Chess Olympiad 2026 Day 4: India beats Spain and Mongolia 3-1; Gukesh, Arjun, Divya and Savitha win

Arjun Erigaisi beat Spain’s Maksim Chigaev in 36 moves to help India secure a 3-1 win in the fourth round. | Photo Credit: Michal Walusza/FIDE

India continued its winning run in the Open section of the Chess Olympiad 2026 with a 3-1 victory over Spain in the fourth round in Samarkand on Saturday.

D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi delivered the two wins for India, beating Alexei Shirov and Maksim Chigaev, respectively. Gukesh, playing on Board 4, defeated the experienced Shirov in 42 moves, while Arjun overcame Chigaev in 36 moves.

On the other two boards, R. Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin held their opponents to draws. Praggnanandhaa shared the point with David Anton, while Nihal drew against Jaime Santos, completing another 3-1 win for the defending champion.

India had entered the fourth round after victories over Thailand, Indonesia and Italy in its opening three matches.

Women’s matches

In the Women’s section, Divya Deshmukh and B. Savitha Shri gave India an early advantage against Mongolia with victories on their respective boards.

Divya defeated Khishigbaatar Bayasgalan in 47 moves to return to winning ways after her draw against Greece in Round 3. She had earlier beaten Johanna Paasikangas of Finland in the second round.

Savitha continued her outstanding start to her maiden Chess Olympiad, defeating experienced Mongolian International Master Batkhuyag Munguntuul in 50 moves. The result took Savitha to four wins from four games, having also won against the Dominican Republic, Finland, and Greece in the first three rounds.

The two victories put India 2-0 ahead against Mongolia at that stage, with the remaining boards still to be decided in the images you sent.