India’s Women came into Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 5, on 20th September (Sunday), as the top seed and the defending champions, with 4 wins out of 4 rounds. But lost 2.5-1.5 to Poland, the 9th seed.
The Open team beat the Netherlands 3-1, and stayed perfect. After both Indian teams won 3-1 in Round 4, day 5 went in different directions for both teams.
Vaishali Was Doing Well Until Time Ran Short
Vaishali, the current Women’s World Championship challenger, had Black against IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya. The game was around equal for 24 moves. Around move 26, Vaishali had the more comfortable position and 17 minutes on her clock to her opponent’s 4.
Then the time began to slip away. Vaishali used 15 minutes over the next 10 moves and reached move 36 with under 2 minutes. The game turned in that squeeze, and Maltsevskaya, on a short clock herself, kept her composure and finished well. It was the 1st game India’s Women had lost in Chess Olympiad 2026.
Humpy, Divya and Vantika Agrawal drew their games. Vantika held GM Monika Socko with 4 minutes left, and Humpy drew Oliwia Kiolbasa in 27 moves. A single win among those 3 boards would have saved the match for the Indian women’s team.
Savitha Shri (4/4) was rested, and Vantika came back. India are now 8th on 8 match points, 2 behind the 4 leaders.
Pragg Secures His First Win, Gukesh Also Triumphs
The Open team’s day belonged to Praggnanandhaa. The Grand Chess Tour champion had drawn his 3 earlier games at Chess Olympiad 2026, and against Anish Giri he got his 1st win. Giri fought hard, and their game is our today’s highlight.
Gukesh had a tense finish of his own. The game swung his way after L’Ami’s 23.f4, and he reached move 40 with only 33 seconds left. His d-pawn queened on move 53, and he now has 4.5 points from 5. Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin drew with Jorden van Foreest and Loek van Wely, and India open team won 3-1.
Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 6: India vs Uzbekistan (A Must-Watch Match of the Tournament)
Tomorrow is India’s biggest test so far. The hosts are the 2022 champions and the 3rd seed, and they beat Hungary 4-0 today. Sindarov (2777) and Abdusattorov (2762) lead a strong line-up, Yakubboev (2685) and Vokhidov (2655) follow, and Madaminov (2611) is the reserve.
Sindarov is the current World Championship challenger. He and Gukesh will play in Geneva in November, but on the usual board order Sindarov plays board 1 and Gukesh board 4.
The Women will face the USA, who have 9 match points. See the pairings on Chess-Results for the Open and the Women. Round 6 will start at 3:00 p.m. in Samarkand on Monday, 21 September.
Chess Bharat’s Highlight of the Day: Pragg vs Anish Giri
Pragg beating Giri with White in a Ruy Lopez was a match worth watching. It was around equal for 19 moves, and Giri then built a slight edge, about 1.4 pawns by the engine’s count, after 20.Bf4 and 25.Nf1.
Then both players ran short of time, and the game turned sharp. Giri’s king move to e8 on move 36 left the e5 pawn short of defenders, and Pragg won it. Around move 40 the chances swung again. After 40.Nd3, Giri’s best try was 40…c2. But he played 40…Kc7, 41.Nb4 stopped the pawn, and Pragg won it on move 45. Giri kept fighting and resigned with 34 seconds left, as there was nothing much to do in this position too.
Chess Bharat reports chess results and developments without favoring any player, team, or federation. Scores and standings are monitored live when a broadcast is available and cross-checked against sources such as Chess-Results and Chess.com. The games we cite are also checked for move legality against the Lichess broadcast. Every article is reviewed before publishing. If you spot an error or correction, please let us know, and we will review and update it promptly.
