Malta registered the third win in a row at the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Maniysk, Russia, beating Surinam by 3½ - ½ in the 10th round. Pace, Gauci and Vella all won the full point while Sorensen drew his game on board 1.

In rounds eight and nine, the local side defeated Burundi and Aruba respectively with the convincing scores of 4-0 and 2½ -1½. In the last round Malta plays Panama and another win will place the national squad around 20 places better than their expected score at the start of the competition. One hundred and forty eight teams are taking part in the Open competition.

At the top of the table Ukraine are the sole leaders with 18 points followed by Russia1 with 17 points and Israel with 16. Ukraine plays Israel in the last round while Russia1 are paired with Spain.