 8
2 Spain 8
3 China 8
4 Vietnam 8
5 Azerbaijan 8
6 Poland 8
7 Hungary 8
8 Ukraine 8
9 Norway 7
10 Iran 7
11 Canada 7
12 Turkiye 7
13 Armenia 6
14 United States 6
15 Uzbekistan 6
16 Italy 6
17 Georgia 6
18 Israel 6
19 Lithuania 6
20 Germany 6

...186 teams

Round 5 pairings - Open

Res. Res.

Team Pts. MP : MP Pts. Team
India 15 8 : 8 13 Azerbaijan
Ukraine 12½ 8 : 8 12½ Hungary *)
Spain 13½ 8 : 8 13 China
Vietnam 13½ 8 : 8 12½ Poland
Turkiye 11½ 7 : 7 12 Norway
Iran 11½ 7 : 7 11 Canada
Argentina 10½ 6 : 6 12½ United States
Uzbekistan 11½ 6 : 6 11½ Moldova
Cuba 10½ 6 : 6 10½ Netherlands
Montenegro 10½ 6 : 6 11½ Germany
England 10½ 6 : 6 10 Australia
France 11 6 : 6 12 Switzerland
Brazil 11 6 : 6 Serbia
Armenia 11½ 6 : 6 10½ Sweden
Romania 11 6 : 6 11½ Kazakhstan

...93 boards


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

All available games - Round 4 (Open)

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Carlos 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.

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