17-year-old Ukrainian Ihor Samunenkov won gold at the Chess Olympiad
17-year-old Ukrainian grandmaster Ihor Samunenkov won an individual gold medal at the 46th World Chess Olympiad, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Ukrainian posted the best result among all players competing on board four. In ten games, Samunenkov scored 8 points and finished the tournament undefeated. His tournament performance was 2,720 points.
At the end of the Olympiad, Samunenkov edged out the reigning world champion, Dommaraju Gukesh of India, who finished the tournament with a performance rating of 2,718. Third place on board four went to American grandmaster Levon Aronian with a performance rating of 2699.
Samunenkov played ten games in the tournament. He won six and drew four.
Among other results, the Ukrainian defeated Georgian Grandmaster Baadur Jobava and drew with American Hans Niemann, Chinese player Xu Xiangyu, and one of the leaders of the Uzbekistan national team, Nodirbek Yakubboev.
For Samunenkov, this Chess Olympiad marked his debut at the senior level. Before the tournament began, his rating stood at 2,608 points, but following his performance, he added more than 15 points to his rating.
Who Is Igor Samunenkov
Igor Samunenkov was born in 2009 and, even as a teenager, became one of Ukraine’s most promising chess players.
He earned the title of grandmaster at age 14 and was, at that time, the youngest active grandmaster in the world.
Samunenkov already has experience competing for Ukraine’s national team. In 2025, the Ukrainian team, with him on the roster, won the European Team Championship.
This year’s Chess Olympiad marked another important step for the chess player at the senior international level and one of the most notable achievements of his career.
How the Ukrainian National Team Performed
The Ukrainian men’s team finished the World Chess Olympiad in 11th place overall.
In the final, 11th round, the Ukrainians faced the Uzbekistan team, which was fighting for the overall tournament victory.
The match ended with a 2.5–1.5 victory for the hosts. Samunenkov, playing black, drew his game against Nodirbek Yakubboev. Igor Kovalenko and Vasyl Ivanchuk also recorded draws, while Roman Degtyarev lost to Mukhiddin Madaminov.
It was this victory that allowed Uzbekistan to win the Chess Olympiad for the second time in its history. The Indian team took second place, and the bronze medals went to Germany.
2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand
The 46th World Chess Olympiad took place in Samarkand from September 16 to 27. In both the open and women’s tournaments, the teams played 11 rounds using the Swiss system.
For Ukraine, one of the tournament’s top individual achievements was the gold medal won by 17-year-old Samunenkov, who, in his debut at the senior Olympiad, managed to defeat the reigning world champion on his board.
