Chess Olympiad: India men 3-1 Holland; women lose 1.5-2.5 to Poland

India's men's team beat Holland 3-1 and the Indian women's team were defeated 1.5-2.5 by Poland in the fifth round of the 46th Chess Olympiad here on September 20, 2026.

Led by R Praggnanandhaa on board one and world champion D Gukesh on board four, the Indian men recorded their fifth straight match victory to move on to 10 match points; Praggnanandhaa converted a critical win over Anish Giri and Gukesh registered his fourth win in five games. Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin both drew their games against Jorden Van Foreest and Loek Van Wely respectively. The Indian men retain their pursuit of a second consecutive Olympiad gold after winning the previous edition in Budapest in 2024.

Praggnanandhaa, playing White, chose the closed Ruy Lopez against Giri; Giri briefly gained the initiative by sacrificing a rook for a minor piece but quickly lost the advantage and Praggnanandhaa forced an inferior endgame, securing victory in 58 moves. Gukesh won with Black in 53 moves after Erwin l'Ami committed an optical blunder from a Sicilian Rossolimo position, allowing Gukesh to reach and convert a winning endgame.

Indian results, round 5 open: India (10) beat Holland (8) 3-1: (R Praggnanandhaa beat Anish Giri; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Jorden Van Foreest; Nihal Sarin drew with Loek Van Wely; D Gukesh beat Erwin L'Ami).

In other headline matches, top-seeded USA were defeated by Germany as Frederik Svane beat Hans Moke Niemann on the third board; Vincent Keymer drew with Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum held Wesley So, and Alexander Donchenko "signed the piece" against Levon Aronian. Uzbekistan produced a 4-0 win over eighth-seeded Hungary, and Uzbekistan, Germany and India now share the lead on ten match points apiece.

The Indian women's team, top seeded, were upset by Poland as R Vaishali lost on the second board to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya while the remaining three boards were drawn: Koneru Humpy drew with Oliwia Kiolbasa, Divya Deshmukh drew with Klaudia Kulon, and Vantika Agrawal drew with Monika Socko. Indian pairings, round 5 women: India (8) lost to Poland (10): (Koneru Humpy drew with Oliwia Kiolbasa; R Vaishali lost to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya; Divya Deshmukh drew with Klaudia Kulon; Vantika Agrawal drew with Monika Socko).

The women's defeat leaves India on eight match points, and they have six rounds still remaining in the Olympiad.