as he defeated . A 2½–1½ result was also seen in the France–Ukraine and China–Netherlands matches. Round 9 Poland defeated the United States 2½–1½ to take first place. So and Shankland were held to draws with white, while Nakamura lost to Piorun and Caruana missed a win in a rook and bishop versus rook endgame against Duda. China and Armenia recorded 2½–1½ victories over Azerbaijan and India, respectively, to stay in contention for gold. England defeated Norway 3–1 to reach 15/18 along with the United States, China and Armenia. Round 10 China inflicted Poland's first defeat in the Olympiad as Ding Liren and Li Chao recorded wins. The United States defeated Armenia 2½–1½ to join China on 17/20, thus setting up a US–China clash for the gold medal in the final round. Russia and France won against England and Croatia, respectively, to both move up to joint-third place with Poland. Azerbaijan suffered their third successive 2½–1½ loss, this time to Ukraine, leaving them on 13/20 and out of the running for a podium place. Round 11 The derby match of the last round was contested by China and the United States on the top table, which ended in a tie with four draws. Russia narrowly beat France 2½-1½ thanks to Ian Nepomniachtchi's win against Étienne Bacrot on the second board and equalised the number of match points of China and the United States on the top. The tie-break, however, determined that China to win the gold, United States the silver and Russia the bronze medal. On the other top tables, the matches India-Poland, Germany-Armenia and Ukraine-Czech Republic were all tied, while England crushed Kazakhstan 3½–½ to climb to the fifth position overall. Final standings China won the gold medal in the open event for the second time after they have previously claimed the title in 2014. They scored eight wins, two draws and one loss for a total of 18 match points. The same result was achieved by the United States and Russia, who had inferior tie-breakers and came up on the podium by winning the silver and bronze medal, respectively. United States were on track to defending the title and were the sole leader after eight rounds, but their loss to Poland in the ninth round set them back from winning the gold. Despite the slow start and implausible play, Russia finished the tournament with four consecutive victories to