Olympiad results round-up 5/10/10

[LozCooper]

2010 Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Siberia 21st September - 3rd October

Round 1:

Round 1 on 2010/09/21 at 15:00 Bo. 86 Malaysia (MAS) Rtg - 12 England (ENG) Rtg ½ :3½

12.1 IM Mas Hafizulhelmi 2422 - GM Adams Michael 2728 ½ - ½
12.2 IM Mok Tze-Meng 2416 - GM McShane Luke J 2657 0 - 1
12.3 Tan Khai Boon 2160 - GM Howell David W L 2616 0 - 1
12.4 FM Long Peter 2302 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 0 - 1

A comfortable start as the men coasted to victory with wins on boards 2-4. Luke had some fun chasing his opponent’s king up the board after sacrificing a piece while Gawain’s piece sac netted him three pawns and he soon won material. David equalised and then outplayed his opponent while Mickey looked in some difficulty when a draw was agreed.

Round 2:

Round 2 on 2010/09/22 at 15:00 Bo. 32 Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH) Rtg - 12 England (ENG) Rtg 2½:1½

15.1 GM Sokolov Ivan 2641 - GM Adams Michael 2728 1 - 0
15.2 GM Predojevic Borki 2624 - GM Short Nigel D 2690 ½ - ½
15.3 GM Kurajica Bojan 2535 - GM McShane Luke J 2657 ½ - ½
15.4 IM Stojanovic Dalibor 2496 - GM Howell David W L 2616 ½ - ½

This was a frustrating and ultimately disappointing round as three promising positions ended in draws whilst defeat on board 1 cost us the match. Although under pressure for much of the game Mickey could have grabbed a piece with 15...g5 that appeared to give insufficient compensation for white. Both Nigel (20 Qc1 instead of Qd2) and David felt they missed good chances whilst Luke was pressing for much of his game.

Round 3:

Round 3 on 2010/09/23 at 15:00 Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 81 South Africa (RSA) Rtg 3 : 1

30.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - IM Solomon Kenny 2394 1 - 0
30.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - IM Kobese Watu 2370 1 - 0
30.3 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - FM Steel Henry Robert 2300 0 - 1
30.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - CM Van den Heever Donovan 2285 1 - 0

The road to recovery began with a comfortable victory against South Africa. Mickey sacrificed pawns to keep the black king in the centre and soon won material whilst Nigel was a pawn up from the opening and won further material. Gawain outplayed his opponent on board 4 but Luke slipped to a shock defeat, his sacrificial attack appeared insufficient and black was able to emerge with a winning ending.

Round 4:

Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 50 Turkey (TUR) Rtg 3 : 1

18.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - IM Esen Baris 2538 ½ - ½
18.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2483 ½ - ½
18.3 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - IM Yilmaz Mustafa 2482 1 - 0
18.4 GM Howell David W L 2616 - IM Erdogdu Mert 2428 1 - 0

England had a relatively comfortable win with draws on the top two boards and victories on 3 and 4. David trapped his opponent’s queen in the middle of the board when barely out of the opening while Luke won a long and complex game. Mickey was a bit worse and so sensibly bailed out early on whilst Nigel had a hard fought draw which went to a knight & pawn ending.

Round 5:

This was the first real heavyweight contest for England against a strong French side. Mickey comfortably held with black in a theoretical Marshall Gambit whilst Nigel demolished their board 2 in a sideline of the Max Lange/Scotch Gambit in a complex struggle where he quickly had an hour lead on the clock and his opponent’s king was very open. His attack eventually won a piece. Luke had a fluctuating and hard fought draw on board 3 whilst David lost an extremely complicated game where his opponent’s active queen & extra pawns as well as a safer king eventually outweighed his rook and two bishops.

10 France (FRA) Rtg - 12 England (ENG) Rtg 2 : 2

14.1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2721 - GM Adams Michael 2728 ½ - ½
14.2 GM Fressinet Laurent 2718 - GM Short Nigel D 2690 0 - 1
14.3 GM Tkachiev Vladislav 2632 - GM McShane Luke J 2657 ½ - ½
14.4 GM Feller Sebastien 2649 - GM Howell David W L 2616 1 - 0

Round 6:

Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 23 Norway (NOR) Rtg 2½:1½

18.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - GM Carlsen Magnus 2826 1 - 0
18.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - GM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2633 ½ - ½
18.3 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - IM Elsness Frode 2485 ½ - ½
18.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - IM Hansen Torbjorn Ringdal 2429 ½ - ½

This was an Interesting match-up with England’s advantage seemingly lying on the bottom two boards. However, Mickey faced Magnus Carlsen who appeared in a provocative mood. His opening of 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Nf6 3 e5 Nh5 4 Be2 d6 is considered dubious but Mickey declined the pawns and developed sensibly. He had a small space advantage and Magnus’s attempts to complicate merely left him with a weakened king and Mickey played a controlled game developing a strong attack and finishing with a rook sacrifice to defeat the world number one. Nigel played solidly to hold Jon-Ludvig Hammer on board 2 and Gawain outplayed but failed to defeat his opponent although this may have been due to Gawain’s desire to close out the match. Luke appeared to be the one initially trying to win the final game but ended up having to play carefully to secure the draw after six hours and 127 moves!

Round 7:

Bo. 35 Belarus (BLR) Rtg - 12 England (ENG) Rtg 3 : 1

8.1 GM Zhigalko Sergei 2640 - GM Adams Michael 2728 ½ - ½
8.2 GM Teterev Vitaly 2511 - GM Short Nigel D 2690 1 - 0
8.3 Podolchenko Evgeniy 2506 - GM Howell David W L 2616 1 - 0
8.4 IM Stupak Kirill 2502 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 ½ - ½

This was a very disappointing day. A win would have put us on 11 points out of 14 and in serious contention for a high finish and possibly even a medal. However, our lower rated opponents from Belarus have been in good form this tournament and although a draw with black for Mickey appeared to leave us well placed in the match Nigel suffered a rare off day and slipped to defeat with white whilst David had a highly theoretical and complicated Grunfeld where he missed a couple of wins in time trouble. His king did appear somewhat under fire in the middle game though and it’s possible his opponent may have had strong lines as well. Gawain played enterprisingly and won an exchange for a pawn in a tactical ending but ultimately his pawns proved too weak to be able to make any progress.

Round 8:

Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 42 Germany (GER) Rtg 3½: ½

15.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - GM Buhmann Rainer 2563 1 - 0
15.2 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - GM Bogner Sebastian 2549 ½ - ½
15.3 GM Howell David W L 2616 - GM Bindrich Falko 2507 1 - 0
15.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - IM Huschenbeth Niclas 2461 1 - 0

The team bounced back well with a comfortable victory. Mickey slowly outplayed his opponent whilst David had a comfortable win on board 3 with the clock being the only real concern in the closing stages. Gawain got back to winning ways and advanced to 4/5 by winning a queen & pawn ending where he had an extra pawn on the queenside. Luke appeared in a lot of trouble but played very resourcefully and escaped into a drawn rook ending.

Round 9:

Bo. 14 Russia 3 (RUS3) Rtg - 12 England (ENG) Rtg 2 : 2

11.1 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2726 - GM Adams Michael 2728 ½ - ½
11.2 GM Motylev Alexandr 2694 - GM McShane Luke J 2657 ½ - ½
11.3 GM Rublevsky Sergei 2683 - GM Howell David W L 2616 1 - 0
11.4 GM Kabanov Nikolai 2500 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 0 - 1

Another close match, which was only decided after five and a half hours. Luke was unable to make any headway against the Petroff and the game ended as an uneventful draw. Mickey’s opponent blundered a pawn but was able to steer the game into an ending where black was unable to make any progress. David had a difficult middle game that resembled a King’s Indian but without white squared bishops and a knight instead of a pawn sitting on c4. White eventually broke through just before the time control with a flurry of tactics. Gawain was able to save the match though after grinding out a win in 102 moves winning a study like Q v R + 2 pawns and eventually winning queen against rook.

Round 10:

Bo. 12 England (ENG) Rtg - 13 Netherlands (NED) Rtg 2 : 2

12.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - GM Van Wely Loek 2679 ½ - ½
12.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - GM Smeets Jan 2669 ½ - ½
12.3 GM McShane Luke J 2657 - GM Giri Anish 2677 ½ - ½
12.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - GM Stellwagen Daniel 2635 ½ - ½

A reasonable result given the comparative ratings of both teams but a very frustrating match as we seemed so close to victory. Mickey had a nominal advantage but despite steady manoeuvering this didn’t lead anywhere whilst Luke was able to torture his opponent for many moves without finding anything clear-cut. Gawain had some fortune in the middle game when his opponent had some more dangerous, possibly winning, lines but he eventually emerged unscathed into an ending with an extra pawn where progress appeared difficult. Nigel though seemed on his way to victory that would have edged the team home but his opponent was able to bail out into an ending a pawn down which he held.

Round 11:

9 England (ENG) Rtg - 17 Czech Republic (CZE) Rtg 2 : 2
9.1 GM Adams Michael 2728 - GM Navara David 2722 ½ - ½
9.2 GM Short Nigel D 2690 - GM Laznicka Viktor 2690 0 - 1
9.3 GM Howell David W L 2616 - GM Hracek Zbynek 2633 1 - 0
9.4 GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 - GM Babula Vlastimil 2515 ½ - ½

We seemed to be on the back foot early in the match and so ultimately 2-2 was a good result. Nigel’s opponent sacrificed his queen for rook, bishop and pawn and always looked in control that culminated in him winning material. Mickey was a bit worse but after having a draw offer turned down he fought back and was even pressing towards the end. Gawain appeared worse early on but again turned his game around and even emerged a pawn up in an ending although he had no real winning chances. David finished the event well by winning a tough struggle after winning a crucial pawn towards the end of the time control. He was able to convert the ending to save the match.

Individual scores:

Mickey 6.5/11, Nigel 4/8, Luke 5/9, David 4.5/8, Gawain 6/8.

Women’s Round up:

Round 1:

Bo. 39 England (ENG) Rtg - 98 Japan (JPN) Rtg 4 : 0

39.1 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 - WCM Nakagawa Emiko 1806 1 - 0
39.2 WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 - Maeda Haruno 0 1 - 0
39.3 Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 - Wakabayashi Hisako 1493 1 - 0
39.4 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 - Kikuchi Arisa 0 1 - 0

The women opened with a comfortable 4-0 win against Japan. Sarah had a straightforward win on her debut and Ingrid was the only player who had to work hard to gain the full point.

Round 2:

Bo. 13 Slovenia (SLO) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 2½:1½

26.1 IM Muzychuk Anna 2535 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426 ½ - ½
26.2 WGM Krivec Jana 2309 - WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 1 - 0
26.3 WIM Rozic Vesna 2289 - Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 1 - 0
26.4 WFM Bajt Indira 2204 - WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 0 - 1

England lost a close match despite impressive performances from Jovanka and Sarah. Jovanka faced Anna Muzychuk with black but showed good preparation and saw her way through the complications to emerge in an equal ending whilst Sarah, although allowing black to comfortably equalise gained the advantage in the middle game and won a pawn which she then converted in a rook ending. A great start for the debutant. Ingrid had an off day with white whilst Kanwal lost a pawn in the early middle game and was ground down in a rook ending.

Round 3:

Bo. 39 England (ENG) Rtg - 54 Venezuela (VEN) Rtg 2 : 2

19.1 IM Houska Jovanka 2426 - IM Sanchez Castillo Sarai 2278 1 - 0
19.2 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 - WIM Moreno Garcia Elizabeth Paola 2024 0 - 1
19.3 WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 - Gutierrez Leonela 2062 ½ - ½
19.4 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 - WIM Ubaldo Suarez Maria Gisela 2054 ½ - ½

England drew a tough match 2-2 against a team they slightly outrated. Jovanka won a pawn early on and appeared to be coasting to victory but her opponent escaped to an ending where she appeared to have chances to draw before swapping off into a king and pawn ending. Even here she had a tougher defence than the line played which lost easily. Ingrid appeared to be at least equal for most of her game but made a horrible blunder on move 41 that cost a piece. Meri’s game ended in a repetition of moves in the opening
whilst Sarah had a hard fought game where she won a pawn but her opponent was able to save the ending.

Round 4:

Bo. 28 Argentina (ARG) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 2 : 2

26.1 IM Lujan Carolina 2312 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426 ½ - ½
26.2 WGM Amura Claudia 2329 - WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 1 - 0
26.3 WIM Plazaola Maria De Los Angeles 2203 - Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 0 - 1
26.4 Fernandez Maria Florencia 2119 - WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 ½ - ½

Whilst this was a very good result on rating it could have been even better as Meri had a very good position with an extra pawn but was unable to finish the game off and went on to lose. Sarah also tried very hard to win an ending that resulted after a complex Dragon middle game. Kanwal quickly won pawns in the middle game and converted the point in a Q&P ending whilst Jovanka drew solidly on top board.

Round 5:

39 England (ENG) Rtg - 69 Iceland (ISL) Rtg 1 : 3

24.1 IM Houska Jovanka 2426 - WGM Ptacnikova Lenka 2282 0 - 1
24.2 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 - Thorsteinsdottir Hallgerdur 1995 0 - 1
24.3 Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 - Fridthjofsdottir Sigurl Regin 1812 0 - 1
24.4 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 - Finnbogadottir Tinna Kristin 1781 1 - 0
Sarah continued her fine set of results to reach 4/5 but the rest of the team suffered an off day and slipped to a surprise defeat.

Round 6:

Bo. 81 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 0 : 4

35.1 WIM Saleh Nora Mohd 1906 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426 0 - 1
35.2 WFM Al-Zarouni Kholoud Essa 1890 - WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 0 - 1
35.3 WIM Al-Harmoudi Mona 1821 - WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 0 - 1
35.4 WFM Al Ali Amna Nuaman 1752 - WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 0 - 1

England completed a routine 4-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates. Jovanka quickly gained the initiative and won a pawn that she comfortably converted. Ingrid gained a morale-boosting win as her opponent’s piece sacrifice in the middle game was easily refuted whilst Meri also had an important win to recover from her round 4 nightmare. She won a pawn in the opening and comfortably won in the middle game after her opponent left her king wide open. Sarah managed to open up the position and quickly won material to continue her excellent start. She is now on 5/6.

Round 7:

Bo. 39 England (ENG) Rtg - 77 Guatemala (GUA) Rtg 3 : 1

30.1 IM Houska Jovanka 2426 - WIM Mazariego-K Carolina 2086 1 - 0
30.2 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 - Figueroa Julissa 1792 0 - 1
30.3 WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 - Sotomayor Villatoro Silvia 1777 1 - 0
30.4 Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 - Rodriguez Marxia 0 1 - 0

England won 3-1 despite resting their top scorer. Jovanka soon won a pawn and converted comfortably but Ingrid lost two pawns to a combination in the middle game and despite fighting for 93 moves slipped to defeat. Meri had a huge attack and broke through to gain a crushing win. Kanwal equalised and outplayed her opponent in a rook ending.

Round 8:

Bo. 61 Brazil (BRA) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 1 : 3

24.1 WFM Terao Juliana Sayumi 2138 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426 ½ - ½
24.2 WFM Pereira Amanda Marques 1980 - WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 0 - 1
24.3 Correa Jaqueline Pamplona 1963 - Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 0 - 1
24.4 De Oliveira Ana Paula 1839 - WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 ½ - ½

England secured another 3-1 victory with draws for Jovanka & Sarah and wins for Meri and Kanwal. Jovanka’s game had a bizarre finish as both players appeared to have missed black could play 34...R8xd6. Although white has 36 d5 to regain some material it still seemed to be insufficient to save the game. Meri scored her third win in a row as her opponent embarked on an over optimistic sacrificial spree around Meri’s king. Kanwal also recorded back-to-back wins with a crushing kingside attack. Sarah drew a crazy game where she sacrificed a piece for two pawns after being caught in the opening. I have to confess to not understating why her opponent sacrificed a rook but she had dangerous compensation for the exchange which she won back and then Sarah found herself in a difficult ending. This should have proved impossible to hold but thankfully her opponent didn’t figure out that Sarah’s doubled b pawns meant that the bishop and wrong coloured rook pawn was winning. Whilst not her best game Sarah’s fighting spirit did a lot to save her unbeaten run.

Round 9:

Bo. 24 Vietnam (VIE) Rtg - 39 England (ENG) Rtg 2½:1½

16.1 WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram 2285 - IM Houska Jovanka 2426 ½ - ½
16.2 WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2304 - WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2169 1 - 0
16.3 WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung 2258 - WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 ½ - ½
16.4 WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An 2306 - Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 ½ - ½

This was a very long and hard fought match and one that England came close to holding which would have been a tremendous effort given the difference in rating. Jovanka tried hard to win with black but her stubborn opponent never allowed her any serious winning chances. Meri played a solid game to hold with black that left the two white games in progress. Ingrid eventually lost an ending where black had an extra outside passed pawn whilst Kanwal had a promising opening but ultimately had to defend rook & knight v rook which she did without any problems.

Round 10:

Bo. 39 England (ENG) Rtg - 58 Canada (CAN) Rtg 2½:1½

23.1 IM Houska Jovanka 2426 - WIM Yuan Yuanling 2189 0 - 1
23.2 WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 - Lacau-Rodean Iulia 2024 ½ - ½
23.3 Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 - Orlova Yelizaveta 1917 1 - 0
23.4 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 - Kagramanov Dalia 1866 1 - 0

Despite a shock defeat for Jovanka the team edged home in another long match where Sarah was able to convert an extra pawn in an ending and Meri held rook v rook f & h pawn. These results, combined with Kanwal’s early win saw the team home.

Round 11:

23.1 IM Houska Jovanka 2426 – WIM Caoili Arianne 2243 1-0
23.2 WFM Grigoryan Meri 2099 – Nguyen Thi Giang 2108 0-1
23.3 Bhatia Kanwal K 2072 – WFM Guo Emma 1964 1-0
23.4 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2084 – WFM Reid, Vaness 1839 1-0

An unchanged women’s team finished on a high with a last round victory. Kanwal had a comfortable win and both Jovanka and Sarah won long games to clinch match victory. For Sarah this completed an outstanding Olympiad debut with an amazing score of 7.5/9. Sadly this was the first year that the board prize was decided by rating performance and not percentage score as she would have won the gold medal on board 5 under the old system.

Individual scores:

Jovanka 6/10, Ingrid 2/7, Meri 5.5/9, Kanwal 6.5/9, Sarah 7.5/9

Live coverage is available here: http://www.ugra-chess.com/results.php & http://www.ugra-chess.com/results.php?ln=en&tmnt=2&rn=3

Results and pairings are here:

http://chess-results.com/tnr36795.aspx? ... -1&wi=1000

http://chess-results.com/tnr36796.aspx? ... -1&wi=1000

Lawrence Cooper
Head of Delegation
Khanty-Mansiysk 5/10/10

[Jonathan Rogers]

The individual scores of the women do not seem to include their last round

[LozCooper]

The individual scores of the women do not seem to include their last round

thanks for pointing that out, now corrected. I'm not used to anyone reading beyond the first paragraph of anything I write

[Paul Bielby]

Thanks to Loz for all his reports throughout the competition and to ugra-chess.com for providing us with a magnificent up-to-the-minute service with all the games. Perhaps I was lucky, but I never had any problems with it at all.

And congratulations to the players - in particular to the South Shields lass we used to know as 'Dimple' on her splendid results. I was able to use a couple of her games as demonstrations to my class at school in Newcastle on the day that they happened in Khanty-Mansiysk!