Team Nigeria Begins Chess Olympiad Campaign in Samarkand

Team Nigeria kicked off their campaign at the 46th International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a mix of dramatic victories and challenging match-ups across both the Open and Women’s sections.

Nigeria makes strong opening impression at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand

In the Open section (seeded 84th), Nigeria faced New Caledonia and swept past them with a score of 4-0.

Team Nigeria made a flawless and flying start to kick off the Chess Olympiad.
Nigeria started the Chess Olympiad as the 84th seed with an average rating of 2282.

The Chess Olympiad stars

The Nigerian Open team players, FIDE Master Abdulrahman Akintoye Abdulraheem, FIDE Master Bomo Lovet Kigigha, International Master Odion Aikhoje, and 15-year-old debutant Odey Goodness Ekunke all won their respective chess individual games.

The women’s team features top young talents including Woman FIDE Master Deborah Ebimobo-ere Quickpen, WFM Michelle Chiamaka Nwankwo, Joy Iyefu Onoja, Bridget Michael, and Sandra Omoruyi.

The women’s chess team, seeded 66th with an average rating of 2018, also started impressively, securing a 4-0 clean sweep over Mali in their opening-round fixture.

Deborah Quickpen, Michelle Nwankwo and their teammates completed a clean sweep in Round One.

Nigeria Open team faced a tougher challenge in the second round and suffered a 3½–½ defeat to Kazakhstan.

Aikhoje secured Nigeria’s only half-point after drawing with Daniyal Sapenov, while FM Abdulraheem, Bartholomew Okhipo and Ekunke were beaten.

Aikhoje is the men’s team leading scorer with 1½ points from two games, while Abdulraheem and Ekunke have one point each.

Kigigha has a point from his only appearance, having rested in Round 2, while Okhipo has yet to score from his one game.

In the second round, the women faced a steep challenge against a strong 20th-seeded England team.

They fell to a 3½–½ defeat, with England‘s 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan picking up a victory on her board.

Nwankwo produced Nigeria’s only result, drawing with Jovanka Houska, while Quickpen, Sandra Omoruyi and Bridget Michael lost their respective games.

Nigeria consequently sits 84th in the official standings with two match points and 4½ board points.

Olympiad schedule

The tournament is scheduled to run for 11 total rounds at the Silk Road International Tourist Center through September 27, 2026, with a rest day planned for September 22.

Nigeria will now look to recover from their respective second-round defeats and build on their strong opening-round performances for the remaining nine rounds.

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