Women’s Chess Olympiad: China Leads as Kazakhstan Closes In

China’s lead is down to one point

The women’s Chess Olympiad title race has tightened just when China looked close to pulling away. A 2–2 draw with India in round ten cut China’s advantage over Kazakhstan to a single match point, setting up a final day in which four teams can still finish level with the leaders.

China remain on 18 match points from ten rounds. Kazakhstan are second on 17, while India, Poland and Vietnam each have 16. With two match points awarded for a team victory and one for a draw, China still control their own position, but the cushion that protected them earlier in the event has gone.

The draw with India was a close team match rather than a single-board upset. Zhu Jiner and Humpy Koneru drew on board one, as did Song Yuxin and Divya Deshmukh on board two. China took the first decisive point when Lu Miaoyi beat Vantika Agrawal on board three. India answered on board four, where Savitha Shri defeated Zhai Mo, leaving neither side able to claim the match.

That result mattered beyond the two teams involved. Had China won, Kazakhstan would have been the only team able to catch them on match points. Instead, India, Poland and Vietnam remain in the chase too. They need the leaders to drop points, but the final-round arithmetic is now simple: a win by any of the four contenders can still change the destination of the gold medal.

Kazakhstan made its chance count

Kazakhstan kept the pressure on with a 2½–1½ victory over France. Bibisara Assaubayeva supplied the crucial win on board one, defeating Deimante Daulyte-Cornette. The game turned after Black’s 22...Qe6 allowed White to seize the d-file with 23.Rd6. Assaubayeva then exchanged material on d7 and reached a favourable ending with rook and two minor pieces against two rooks. France’s Sophie Milliet scored her team’s only win; Meruert Kamalidenova lost, while Alua Nurman drew.

The team result leaves Kazakhstan close enough to take advantage if China stumble. It also gives Kazakhstan a direct role in deciding the title: their final opponent is Poland, one of the three teams still within reach of first place. Poland arrived there with a composed 3–1 win over Mongolia. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya and Alicja Sliwicka won, while the other two boards were drawn. Poland did not concede a game in the match.

Vietnam stayed in contention by beating Indonesia 2½–1½. Thi Kim Phung Vo and Phuong Hanh Luong scored the wins that settled the match. Their reward is the most demanding possible final pairing: China.

A final round with no margin for error

The last-round pairings put pressure on every contender. China face Vietnam, and Poland meet Kazakhstan. Those matches directly connect four of the five leading teams; India are the exception, facing an opponent outside the group still able to win the event. That gives India a route to add points while the other contenders take points from one another.

China have the best position, but not the freedom to coast. A victory would settle the contest outright. A draw could leave the door open, depending on what happens in the other matches, and a loss would make the standings and tiebreaks decisive. Kazakhstan need to win their own match and hope China do not. Poland and Vietnam have the same basic requirement: take maximum points and rely on the leaders dropping enough.

Individual form may also matter if teams finish level. Zhu Jiner has scored 6/8 on board one, with a reported performance rating of 2620. Savitha Shri has been one of the tournament’s standout reserve-board players, scoring 8½/9 and posting a 2629 performance rating. Both had key moments in the China–India draw: Zhu held Koneru, while Savitha’s win ensured India left with a match point.

The tournament’s final round begins earlier than the preceding rounds, at 8:00 CEST. After ten rounds, China still hold the lead, but Kazakhstan have brought the race within one match point and three more teams remain close enough to make the final pairings count. The women’s Olympiad will be decided by the teams that can handle that pressure across all four boards.