Men's team show improvement

Bangladesh men's team finished 56th among 150 teams in the 43rd Chess Olympiad, which concluded in Georgia on Friday. The five-member team, coached by Igor Rausis, started as 64th seed and finished in 56th position, having initially set a target of finishing within the top 50 teams.

Bangladesh had finished 76th in the last Chess Olympiad in 2016. Their best result so far had been in the 2012 edition where they finished 33rd.

Bangladesh won their last round by 2.5-1.5 points against Panama on Friday, with GM Ziaur Rahman and FM Fahad Rahman winning their boards. GM Enamul Hossain Razib drew his board while GM Abdullah Al Rakib lost his board.

FM Fahad Rahman and GM Ziaur Rahman had the best results in this year's Olympiad, bagging seven points from 11 games each, with the former earning his maiden IM norm from this championship.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh women's team, which started the Olympiad as the 60th seeded team, finished 72nd following their 3.5-0.5 point defeat against Lithuania in the final round. Only WFM Tanima Parvin managed to draw her board while WIM Shamima Akter, WFM Shirin Sharmin Sultana and WIM Rani Hamid lost their respective boards.

Veteran Rani hamid was the most successful, with 6.5 points from 11 games while Shirin Sharmin Sultana earned six points from 10 games.