Round 4 of the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest saw Ukraine triumph over the USA in a thrilling match. Fabiano Caruana was the first to score, defeating Andrei Volokitin. Leinier Dominguez and Ruslan Ponomariov drew on board three, and with Wesley So having a better position against Vasyl Ivanchuk, things looked promising for the Americans. However, So blundered, allowing the legendary Ivanchuk to create a mating net and win the game.

By then, Anton Korobov was already winning against Ray Robson on the fourth board. He secured the victory, leading Ukraine to defeat the tournament’s top seed, by 2.5-1.5. When asked about the team’s chances following this brilliant performance, the hero of the day, Anton Korobov, joked bitterly: “There are seven rounds to go; it’s going to be a disaster! The average age of our team is like 70 years old.”

Defending champions Uzbekistan, who hadn’t lost a single match in the 2022 Olympiad, surprisingly fell to the 21st-seeded Vietnam team. First, Le Tuan Minh (2564) defeated Javokhir Sindarov (2677), and then Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2633) prevailed over Nodirbek Yakubboev (2666), who seemed to push too hard for a win. The other two games – Le Quang Liem (2741) vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766), and Tran Tuan Minh (2434) vs. Jakhongir Vakhidov (2571) – ended in draws.

India continues to perform strongly, with a 3.5-0.5 win against Serbia. In all 16 games, Gukesh and his team conceded only two draws to their opponents. Current world #4, Arjun Erigaisi (pictured below), with a rating of 2778, gained 7 rating points after his fourth victory, this time against Aleksandar Indjic, continuing to break his own records on the path to 2800.

China narrowly defeated Armenia thanks to Yu Yangyi beating Gabriel Sargissian, while the other games ended in draws. From the leading pack, Poland, Hungary, Azerbaijan, and Spain also won their matches.

Going into round 5, eight teams have 8 match points: India, Spain, China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine (listed according to tiebreaks).

Unlike their male counterparts, the Ukrainian women’s team has had a tough start. After a narrow win against Lithuania and conceding two board draws against Israel, the defending champions tied 2-2 against lower-rated Turkey in round 4. The top two boards drew their games, while the sides exchanged blows on the lower boards. Nataliya Buksa (2387) defeated Kubra Ozturk Orenli (2262), but Evgeniya Doluhanova (2304) lost to 18-year-old Gulenay Aydin (2202).

Other favorites, namely India, China, USA, and Georgia, won their matches convincingly.

The Spanish women’s team, usually not among the favorites, is now reinforced with IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, world #20, rated 2468, who switched federations from Iran in 2023. As a result, the team is the #9 seed in the tournament, but in round 4, Sarasadat’s teammates lost two games and conceded to Mongolia by 1.5-2.5.

In a surprising turn of events, the Uzbekistan women’s squad upset Bulgaria. Afruza Khamdamova (2313; pictured below) defeated former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (2416), while the other games ended in draws. Fifteen-year-old Afruza is Uzbekistan’s brightest young talent, the first woman in the country to break the 2300 rating. In 2023, she won the U14 Girls World Championship, scoring 10 points in 11 games. Her only “loss” occurred because she had to withdraw from the first round due to a cancelled flight, but she won all her subsequent games.

After four rounds, seven teams have won all their matches: China, India, USA, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia. The young Chinese squad has conceded only one draw to their opponents in 16 games.

Position of the day:

Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2635) – Wesley So (USA, 2752)

White to move

Black just played 44…Ra2-e2? – a terrible mistake. Seemingly out of the blue, White weaves a mating net: 45.Rb7 Re5 46.Rxf7 g5 47.h5 Kxh5 48.Rf6, and Black resigned.

Results of the top matches:

Open:

USA 1.5-2.5 Ukraine
Serbia 0.5-3.5 India
China 2.5-1.5 Armenia
Vietnam 3-1 Uzbekistan
Hungary 2.5-1.5 Italy
Poland 2.5-1.5 Lithuania
Montenegro 1-3 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0.5-3.5 Spain 

Women:

India 3.5-0.5 France
England 0-4 China
Ukraine 2-2 Turkey
USA 3.5-0.5 Netherlands
Spain 1.5-2.5 Mongolia
Serbia 1.5-2.5 Kazakhstan
Armenia 3-1 Vietnam
Uzbekistan 2.5-1.5 Bulgaria

Full results: Chess-results.com - 45th Chess Olympiad

Written by WGM Anna Burtasova

Photos: Michal Walusza, Mark Livshitz and Maria Emelianova

Official website: chessolympiad2024.fide.com