Nigeria Target Revival In Round 7 Chess Olympiad Battles
By AUGUSTUS ISICHEI
TEAM Nigeria’s men and women will return to action at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday as they seek to recover from disappointing Round 6 results.
The men will face Libya in the Open section, while the women will take on Suriname. Both matches are scheduled for 3pm Samarkand time.
Nigeria’s men have six match points from six rounds after recording three wins and three defeats. However, their campaign suffered a major setback in Round 6 when Vietnam handed them a 4-0 defeat.
Before that loss, Nigeria had bounced back from a 3-1 defeat to Cuba in Round 4 with a convincing 3½-½ victory over Malawi.
Bomo Lovet Kigigha, Abdulrahman Akintoye Abdulraheem, Odion Aikhoje and Odey Goodness Ekunke are expected to lead the Nigerian response against Libya.
Nigeria head into the contest with a team rating average of 2282, compared with Libya’s 2034. Nevertheless, the four-board encounter will decide the outcome.
Meanwhile, the women will also aim to recover after losing 3-1 to Austria in Round 6. Nigeria had drawn 2-2 with the Czech Republic in the previous round before suffering the defeat.
Michelle Chiamaka Nwankwo and Bridget Michael secured Nigeria’s points against Austria. Nwankwo, in particular, has remained one of the team’s leading performers, collecting 4½ points from six games. She had gone unbeaten through her first five games before losing to Austria’s Chiara Polterauer.
Nigeria, seeded 66th in the women’s competition, will meet 105th-seeded Suriname, who also have six match points. Suriname enter the clash after a strong 3½-½ win over Malawi.
With the Olympiad running until 27 September and 11 rounds scheduled, both Nigerian teams still have five rounds after Wednesday’s fixtures to improve their final standings.
