 Russia narrowly beat Hungary on the top match board with draws on the first three boards and a single win by Natalija Pogonina over Anita Gara.The game on the first board between Hoang Thanh Trang and Alexandra Kosteniuk may have directly affected the match outcome but the Russian closely escaped from an inferior position with a pawn down in the endgame.On the second match board, Ukraine faced France, who had arrived at the Chess Olympiad without their top two players Marie Sebag and Almira Skripchenko.