Armenia beat Croatia and finish sixth at the Chess Olympiad

Armenia’s Open team ended the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand with a 3–1 victory over Croatia. The team played the final, 11th round without Hayk Martirosyan. Wins by Shant Sargsyan and Manuel Petrosyan secured the match result.

Armenia vs Croatia — individual results:

• Robert Hovhannisyan — Ivan Šarić — ½–½
• Shant Sargsyan — Ante Brkić — 1–0
• Gabriel Sargissian — Saša Martinović — ½–½
• Manuel Petrosyan — Marin Bosiočić — 1–0

Armenia earned 17 match points in 11 rounds and finished sixth, matching its result at the 2024 Olympiad. Silver medallists India and bronze medallists Germany each scored 18 points. The United States and Azerbaijan also finished on 17 points but placed ahead of Armenia on tiebreaks. Host nation Uzbekistan won the event with 20 points.

Armenia recorded seven match wins during the tournament, defeating Barbados, Scotland, Sweden, Argentina, Iran, Azerbaijan and Croatia. Its matches against China, the Netherlands and the United States ended in draws. The team’s only defeat came against Uzbekistan.

Shant Sargsyan was Armenia’s highest scorer. He played in all 11 rounds, earned 8 points and recorded a 2745 rating performance, compared with his starting rating of 2630. His final-round victory over Brkić helped Armenia finish the Olympiad with a win.