Olawale Oyeleye Reports
The fourth round of the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest delivered excitement as Ukraine stunned the USA in a gripping contest. Fabiano Caruana struck first for the Americans, defeating Andrei Volokitin. On board three, Leinier Dominguez and Ruslan Ponomariov drew their game, while Wesley So appeared to have a superior position against Vasyl Ivanchuk. However, a critical blunder by So allowed the legendary Ivanchuk to seize control and deliver a checkmate.
Meanwhile, on the fourth board, Anton Korobov secured a decisive win against Ray Robson, ensuring Ukraine’s victory over the tournament’s top seed with a 2.5-1.5 scoreline. After the match, Korobov humorously downplayed the team’s performance, saying, “There are seven rounds to go; it’s going to be a disaster! The average age of our team is like 100 years old.”
In another surprising result, defending champions Uzbekistan, who remained unbeaten in the 2022 Olympiad, fell to the 21st-seeded Vietnam team. Le Tuan Minh (2564) triumphed over Javokhir Sindarov (2677), and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2633) overcame Nodirbek Yakubboev (2666), who overextended in his attempt to win. The remaining two games—Le Quang Liem (2741) vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766) and Tran Tuan Minh (2434) vs. Jakhongir Vakhidov (2571)—ended in draws.
India continued its strong performance with a dominant 3.5-0.5 victory over Serbia, dropping only two draws across 16 games. World #4 Arjun Erigaisi (2778) further improved his rating by 7 points, following his fourth consecutive win, this time against Aleksandar Indjic.
Elsewhere, China edged past Armenia, thanks to Yu Yangyi’s win over Gabriel Sargissian, while the other games ended in draws. Other teams from the top ranks, including Poland, Hungary, Azerbaijan, and Spain, also secured victories.
As the tournament moves into Round 5, eight teams hold 8 match points: India, Spain, China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine, listed according to tiebreak scores.
In contrast to the men’s team, the Ukrainian women have had a challenging start. After a narrow win against Lithuania and a draw against Israel, the defending champions tied 2-2 with lower-rated Turkey in Round 4. On the lower boards, Nataliya Buksa (2387) defeated Kubra Ozturk Orenli (2262), but Evgeniya Doluhanova (2304) was defeated by 18-year-old Gulenay Aydin (2202).
Favorites India, China, USA, and Georgia all won their respective matches with ease. Meanwhile, Spain’s women’s team, bolstered by world #20 IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (2468), who switched federations from Iran in 2023, stumbled against Mongolia, losing 1.5-2.5.
In a notable upset, Uzbekistan’s women’s team toppled Bulgaria, with 15-year-old Afruza Khamdamova (2313) defeating former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (2416). Khamdamova, one of Uzbekistan’s brightest young stars, made history as the first woman in the country to surpass the 2300 rating mark. In 2023, she won the U14 Girls World Championship, scoring 10 points out of 11 games, only missing the first round due to a flight cancellation.
After four rounds, seven teams in the women’s section remain undefeated: China, India, USA, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia. The young Chinese team has only conceded one draw across 16 games.
Adapted from WGM Anna Burtasova’s report
