Five complete games from five Wales players cover a volatile Olympiad that included two late 3½-½ victories and several rating upsets.
Wales Women entered Samarkand seeded 85 and finished 94th with 11 match points and 23½ board points. Their match record was 5 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses. Official team record.
Wales Women's first four rounds alternated between 4-0 wins and 0-4 defeats. They beat Haiti 3½-½ and drew 2-2 with Lithuania before losses to Luxembourg and Morocco. The strongest late sequence came with 3½-½ wins over Chinese Taipei and Honduras in Rounds 9 and 10. Egypt won the final match 3-1, leaving Wales 94th from a starting seed of 85.
Five games from the campaign
These are editorial selections for what they show about the team campaign, not a computer ranking of the five objectively best games. Each squad member is represented once. The full move score, controls and White-perspective engine estimates remain available in every native replay.
Susanna Fraser–Davena Jonet, Round 5: breaking through in the Haiti win
The position was still playable until Davena Jonet played 31...d4. That was the point it tipped decisively towards Susanna Fraser. b6 was the tougher defence. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 46...Ne7 47.Ke4 47...Nf5 48.Bf4 48...Ne7 49.e6 49...Kf6 50.Bg5+ 50...Kxe6 51.Bxe7. Official Round 5 boards.
Imogen Camp–Gabija Simkunaite, Round 6: an 88-point upset in the Lithuania draw
Gabija Simkunaite's 29...Kh7 with 2:18 left was the break in the game. There had been little in it; after that Imogen Camp had a clear advantage. Rf8 was the tougher defence. A 88-point rating upset. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 27...Qe2 28.Kh2 28...Rf6 29.Qe8+ 29...Kh7 30.Bxd5 30...Rg6 31.Be4 31...Bf5 32.Rg1. Official Round 6 boards.
Salomeja Zaksaite–Olivia Smith, Round 6: another upset in the same 2-2 match
The position was still playable until Salomeja Zaksaite played 26.Bg3. That was the point it tipped decisively towards Olivia Smith. Rf1 was the tougher defence. A 62-point rating upset. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 24.Qc4 24...Qe3+ 25.Nd2 25...Rad8 26.Bg3 26...Nxe4 27.Rhe1 27...Qxd2+ 28.Rxd2 28...Nxd2. Official Round 6 boards.
Nadine Kremer–Syringa Camp, Round 7: a 169-point win against Luxembourg
Syringa Camp had to recover from 8...Be7, but Nadine Kremer's 10.Qf2 let Black seize the initiative. 17...Ng3 briefly loosened Camp's control; Kremer did not make it count, and Camp converted. It was a 169-point rating upset. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 6...Nbd7 7.Be3 7...e6 8.Qd2 8...Be7 9.g4 9...Nb6 10.Qf2 10...Nxg4 11.Nxe6. Official Round 7 boards.
Dema Alaa–Emma Kong, Round 11: turning the attack around against Egypt
Kong beat Dema Alaa despite being rated 136 points lower. This was a turnaround: Alaa had a strong attack before 36.Rd2 and 37.Rd1 let the advantage slip. Kong found 38...Qg2+ and 39...Bf3, then exchanged queens and took the rook on d1. The Egyptian player's attack had left her own position vulnerable. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 34.Qxh5 34...Kf8 35.Nxh7+ 35...Ke7 36.Rd2 36...Qb1 37.Rd1 37...Qxb2 38.g6 38...Qg2+. Official Round 11 boards.
Individual contributions
| Player | Rating | Games | Score | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCM Imogen Camp | 1947 | 10 | 5½ | 55.0% |
| WFM Olivia Smith | 2039 | 8 | 5 | 62.5% |
| Susanna Fraser | 1785 | 9 | 5 | 55.6% |
| Emma Kong | 1874 | 9 | 4 | 44.4% |
| Syringa Camp | 1713 | 8 | 4 | 50.0% |
Assessment (editorial judgement): The final placing is nine spots below seed, but the late recovery should not be lost in that number. Wales won five matches, and the individual results included upsets by Imogen Camp, Olivia Smith, Syringa Camp and Emma Kong. The final-round loss also contained Kong's 136-point win against Dema Alaa.
Match by match
| Round | Opponent | Score | Match points after round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chad | 4-0 | 2 |
| 2 | Canada | 0-4 | 2 |
| 3 | Kosovo | 4-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Colombia | 0-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Haiti | 3½-½ | 6 |
| 6 | Lithuania | 2-2 | 7 |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 1½-2½ | 7 |
| 8 | Morocco | ½-3½ | 7 |
| 9 | Chinese Taipei | 3½-½ | 9 |
| 10 | Honduras | 3½-½ | 11 |
| 11 | Egypt | 1-3 | 11 |
Round numbers open the final official board records. Final Women standings.
Sources and game records
- Chess-Results: Wales Women composition, player totals and eleven match scores.
- Chess-Results: final Women standings.
- Complete Wales Women Lichess Study. The five selected games were legally replayed into native boards and independently checked against the stored final round records. Every position carries a genuine Stockfish 16 estimate at 50,000 nodes per position, White POV.