MBABANE – Eswatini will bring down the curtain on the 46th Chess Olympiad against Gambia and Thailand as the competition in Uzbekistan ends on Sunday.
In a final push, the men’s team will face their continental counterparts, Gambia. Gambia appear to be evenly matched opponents, having recorded similar results to Eswatini’s Open section across the past 10 rounds. They have three wins, one draw and six defeats.
Meanwhile, Eswatini drew 2-2 with Equatorial Guinea on Saturday. From round seven onwards, the men have shown greater resilience. They began that stretch with a 2-2 draw against the Isle of Man, then suffered a 0-4 defeat to the Maldives. They bounced back in round nine by beating Tonga 3-1 before recording another draw against Equatorial Guinea. The sequence has given them two draws and one win from the last four matches, adding useful points after an uneven start to the tournament. Their results are:
Round 10: Eswatini 2-2 Equatorial Guinea
Round 9: Eswatini 3-1 Tonga
Round 8: Eswatini 0-4 Maldives
Round 7: Eswatini 2-2 Isle of Man
Round 6: Eswatini 0.5-3.5 San Marino
Round 5: Eswatini 2-2 Mauritius
Round 4: Eswatini 1.5-2.5 Haiti
Round 3: Eswatini 3-1 Togo
Round 2: Eswatini 0.5-3.5 Burundi
Round 1: Eswatini 0-4 Chinese Taipei
The women’s section brings the competition to a close against a tougher opponent in Thailand. Thailand boast five wins, one draw and four defeats. Eswatini have experienced sharper swings: they were whitewashed 0-4 by Trinidad and Tobago in Round 7, then recovered with back-to-back victories — 2.5-1.5 against Afghanistan in Round 8 and the same scoreline against Saudi Arabia in Round 9. That momentum was halted by South Korea yesterday, who beat Eswatini 4-0.
The women’s results have been:
Round 10: Eswatini 0-4 South Korea
Round 9: Eswatini 2.5-1.5 Saudi Arabia
Round 8: Eswatini 2.5-1.5 Afghanistan
Round 7: Eswatini 0-4 Trinidad and Tobago
Round 6: Eswatini 0-4 Panama
Round 5: Eswatini 2.5-1.5 Guam
Round 4: Eswatini 2.5-1.5 Antigua and Barbuda
Round 3: Eswatini 2-2 Bhutan
Round 2: Eswatini 0-4 Zimbabwe
Round 1: Eswatini 0-4 Mexico
The men will look to end their campaign on a positive note after showing improved consistency as they attempt to build on the bronze medal they won in 2024. Meanwhile, the women will aim to finish strongly after missing out on a podium place in 2024, having won gold in 2022.
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