Armenia will keep the lead in the 44th Chess Olympiad with 13 points after playing a draw with the US team in Round 7.
Grandmasters Gabriel Sargsyan and Robert Hovhannisyan won the games. Gabriel Sargsyan defeated Fabiano Caruana with white in the 57th move, and Hovhannisyan gained an advantage over Sam Shankland in a tense fight.
Grandmaster Hrant Melkumyan lost to Wesley So, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan was defeated by Leinier Dominguez Perez.
Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who currently represents the US team, missed the match.
In the previous rounds, the Armenian national team defeated Madagascar (4:0), Andorra (3:1), Egypt (2.5:1.5), Austria (3:1), England (2.5:1.5) and India to the second team (2.5:1.5).
In the 7th round, the Armenian women’s team met with the Israeli team and won with a score of 2.5:1.5. For the first number, Elina Danielyan in white played a draw with Marcel Yefroimski, Lilit Mkrtchyan with Dina Balenkaya, and Anna Sargsyan with Masha Klinova. As part of the women’s team, Susanna Gaboyan took the only victory, gaining an advantage over Michal Lahav.
In the previous rounds, the Armenian national team won against Botswana (4:0), Norway (4:0), Ireland (4:0), Indonesia (3:1) and England (3.5:0.5), losing only Estonia (1.5:2.5). Zaven Andriasyan’s team has 11 points.
11 rounds will be held in the World Olympiad.
