Armenia won its second straight gold medal at the Chess Olympiad Tuesday by defeating China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th and final round.

Armenia has won the gold medal of the Chess Olympiad by defeating China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th and final round.

The U.S. men and women teams kept their slim hopes for a medal alive on Sunday after the men beat Germany 2.5-1.5 and the women rolled over Uzbekistan 3.5-0.5 in the 10th and penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad.

The mighty were brought low as the first-place teams in both the open and women’s divisions fell in round nine on Saturday. In the open division, Israel played the role of David, knocking off Armenia 2.5-1.5. On the women’s side, Serbia edged China 2.5-1.

Top-seeded Russia held off the United States in the 38th Chess Olympiad in round eight of open division play Friday, but the Armenian team crushed France and stayed in first place.

The Russian team _ touted as the strongest ever assembled for a Chess Olympiad _ was derailed in Thursday open division play in round seven of the tournament by the defending gold medal Armenian team 2.5-1.5, which took sole possession of first place.

Top seed Russia bounced back after drawing Germany in the last round to beat England 3-1 Wednesday in round six of open division play at the Chess Olympiad.

Russia’s chess team, hailed as the highest rated ever assembled for a Chess Olympiad, hit a bump Monday as 11th-seed Germany battled all four games against them to a draw in round five of the biennial tournament in open division play.

The United States crushed Hong Kong 4-0 almost without effort in the fifth round of the Chess Olympiad on Monday.

Ninth seed Armenia, winner of the last Chess Olympiad, held second seed Ukraine to a 2-2 tie in open division play Sunday, drawing all four games in their match in the fourth round of this year’s event.