Samarkand R6 (women): China and Kazakhstan remain perfect

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/22/2026 – China and Kazakhstan reached the rest day as joint leaders of the Women's Chess Olympiad with perfect 12/12 match scores. Kazakhstan edged Azerbaijan 2½–1½, while China beat Poland 3½–½ after the latter had defeated defending champions India in round five. India responded by overcoming the United States 3–1, while second seeds from Georgia also moved into the chasing group with a convincing win over Uzbekistan. | Pictured: China's Zhu Jiner | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE
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Two match points ahead of the field

China and Kazakhstan reached the rest day as joint leaders of the Women's Chess Olympiad, both on a perfect 12/12 match points after winning their sixth-round matches on Monday.

Third-seeded Kazakhstan edged Azerbaijan 2½–1½, while fourth-seeded China produced a much more convincing result against Poland, winning 3½–½. The two leaders are now set to meet directly in round seven.

Their position at the top also brings together the two highest-rated players in the women's event: Zhu Jiner for China and Bibisara Assaubayeva for Kazakhstan.

Nurman decides Kazakhstan's match

Kazakhstan's victory over Azerbaijan was settled by a single decisive game. Three boards ended drawn, leaving Alua Nurman's win over Gunay Mammadzada as the difference between the teams. The game appeared objectively equal in an endgame with rooks and same-coloured bishops, but Mammadzada made an unexpected mistake and Nurman took full advantage.

Mammadzada underestimated White's ability to gain activity by threatening to trap her dark-squared bishop and faltered with 28...Rd6?, when 28...Bb6 was necessary. Nurman found the refutation: 29.a4 c6 (creating a escape route for the bishop) 30.b4 Bb6 31.Rxc6

White has an extra pawn and her connected passers on the queenside are very strong. By move 39, Mammadzada realised there was no point in continuing the battle, as Nurman had already collected Black's a-pawn and her pawns had reached the fifth rank.

Nurman has now scored 4/5, corresponding to a tournament performance rating of 2482. Elnaz Kaliakhmet has been even more productive in terms of points, collecting 4½/5 with a 2471 performance rating.

Gunay Mammadzada, Alua Nurman

Fully focused - Gunay Mammadzada v. Alua Nurman | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Alua Nurman

Kazakhstan's 19-year-old star Alua Nurman | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

China, meanwhile, had a much smoother afternoon against Poland, who had stunned India in round five. Song Yuxin, Lu Miaoyi and Yan Tianqi all scored wins as the fourth seeds completed a 3½–½ victory.

Playing black against Klaudia Kulon, 16-year-old Lu (currently ranked 12th among girls aged 20 or younger) showed her technical-endgame abilities, as she outplayed her Polish opponent from the following position.

Kulon's 30.a4 was not the most precise continuation in this rook-and-knight endgame. Soon Lu began to activate her king while dealing with White's threat of getting a passer on the queenside. With the rooks off the board, it became clear that the pure knight ending was superior for Black.

White is already in trouble here, but 37.Nc4?? only made matters worse, as after 37...Nxa4 38.Nd6 (White goes pawn hunting on the kingside) Nc3 39.Nxf7 Nd1 it is Black who will get to promote a pawn more quickly than her opponent.

With the more active king, Black is winning.

Zhu Jiner has registered the highest performance rating among the Chinese players so far, with 3½/4 and a 2720 TPR. Song Yuxin has scored 5½/6, good for a 2633 performance rating.

Lu Miaoyi, Song Yuxin

Song Yuxin taking a look at Lu Miaoyi's position | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Oliwia Kiolbasa, Zhu Jiner

Zhu Jiner escaped with a draw against Oliwia Kiolbasa | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

India and Georgia in the chasing pack

Behind the two leaders, eleven teams are tied on 10/12 match points.

Top seeds India bounced back from their round-five defeat against Poland by beating fifth-seeded United States 3–1. The decisive points came on the bottom two boards, where Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri scored victories.

Georgia are also part of the chasing group after a slow start to the event. The second seeds had already conceded two draws in Samarkand, in rounds two and four, but responded on Monday with a clear 3½–½ win over Uzbekistan.

The lowest-seeded teams among the 11 chasers are Switzerland, Armenia and Mongolia.

Savitha Shri

India's Savith Shri has a perfect 5/5 so far in Samarkand! | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Nino Batsiashvili, Salome Melia, Nana Dzagnidze

Nino Batsiashvili, Salome Melia (team captain) and Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Women's Chess Olympiad 2026

Bulgaria, like the Netherlands in the open section, obtained a 4-0 win over Israel - the Israeli representatives forfeited their games as they observed Yom Kippur sunset on Sunday until after dusk on Monday | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Standings after round 6

Rk. SNo FED Team Group Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 4 CHN
China A 6 6 0 0 12 151,5 20,5 46
2 3 KAZ
Kazakhstan A 6 6 0 0 12 135,5 18,5 47
3 1 IND
India A 6 5 0 1 10 128 18,5 45
4 11 BUL
Bulgaria A 6 5 0 1 10 124 19 43
5 10 GER
Germany A 6 5 0 1 10 116,5 16,5 45
6 17 SUI
Switzerland A 6 4 2 0 10 116 18 42
7 16 ARM
Armenia A 6 5 0 1 10 116 17,5 44
8 9 POL
Poland A 6 5 0 1 10 114 17 47
9 7 AZE
Azerbaijan A 6 5 0 1 10 112 17,5 43
10 2 GEO
Georgia A 6 4 2 0 10 109,5 18 39
11 8 FRA
France A 6 5 0 1 10 103 19 35
12 15 MGL
Mongolia A 6 5 0 1 10 98 16,5 40
13 6 UKR
Ukraine A 6 5 0 1 10 96 16,5 39
14 5 USA
United States of America A 6 4 1 1 9 115 18 43
15 41 EST
Estonia B 6 4 1 1 9 110,5 18,5 40
16 14 SRB
Serbia A 6 4 1 1 9 110,5 17 44
17 12 NED
Netherlands A 6 3 3 0 9 104,5 16,5 43
18 13 UZB
Uzbekistan A 6 4 1 1 9 103 16,5 43
19 38 CAN
Canada A 6 4 1 1 9 101 18 37
20 25 SLO
Slovenia A 6 4 1 1 9 100,5 17,5 42
21 26 TUR
Turkiye A 6 4 1 1 9 100 17 41
22 32 BLR
Belarus A 6 4 1 1 9 100 17 40
23 24 GRE
Greece A 6 4 1 1 9 94,5 16 41
24 18 HUN
Hungary A 6 4 1 1 9 92 15 43
25 19 ESP
Spain A 6 4 1 1 9 90,5 15 42
26 55 TKM
Turkmenistan B 6 4 1 1 9 87 16 39
27 27 CUB
Cuba A 6 4 1 1 9 80,5 15 38
28 20 ENG
England A 6 4 0 2 8 110 17,5 42
29 28 ARG
Argentina A 6 4 0 2 8 99,5 16 40
30 30 IRI
Iran A 6 4 0 2 8 90,5 15 43

...189 teams

All games - Round 6

Replay all games on Live.ChessBase.com

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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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See also

Samarkand R5 (women): Setback for India

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

See also

Samarkand R5 (open): Germany stun USA, share the lead with India and Uzbekistan

9/21/2026 – India, Uzbekistan and Germany emerged from round five with perfect 10/10 match scores after winning their clashes against fellow co-leaders. Germany defeated top seeds United States 2½–1½, with Frederik Svane (pictured) scoring the decisive win over Hans Niemann, while India beat the Netherlands and Uzbekistan swept Hungary 4–0. China and Armenia drew 2–2 and now stand one match point behind the leading group. | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE
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