Serbia’s Open team bounced back from defeat to the USA, but the women finished the day without new match points. In round nine of the Samarkand Olympiad on 25 September, Serbia beat Switzerland 3:1 in the Open and lost 1½:2½ to France in the Women’s section.
Alexey Sarana and Aleksandar Inđić won for the Open team, while Alexandr Predke and Velimir Ivić drew. Sofia Pogorelskikh won again for the women, Alina Bivol drew, and Teodora Injac and Elif Mehmed lost.
Open: two wins and no losses
After a difficult match against the Americans, Ivan Ivanišević’s team responded with a win over Switzerland. Sarana beat Sebastian Bogner with White, and Inđić defeated Nico Georgiadis with Black. Predke drew with White against Li Min Peng, while Ivić drew with Black against Fabian Bänziger. Bojan Maksimović rested.
Serbia outrated its opponents on all four boards and justified its position as the favourite. Switzerland had started the round on the same number of match points, so the win also puts some distance between the two teams in the standings. Sarana and Inđić both returned to winning ways immediately after yesterday’s losses.
Results in board order, White first. Each link opens the individual game:
- Board 1: Alexey Sarana - Sebastian Bogner 1:0. View game on Lichess
- Board 2: Nico Georgiadis - Aleksandar Inđić 0:1. View game on Lichess
- Board 3: Alexandr Predke - Li Min Peng ½:½. View game on Lichess
- Board 4: Fabian Bänziger - Velimir Ivić ½:½. View game on Lichess
Official results, Open match 11
Women: Sofia’s third consecutive win was not enough
Sofia Pogorelskikh beat Manon Schippke with White, extending her strong run: following victories against Cuba and Belarus, this was her third consecutive full point. This time, however, it was not enough to secure a team draw.
Alina Bivol drew with White against Sophie Milliet, while both Serbian players with Black lost: Teodora Injac to Deimante Daulyte-Cornette and Elif Mehmed to Pauline Guichard. Jovana Srdanović rested.
Both teams began the round on 12 match points, with closely matched ratings on every board. France’s narrow win took it to 14 points and fifth place. This was Serbia’s second team defeat of the tournament.
Results in board order, White first:
- Board 1: Deimante Daulyte-Cornette - Teodora Injac 1:0. View game on Lichess
- Board 2: Alina Bivol - Sophie Milliet ½:½. View game on Lichess
- Board 3: Pauline Guichard - Elif Mehmed 1:0. View game on Lichess
- Board 4: Sofia Pogorelskikh - Manon Schippke 1:0. View game on Lichess
Official results, Women match 5
Two rounds remain
The Open team climbed from 29th to 20th, with 13 match points and 22/36 board points. Its record is six wins, one draw and two losses. Uzbekistan leads on 16 match points, followed by India, Uzbekistan’s second team and Armenia on 15. Open standings after nine rounds
The women dropped from 12th to 23rd, with 12 match points and 23/36 board points: five wins, two draws and two losses. China leads on 17 match points, ahead of India, Kazakhstan and Mongolia on 15. Women’s standings after nine rounds
Two rounds remain. Our round-eight report covers the previous day’s results. All eight games from today are available through the links alongside the board results.