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Chess Olympiad 2026

Round 11

410 of 412 games finished, 70% of them decisive. 7 teams won 4–0. France had the best team performance, 2855.

CompleteUpdated 28 Sept 2026, 17:05 CEST, 2 forfeits

Round 11 in numbers

410

games finished of 412

70%

decisive; White scored 53%

48

moves per game

122

moves in the longest game

Results

156

White wins, 38%

122

draws, 30%

132

Black wins, 32%

19 checkmates on the board, 16 draws by repetition, 2 stalemates, 9 draws before move 30 and 2 forfeits.

Left out of the statistics: FM Mashala Kabamwanishi – John Costello — the broadcast did not record the moves that were played. The result 1–0 stands (verify, 27 Sep: board 85.2 Kabamwanishi – Costello scored 1-0 (chess-results agrees) but the relay's moves end 52. Kxe3 with Black +8.42 and 24:14 on his clock, after a run of moves that swing the eval by fifteen pawns; the relay mis-registered moves).

Played, per the official results: Abon Arelong – Lesly Nompavos ended 0–1; the broadcast marks it unplayed and has no moves (chess-results, round 11, board 103.3).

Played, per the official results: Nasse Igor – Aruo Aloka ended 1–0; the broadcast marks it unplayed and has no moves (chess-results, round 11, board 103.4).

Accuracy and time

89.1%

average accuracy, as Lichess scores it

2.61

blunders per game

714

mistakes, as Lichess marks them

1,062

blunders, as Lichess marks them

2:12

average time per move

10%

of moves played with under 5 minutes left

Lichess analysed 407 of 407 finished games, with 1,955 inaccuracies, 714 mistakes and 1,062 blunders. Times come from the relay clocks of 397 games. The extra 30 minutes after move 40 showed up on move 41 or 42 for 63% of 361 players, and never for 87 players who went past move 45.

Game awards

Player awards

Ratings, titles and ages

Clock awards

From the relay clocks of 397 of 407 finished games; games with missing, hand-entered or corrected clocks are left out, and time left after move 40 counts only once the clock shows the extra 30 minutes.

Engine awards

From Lichess’s computer analysis of 407 of 407 finished games. Inaccuracies, mistakes and blunders are the ones Lichess marks on the move.

Chess culture

Never Play f6

51% scored by all who tried

10 more, tied

Ben Finegold says never push the f-pawn one square. These players did it by move 10 (f3 or …f6) and won anyway.

Homages to chess memes, famous games and Samarkand lore, meant kindly. Brilliant!!, Botez Gambit and The Carlsen Grind use Lichess’s analysis of 407 of 407 finished games; the rest look at every finished game.

Collections

En Passant

19en passants

16 more

Every en passant capture of the round.

Family Fork

6forks

3 more

A knight gave check and attacked the queen at the same time, from a square where it could not simply be taken. The ones that won the queen come first.

Holy Hell

15left alone

12 more

En passant was on the board and the player left it alone. En passant is forced, allegedly.

Connect Four

6rows of pawns

3 more

Four or more pawns side by side on one rank beyond their starting rank. The first row of each player is listed, the longest first.

Irish Pawn Centre

6Irish centres

3 more

Three pawns on one file, one behind the other. The first time for each player is listed.

Royal Court

6third queens

3 more

A third queen on the board.

Not awarded this round: Shahrukh, Il Vaticano, Pawn Cube, The Hard One.

The awards that list every case instead of crowning one, read from the position on every move; the overview counts them across the rounds. The Hard One, Il Vaticano, the pawn shapes and Royal Court may well stay empty for a round or two.

Match awards

Whitewash

7matches

4 more

Won the match 4–0, forfeits included.

Comeback Match

8matches

5 more

Lost on board 1 and still won the match.

Team of the Round

2855performance

Highest performance over the four boards: average opponent rating plus 400 × (wins − losses) ÷ 4, all four played against rated opponents.

Treaty of Samarkand

3matches

A 2–2 match of four draws, peace signed on every board.

Rates over each team’s finished games of the round, four needed. The event-wide team awards, the category leaders and the board race are on the standings page.

Teams: style

Space Invaders

41.76per 100 moves

Most moves into the opponent's half per 100 of the team's own moves.

Check, Please

9checks per game

Most checks given per game over the team's finished games.

The Late Knight Show

9.5per game

Most knight moves from move 31 on, per game, over the team's finished games.

Promotion Party

2promotions

2 more, tied

Most promotions by the team's players.

Chicken Nation

24.9retreats per 100 moves

Most retreating moves per 100 of the team's own moves; castling never counts.

Forward March

6.94retreats per 100 moves

Fewest retreating moves per 100 of the team's own moves.

Pawn Pushers

34.03pawn moves per 100 moves

Most pawn moves per 100 of the team's own moves.

Wandering Kings

18.25king moves per game

Most king moves per game over the team's finished games.

Safety First

5average castling move

Earliest castling on average, over the games in which the team castled at all.

Déjà Vu

4identical moves

Two of the team's games with the same colour that followed the same moves for longest; both are listed.

Teams: clocks

Deep Thinkers

3:03per move

Most seconds per move over the team's games with usable clocks.

Quick Draw

1:05per move

Fewest seconds per move over the team's games with usable clocks.

Zeitnot Nation

39.7% under five minutes

Highest share of moves played with under five minutes on the clock.

Time in the Bank

1:02:24left on average

Most time left on the clock after the last move, on average.

Over the relay clocks of 397 of 407 finished games; a team needs four such games.

Teams: engine

Notable games

Game phases

11

moves of opening

19

moves of middlegame

22

moves of endgame

Averages per game, with the phases split as Lichess splits them. 85% of the games reached an endgame; the first capture came on move 7.1 on average.

Endgames by type

EndgameReachedAt the end
Rook6448
Bishop3223
King and pawn2624
Queen and rook264
Knight1714
Queen86

A rook endgame has nothing but kings, pawns and rooks left; the others likewise, as the Lichess puzzle tagger defines them. A game can pass through several types, so the first column adds up to more than the games.

Reached, and still there at the end

Each band runs from the games that reached the endgame to those that still had it on the last move; the rest went on into another type. One scale for both columns.

ReachedAt the endRook 6448Bishop 3223King and pawn 2624Queen and rook 264Knight 1714Queen 86

Tactics

Openings

First moves

  1. 1.e4
    49%
  2. 1.d4
    32%
  3. 1.Nf3
    10%
  4. 1.c4
    8%
  5. 1.b3
    1%

Share of all finished games. Opening names and ECO codes come from Lichess, based on the position reached.

Every opening of the round

The round’s openings as a tree: the five volumes of the opening encyclopaedia (A flank openings, B semi-open games, C open games and the French, D closed games and the Grünfeld, E Indian defences), their families, and every variation played. A line grows with the games through it; the red thread leads to the round’s rarest openings.

AHungarian Opening 1Van Geet Opening 1Nimzo-Larsen Attack 3Bird Opening 2Zukertort Opening 7King's Indian Attack 7King's Indian Attack, with e6 2English Opening 30Réti Opening 4English Orangutan 1Horwitz Defense 1Queen's Pawn Game 2Indian Defense 8Trompowsky Attack 4Yusupov-Rubinstein System 2Marienbad System 1East Indian Defense 3London System 2Old Indian Defense 1Benko Gambit Accepted 2Benoni Defense 2Dutch Defense 5BPirc Defense 7Scandinavian Defense 4Alekhine Defense 3Modern Defense 4Czech Defense 1Caro-Kann Defense 23Sicilian Defense 77CFrench Defense 27Center Game 1Bishop's Opening 2Vienna Game 1King's Gambit 1Philidor Defense 6Petrov's Defense 5King's Knight Opening 1King's Pawn Game 1Scotch Game 3Three Knights Opening 1Four Knights Game 5Italian Game 13Ruy Lopez 18DQueen's Pawn Game 10Rubinstein Opening 1Queen's Gambit Declined 27Slav Defense 8Queen's Gambit Accepted 4Tarrasch Defense 2Semi-Slav Defense 9Neo-Grünfeld Defense 2Grünfeld Defense 4ECatalan Opening 16Indian Defense 2Blumenfeld Countergambit 1Bogo-Indian Defense 4Queen's Indian Defense 5Nimzo-Indian Defense 4King's Indian Defense 13

Point at a line or a name to name the opening; click to open it on Lichess.Tap a name to name the opening; tap it again to open it on Lichess.

Which openings won

A bar per family: White’s wins, the draws, Black’s wins. The tick is the family’s score for White, the grey line the round’s; a tick right of it, and White did better than usual. Framed in red, the best for White and the best for Black of the families with at least 5 games.

Round: White 53%gamesSicilian DefenseEnglish OpeningFrench DefenseQueen's Gambit Decl…Caro-Kann DefenseRuy LopezCatalan OpeningItalian GameKing's Indian DefenseQueen's Pawn GameIndian DefenseSemi-Slav DefenseSlav DefenseKing's Indian AttackPirc DefenseZukertort OpeningPhilidor DefenseDutch DefenseFour Knights GamePetrov's DefenseQueen's Indian Defe…Bogo-Indian DefenseGrünfeld DefenseModern DefenseNimzo-Indian Defense773027272318161313121098777655554444
The numbers
FamilyGamesWhite winsDrawsBlack winsWhite’s score
Sicilian Defense7727193147%
English Opening30717652%
French Defense27128759%
Queen's Gambit Declined27146763%
Caro-Kann Defense23106757%
Ruy Lopez18261028%
Catalan Opening1675459%
Italian Game1356262%
King's Indian Defense1337350%
Queen's Pawn Game1236350%
Indian Defense1053265%
Semi-Slav Defense924344%
Slav Defense852175%
King's Indian Attack704329%
Pirc Defense740357%
Zukertort Opening732257%
Philidor Defense611425%
Dutch Defense511330%
Four Knights Game511330%
Petrov's Defense521250%
Queen's Indian Defense540180%
Bogo-Indian Defense411238%
Grünfeld Defense421163%
Modern Defense412150%
Nimzo-Indian Defense412150%

Best for White

OpeningGamesWhite’s score
E05 Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line560%
A13 English Opening: Agincourt Defense1055%
B92 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation625%

Best for Black

OpeningGamesWhite’s score
B92 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation625%
A13 English Opening: Agincourt Defense1055%
E05 Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line560%

Openings with at least 5 games.

Rarest openings of the round

Pieces

9,825

pawn moves, 25%

6,479

knight moves, 17%

5,919

bishop moves, 15%

7,198

rook moves, 18%

4,676

queen moves, 12%

5,132

king moves, 13%

Captured and surviving

PieceCapturedStill on the board at the end
pawns3,62144%
knights1,33818%
bishops1,23924%
rooks96941%
queens52241%

Checkmates

Board heatmap

Darker means more moves, on a square-root scale.

Busiest squares

  1. d41,448
  2. d51,374
  3. e41,239
  4. f61,224
  5. f31,209

Quietest square with any traffic: a1, 157.

Where the pieces went in the finished games of the round.