Bangladesh men climb, women slip at 46th Chess Olympiad

• Bangladesh men improved: Finished 67th of 206 teams with 12 points, up 11 places from 78th in 2024.
• Women slipped slightly: Finished 84th of 189 teams with 11 points, three places lower than in 2024.
• Nusrat Jahan Alo earned her FIDE title: The WCM scored six points from nine games.  
• 2012 remains Bangladesh’s best finish: The men’s 36th-place finish in 2012 is still the country’s highest Olympiad placing.
• Men’s campaign: Bangladesh recorded five wins and three draws.
• Women’s campaign: The women also had five wins. 

The 46th Chess Olympiad concluded on Sunday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with the Bangladesh men's team improving their standing while the women's team slipped slightly in the final round.

The men's team finished 67th out of 206 teams with 12 points, climbing 11 spots from their 78th-place finish in 2024. In the women's division, Bangladesh placed 84th out of 189 teams with 11 points, down three spots from the previous edition. Despite the team's dip, WCM Nusrat Jahan Alo earned her FIDE title after scoring six points from nine games.

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Bangladesh's best-ever Olympiad finish remains 36th in 2012, a campaign bolstered by a strong pool featuring all five of the country's Grandmasters. With three of those GMs -- Enamul Hossain Razib, Reefat Bin Sattar, and Abdullah Al Rakib -- inactive, and GM Ziaur Rahman having tragically passed away during the national championships, GM Niaz Murshed remains the country's sole active Grandmaster and currently serves as the general secretary of the chess federation.

Consequently, Bangladesh fielded predominantly youthful squads. The open team featured Murshed alongside prodigies IM Fahad Rahman, FM Manon Reza Neer, FM Tahsin Tajwar Zia, and FM Saqline Mustaq Sajib. The women's lineup comprised WIM Wadifa Ahmed, WFM Warsia Khusbu, WFM Anjum Nowshin, and WCM Alo.

The men's team opened with a win over Equatorial Guinea, securing five total victories -- against Equatorial Guinea, Puerto Rico, Syria, Guatemala, and Lebanon -- alongside draws with Trinidad and Tobago and Denmark. They suffered defeats against stronger sides including Georgia, Montenegro, and Belarus in the final round.

The women's team similarly started strong with a 4-0 win over Niger. They added four more victories against Côte d'Ivoire, Honduras, Hong Kong, and Lebanon, and notably held a strong Norway side to a draw in the eighth round. However, losses to Turkey, Slovakia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Brazil rounded out their campaign.

On the podium, Uzbekistan, India, and Germany claimed gold, silver, and bronze in the open section, while China, Kazakhstan, and India took the respective medals in the women's division.