GM Kirill Shevchenko (pictured) and WIM Miruna-Daria Lehaci are the new champions of Romania. Both won their maiden national titles. The Romanian Championships took place on February 19–26 in Sebes, and saw the triumph of young players. The open, women’s and amateur sections were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control. | Photos: Romanian Chess Federation
Going into the rest day at the Chess Olympiad, we have sole leaders in both categories for the first time in the event. Armenia beat India 2 to grab the lead in the open, while India defeated Georgia to keep its perfect score in the women’s tournament. Remarkably, Gukesh, playing for India 2, scored a sixth consecutive victory in Chennai. | Pictured: All eyes on Gabriel Sargissian and Gukesh. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
11th-seeded India 2 scored an upset victory over fourth-seeded Spain, while 12th-seeded Armenia defeated 10th-seeded England, both with an identical score of 2.5-1.5, to jointly lead the open section with 10 match points at the end of the fifth round of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Young GM Dommaraju.
India 2 and Armenia are the only teams that have won all their matches in the open section of the Chess Olympiad. The second squad presented by the locals has four players aged 18 or younger, including Gukesh, who has a perfect 5/5 score after beating Alexei Shirov on Tuesday. In the women’s section, India, Georgia and Romania are sharing the lead on 10/10 match points. The Romanian ladies stunned Poland in the fifth round. | Photo: David Llada