Both Indian teams won 3-1 in Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 4 on Saturday, 19 September. The Open team beat Spain, and the Women beat Mongolia in Samarkand.
4 Indian players won, 4 drew, and nobody lost. Each team now has 4 wins from 4 rounds. Both teams now have 4 wins from 4 rounds, after India beat Italy and Greece in Round 3.
Arjun and Gukesh Win, Pragg Lets a Win Slip, Nihal Draws as India Beat Spain 3-1
Gukesh beat Alexei Shirov with White on board four, his third win of Chess Olympiad 2026. The engine saw little between them until move 28, when Shirov swapped off his active knight and left two pawns loose. Gukesh collected both, with about 3 minutes left to Shirov’s 16.
Shirov has played elite chess since the 1990s, Vishy Anand’s era, and years before Gukesh was born. He’s a legend who gave the World Champion a real fight in this match, and one slip decided it.
Praggnanandhaa drew as Black against David Anton Guijarro on board 1, but the engine had him winning. White’s queen went pawn-hunting, leaving Black about three and a half pawns better. Pragg played 29…Qd4??, when 29…Rfb8 would have attacked White’s queen. White pushed the d-pawn instead, which threatened to promote and opened the bishop’s line to Black’s rook. Pragg had 24 minutes left to White’s 5.
Nihal Sarin drew as Black against Jaime Santos Latasa with Black, his first draw at Chess Olympiad 2026. His game stayed equal throughout, and the position repeated on move 30.
Divya and Savitha Win, Humpy and Vaishali Draw as India Beat Mongolia 3-1
In Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 4, every Indian player was rated 65 to 205 points above her opponent, yet two games were drawn.
Savitha Shri beat Batkhuyag Munguntuul on board 4. The game was close to level until Munguntuul, with 41 seconds left, played the rook move 32…Re6??. That let Savitha trade off the knight guarding f7 and bring her queen there with a check. Her knight then hopped to g4 and f6, and Munguntuul resigned on move 50. Savitha is now 4/4 on her Chess Olympiad 2026 debut and has so far been one of the most promising players in the event.
Divya Deshmukh beat Khishigbaatar Bayasgalan with Black on board 3. The engine preferred Black from move 13, and 21.Rd1? swung it to about three pawns for Divya. She finished by marching her king to e4 to win a pawn.
Koneru Humpy drew with Mungunzul Bat-Erdene on the top board after 82 moves. Her c4 pawn cramped White, and the engine had her about 2 pawns up. One slip on move 35 (35…f5??) cost her that edge.
R Vaishali drew with Turmunkh Munkhzul on board 2. She was about 2 pawns up, but reached move 40 with under 3 minutes against her opponent’s 18. Her 40.Nc6? was a slip, and the edge vanished.
Vantika Agrawal, who had won all 3 of her games in the first 3 rounds, did not play this round, which came as a surprise given her strong start. No reason has been given for her absence so far.
Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 5: India Face the Netherlands and Poland
Round 5 is on Sunday, 20 September. The Open team plays the Netherlands, with India on 11 1⁄2 game points and the Dutch on 11.
The Indian women’s team will face Poland on the 2nd table, with both teams level on 8 match points and 14 game points.
Chess Bharat’s Highlight of the Day: Arjun Erigaisi vs Maksim Chigaev
Madman Arjun Erigaisi beat Maksim Chigaev in 36 moves, and Chigaev resigned facing mate. Arjun pushed his h-pawn twice (12.h4 and 13.h5) to cramp Black’s kingside, then took the centre with 21.e4.
Chigaev’s 23…f5?! and 24…dxe5? weakened the squares around his own king. On move 26 Arjun castled and left a knight on e3 that Black declined to take. On move 34 his king stepped to e7 when 34…Qxe5 was the better try, and Arjun’s queen chased the king with checks on h7 and f7.
That was Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 4 for India.
Chess Bharat reports results without favouring any player, team or federation. Scores, moves and clock times were checked against the official broadcast. All the posts are carefully reviewed before publishing. Spot a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.
