Uzbekistan beat India 2.5-1.5 in the top-seeded match of Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 6, while India’s Women beat the USA 3-1 on the same day. Both results came on the last day of play before Tuesday’s rest day in Samarkand.
The Open team had a tough day, while the Women had a good one. Let’s cheer for both teams, with five rounds still left to play at Chess Olympiad 2026.
Nihal Loses to Yakubboev on board 3, and Uzbekistan wins 2.5-1.5
The 3 games in the open section were draws. Arjun Erigaisi drew with Javokhir Sindarov, the World Championship Challenger. World Champ Gukesh drew with Shamsiddin Vokhidov in 40 moves, which took his score to 5/6. And Pragg drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, also in 40 moves.
But the Round 6 match between India and Uzbekistan at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand turned on Board 3, and for a few minutes, it was Nihal’s game. He had won in Rounds 2 and 3 of Chess Olympiad 2026, and here he faced a slow Queen’s Gambit setup from Nodirbek Yakubboev. The position stayed level for 30 moves.
Uzbekistan now leads the Chess Olympiad 2026 Open standings alone on 12 match points. China and Armenia have 11, and India now went down to 10.
Savitha Shri and Vantika Agrawal beat the USA and India’s Women win 3-1
A day after losing to Poland in the previous round, India’s Women team answered in style. IM Savitha Shri, the current Indian superstar of the event, beat IM Rose Atwell with Black. IM Vantika Agrawal beat GM Irina Krush with White. Humpy Koneru drew with Carissa Yip in 54 moves, and Divya Deshmukh drew with Alice Lee in 33. Vaishali Rameshbabu did not play.
Savitha was 4/4 before her rest in Round 5, and her win makes it 5/5. Her e-pawn walked from e4 to e2 by move 42, and White’s rooks and king could not stop it.
Vantika’s game ran to 65 moves and swung more than once. Both players were down to about a minute of thinking time around move 35, and Vantika was finally able to convert the rook ending into a win.
India are 3rd in the Women’s Chess Olympiad 2026 standings on 10 match points. China and Kazakhstan lead on 12 and meet in Round 7.
Chess Bharat’s Highlight of the Day: Yakubboev vs Nihal
On move 35, Yakubboev played f4 with about 3 minutes left on his clock. After 35…e3, the engine gave Nihal an edge of roughly 1 to 1.5 pawns. Nihal had close to half an hour on his clock.
Two moves later the edge was gone. The engine liked 36…Kg7, and after 36…Kxg5 the game was level again.
Then came 37…Nf5. Yakubboev answered 38.Ne6+, a knight check that also attacked the queen on c7. The queen fell on move 40, and Yakubboev finished the win in 54 moves.
Although, kudos to Yakubboev for spotting 38.Ne6+ at once in a very short time. Nihal fought well for most of the game, and hopefully he will bounce back in India’s next remaining rounds.
That closes Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 6. Both Indian teams return after the rest day for Round 7 on 23rd September (Wednesday), and let’s hope for the best in the upcoming rounds.
Chess Bharat reports results without favouring any player, team, or federation. Round 6 scores and standings were cross-checked against the official broadcast games, and every game was replayed and checked with an engine. Every post on this site is thoroughly reviewed before publication. If you ever spot a mistake, please let us know, and we will correct it.
