Humpy vs Dzagnidze, 19.Nf6+: the tactical exercise from the 2026 Olympiad final round

Short answer

In round 11 of the Samarkand Olympiad, on 27 September 2026, Humpy Koneru (India) beat Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) with White in a Semi-Tarrasch. After 18.Rh3, Black had the king on g8 and the queen on d5, the two squares a knight on f6 attacks. 18...Kh8 solved it (+0.40); Dzagnidze played 18...Rfd8, and 19.Nf6+ won the queen or mated: if 19...gxf6, 20.Qxh6 threatens Rg3 mate. The game ended on move 24. This page sets the position as an exercise and gives the solution measured with the engine.

Event: 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad

How this was compiled: Checked on 29 September 2026. Moves and clock times come from the official round-11 women's PGN broadcast on Lichess; the match score from chess-results. Evaluations were measured by us with Stockfish 19 at depth 24.

The essentials in a few lines

• The position: White to play after 18...Rfd8, with Black's king on g8, queen on d5, a pawn on h6 and a white rook on h3. The move is 19.Nf6+.
• The fork on king and queen only works because of the mate: if 19...gxf6, 20.Qxh6 threatens Rg3+, and 20...f5 loses to 21.Rg3 mate.
• Measured by us: after 18.Rh3 the position was level (+0.23); 18...Kh8 kept +0.40, and 18...Rfd8 took it to +7.91.
• The fork did not depend on the rook leaving f8: after 18...Rc7, 19.Nf6+ also gives +9.30. The mistake was not taking the king or the queen off the attacked square.
• Humpy finished the Olympiad on 7 out of 10, unbeaten, and won bronze on board one; India drew with Georgia 2-2 and took team bronze.

The exercise

Before looking at the solution, it is worth following the order of someone who solves exercises with method. Checks first, then captures, then threats. There is a knight check here, and it is the one that matters: see which squares the knight attacks once it gives check, and what the rook on h3 does if the g-file opens.

Humpy spent almost five minutes on the move, which in a position like this suggests less doubt about the move than checking the defences. That is what a well-solved exercise asks for: finding the blow is half of it; the other half is seeing that the capture does not save Black.

If you want to train against the clock, give yourself the same five minutes and write down the main line and two defences before reading on.

The solution: 19.Nf6+

The knight on f6 checks the king on g8 and attacks the queen on d5. The king moves are 19...Kf8, the engine's best (+8.41), and 19...Kh8 (+8.83); in both White plays 20.Nxd5 and the rest is technique. The attempt to save everything is the capture, and it was Dzagnidze's choice.

After 19...gxf6 20.Qxh6, the g-file is open and the rook on h3 reaches g3 with check. The measurement shows the size of the problem: 20...f5 loses to 21.Rg3 mate, 20...Qxd4 loses to 21.Rg3+ Qg4 22.Rxg4 mate, and the game's 20...Qa5+, which gains time with check, sits at +9.81; after 21.Rd2, the engine already finds a forced mate.

The game went on 21.Rd2 Nxe5 22.Bh7+ Kh8 23.Bf5+ Kg8 24.Rg3+, and Black resigned. The engine sees mate in two after the last move: 24...Ng6 25.Rxg6+ fxg6 26.Bxe6 mate.

Where Black went wrong

Up to move 18 the engine sees nothing wrong with Black: after 18.Rh3, +0.23. White's move carries a hidden threat, because the rook on h3 attacks nothing immediately. It only makes sense if the g-file opens, and the way to open it is to offer the knight on f6.

Dzagnidze thought for almost six minutes and played 18...Rfd8, which protects the queen a second time and prepares pressure on the d-file. It is a natural move that solves one problem in the position and ignores the concrete threat. With 18...Kh8, the knight on f6 no longer gives check, the fork disappears and the evaluation stays at +0.40.

The pattern holds for any player. When the opponent makes a move that seems to threaten nothing, like a rook lifting to the third rank, the useful question is: what does this piece do if a file opens? If the answer is mate, the piece that opens the file becomes a sacrifice, and the fork comes for free.

The game in the context of the Olympiad

The opening was a Semi-Tarrasch, Exchange Variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O. Humpy chose 11.h4, an advance that already signals where the attack is going, and then 15.e5 and 16.Ng5, met by 16...h6: that is the pawn the queen takes on move 20.

It is a useful model for anyone playing the Queen's Gambit with White. The pawn centre on d4 and e4 after the exchanges gives space and squares for the pieces, and the advanced h-pawn changes the value of Black's castled king: an ...h6 that looked harmless becomes a hook. For Black, the lesson is in the previous section, and it is more about squares than about theory.

Frequently asked questions

Update log

• 2026-09-29 — First published: exercise and solution measured with Stockfish 19 from the official PGN.

Sources

• 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad Samarkand 2026 | Women — Humpy v Dzagnidze (PGN with clock times) — Lichess
• 46th Chess Olympiad 2026 Women — round 11 — chess-results

Related guides

• How to calculate candidate moves in chess: checks, captures and threats before you commit
• Traps in the Queen's Gambit Declined: how not to lose a piece in the opening
• Tactical vision or opening theory: where your study hours actually pay off