39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 (the chess)

[Michael Jones]

We have never beaten Norway, in recent years, despite having played them three times - not even when they missed Carlsen last year. Some posters here are getting rather carried away. A win by 2.5-1.5 would be an excellent, though of course nonetheless achievable, result.

Not having an encyclopaedic knowledge of past results, I can only comment based on the relative ratings. Adams is rated much lower than Carlsen, Short a bit higher than Hammer, and the remaining three English players much higher than the remaining three Norwegians. Of course, I'm sure we're all well aware that on a particular day any player is capable of playing to a standard either well above or well below his actual rating.

[James O'Fee]

Report the second, by C.J. de Mooi
Ed: C.J. De Mooi writes from the Chess Olympiad in Siberia;

David Howell is not a team player. Everyone else toils for countless hours racking up 40, 50 or 60 moves and he thinks 16 is adequate before calling it a day. It was a win (with Black too) but where's the sympatico spirit with your team mates David?

A 3-1 victory, including a very nice endgame by Luke, over Turkey is a good result and advances the men to a match up with France. There'll be no jingoism from me but I'm reminded of a story when Woodrow Wyatt was checking into a Parisian hotel answering, when asked to spell his surname, 'Waterloo, Ypres, Agincourt, Trafalgar, Trafalgar'.

The women claimed a 2-2 draw with a good Argentina side which at several points looked as if it could have been alternately worse or better. It's always a result to hold a decent team so everyone should be happy and proud of themselves... except Mr Howell...

http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/ ... -Mooi.html

[James O'Fee]

Sunday, September 26. 2010
Report the third, by C.J. de Mooi
Ed: C.J. De Mooi writes from the Chess Olympiad in Siberia;

Nigel Short (sorry, Doctor Nigel Short MBE) is the oldest player in the world's top 100. In round 5 he crushed young Laurent Fressinet in a 29 move spectacular. This brings the veteran to 3/4 and on the way to regaining his 2700 rating.

A 2-2 result against a strong French team is a good result and another national neighbour awaits in the next round in Norway. A rest day separates us from that encounter so we wait to see who will be playing top board for that...

In the women's event, England outgraded Iceland on every board and Sarah Hegarty obliged with a quick win. However 2 games seemed to drift and one was decided by a rather unfortunate oversight and we somehow lost 3-1. However, Sarah continues to have a fine inaugural Olympiad even if her bowling skills were less impressive at the alley afterwards.

The evening was the legendary Bermuda party. Oh dear.

I don't consider myself to be (too) old but a nightclub where it's too dark to see, too loud to talk and too smoky to breathe really isn't my idea of fun. I'm sure some people loved it but I got out of there as soon as my aged decrepitude would allow.

The cultural delights of Khanty Mansiysk await tomorrow but in the meantime, I'll join Dr Short in a mug of Horlicks and shuffle off to bed.


Ed: Chris de Mooi now accepts that Nigel Short's opponent was Laurent Fressinet. He got that wrong in an earlier post.

http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/ ... -Mooi.html

[Michael Jones]

And it's Vachier-Lagrave. Not only does he get the wrong player, but the wrong spelling as well.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I was unable to follow the France-England match live, but was able to play through the games tonight (Sunday) without knowing the result and it was an exciting way to follow the match. Rather than wait hours for the match to finish, you can pack all the tension into just a few minutes as you play through the games (well, ideally, you would be able to time things so the moves were replayed in the right order according to the clock times on each board, but I couldn't find a way to do that easily, so I just played through the games board by board). It was exciting to see Adams draw in a Marshall and Short get a win. I thought for a moment that Luke was going to win, but that was a draw. Bit disappointing to then play through Howell's loss. Looking forward to following the England-Norway match tomorrow. When do the teams get announced?

[E Michael White]

My list of gripes with arbiters so far includes them distracting the players by talking loudly (when I shushed two of them I got the response "We're arbiters man, you can't shush us or tell us what to do" and they carried on making a lot of noise,

I hope you will take some follow up action on this point. The FIDE rules state:-

13.2
..... He ( the arbiter) should ensure that a good playing environment is maintained and that the players are not disturbed....]

so its sounds as if they fell some way short.

Arbiter behaviour of this type seems to be becoming more common and seems related to the recent liberal daubings of "unless the arbiter decides otherwise" throughout the FIDE rules. Perhaps this gives arbiters an elevated view of their authority.

It is difficult to see what you could do at the time; maybe ask the players to cease playing and appeal against the arbiters decision to remain unshushed.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Most of the discussion has been about England. I was wondering what people here think of the performance of the other teams?

After five rounds, Armenia (6th seeds), Georgia (20th seeds) and Hungary (5th seeds) are on maximum match points. Did anyone expect that? It's sort of the halfway stage, so does anyone want to predict which teams look likely to get the medals, or is it still too early to make predictions?

If the top two matches in round 6 go according to form (though Ukraine will want to upset Hungary), it looks like there will be a big clash between Hungary and Armenia in round 7, with any winner of that match having 4 rounds to see if they can last the distance and stay in first place.

How big a shock was it that Russia 1 lost to Hungary (who are, after all, the fifth seeds)? Is it a surprise that Georgia are doing so well? Ukraine (2nd seeds) and Netherlands (13th seeds) are on 9 match points, and look well placed to build on that.

My money would be on Ukraine, Hungary and Armenia at the moment (oh, and England still to finish in the top 10, of course!).

[Alex Holowczak]

Armenia always over-achieve in these tournaments; they've won the last two Olympiads. By contrast, Russia always under-achieve.

Given England aren't going to win (probably), I'm rooting for Ukraine. Revenge against Karjakin for his switch to Russia.

[Mark Howitt]

I think Hungary do have a strong team- thought that from the start actually. Their top three boards have a lot of experience and quality and the fourth board is a good improving player too. Notice how they played their reserve for one match and have played the strongest four players for all other matches .

However, the key factor in the top places will be the results for teams playing each other with a high number of match points. Gut feeling is that the winner will have lost one match or drawn two at least- potentially more. Russia, Hungary, Armenia and Ukraine are all definitely in with a chance of gold or medals, with China a decent outside chance too!

[Michael Jones]

Given that they've still got Ivanchuk, Ponomariov and Eljanov on the top three boards, I don't think Ukraine will miss Karjakin too much. Top board in that match is likely to be Ivanchuk-Leko, in which I'd say the former has a slight edge. Ponomariov-Almasi is a fairly even pairing, Polgar is playing well but probably not well enough to beat Eljanov with black. I'll predict a 2.5-1.5 win for Ukraine in that one.

For the other top match, Jobava is clearly on form but then so is Aronian, and Armenia have more strength in depth. I'll say 2.5-1.5 to Armenia. Probably Russia 1 and 2 to win their round 6 matches as well.

[Alex Holowczak]

Given that they've still got Ivanchuk, Ponomariov and Eljanov on the top three boards, I don't think Ukraine will miss Karjakin too much.

You'd rather have him than not though!

[Neville Belinfante]

Jon-Ludvig Hammer was one of the most successful visitors to English tournaments last season. As well as winning the Open section of the 1st London Chess Classic, he scored 5/5 playing for Wood Green in the 4NCL. His ECF grade would be 265 instead of 250 if the calculations had only taken account of his last year's results instead of the last three years.

Another well known player in England at the Olympiad is ex-International Director Rupert Jones who is playing for Papua New Guinea.

[LozCooper]

Round 6 board pairings:

Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 23 Norway (NOR) Rtg 0 : 0
18.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - GM Carlsen Magnus 2826
18.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - GM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2633
18.3 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - IM Elsness Frode 2485
18.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - IM Hansen Torbjorn Ringdal 2429

Bo. 81 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 0 : 0
35.1 WIM Saleh Nora Mohd 1906 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426
35.2 WFM Al-Zarouni Kholoud Essa 1890 - WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169
35.3 WIM Al-Harmoudi Mona 1821 - WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099
35.4 WFM Al Ali Amna Nuaman 1752 - WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084

[LozCooper]

My list of gripes with arbiters so far includes them distracting the players by talking loudly (when I shushed two of them I got the response "We're arbiters man, you can't shush us or tell us what to do" and they carried on making a lot of noise,

I hope you willl take some follow up action on this point. The FIDE rules state:-

13.2
..... He ( the arbiter) should ensure that a good playing environment is maintained and that the players are not disturbed....]

so its sounds as if they fell some way short.

Arbiter behaviour of this type seems to be becoming more common and seems related to the recent liberal daubings of "unless the arbiter decides otherwise" throughout the FIDE rules. Perhaps this gives arbiters an elevated view of their authority.

It is difficult to see what you could do at the time; maybe ask the players to cease playing and appeal against the arbiters decision to remain unshushed.

I did report the arbiter although as he refused to show me his badge and therefore his name I had to settle for pointing out which match he was in charge of. Although I'm Head of Delegation and captain of the men's team I am not officially allowed to watch the women's team so I have no authority during the match although I'm entitled to complain afterwards .

[Jonathan Rogers]

I just realised that America is playing Vietnam today!