India's open and women's teams return to winning form at Chess Olympiad in Samarkand

India's open and women's chess teams both recorded victories in the seventh round of the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Wednesday, returning to winning ways after the tournament's rest day.

The defending champion India recovered from their first defeat of the event to host Uzbekistan in the previous round by beating England 2.5-1.5 in the open section; the win followed a rest day for both sides. R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Nikita Vitiugov and D. Gukesh beat Daniel Howard Fernandez, offsetting Nihal Sarin’s second straight loss to Luke McShane, while Arjun Erigaisi drew with Michael Adams.

In the open standings, Uzbekistan maintained a sole lead after a 3-1 victory over China and sit on 12 match points, two clear of India and four other teams — the Netherlands, Germany, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Indian women produced a comprehensive 3.5-0.5 win over Germany in round seven, with Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and B. Savitha Shri all securing wins and R. Vaishali drawing with Elisabeth Paehtz. In the women's table India are tied for second, one point behind leaders China and Kazakhstan who have 12 match points, sharing second place with Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Mongolia.

Other open-round results saw Armenia draw with USA 2-2; Germany beat Turkiye 3-1; Netherlands beat Bulgaria 3.5-0.5; Azerbaijan beat Greece 3.5-0.5; France drew with Uzbekistan (2) 2-2; Hungary beat Australia 2.5-1.5; Serbia beat Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5; Poland beat Sweden 2.5-1.5; Slovakia beat Iran 2.5-1.5; and Czech Republic beat Lithuania 2.5-1.5.

Additional women's-round results included Uzbekistan beating Slovenia 3.5-0.5; China drawing with Kazakhstan 2-2; Georgia beating Poland 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria beating Ukraine 3-1; Armenia beating Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5; Mongolia beating France 2.5.1.5; USA beating Switzerland 3-1; Netherlands beating Turkiye 3.5-0.5; Cuba drawing with Serbia 2-2; and Canada beating Hungary 2-2.

Four rounds remain in both events; the outcomes of those remaining rounds will decide final placings and medal positions.