Nigeria endured a difficult Round 6 at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with both the men’s and women’s teams suffering defeats on Monday.

The Nigerian men were swept 4-0 by Vietnam, while the women suffered a 3-1 defeat to Austria as both teams saw their progress checked midway through the global team championship. 

The men entered the sixth round on the back of three victories from their opening five matches, including an impressive 3½-½ win over Malawi in Round 5.

However, they found Vietnam a significantly tougher opponent and were unable to register a point across the four boards.

Bomo Kigigha Lovet was beaten by IM Dau Khuong Duy, while Abdulrahman Akintoye Abdulraheem lost to IM Banh Gia Huy.

Odion Aikhoje also fell to IM Nguyen Quoc Hy, while 15-year-old Odey Goodness Ekunke was defeated by IM Pham Tran Gia Phuc to complete Vietnam’s 4-0 sweep. The official tournament records confirm the result. 

The defeat leaves Nigeria’s men with six match points after six rounds, having recorded three victories and three defeats.

The setback came just one day after the team had produced one of its strongest performances of the tournament, defeating Malawi 3½-½, with Abdulraheem, Aikhoje and Ekunke securing victories while Kigigha drew. 

The Nigerian women were also unable to maintain their momentum, going down 3-1 to Austria in their Round 6 encounter.

The result leaves the women on six match points after six rounds, with two victories, two draws and two defeats. 

Nigeria’s women had entered the round after a 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic, with Chiamaka Michelle Nwankwo and Bridget Michael recording victories in that encounter. 

Nwankwo has been among Nigeria’s notable individual performers in Samarkand and remains one of the players the team will look to as the competition enters its latter stages.

Both Nigerian teams will now have an opportunity to regroup during the scheduled rest day before returning to action for the remaining five rounds.

The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is an 11-round competition running through September 27, with teams from around the world competing in Samarkand. 

Nigeria will now seek to recover from the Round 6 setbacks and finish the tournament strongly, with five rounds still remaining in the prestigious international team championship.

The next matches will provide both teams with an opportunity to rebuild momentum and improve their positions on the standings as the Olympiad enters its decisive phase.