Chess Olympiad 2026: Praggnanandhaa Beats Giri as India Downs Netherlands

Praggnanandhaa R beat Anish Giri and Gukesh D won again as India beat the Netherlands 3-1 in round 5 of the Chess Olympiad 2026, while Uzbekistan crushed Hungary.

India's open team won its fifth match in a row at the 46th Chess Olympiad, beating the Netherlands 3-1 in round 5. The star of the match was Praggnanandhaa R, who beat Anish Giri on the top board in 58 moves.

Gukesh D also won, beating Erwin L'Ami with the black pieces. Gukesh has now scored four wins and one draw in five games. Arjun Erigaisi drew with Jorden Van Foreest and Nihal Sarin drew with Loek Van Wely.

Hosts Uzbekistan produced the most impressive result of the round, beating Hungary 4-0. Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov all won. The home crowd in Samarkand has plenty to cheer about.

There was a surprise in the match between Germany and the United States. Germany won 2.5-1.5 after Frederik Svane beat Hans Niemann, giving the United States its first match loss. China and Armenia drew 2-2, with all four games drawn.

After five rounds Uzbekistan, Germany and India are the only open teams with five wins from five.

India's women's team suffered its first setback, losing 2.5-1.5 to Poland. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya beat Vaishali, and the other three games were drawn. In the women's section, China, Poland, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan now lead with 10 match points.

The Indian women's loss is a reminder of how team events work. A team can lose a match by the smallest margin, with only one decisive game out of four. There is still a long way to go, and a strong team can recover quickly.

Praggnanandhaa's win over Giri also offers a lesson. Giri is famous for being very hard to beat, especially in solid positions. Beating such players usually takes patience: keep making small improvements, avoid unnecessary risks, and wait for the moment your opponent finally has to make a difficult decision.

Round 6 has a huge match: hosts Uzbekistan against India.