FIDE Chess Olympiad: Team Nigeria face final-day test as tournament reaches Round 11
..Nigeria's men face Hong Kong and Syria challenge awaits the women
Team Nigeria will head into the final round of the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Sunday with both the men and women teams looking to finish their campaigns on a positive note.
The tournament, which began on September 16, reaches its conclusion after 11 rounds, with Round 11 scheduled for September 27.
Nigeria’s men endured a difficult Round 10, suffering a 4-0 defeat to North Macedonia. Emil Risteski defeated Bomo Kigigha, Anton Zlatkov overcame Abdulrahman Akintoye, Filip Pancevski beat Odion Aikhoje, while Nikola Nikolovski completed the clean sweep against teenage prospect Odey Goodness Ekunke.
The result leaves the Nigerian men on 10 match points after 10 rounds. Individually, Akintoye Abdulrahman and Odey Goodness Ekunke have provided some of the team’s most consistent performances, with both players on 5½ points from 10 games. Odion Aikhoje has 4½ points, while Bomo Kigigha has 3½.
The women, meanwhile, produced one of their strongest results of the tournament in Round 10, defeating Guatemala 3-1.
Deborah Quickpen, Iyefu Joy Onoja and Sandra Omoruyi all secured victories, while Bridget Michael narrowly missed out on a fourth Nigerian win after losing to Carolina Mazariegos Kummerfeldt.
That victory takes the Nigerian women to 11 match points, following five wins and one draw across their first 10 matches. Bridget Michael has been particularly impressive individually, collecting 5½ points from eight games, while Michelle Chiamaka Nwankwo has 4½ points from eight games.
The Nigerian men will close out their campaign against Hong Kong, China, while the women will face Syria in their final-round encounters.
The men’s pairing will give Nigeria an opportunity to respond immediately to the North Macedonia setback, while the women’s team will enter their final match after the confidence-boosting victory over Guatemala.
The final round is also an opportunity for both teams to add valuable match and board points and finish the 11-round competition strongly.
The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad has brought together teams from across the world in Samarkand, with the final round scheduled for Sunday, September 27.
Nigeria’s final-day mission is to close the Olympiad with a strong performance and give the country’s chess community something positive to take home from Samarkand.
