The USA for Serbia’s men, Belarus for the women. Round eight of the Olympiad brings two different challenges: the Open team faces the top seed, while the women seek a win after two consecutive drawn matches. The round takes place today, September 24, with a scheduled start of noon in Serbia (CEST), or 3pm in Samarkand. Schedule
The games have already started at the time of publication. Every “Open game” link below takes you straight to the corresponding Lichess board. Pairings are listed in board order, White first, with tournament ratings and the Serbian player’s colour stated separately.
Open: USA - Serbia, match 4
- Fabiano Caruana (2789) - Alexey Sarana (2666). Sarana has Black. Open game: Sarana
- Aleksandar Inđić (2598) - Hans Niemann (2725). Inđić has White. Open game: Inđić
- Levon Aronian (2725) - Alexandr Predke (2598). Predke has Black. Open game: Predke
- Velimir Ivić (2601) - Awonder Liang (2693). Ivić has White. Open game: Ivić
Bojan Maksimović rests, so Serbia fields the same four players who beat Kazakhstan 3½:½ yesterday. The USA plays without Wesley So.
Broadcast group covering USA - Serbia · Official pairings and colours
Women: Serbia - Belarus, match 11
- Teodora Injac (2406) - Aliaksandra Tarasenka (2228). Injac has White. Open game: Injac
- Varvara Poliakova (2233) - Alina Bivol (2345). Bivol has Black. Open game: Bivol
- Elif Mehmed (2316) - Nika Venskaya (2155). Mehmed has White. Open game: Mehmed
- Yuliya Liavonava (2116) - Sofia Pogorelskih (2244). Pogorelskih has Black. Open game: Pogorelskih
Elif Mehmed returns, while Jovana Srdanović rests. Belarus leaves Veranika Abramkina out of its four-player line-up.
Broadcast group covering Serbia - Belarus · Official pairings and colours
USA favoured, but both teams start on 11 points
After seven rounds, Serbia is tenth and the USA thirteenth, both with 11 match points. Their tiebreak order does not change the balance of this match: the Americans have the higher rating on all four boards. Standings after seven rounds
Fabiano Caruana, rated 2789, leads a line-up that also includes Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian at 2725, and Awonder Liang at 2693. Even with Wesley So resting, the Olympiad’s top seed fields a formidable team. John Donaldson is the captain. USA squad
The Americans drew 2:2 with Armenia in round seven: Liang won, So lost, and Caruana and Niemann drew. Serbia comes off three wins and a draw against Kazakhstan. Inđić and Ivić’s chances with White will be particularly interesting, while Sarana and Predke face Caruana and Aronian with Black. Round-seven results
Belarus: a chance to win, with care required
Serbia’s women entered this round 18th with 10 match points, Belarus 22nd on the same score. Serbia is the rating favourite on every board, but the draws against Türkiye and Cuba show that the advantage still has to be converted at the board. Women’s standings after seven rounds
Belarus drew 2:2 with Spain in round seven. Tarasenka beat Marta Garcia Martin on board one, so Teodora faces an opponent coming off an important win. Poliakova and Venskaya drew, while Abramkina lost. Round-seven results
Aliaksandra Tarasenka is a woman international master; Varvara Poliakova, Nika Venskaya and Yuliya Liavonava are woman FIDE masters. Jurij Tihonov captains the team. Belarus started as the 32nd seed, Serbia as the 14th. Belarus squad
Including today’s round, four rounds remain. Find every result and all eight games from yesterday in our round-seven report.