Latvia's chess teams suffer defeats in round seven of the Olympiad
In round seven of the Chess Olympiad, Latvia's men's team lost to Costa Rica and the women's team lost to Ireland, with both squads sitting on eight points in the mid-table standings.
Both Latvian national teams suffered setbacks in round seven of the World Chess Olympiad. In the Open section, Latvia's men lost 1.5:2.5 to Costa Rica. Reinis Paikens secured the team's only win, playing with white, while Toms Kantāns drew with black. Ņikita Meškovs and Georgijs Germanovs both lost their games.
Over the previous seven rounds, the Latvian men defeated the Isle of Man, Yemen, Taiwan and Kosovo, but lost to Poland and Turkey. After seven rounds, the team has eight points, placing it 66th among 206 teams.
In the women's event, Latvia lost 1:3 to Ireland. Ilze Bērziņa won her game, while Laura Rogule, Agnesa Stepania Ter-Avetisjana and Naomi Maklakova all lost. Earlier in the tournament, the women beat Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Ecuador, but lost to Poland and Armenia. The women's team also has eight points, ranking 70th among 189 teams.
Team lineups
Latvia's men's team features grandmasters Toms Kantāns, Ņikita Meškovs and Normunds Miezis, candidate master Georgijs Germanovs, and FIDE master Reinis Paikens. Grandmaster Arturs Neikšāns was unable to join the squad for personal reasons. The women's team includes grandmasters Laura Rogule and Ilze Bērziņa, along with Marija Kuzņecova, Agnesa Stepania Ter-Avetisjana and Naomi Maklakova, coached by grandmaster Edvīns Ķeņģis.
Latvia's best Olympiad results came in 1992 in Manila, where the men's team finished fifth and the women's team 12th. At the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest, the men placed 28th and the women 31st. The tournament, held every two years and organized by FIDE, concludes on Sunday.
