44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

[LawrenceCooper]

David Howell on 7.5/8 and Conor Murphy 6.5/7.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Carlsen held to a draw. What is the point of having the world champion playing for you if he can't win on demand?

Spain thrashed Egypt. England about to win against Belgium.

The India 2 match against the USA wasn't even close. A 3-1 win for India 2.

Armenia look likely to hold on to or extend their lead.

Caruana has dropped 23 rating points with his 2.5/7 and has dropped 8 places to 2753 and #13 on the live rating list.

Gukesh has gained 30 rating points with his 7/7, has climbed 18 places to 2729 and #20 on the live rating list.

There is a serious danger that Gukesh will be above Caruana in the next rating list!

[JustinHorton]

Ireland have beaten Austria

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Can Conor Murphy get a GM norm? I think he may have played a few too many low-rated players. (Do the new rules about the 400-rating gap thingy and rating floor also apply to norm calculations?)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Adams seems to have thrown away the win in his game.

India 3 handily beaten by Peru.

[LawrenceCooper]

Can Conor Murphy get a GM norm? I think he may have played a few too many low-rated players. (Do the new rules about the 400-rating gap thingy and rating floor also apply to norm calculations?)

His average opponent (even without rounding up the 1838) is well over 2380 so there's certainly no issue with his average being too low. The only question is if he needs to score anything more from his next two games.

[Jonathan Rogers]

David Howell on 7.5/8 and Conor Murphy 6.5/7.

Both of which scores are amazing! I like David's tweet on the matter (on chess 24 site).

[Jonathan Rogers]

What is the highest score made by an English player in an Olympiad? What did John Nunn make in 1984? And I think Chandler might have made 9/11 in 1990, although then again he might not.

[Roger de Coverly]

Adams seems to have thrown away the win in his game.

His opponent's defensive configuration is new to me.

R7/P4r2/8/2K2k2/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

Usually you would defend by parking the King on g7 or h7 and check the King from the first rank.

[JustinHorton]

Brazil draw with Ukraine! Crucial game here, see if you can work out without looking how Black, according to the computer, should save the game on move 67.

(Mickey's game not the least difficult rook ending ever, either.)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

What is the highest score made by an English player in an Olympiad? What did John Nunn make in 1984? And I think Chandler might have made 9/11 in 1990, although then again he might not.

https://www.olimpbase.org/teams/eng_i01.html

Not sure how to get the answer you want, but the data is there on Olimpbase (as I'm sure you know, but like me you probably want someone else to work it out!).

[Richard Bates]

Adams seems to have thrown away the win in his game.

His opponent's defensive configuration is new to me.

R7/P4r2/8/2K2k2/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

Usually you would defend by parking the King on g7 or h7 and check the King from the first rank.

Look up "Vancura"

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Brazil draw with Ukraine! Crucial game here, see if you can work out without looking how Black, according to the computer, should save the game on move 67.

(Mickey's game not the least difficult rook ending ever, either.)

That position in the Ukraine-Brazil game - I can't see why moving the rook one square further away loses the game? Amazing that is makes a difference.

[Keith Arkell]

I posted this on my Facebook wall at the start of the Olympiad and got a number of interesting replies. I wonder what the statisticians/mathematicians or anyone else think on here.

Disclaimer: This is something I've speculated on for many years now, based entirely on my own observations and experience, and those of other active players I chat to, but is not based on any actual research.

'Something which interests me about Chess Olympiads, and for example events like Gibraltar, is that they address the question 'Has the rating list become too stretched at the top?' The reason for this presumably being because the general ripple of deflation which we are seeing everywhere else hasn't quite hit the top echelons yet.
If there are enough games between 2600s and eg 2750s we will find out whether 2600s do indeed only score 30% v 2750s, and we will find out whether 2400s really do only score 25% v 2600s.
If the list really has become too stretched then these sort of events will contribute towards reducing the ratings gaps.'

[Nick Ivell]

I think of Vancura as defending against a pawn on the sixth rank, as checks from the rear don't work in that case.