Alexandr Predke’s 6½/10 and Elif Mehmed’s 7/10 continue our board-by-board review of Serbia at the Olympiad. Predke remained unbeaten through nine appearances, until the final round. Elif played ten games without a single draw and scored the most points in Serbia’s Women’s team. Their wins made the difference in close matches, and one of them took 97 moves.
After the reserves and the fourth-board players, we turn to the players third in the final registered squad order. Predke played board two twice, Elif four times; their other appearances were on board three. The tables list the actual board in each match. Registered Open squad · Registered Women’s squad
The third-board players’ results
Final results from the tournament that ended on 27 September 2026, checked on 1 October. The percentage is points scored divided by games played.
| Player | Points/games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandr Predke | 6½/10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 65% |
| Elif Mehmed | 7/10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 70% |
Predke’s official results · Elif’s official results
Predke and Aleksandar Inđić each scored 6½ points, the largest totals in the Open team. Elif led the Women’s team by total points, while Sofia Pogorelskikh’s 6½/8 gave her the higher percentage. Raw totals are only part of the story: Predke faced three opponents with higher starting ratings, Elif two. Their contributions become clearer when we connect the points to individual matches.
Alexandr Predke: four wins and just one loss
Alexandr Predke sat out round one, then played all ten remaining matches. After drawing with Meylis Annaberdiyev, he beat Razvan Preotu with Black. Together with Inđić’s win and Ivić’s draw, that point gave Serbia a 2½:1½ victory against Canada.
A draw with Yu Yangyi followed, then a win against Dylan Isidro Berdayes Ason, a draw with Erik Blomqvist and a win against Daniyal Sapenov. Against the USA, Predke drew with Black against Levon Aronian, his highest-rated opponent of the tournament at 2725. It was Serbia’s only draw in a ½:3½ defeat.
After drawing with Li Min Peng, he beat Pijus Stremavičius. Predke was Serbia’s only winner against Lithuania, with three draws completing a 2½:1½ match win. His first loss came on the final day against Mahammad Muradli. Before that match, he had four wins and five draws from nine appearances.
All of Predke’s games
Final record, 27 September 2026. Points are from Predke’s perspective; opponents’ names use Latin-script spellings for comparison with the broadcast. Results and board-number source
| Round | Board | Opponent | Team | Colour | Points | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | Meylis Annaberdiyev | Turkmenistan | Black | ½ | Lichess |
| 3 | 3 | Razvan Preotu | Canada | Black | 1 | Lichess |
| 4 | 3 | Yu Yangyi | China | White | ½ | Lichess |
| 5 | 2 | Dylan Isidro Berdayes Ason | Cuba | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 6 | 3 | Erik Blomqvist | Sweden | Black | ½ | Lichess |
| 7 | 3 | Daniyal Sapenov | Kazakhstan | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 8 | 3 | Levon Aronian | United States of America | Black | ½ | Lichess |
| 9 | 3 | Li Min Peng | Switzerland | White | ½ | Lichess |
| 10 | 3 | Pijus Stremavicius | Lithuania | Black | 1 | Lichess |
| 11 | 3 | Mahammad Muradli | Azerbaijan | White | 0 | Lichess |
Our first pick: Predke - Berdayes Ason, round five. This Sicilian starts with Black castling kingside and White queenside, but the queens leave the board as early as move 16. Predke’s king then travels from c1 through b2, b3 and a4 to b5. Meanwhile, White advances his kingside pawns. Open the game on Lichess
Watch how that advance opens lines for the rooks. After 30.Rh7, one white rook has already reached the seventh rank; the other later moves to f7 and then d7. The finish, 41.Rd7+ Ke8 42.Rhe7+, puts both rooks on the seventh rank. Alongside Maksimović’s win and two draws, it supplied one of the two full points in Serbia’s 3:1 win against Cuba.
Another to replay: Stremavičius - Predke, round ten. Here Predke plays Black and wins in 33 moves. After 19.Bxh7 g6, White’s bishop remains on h7 while Black’s queen travels through d3 and g3, captures the knight on h4 and later takes the bishop on h7. Open the game on Lichess
White has counterplay too: his pawn reaches f6 and Black’s king ends up on g6. In the closing sequence, Black’s knight takes up a post on e4 and the queen enters with 32...Qc7+ 33.Kh1 Qg3. The game ends there. Exposed kings and active pieces make it an interesting choice to revisit, with direct significance for a narrow team victory.
Elif Mehmed: seven wins, no draws
Elif Mehmed started with 4/4: Madagascar, Scotland, Canada and Iran. Against Canada she was Serbia’s only winner. Her victory with Black against Svitlana Demchenko, alongside three draws by her teammates, secured 2½:1½.
After losses to Gunay Mammadzada and Gulenay Aydin, she sat out round seven. She returned with a long win against Nika Venskaya: together with Sofia’s win and Alina’s draw, it gave Serbia a 2½:1½ victory against Belarus. Following a loss to Pauline Guichard in round nine, she ended the tournament with two wins.
Against Italy she beat Olga Zimina, while Sofia beat Giulia Sala, for 2:2 in the match. On the last day, Elif beat Jasmin-Denise Schloffer with Black. Together with Jovana’s win and Sofia’s draw, that point completed a 2½:1½ victory against Austria. Seven wins also gave her the largest points total among Serbia’s women.
All of Elif’s games
Final record, 27 September 2026. Points are from Elif’s perspective; the board number is the one she occupied in that match. Results and board-number source
| Round | Board | Opponent | Team | Colour | Points | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Aina Mahasambatra Tsinjoviniavo | Madagascar | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 2 | 2 | Kanishka Bhatia | Scotland | Black | 1 | Lichess |
| 3 | 3 | Svitlana Demchenko | Canada | Black | 1 | Lichess |
| 4 | 3 | Mitra Asgharzadeh | Iran | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 5 | 3 | Gunay Mammadzada | Azerbaijan | Black | 0 | Lichess |
| 6 | 3 | Gulenay Aydin | Turkiye | Black | 0 | Lichess |
| 8 | 3 | Nika Venskaya | Belarus | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 9 | 3 | Pauline Guichard | France | Black | 0 | Lichess |
| 10 | 2 | Olga Zimina | Italy | White | 1 | Lichess |
| 11 | 2 | Jasmin-Denise Schloffer | Austria | Black | 1 | Lichess |
Our pick: Mehmed - Venskaya, round eight. A Closed Sicilian develops into a long struggle, with queens remaining on the board until move 58. After their exchange, Elif has rook and bishop against rook and knight; the battle continues around passed pawns on both sides. Open the game on Lichess
An interesting transition comes with 76.c6 Nc3 77.Rf4+ Kd5 78.Rxf3 Rxc6: Black’s f-pawn and White’s c-pawn disappear. After 82.Rf2 Rxf2+ 83.Bxf2, White has a bishop and two connected pawns against a knight, alongside the kings. Even then, the game is not over. Elif keeps manoeuvring her king and bishop, and the score ends only with 97.Kf2. We chose this game for its sustained endgame work and the full point it brought in a match won by the narrowest margin.
Points that made the difference
The official tournament calculation gives Predke a 2643 performance and a +6.6 rating change, and Elif a 2325 performance and +9. Performance describes the result at this event; the changes quoted come from the tournament calculation, not a new monthly FIDE list. Predke’s calculation · Elif’s calculation
Predke’s win against Lithuania and Elif’s against Canada each decided their match, with draws on the other boards. Alongside those points, we will remember the two rooks on the seventh rank against Cuba and Elif’s 97 moves against Belarus. Thank you both for those points and the effort. Next come the second-board players, Aleksandar Inđić and Alina Bivol; the complete team standings are in our closing report from Samarkand.