Olympiad Report
by Paul Power
Day 4 of Olympiad
Australian teams continued their strong performance on day four of competition at the Olympiad. Players on all eight boards secured opening advantages.
Open Team players Anton Smirnov, Temur Kuybokarov, Bobby Cheng and Justin Tan transformed their advantages into decisive attacks, securing wins on all boards over Ecuador. 4-0.
Women’s Team board one player Julia Ryjanova was the first to secure a draw over her higher ranked USA opponent. Heather Richards, playing board three, recovered from losing the Exchange in the middle game to hold the draw. Giang Thu Nguyen, playing board four also lost the Exchange in the middle game and was ground down, securing the first win for her USA opponent. Jilin Zhang, on board two, entered what proved to be a losing Rook and pawn ending, resulting in the second USA win. 1-3.
The Women’s Team is due to play Moldova in round five.
The Open Team is due to play Belgium.
In other news, in the open section, France drew with India, USA drew with Uzbekistan, Israel defeated Netherlands, England defeated Serbia and Norway drew with Mongolia.
In the Women’s section, India defeated Hungary, Ukraine defeated Bulgaria, Poland defeated Netherlands and France defeated Serbia.
Day 5 of Olympiad
Chess Olympiad Chennai day 5 of competition began with a bus convoy under police supervision from hotels to the venue Mahabalipuram Resort & Convention Center.
An incongruous sight awaited participants – current World Champion Magnus Carlsen sitting against a side wall of the playing hall at table 26 – playing board 1 for Norway has its drawbacks, even though it is very good for chess and for the FIDE 44th Olympic celebration.
There followed photographer being ushered away by zealous official.
There followed Magnus deliberating a long time before eventually playing 4…Bb4
There followed a while later (26 moves) Magnus’s Black King sitting on the e5 square signifying a win for the World Champion and one small step for Norway chess.
The Australian Open team, slightly ahead on ratings on all boards, drew the match with Belgium.
Anton Smirnov – draw
Temur Kuybokarov – draw
Justin Tan – loss
Zong-YuanZhao – win
2-2
Australia next round play Norway, #3 seed for the Tournament.
Will Magnus play? If so, who will play him?
Whichever way, there will be much interest in this match.
The Australian Women’s team registered a strong result in their match with Moldova.
Julia Ryjanova – win
Jilin Zhang – draw
Chi Mai Nguyen Phan – draw
Giang Thu Nguyen – win
3-1
Australia next round play India 3. So there will be much media attention on this match also. |
