9/15/2024 – Seven teams emerged as co-leaders after round 4 of the Women's Chess Olympiad, four of which were ranked in the top 10 at the start of the tournament. Among the surprises, Mongolia and Uzbekistan secured upset victories, with Uzbekistan continuing their strong run after defeating Hungary in round 3. Meanwhile, China have been the most dominant team so far, scoring an impressive 15½ out of 16 points on individual boards. | Pictured: Bulgaria v. Uzbekistan | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
€49.90
A dominating performance by China
Three of the seven co-leaders after round 4 of the Women’s Chess Olympiad - India, China, and the United States - are not surprising contenders. Among them, China have shown remarkable dominance, with their youthful team securing an impressive 15½ points out of 16 on individual boards. Zhu Jiner, Guo Qi, Ni Shiqun, and 14-year-old Lu Miaoyi all have perfect scores so far, making them the standout team in the competition.
Kazakhstan and Armenia, ranked 10th and 11th in the starting seeding, are also in the leading group. Both countries have deep chess traditions and solid squads, each featuring four players rated above 2300. This balance of strength gives them the potential to challenge the higher-seeded teams going forward.
Mongolia and Uzbekistan have been the biggest surprises among the co-leaders. Mongolia, seeded 18th, secured a key victory over Spain thanks to two decisive wins with the white pieces from Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Bat-Erdene Mungunzul. Uzbekistan, seeded 34th, continued their impressive run by defeating Bulgaria. The Uzbek team drew on boards 2-4, while Afruza Khamdamova delivered a crucial win over former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova on the top board.
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.
Round 5 promises exciting clashes as the leaders face off. India will meet Kazakhstan, with Bibisara Assaubayeva, one of the strongest young players in the world, leading the Kazakh team. China will take on Armenia, and the United States will face Mongolia in what is expected to be a tough battle.
Uzbekistan's Afruza Khamdamova | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
China defeated England on Saturday | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Sabrina Vega's king walk
Despite suffering a painful loss against Mongolia, the women's team from Spain got to witness her representative on board 3, Sabrina Vega, playing a marvellous king walk to beat Mongolia's Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel.
White has a clearly winning position with her active major pieces completely dominating in this setup. Vega could have converted her advantage by pushing the f-pawn, but instead chose to walk her king to h6 via the dark squares to get the win.
There followed 32.Kg3 Ra8 33.Qf6 Rf8 34.Kf4 Kh7 35.Kg5 Qa8 36.Rxf7+ Rxf7 37.Qxf7+ Kh8 38.Kh6 and checkmate will follow.
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!
38...Qg8 39.Qf6+ Qg7 40.Qxg7#
Sabrina Vega on the left grabbed the only full point for Spain in their match against Mongolia | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
ChessBase TV presents
Irina Krush - "I might be the most chaotic person you have ever met!"
Carissa Yip - "I'd be down to smoke a cigar with TAL"
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.
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.
