Samarkand R5 (women): Setback for India

by André Schulz
9/21/2026 – In one of the key matches of the Women's Chess Olympiad, defending champions India faced Poland in Sunday's round five. The Indian team went into the match as favourites, but suffered a setback in the end. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya defeated Vaishali on board two to secure victory for the Polish side. | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE
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Kazakhstan, China, Azerbaijan and Poland still perfect

India has developed into a major chess power in recent years. This is true not only in the open category, but also in women's chess, where a large group of young and strong players has taken the country into the world elite. Humpy Koneru has been one of the world's leading players for many years, as has Harika Dronavalli. More recently, however, a number of younger players have joined them. Divya Deshmukh (21) has climbed to second place in the national rankings behind Koneru. Vaishali Rameshbabu (25), Praggnanandhaa's older sister, has also attracted attention with a series of strong results.

The names of some of India's other leading players are still less familiar. Modipalli Deekshitha is only 14 years old, but is already ranked fourth among Indian women. Kalyani Sirin is two years older and stands sixth, behind Harika. In the current rankings, more than 30 Indian women, most of them young players, have Elo ratings above 2200.

In the FIDE country rankings based on the average rating of the ten strongest players, India stands second behind China. In the starting list for the Women's Olympiad, India is even seeded first, as China left several of its leading players at home. The Indian team arrived in Samarkand as defending champions, having won gold in Budapest two years ago after taking bronze in Chennai two years earlier.

Poland, however, is also one of the established nations in women's chess. Although the country has won only one medal at a Chess Olympiad - bronze in Bled in 2002 - the Polish team has regularly competed near the top and has long been a serious opponent for the leading sides.

Poland is seventh in the FIDE women's country rankings. For decades its leading player was Monika Socko, who is now approaching 50. She was overtaken as the country's number one by Alina Kashlinskaya after Kashlinskaya married Radoslaw Wojtaszek and transferred from the Russian to the Polish federation. Oliwia Kiolbasa, Aleksandra Maltsevskaya and Alicja Sliwicka are among several younger players who have also moved up the rankings. In Samarkand, the Polish team, without Alina Kashlinskaya, is seeded ninth.

India and Poland met on Sunday. The Indian team had won all of its previous matches comfortably, as had Poland. India were nevertheless the favourites, and a win over Poland appeared an important step in their attempt to retain the title. Instead, the match went the other way.

Humpy Koneru, Oliwia Kiolbasa

Humpy Koneru facing Oliwia Kiolbasa on the top board | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Despite having a substantial rating advantage on board one, Humpy Koneru was unable to defeat Oliwia Kiolbasa. Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal also had to settle for draws against the highly experienced Klaudia Kulon and Monika Socko.

The match was decided on board two, where Vaishali had Black against Aleksandra Maltsevskaya.

A complex position arose from the London System, with both sides finding it difficult to generate active play. Vaishali accepted a number of pawn weaknesses in the process. The game remained balanced for a long time, but in the endgame Black's weak pawns proved to be the decisive disadvantage.

Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, Vaishali Rameshbabu

Aleksandra Maltsevskaya defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu with the white pieces, as Poland beat India for a third Olympiad in a row | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

There are now four teams in the standings that have yet to drop a match point. Alongside Poland, they include China, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Standings after round 5

Rk. SNo FED Team Group Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 9 POL
Poland A 5 5 0 0 10 100 16,5 32
2 4 CHN
China A 5 5 0 0 10 97 17 30
3 3 KAZ
Kazakhstan A 5 5 0 0 10 90 16 30
4 7 AZE
Azerbaijan A 5 5 0 0 10 83 16 28
5 5 USA
United States of America A 5 4 1 0 9 94,5 17 30
6 13 UZB
Uzbekistan A 5 4 1 0 9 78 16 27
7 11 BUL
Bulgaria A 5 4 0 1 8 90 15 33
8 1 IND
India A 5 4 0 1 8 88 15,5 32
9 10 GER
Germany A 5 4 0 1 8 83 14 32
10 14 SRB
Serbia A 5 4 0 1 8 79,5 15 31
11 20 ENG
England A 5 4 0 1 8 78 16 28
12 26 TUR
Turkiye A 5 4 0 1 8 73 15 28
13 21 VIE
Vietnam A 5 4 0 1 8 72 16 27
14 17 SUI
Switzerland A 5 3 2 0 8 72 15 27
15 25 SLO
Slovenia A 5 4 0 1 8 71 15,5 28
16 8 FRA
France A 5 4 0 1 8 71 15 27
17 32 BLR
Belarus A 5 4 0 1 8 71 15 25
18 23 ROU
Romania A 5 4 0 1 8 70 15,5 26
19 16 ARM
Armenia A 5 4 0 1 8 70 14,5 28
20 22 ISR
Israel A 5 4 0 1 8 68 15 26
21 30 IRI
Iran A 5 4 0 1 8 67 14 28
22 12 NED
Netherlands A 5 3 2 0 8 65,5 14,5 26
23 2 GEO
Georgia A 5 3 2 0 8 61 14,5 24
24 6 UKR
Ukraine A 5 4 0 1 8 60 14 24
25 15 MGL
Mongolia A 5 4 0 1 8 59 13,5 26
26 55 TKM
Turkmenistan B 5 4 0 1 8 58 14 26
27 18 HUN
Hungary A 5 4 0 1 8 56 13 28
28 33 ITA
Italy A 5 4 0 1 8 56 13 26
29 19 ESP
Spain A 5 4 0 1 8 55,5 13 27
30 31 LAT
Latvia A 5 4 0 1 8 51 12,5 28

...189 teams

All games - Round 5

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Topics: Chess Olympiad 2026
André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.
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