In the fourth round of the 39th Chess Olympiad in the remote Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, local champion C. Pace was all smiles as he managed to defeat Grandmaster Chen Zhu (ELO 2480) of Qatar with the black pieces on board two. 

Malta lost this match 3-1.

In round two Malta drew with modest Ethiopia with J. Gauci and P. Sammut Briffa earning the points for Malta by winning their games against Ashenafi Mulugati and Addlsale Temesgen respectively.

In round three Malta managed its first win by beating Korea by two and a half to one and a half. On board 1 T. Sorensen drew his game with Sanghoon Lee while both J. Gauci and C. Pace managed a win against Junil Choi and Kiyul Lee respectively.

In round five Malta plays Monaco who are led by Grandmaster Igor Efimov.