Sweden for the Open team, Türkiye for the women: both Serbian teams enter round six with eight match points. The men follow up their victory over Cuba, while the women seek a return to winning ways after their first defeat.
The round is under way. Play was scheduled to start on Monday, September 21, at noon in Serbia (CEST), or 3pm in Samarkand. Confirmed line-ups and direct game links are below. Official schedule
Open: Sweden - Serbia, match 12
Alexey Sarana returns to board one, while Bojan Maksimović rests. Inđić, Predke and Ivić play boards two, three and four. Colours refer to Serbia’s players:
- Board 1: Alexey Sarana (2666), Black - Nils Grandelius (2603). Game
- Board 2: Aleksandar Inđić (2598), White - Jung Min Seo (2503). Game
- Board 3: Alexandr Predke (2598), Black - Erik Blomqvist (2482). Game
- Board 4: Velimir Ivić (2601), White - Edvin Trost (2472). Game
Official pairings · Sweden - Serbia broadcast
Serbia is higher rated on every board, by 63, 95, 116 and 129 points. The narrowest gap is on board one, where Sarana has Black against Nils Grandelius. We expect Serbia to push for another match win, with demanding games as Black on boards one and three.
Sweden: two grandmasters and two international masters
Nils Grandelius (2603) leads today’s line-up alongside grandmaster Erik Blomqvist (2482) and international masters Jung Min Seo (2503) and Edvin Trost (2472). Sweden beat Uruguay 2½:1½ in round five: wins by Blomqvist and Hampus Sörensen offset Grandelius’s loss to Georg Meier. Round-five results
There is a connection between Inđić’s and Predke’s opponents: Seo won the 2025 Swedish Championship by beating Blomqvist in a play-off. Today both face Serbia’s players on the middle boards. Swedish Chess Federation
Women: Türkiye - Serbia, match 10
Sofija Pogorelskih returns in place of Jovana Srdanović. Injac, Bivol and Mehmed retain the top three boards:
- Board 1: Teodora Injac (2406), Black - Ekaterina Atalik (2354). Game
- Board 2: Alina Bivol (2345), White - Sila Caglar (2214). Game
- Board 3: Elif Mehmed (2316), Black - Gulenay Aydin (2213). Game
- Board 4: Sofija Pogorelskih (2244), White - Ceren Tirpan (2163). Game
Official pairings · Türkiye - Serbia broadcast
Serbia has a rating advantage on all four boards: 52, 131, 103 and 81 points. The closest pairing by rating is on board one. The team will look to return to winning ways, with particular interest in Pogorelskih’s return and Elif Mehmed’s response to her first loss.
Türkiye: a European champion on board one
Ekaterina Atalik won the 2006 European Women’s Championship in Kuşadası. Teodora Injac faces an experienced opponent with a major individual title. FIDE: European Championship 2006
Behind Atalik are women’s international masters Sila Caglar and Gulenay Aydin, and woman FIDE master Ceren Tirpan. Türkiye retains the four players who beat Denmark 3½:½ in round five: Atalik, Caglar and Aydin won, while Tirpan drew. Round-five results
A rest day follows on September 22, with round seven scheduled for September 23. Organizer’s schedule
Find all Serbia’s results and eight replay boards from the previous round in our round-five report.