site.btaMen's, Women's National Teams of Bulgaria Secure Wins in Penultimate Round at Budapest Chess Olympiad

The men’s and women’s national teams of Bulgaria secured wins in the penultimate round 10 of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Saturday. 

The men's team, led by head coach Kiril Georgiev, beat Sweden 2.5-1.5. The Scandinavians took the lead after Martin Lokander's win over Grigor Grigorov on board four. However, the Bulgarian team managed to turn the tide with Arkadij Naiditsch on board two, who defeated Erik Blomqvist with white, and Momchil Petkov on board three, who beat Tiger Persson with the black pieces.

The success was secured by Ivan Cheparinov on board one, who held a draw against Swedish star Nils Grandelius.

In the women’s event, the Bulgarian team, led by Petar Arnaudov, defeated Israel 2.5-1.5. The 2023 European champions struck the first blow in the match after former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova defeated Marsel Efroimski on the board one with the white pieces. Israel equalized with Dana Kochavi, who won over Gergana Peycheva with white. Bulgaria’s Viktoria Radeva, however, secured a lead, defeating Noga Orian and recording her fifth win in eight games since the start of the tournament. The final match between Masha Klinova and Nurgyul Salimova, which lasted over five hours, ended in a draw, securing the win for Bulgaria.

After round 10, both Bulgarian national teams have 14 points, with the men's team ranked 20th and the women's 16th.

India emerged as the winner in the men’s event after beating the top-seeded US team 2.5-1.5 in round 10. The Indian team now has 19 points out of a possible 20.

In the women's event, India and Kazakhstan share the top spot with 17 points each ahead of the final round. They are followed by the US and Poland with 16 points each.