Chess: Uzbekistan and Germany share Samarkand lead; 11-year-old Sivanandan shines

After eight of the 11 rounds in the 400-team Olympiad in Samarkand, the host team Uzbekistan share the lead in the race for the gold medals, despite a round eight loss to co-leaders Germany and scope for more upsets in the remaining three rounds.

England have lost twice, first to the No 2 seeds India, then in a shock against Uzbekistan’s second team, while England women have performed well, with 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan beaten only once on top board.

Leaders after eight of the 11 rounds: Open: 1-2 Uzbekistan and Germany 14/16, 3-10 China, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, United States, India, France, Armenia and Uzbekistan 2 all 13. Also: 36 England 10. England’s hopes were hit in yesterday’s eighth round by a 1.5-2.5 loss to Uzbekistan’s second team. Women: 1 China 15/16, 2-4 Kazakhstan, Armenia and Mongolia 14, 5-7 India, Uzbekistan and Greece 13. Also: 19 England 11.

Long ago in 1962, I was part of an England team which defeated India 4-0 at the Varna Olympiad. Then, their squad included just one international master. In Wednesday’s round seven match, which India won 2.5-1.5, all four of them were grandmasters. It was still close to 2-2, as Dan Fernandez was near to equality against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju just one move before finally blundering to defeat.

After five rounds Uzbekistan had shared the lead with India and Germany, all on maximum points. When Uzbekistan and India were paired together it was clearly a key match. Uzbekistan had won gold at Chennai 2022, while India had triumphed at Budapest 2024.

It was a high-powered encounter, in which India fielded Gukesh on board four. The decisive moment occurred in this week’s puzzle, where the Indian grandmaster went astray after holding a large advantage two moves earlier. Can you work out what happened?

Gukesh dropped to fourth board as a confidence-building move before his world title defence in November, and it appears to have worked. Buoyed by the memories of his top board golds in Chennai 2022 and Budapest 2024, the 20-year-old could be about to become one of the most successful Olympiad players of all time.

The top ninth round pairings on Friday (11.15am BST start, live online) are Uzbekistan v United States and India v Germany. Dramatic struggles are likely, as it could be the last chance for the top seeded Americans and the 2024 Olympiad champions to get back into the fight for the gold and silver medals. Don’t miss the action!

An outstanding individual performance has been by Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who has scored 6/7 on top board and is in contention for the individual gold medal. Erdogmus has jumped to world No 18 in the live ratings, and is on a similar schedule to Bobby Fischer in 1958-59. Sindarov v Erdogmus for the world crown in 2030 is becoming a plausible forecast.

The two oldest England players, Michael Adams, 54, and Luke McShane, 42, are both unbeaten after eight rounds and close to the individual medal positions on their respective boards.

England women have performed above expectations, due significantly to the excellent performance of 11-year-old Sivanandan on top board. The Harrow schoolgirl has continued her strong form from last month, when she became the youngest ever British woman champion. She has polished her strategic game, which used to be a tad passive, and impressed especially in her draw with Ukraine’s reigning European champion.

4043 1 Ne6+! Rxe6 2 gxh4+ Nxh4 3 Qxc7 and White won easily with his material advantage. The complete game is online here.