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Chess Olympiad 2026

Round 3

406 of 408 games finished, 79% of them decisive. 27 teams won 4–0. China had the best team performance, 2828.

CompleteUpdated 28 Sept 2026, 16:37 CEST, 2 forfeits

Round 3 in numbers

406

games finished of 408

79%

decisive; White scored 53%

46

moves per game

139

moves in the longest game

Results

171

White wins, 42%

87

draws, 21%

148

Black wins, 37%

18 checkmates on the board, 13 draws by repetition, 1 stalemates, 7 draws before move 30 and 2 forfeits.

Left out of the statistics: WCM Gerda Nevska – Egon Mattaaq — the broadcast did not record the moves that were played. The result 0–1 stands (verify, 18 Sep: scored 0-1 (chess-results agrees) but the last recorded eval, after move 41, has White +7.06; the relay stopped early or mis-registered a move).

Accuracy and time

89.6%

average accuracy, as Lichess scores it

2.18

blunders per game

734

mistakes, as Lichess marks them

881

blunders, as Lichess marks them

2:19

average time per move

10%

of moves played with under 5 minutes left

Lichess analysed 405 of 405 finished games, with 1,989 inaccuracies, 734 mistakes and 881 blunders. Times come from the relay clocks of 370 games. The extra 30 minutes after move 40 showed up on move 41 or 42 for 62% of 290 players, and never for 61 players who went past move 45.

Game awards

Player awards

Ratings, titles and ages

Clock awards

From the relay clocks of 370 of 405 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 405 of 405 finished games. Inaccuracies, mistakes and blunders are the ones Lichess marks on the move.

Chess culture

Never Play f6

55% scored by all who tried

7 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.

Not awarded this round: Short’s King Walk.

Homages to chess memes, famous games and Samarkand lore, meant kindly. Brilliant!!, Botez Gambit and The Carlsen Grind use Lichess’s analysis of 405 of 405 finished games; the rest look at every finished game.

Collections

En Passant

16en passants

13 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

26left alone

23 more

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

Poisoned Pawn

11pawn grabs

8 more

The queen grabbed the b-pawn (Qxb7 or …Qxb2) by move 15. Fischer’s favourite snack; the result tells whether it was poisoned.

Connect Four

9rows of pawns

6 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

5Irish centres

2 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: Il Vaticano, Pawn Cube, Pawn Diamond, 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

27matches

24 more

Won the match 4–0, forfeits included.

Comeback Match

4matches

1 more

Lost on board 1 and still won the match.

Thrill Ride

7eval swings

The match with the most swings between a one-pawn lead for White and one for Black over its four boards; every board needs Lichess's full analysis.

Not awarded this round: Treaty of Samarkand.

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

48.92per 100 moves

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

Check, Please

10.25checks per game

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

The Late Knight Show

13.5per game

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

Promotion Party

3promotions

Most promotions by the team's players.

Chicken Nation

23.69retreats per 100 moves

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

Forward March

6.06retreats per 100 moves

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

Pawn Pushers

35.26pawn moves per 100 moves

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

Favourite Piece

For each piece, the team whose own moves have the highest share of it.

Wandering Kings

21.25king moves per game

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

Safety First

5.67average castling move

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

Déjà Vu

2½identical moves

3 more, tied

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

Teams: clocks

Deep Thinkers

3:15per 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

38.7% under five minutes

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

Time in the Bank

53:50left on average

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

Over the relay clocks of 370 of 405 finished games; a team needs four such games.

Teams: engine

Precision Nation

97.2% accuracy

Highest average Lichess accuracy over the team's analysed games.

Escape Artists

2games saved

8 more, tied

Most games won or drawn from a position the engine had at −3.00 or worse.

Over Lichess’s analysis of 405 of 405 finished games; a team needs four analysed games.

Notable games

Game phases

11

moves of opening

19

moves of middlegame

19

moves of endgame

Averages per game, with the phases split as Lichess splits them. 81% of the games reached an endgame; the first capture came on move 7 on average.

Endgames by type

EndgameReachedAt the end
Rook6244
Bishop2318
King and pawn2016
Queen and rook166
Queen1515
Knight149

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 6244Bishop 2318King and pawn 2016Queen and rook 166Queen 1515Knight 149

Tactics

Openings

First moves

  1. 1.e4
    48%
  2. 1.d4
    32%
  3. 1.Nf3
    11%
  4. 1.c4
    8%
  5. 1.f4
    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.

AVan Geet Opening 1Nimzo-Larsen Attack 2Bird Opening 2Zukertort Opening 11King's Indian Attack 6King's Indian Attack, with e6 2Réti Opening 5English Opening 31Queen's Pawn Game 3Benoni Defense 3Indian Defense 10Trompowsky Attack 1Torre Attack 2Yusupov-Rubinstein System 4Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense 2London System 1Queen's Indian Accelerated 1Dutch Defense 1BNimzowitsch Defense 1Scandinavian Defense 8Modern Defense 3Pterodactyl Defense 1Czech Defense 2Pirc Defense 5Caro-Kann Defense 27Sicilian Defense 78CFrench Defense 25Center Game 4Bishop's Opening 2Vienna Game 3Philidor Defense 3Petrov's Defense 4Scotch Game 1Four Knights Game 2Italian Game 14Ruy Lopez 15DQueen's Pawn Game 16Rapport-Jobava System 4Richter-Veresov Attack 1Queen's Gambit Declined 16Slav Defense 5Queen's Gambit Accepted 6Tarrasch Defense 1Semi-Slav Defense 3Neo-Grünfeld Defense 2Grünfeld Defense 6ECatalan Opening 16Blumenfeld Countergambit Accepted 1Indian Defense 1Bogo-Indian Defense 4Queen's Indian Defense 5Nimzo-Indian Defense 9Grünfeld Defense 1King's Indian Defense 22

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 OpeningCaro-Kann DefenseFrench DefenseKing's Indian DefenseQueen's Pawn GameCatalan OpeningQueen's Gambit Decl…Ruy LopezItalian GameIndian DefenseZukertort OpeningNimzo-Indian DefenseScandinavian DefenseGrünfeld DefenseKing's Indian AttackQueen's Gambit Acc…Pirc DefenseQueen's Indian Defe…Réti OpeningSlav DefenseBogo-Indian DefenseCenter GamePetrov's DefenseRapport-Jobava Syst…7831272522191616151411119876655554444
The numbers
FamilyGamesWhite winsDrawsBlack winsWhite’s score
Sicilian Defense7828143645%
English Opening311081345%
Caro-Kann Defense27691239%
French Defense25871046%
King's Indian Defense22125566%
Queen's Pawn Game19122568%
Catalan Opening1684463%
Queen's Gambit Declined1693466%
Ruy Lopez1564553%
Italian Game1461746%
Indian Defense1122727%
Zukertort Opening1154264%
Nimzo-Indian Defense952267%
Scandinavian Defense842263%
Grünfeld Defense741264%
King's Indian Attack642083%
Queen's Gambit Accepted620433%
Pirc Defense531170%
Queen's Indian Defense522160%
Réti Opening541090%
Slav Defense540180%
Bogo-Indian Defense40040%
Center Game422075%
Petrov's Defense422075%
Rapport-Jobava System410325%

Best for White

OpeningGamesWhite’s score
E04 Catalan Opening: Open Defense570%
E05 Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line667%
B12 Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Tal Variation560%
C01 French Defense: Exchange Variation560%

Best for Black

OpeningGamesWhite’s score
A20 English Opening: King's English Variation520%
B25 Sicilian Defense: Closed520%
B13 Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation625%
B46 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation650%

Openings with at least 5 games.

Rarest openings of the round

Pieces

9,341

pawn moves, 25%

6,445

knight moves, 18%

5,623

bishop moves, 15%

6,576

rook moves, 18%

4,400

queen moves, 12%

4,476

king moves, 12%

Captured and surviving

PieceCapturedStill on the board at the end
pawns3,45146%
knights1,29920%
bishops1,23524%
rooks90444%
queens51341%

Checkmates

Board heatmap

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

Busiest squares

  1. d41,352
  2. d51,282
  3. e51,183
  4. e41,160
  5. f61,099

Quietest square with any traffic: h1, 150.

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