Samarkand R3 (women): Argentina and Iran score major upsets

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/19/2026 – Argentina and Iran produced the standout results in round three of the Women's Chess Olympiad, defeating higher-seeded Ukraine and France respectively. Both joined a 20-team leading group on 6/6 match points. Poland recorded their second 4–0 victory of the event, while India, Kazakhstan and the United States also remained perfect with comfortable wins. | Pictured: Candela Francisco (Argentina) facing Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE
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Ukraine and France fall

Unlike in the open section, where all of the top ten seeds finished round three with perfect 6/6 match scores, three teams from the top ten in the women's competition have already dropped at least one match point.

Georgia, seeded second, had already been held to a draw by 48th-seeded Montenegro in round two. On Friday, 6th-seeded Ukraine lost to 28th-seeded Argentina, while 8th-seeded France were beaten by 30th-seeded Iran.

Those two upset victories were both convincing. Argentina defeated Ukraine 3½–½, while Iran beat France 3–1. In both matches, the lower-rated teams were, in fact, close to completing 4–0 sweeps. As a result, Argentina and Iran joined the leading group of 20 teams on a perfect 6/6 match points after three rounds.

Women's Chess Olympiad 2026

The start of the Argentina v. Ukraine match in round three | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Sebag 0-1 Mohammadi

In deep mutual time trouble as players approached the time control, France's Marie Sebag lost control of the game against Iran's Melika Mohammadi.

Black is already slightly better here, and after 39.Nxh6+ nothing has gone wrong for White. However, the decisive mistake came after 39...Kh7, when 40.Nxf7?? loses on the spot.

Sebag needed to start with 40.Rxd7, and White was slightly worse but with a very playable position. Instead, after the text move, Mohammadi prompter her opponent's resignation by playing 40...Nxg4 - after 41.Nxe5 Rxd1 two white minor pieces would remain under attack.

Women's Chess Olympiad 2026

Iran v. France with Mobina Alinasab facing Deimante Daulyte-Cornette on the top board | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Further down the pairings, two clearly lower-rated teams managed to hold higher-seeded opposition to draws.

Austria, seeded 34th, drew 12th-seeded Netherlands 2–2. Chiara Polterauer scored Austria's key victory by defeating Machteld van Foreest on board three.

Estonia, seeded 41st, also earned a 2–2 draw against 17th-seeded Switzerland. Margareth Olde provided the decisive individual result for Estonia by beating Mariia Manko on board two.

Margareth Olde

Margareth Olde from Estonia | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Favourites who remain perfect

The most convincing result among the leading teams came from Poland, who recorded their second 4–0 victory of the tournament by sweeping Latvia. Poland had also beaten Zimbabwe 4–0 in the opening round. Their 3–1 victory in round two was similarly decisive in nature, featuring three wins and one defeat, suffered by Alicja Sliwicka. The Polish team have therefore yet to record a single draw in Samarkand.

India, Kazakhstan and the United States also won comfortably on Friday. All three scored 3½–½ victories, against Greece, Slovenia and Cuba respectively.

Two other top-ten teams had to settle for narrower 2½–1½ wins. Azerbaijan defeated Sweden and Germany beat Belarus, with three draws in each match. Gulnar Mammadova scored Azerbaijan's only win, while Elisabeth Paehtz did the same for Germany, allowing both teams to remain among the co-leaders after three rounds.

Women's Chess Olympiad 2026

No draws for Poland so far in Samarkand | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Humpy Koneru, Stavroula Tsolakidou

India, the defending champions and top seeds, scored a 3½-½ victory over Greece, with Humpy Koneru beating Stavroula Tsolakidou on the top board | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Women's Chess Olympiad 2026

Kazakhstan beat Slovenia 3½-½, with Bibisara Assaubayeva being held to a draw by Laura Unuk on board one | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Pia Cramling, Ulviyya Fataliyeva

The legendary Pia Cramling drew Ulviyya Fataliyeva, as Sweden lost their match against Azerbaijan by the smallest of margins | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Standings after round 3

Rk. SNo FED Team Group Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 23 ROU
Romania A 3 3 0 0 6 32 11,5 8
2 9 FRA
France A 3 3 0 0 6 28 11 8
16 POL
Poland A 3 3 0 0 6 28 11 8
4 3 UZB
Uzbekistan A 3 3 0 0 6 26 10,5 8
4 CHN
China A 3 3 0 0 6 26 10,5 8
6 13 ESP
Spain A 3 3 0 0 6 26 10 8
7 5 GER
Germany A 3 3 0 0 6 24 10 8
7 AZE
Azerbaijan A 3 3 0 0 6 24 10 8
10 ARM
Armenia A 3 3 0 0 6 24 10 8
20 CZE
Czech Republic A 3 3 0 0 6 24 10 8
22 ISR
Israel A 3 3 0 0 6 24 10 8
12 12 UKR
Ukraine A 3 3 0 0 6 24 9,5 8
13 1 USA
United States of America A 3 3 0 0 6 24 8,5 8
14 24 ARG
Argentina A 3 3 0 0 6 23,5 10,5 7
15 19 GRE
Greece A 3 3 0 0 6 22,5 10 7
16 14 TUR
Turkiye A 3 3 0 0 6 22 9,5 8
50 SGP
Singapore B 3 3 0 0 6 22 9,5 8
18 15 SRB
Serbia A 3 3 0 0 6 22 9 8
19 2 IND
India A 3 3 0 0 6 22 8,5 8
20 6 NED
Netherlands A 3 3 0 0 6 20 8 8
21 8 HUN
Hungary A 3 3 0 0 6 17,5 7,5 7
22 17 CRO
Croatia A 3 2 1 0 5 26 10 9
37 LTU
Lithuania A 3 2 1 0 5 26 10 9
24 18 IRI
Iran A 3 2 1 0 5 24 9,5 9
45 MDA
Moldova B 3 2 1 0 5 24 9,5 9
26 11 ENG
England A 3 2 1 0 5 22 9 9
46 BEL
Belgium B 3 2 1 0 5 22 9 9
28 29 GEO
Georgia A 3 2 1 0 5 19 9 8
29 79 KGZ
Kyrgyzstan B 3 2 1 0 5 17,5 8,5 8
30 48 ISL
Iceland B 3 2 0 1 4 25 9,5 10

...189 teams

All games - Round 3

Replay all games on Live.ChessBase.com

<< Samarkand R3 (open): Top ten stay perfect after tense third round
Review: Master Class Vol. 20 – Bent Larsen >>
Topics: Chess Olympiad 2026
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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