Malta registered their 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 Maltese 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 twenty places better than their expected score at the start of the competition.

The Open event is contested by 148 teams.

At the top of the table Ukraine are the sole leaders with 18 points followed by Russia 1 with 17 points and Israel with 16.