Defeat to China, convincing win over Iran: Serbia’s contrasting fourth round

China ended Serbia’s winning start in the Open, while the women made it four match wins out of four. Round four of the Samarkand Olympiad, played on September 19, brought a 1:3 loss to China and a convincing 3½:½ win over Iran.

The Open team remains on six match points, with 10/16 board points. The women have eight match points and 14/16 on the boards, while Elif Mehmed has won all four of her games.

Open: two draws with White, two losses with Black

Alexey Sarana drew with Ding Liren and Alexandr Predke with Yu Yangyi. China took both full points on the boards where Serbia had Black: Wei Yi beat Aleksandar Inđić, and Kong Xiangrui defeated Bojan Maksimović. Velimir Ivić rested.

China was higher rated on all four boards and showed why this was Serbia’s first major test. Two draws against players rated above 2700 are good individual results, but they were not enough to earn a match point this time.

Games are listed in board order, White first:

• Board 1: Alexey Sarana - Ding Liren ½-½. Replay
• Board 2: Wei Yi - Aleksandar Inđić 1-0. Replay
• Board 3: Alexandr Predke - Yu Yangyi ½-½. Replay
• Board 4: Kong Xiangrui - Bojan Maksimović 1-0. Replay

Official results, match 4 · Serbia - China broadcast

Wei Yi - Inđić: a performance to appreciate

A Serbian loss is never easy to watch, but Wei Yi played a game well worth replaying. From a Petrov Defence, White gradually gained space with c4-c5, g4 and f4-f5, then brought both knights into the attack.

The standout moment was 32.Nxf7! Rxf7 33.Ne6: White gives a knight for a pawn and uses the other knight to attack the queen on c7. After 34.Bg3, the bishop joins the chase. Wei Yi alternates jumps to c7 and e6, takes the central pawn with 38.Nxd5, and later captures the rook on f7 with his bishop. 48.Bc7 was the final move of the game.

The appeal lies in the coordination: the attack lasts far beyond the initial sacrifice. Replay the full game on Lichess or on the second board below this report.

Women: three wins, Elif reaches 4/4

Teodora Injac, Elif Mehmed and Jovana Srdanović scored full points, while Alina Bivol drew with Black against Melika Mohammadi. Serbia justified its favourite status against Iran and recorded a fourth consecutive match win. Sofija Pogorelskih sat out the round.

All three decisive games went Serbia’s way. Elif Mehmed keeps a perfect 4/4, and the team has yet to lose an individual game in the first four rounds.

• Board 1: Teodora Injac - Mobina Alinasab 1-0. Replay
• Board 2: Melika Mohammadi - Alina Bivol ½-½. Replay
• Board 3: Elif Mehmed - Mitra Asgharzadeh 1-0. Replay
• Board 4: Parva Behzad Nazif - Jovana Srdanović 0-1. Replay

Official results, match 10 · Serbia - Iran broadcast

Cuba and Azerbaijan next

On Sunday, September 20, Serbia faces Cuba in the Open and Azerbaijan in the Women’s section. The men will seek a return to winning ways; the women meet another team with four wins. Find the details and broadcast links in our round-five preview.

Replay all eight games

Below are the complete games from the Lichess broadcasts: first the four from Serbia - China, then the four from Serbia - Iran, in the same order as the results above.