Maldives women’s chess team wins ‘category E’ gold at Olympiad

Maldives women’s national chess team has topped the leaderboard in Category E at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

After 10 rounds in category E which consisted of 37 countries, Team Maldives had tied with Tanzania on 21.5 points at the top. After applying tiebreak rules, Maldives ended up taking the top spot, having advantage on game points.

This gold medal is a historic first for the Maldives. The women’s team earned the gold competing against much stronger teams, with the national team players either holding higher-rated players to a draw or win against the odds, especially in the latter rounds: at the start of the Olympiad, there were six nations with an average ranking above Maldives.

Debutants Eana and Noya, representing the Maldives women’s team at the 46th Chess Olympiad. Photo: FIDE

Of the rounds she played, WCM Nihaya Ahmed earned 7 points. Mariyam Laisa Abdul Rasheed and Eena Abdhulla Hassan each scored 5.5 points. This result meets the threshold for both players to earn a Woman Candidate Master title. Aishath Noya Shahurudheen Shareef contributed an additional 3.5 points to the Maldives total – winning three games and drawing another.

The overall best team in the women’s tournament was China, who won gold just above Kazakhstan and India.

Maldives women’s chess team rose by 53 positions in the rankings. The women’s team is now ranked 106th in the world, up from 159th at the start of the Olympiad.

Editor’s Note: This article had been edited to clarify that Maldives won the first place on tiebreak against Tanzania.