FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026:
Iran men back to winning ways, women beaten by Serbia
Iran were back to winning ways in the Open competition at the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, defeating Moldova 4:0 in Round 4 on Saturday.
Having shared the spoils with Belgium in a 2:2 stalemate in the previous round, Iran’s four-man team moved to seven points in a tight Open standings table – one behind leaders China – thanks to a third victory in four outings.
Mohammad-Amin Tabatabaei opened Iran’s account with a victory over fellow grandmaster Jegor Lashkin, before Bardiya Daneshvar defeated Ivan Schitco to double the advantage.
Mahdi Gholami and Arash Daghli sealed the fourth-round win for the Iranian quartet, which is captained by Saeid Pirmaleki, coming out on top against FIDE masters Semion Sapocinic and Dmitrii Gubin, respectively.
Iran had begun its Open campaign with a 4:0 victory over Mozambique before defeating Bolivia 3½:½ in the second round.
The women’s fourth round, however, was one to forget for the Iranian team, which had its winning streak snapped by a 4:0 loss to Serbia.
Mobina Alinasab fell to International Master Teodora Injac in the first matchup, before Melika Mohammadi drew with Alina Bivol.
Mitra Asgharzadeh’s setback against Elif Mehmed was then followed by Parva Behzad-Nazif’s loss to Jovana Srdanovic, leaving the Iranian women on six points – two behind leaders USA.
Iran’s women had outscored Cyprus 4:0 in the first round before defeating Sri Lanka 3:1 and France 3:1, respectively.
The 46th edition of the biennial Chess Olympiad will conclude with Round 11 on September 27.