Switzerland for the Open team, France for the women. Round nine of the Samarkand Olympiad takes place today, 25 September, starting at 12:00 in Serbia (CEST), or 15:00 in Samarkand. There are three rounds left, including today’s. Official schedule
Serbia’s Open team looks to recover from defeat to the USA, while the women aim to build on their win over Belarus. Both Serbian teams keep yesterday’s line-ups.
Each “Open game” link takes you straight to the relevant Lichess board. The confirmed pairings are listed in board order, White first, with tournament ratings and the Serbian player’s colour clearly marked. The broadcasts are ready; moves will appear as play progresses.
Open: Serbia - Switzerland, match 11
- Alexey Sarana (2666) - Sebastian Bogner (2547). Alexey Sarana plays White. Open game: Alexey Sarana
- Nico Georgiadis (2535) - Aleksandar Inđić (2598). Aleksandar Inđić plays Black. Open game: Aleksandar Inđić
- Alexandr Predke (2598) - Li Min Peng (2568). Alexandr Predke plays White. Open game: Alexandr Predke
- Fabian Bänziger (2426) - Velimir Ivić (2601). Velimir Ivić plays Black. Open game: Velimir Ivić
Bojan Maksimović rests. Sarana and Predke have White, Inđić and Ivić Black.
Broadcast group containing Serbia - Switzerland · Official pairings and colours
Women: France - Serbia, match 5
- Deimante Daulyte-Cornette (2391) - Teodora Injac (2406). Teodora Injac plays Black. Open game: Teodora Injac
- Alina Bivol (2345) - Sophie Milliet (2358). Alina Bivol plays White. Open game: Alina Bivol
- Pauline Guichard (2344) - Elif Mehmed (2316). Elif Mehmed plays Black. Open game: Elif Mehmed
- Sofia Pogorelskikh (2244) - Manon Schippke (2271). Sofia Pogorelskikh plays White. Open game: Sofia Pogorelskikh
Jovana Srdanović rests. Injac and Mehmed have Black, Bivol and Pogorelskikh White.
Broadcast group containing France - Serbia · Official pairings and colours
Switzerland: a chance to bounce back
After eight rounds, Serbia is 29th and Switzerland 34th, both on 11 match points. Serbia outrates its opponents on all four boards and starts as the favourite. After yesterday’s ½:3½ defeat to the USA, a team win would help Serbia recover ground in the closing rounds. Standings after eight rounds
Sebastian Bogner leads the Swiss line-up, but its highest-rated player today is Li Min Peng (2568) on board three. They are joined by grandmaster Nico Georgiadis and international master Fabian Bänziger. Peng’s meeting with Predke is the closest rating match-up, with just 30 points between them. Switzerland started as the 33rd seed and is captained by Felix Hindermann. Swiss squad
Switzerland comes off a 3:1 win over Uzbekistan’s third team. Bogner and Peng won, while Georgiadis and Bänziger drew. None of today’s four players lost in the previous round. Round-eight results
France: closely matched boards near the top
Serbia’s women are 12th on 12 match points, while France is eighth with the same total. France also started as the eighth seed. Today’s ratings are very close: Injac has a small edge on board one, France on the remaining three, with no gap larger than 28 points. Women’s standings after eight rounds
Deimante Daulyte-Cornette returns to board one, while grandmaster Marie Sebag rests. Daulyte-Cornette is joined by fellow international masters Sophie Milliet and Pauline Guichard, plus woman international master Manon Schippke. The captain is Silvia Alexieva. French squad
France beat Italy 3½:½ yesterday: Milliet, Guichard and Schippke won, while Sebag drew. Serbia’s wins against Belarus came from Elif Mehmed and Sofia Pogorelskikh. Elif returns after a 97-move marathon, and Sofia after two consecutive victories. Round-eight results
Find all the results and eight games from Serbia’s previous matches in our round-eight report.