|
43rd Chess Olympiad: Double gold for China! |
 |
|
Monday, 24 September 2018 22:38 |
 China is taking home two team gold medals from the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi!
In the derby match of the final round in the Open section USA, the winner from Baku 2016, and China played out four draws, while Russia defeated France 2,5-1,5 thanks to Ian Nepomniachtchi's point.
The three teams shared the first place with 18 points each, but the tie-break favoured China to claim the gold. USA is silver, while Russia took the bronze after a strong finish.
Poland played amazingly well throughout the event but narrowly missed the podium, finishing on shared 4th with England.
In a thrilling finale of the Women section China held Russia to a tie. Aleksandra Goryachkina beat Shen Yang, but World Champion Ju Wenjun equalized after almost a 100-moves long battle with former Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.
The key game that brought gold to China: Ju defeating Kosteniuk
Ukraine defeated USA 3-1 to catch China on the top with 18 points each, but here also China had better tie-break, therefore UKraine took silver medal.
The hosting country Georgia signed an important 3-1 win against Armenia to claim the bronze medal. Victorious for Georgia were Nana Dzagnidze and Lela Javakhishvili.
USA-China
Russia-China
Results, standings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Round 10
Bu Xiangzhi did not win a game today, but his colleagues Ding Liren and Li Chao finally woke up in the crucial moment to help in a 3-1 victory against the amazing Poland.
USA defeated Armenia thanks to the effort of Samuel Shankland. Hikaru Nakamura rested for the final clash with the co-leader China (both teams 17 points) which might decide the winner of the Batumi Chess Olympiad.
Russia finally reached the shared third place with a narrow victory against England, delivered by Vladimir Kramnik.
One win was also sufficient for France to beat Croatia. Laurent Fressinet won on the third board. Same result for Ukraine to end Azerbaijan's dreams of medal. Yuriy Kryvoruchko also won on the third board.
China-Poland
Ding Liren won a beautiful game today
Vietnam and Germany signed four draws, while India jumped back to the top with a sound 3-1 win against Netherlands.
Top round 11 pairings are USA-China, France-Russia, India-Poland, Germany-Armenia, Ukraine-Czech Republic and England-Kazakhstan.
Corridor between the two playing halls
In the most curious development in the Women section the standings have remained unchanged as the top seven matches were tied! Among these, four matches were tightly contested all-drawn games: China-USA, Ukraine-Russia, Azerbaijan-Armenia and Belarus-Slovenia.
Vietnam and Hungary exchanged a pair of victories, as well as Spain and Kazakhstan. Georgia 1 and Czech Republic were all guns blazing, with Dzagnidze and Khotenashvili winning for the hosts, and Worek and Novosadova for the Czechs.
Thailand-Tajikistan
India confidently defeated Peru despite Koneru's loss on the top table. Harika, Tania and Padmini won for India. Georgia 2 narrowly edged Italy 2,5-1,5.
Top round 11 pairings are Russia-China, USA-Ukraine, Vietnam-Azerbaijan, Hungary-Slovenia, Poland-Spain and Armenia-Georgia 1.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Philippines-Moldova
Round 9
In the 9th round of the Batumi Chess Olympiad Kacper Piorun defeated Hikaru Nakamura to secure a narrow win for Poland against USA. Poland overtook USA in the standings and is now sole leader with 16 points.
China's special man Bu Xiangzhi won another game, this time against Eltaj Safarli, for a new success of his team. Amazingly, Bu is the only Chinese player to achieve more than a draw in the last five rounds. But overall, the team is doing well, currently sitting on the shared second place with USA, Armenia and England.
Armenia also won an important match, with the 18-years old Haik Martirosyan putting a stop at India's Sasikiran winning streak.
Germany split the points with France. Nisipeanu won against the top star Vachier-Lagrave, while Bauer leveled the score against Svane.
Poland-USA
England beat Norway 3-1, with two wins on the lower boards, while Russia scored the same result against Italy, with wins by Karjakin and Vitiugov.
Top round 10 pairings are: China-Poland, Armenia-USA, Russia-England, France-Croatia, Vietnam-Germany and Azerbaijan-Ukraine.
China is picking up the pace in the Women section with the third consecutive and convincing win. Points by Huang Qian and Lei Tingjie secured overall 3-1 against Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan-China
Azerbaijan held the 2nd seed Ukraine to a tie. Anna Muzychuk won on the top board, but Gulnar Mammadova equalized the score.
USA stopped the advancing Hungary with a narrow win, secured by Tatev Abrahamyan. Armenia is back to the winning way, a trademark white-wins and black-draws combination was sufficient for 3-1 against Iran.
Russia finally joined the top by defeating Romania, also by 3-1. Kosteniuk and Girya were victorious. Georgia 1 also won by 3-1, Dzagnidze and Khotenashvili breaking the Mongolia's defences.
Russia-Romania
Georgia 2-Serbia, Italy-India and Uzbekistan-France were all tied.
China is leading with 16 points, a point ahead of Ukraine, Armenia and USA. Top round 10 pairings are China-USA, Ukraine-Russia, Azerbaijan-Armenia, Vietnam-Hungary, Spain-Kazakhstan and Georgia 1-Czech Republic.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
India-Armenia
Round 8
The defending champion USA moved into the sole lead in the Open section of Batumi Chess Olympiad after winning the derby match against the reigning European champion Azerbaijan.
Teimour Radjabov broke the ultra-solid Wesley So, but Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Shankland turned the tables for the USA. USA is now first with 15 match point, one point ahead of the second-placed Poland.
Fabiano Caruana with his fourth victory in this Olympiad came within only 4.5 rating points from the World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
Poland held Armenia with four draws. There followed a plethora of toughly contested matches decided only by narrow margin.
USA-Azerbaijan
Krishnan Sasikiran was once again the hero of India, brining the victory against the very solid Czech Republic.
Germany has its own hero and his name is Daniel Fridman. It was a third match win for the country delivered by Fridman.
Luke McShane has found his form and with a second consecutive win he brought the points to England after the clash with Israel.
Team Iran
Etienne Bacrot won with black to secure France's success against the multiple champion Ukraine.
China is struggling and Bu Xiangzhi is its only player able to win in the last four matches. Today he was the architect of the victory against Netherlands.
Top round 8 pairings are Poland-USA, Azerbaijan-China, India-Armenia, Germany-France, England-Norway and Italy-Russia.
Team Italy
The overnight leader in the Women section, Armenia, suffered a setback today. Two Anna's, Muzychuk and Ushenina, secured a clean 3-1 for Ukraine.
By the same result USA defeated Italy and Hungary shocked the higher rated India. Hoang Thanh Trang and Ticia Gara won against their Indian counterparts.
China was convincing against Romania, only Corina-Isabela Peptan salvaging a draw. Iran won with the same result against Peru.
Ukraine-Armenia
Russia demolished Netherlands 4-0 and finally made a break towards the top of the crosstable.
Mongolia stunned Poland with wins by Batkhuyag Munguntuul, Davaademberel Nomin-Erdene and Tuvshintugs Batchimeg. Only Karina Szczepkowska won for Poland.
China and Ukraine are on the top of the standings with 14 points each. Top round 8 pairings are Kazakhstan-China, Azerbaijan-Ukraine, USA-Hungary, Armenia-Iran, Russia-Romania and Mongolia-Georgia 1.
Susan Polgar informing Sweden's GM Tiger about his brilliancy prize
The 8th round of Batumi Chess Olympiad was undoubtedly the worst so far for Georgian players. Georgia 1 in the Open section lost against Moldova, since Jobava and Pantsulaia were unable to hold their games. It was Levan’s first loss during the Olympiad. Georgia 3 tied their match against Indonesia with the scores coming from Petriashvili and Sibashvili. Oboladze was playing on the first board while Tutisani was resting, but sadly he did not manage to beat the opponent with the black pieces which brought the team final result of 2-2. Georgia 2 easily defeated Nepal with the 3,5-0,5 score.
Georgia 1 in the Women section suffered its first setback as Javakhishvili and Arabidze lost against Kazakhstan, and remaining games were drawn. It was a hard match for Georgia 2 girls who could not beat Azerbaijan. Despite Charkhalashvili’s win team lost with the minimum score of 2,5-1,5. As for Georgia 3, they beat Algeria, the only win was by Mariam Janiashvili.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Hikaru Nakamura before the match
Olympiad arbiters in group photo
Round 7
The 7th round of the Open section of Batumi Chess Olympiad was rather peaceful in the top pairings. Poland-Azerbaijan, Ukraine-China and Germany-Netherlands were all tied with four draws in each match.
Czech Republic and Israel were also even but all games were won by white pieces: David Navara and Zbynek Hracek scored for Czechs, Maxim Rodshtein and Illa Smirin for Israelis.
USA defeated Croatia by using the white pieces (So, Shankland) and drawing with black. In same style Armenia defeated Belarus, by white wins of Sargissian and Hovhannisyan.
India narrowly defeated Egypt 2,5-1,5, but Spain had no mercy and scored 3,5-0,5 against Algeria.
Russia barely saved a point against the young team of Serbia. Marko Nenezic defeated Dmitry Jakovenko, while Vladimir Kramnik won only after a late-game blunder by Milos Roganovic.
Poland-Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Poland and USA are leading the standings with 13 points each, one point ahead of Armenia.
Top round 8 pairings are USA-Azerbaijan, Armenia-Poland, Czech Republic-India, Spain-Germany, Israel-England and France-Ukraine.
Russia-Serbia
Legendary arbiter Carol Jarecki speaking to Michael Adams of England
Armenia seized the lead in the Women section by defeating USA 2,5-1,5. Elina Danielian and Anna Sargsyan won for Armenia, while Jennifer Yu reduced the margin.
China beat Netherlands 3-1, with white wins by World Champion Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie. Ukraine narrowly defeated Iran thanks to the effort of former World Champion Mariya Muzychuk.
Italy and Azerbaijan split the points with four draws, just like India and Georgia 1 did.
Armenia-USA
Romania edged Uzbekistan with points from Corina-Isabela Peptan and Elena-Luminita Cosma. Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova won for the other team.
Kazakhstan and Hungary crushed Argentina and Serbia respectively by 3,5-0,5.
One point behind Armenia are China, Ukraine, Georgia 1 and Romania.
Top round 8 pairings are Ukraine-Armenia, China-Romania, USA-Italy, Hungary-India, Georgia 2-Azerbaijan and Georgia 1-Kazakhstan.
Romania-Uzbekistan
The 7th round of Batumi Chess Olympiad went without a loss for Georgian women teams. Georgia 1 did an easy tie against India, since all of the four games were drawn. Georgia 2 outplayed Philippines with the points coming from Mikadze and Charkhalashvili, remaining two games were tied. Georgia 3 got a fine victory over Austria with the crushing result of 4-0, since the young stars did not gave away any points.
Philippines-Georgia 2 concluding
Georgia 1 in the open section was also convincing as they have won with the score of 4-0 against FYR Macedonia. Ivan Cheparinov won his first game after three draws. Georgia 2 could not beat Colombia. They lost with the minimum score of 2,5-1,5, the only win was by Sanchez who beat Irakli Beradze. It was unlucky day for Georgia 3 boys as well as they lost to Moldova with the final score of 3-1. The first two boards ended by tie but Kacharava and Sibashvili were unable to escape defeats. It was Morozov who defeated the unstoppable Sibashvili.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Greece-Russia
Resting in the EXPO area
Round 6
Azerbaijan kept the perfect score after the 6th round of Batumi Chess Olympiad by defeating Czech Republic 3-1. Both individual wins were with white pieces, by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Arkadij Naiditsch.
Poland continued to beat the higher rated teams, this time their victim being the neighboring Ukraine. The only win was by the young star Jan-Krzysztof Duda on the top board against the legendary Vasily Ivanchuk, while the remaining three games were drawn.
China narrowly edged the youth from Iran, thanks to Bu Xiangzhi. USA walked past Bosnia & Herzegovina 3,5-0,5, just like Armenia did against FYR Macedonia.
Israel and Germany exchanged a pair of victories for a final tie 2-2. The same score was in Russia-India and England-France, but with draws on all boards.
Top round 7 pairings are Poland-Azerbaijan, Croatia-USA, Ukraine-China, Germany-Netherlands, Czech Republic-Israel and Belarus-Armenia.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - David Navara
Bu Xiangzhi
Peru-Paraguay
In the Women section Georgia 1 and Armenia caught up with USA on the top of the crosstable.
USA played a highly entertaining match with India where all games were decided and in all games white won! Koneru and Sachdev winning for India, while Krush and Yu scored for USA.
Armenia took advantage of such development to climb to the top by beating 3-1 the highest rated team of the tournament - Russia. Lilit Mkrtchian and Siranush Ghukasyan were successful with the white pieces, while the other two games were drawn.
India-USA
Giorgi Giorgadze observing the games of Anna Ushenina and Mariya Muzychuk
Ukraine and China, 2nd and 3rd seed respectively, tied the match after the former World Champion Mariya Muzychuk won, while former World Champion Anna Ushenina lost to Huang Qian.
Latvia put up resistance against Azerbaijan, but eventually lost due to Ulviyya Fataliyeva effort on the 4th board.
In the matches where all games were decided Italy defeated Cuba 3-1, while Lithuania held the strong Kazakhstan to 2-2.
Top round 7 pairings are Armenia-USA, China-Netherlands, Iran-Ukraine, Italy-Azerbaijan, Romania-Uzbekistan and India-Georgia 1.
Bangladesh-Jamaica
Women Chess Legends! Nana Aleksandria, Maia Chiburdanidze, Susan Polgar, Nona Gaprindashvili, Sofia Polgar, Nana Ioseliani and Judit Polgar
After the rest day Georgian men teams have got no win in the 6th round of Batumi Chess Olympiad. Georgia 1 and Georgia 2 did a tie against Canada and Vietnam. Despite the loss of Mchedlishvili and Maghalashvili, Jobava and Sanikidze managed to win their beautiful games bringing the teams final score of 2-2. Georgia 3 in the open section was unable to defeat higher rated Netherlands, they lost with the minimum score of 2,5-1,5, points coming from Petriashvili and Sibashvili who won his fourth game in a row.
It was a hard day for the Georgian women teams as well, since Georgia 1 and Georgia 2 played against one another. In the tense battle Georgia 1 got the narrow victory with the result of 2,5-1,5. Lela Javakshvili was the one who brought the winning point. Hungary was ruthless against Georgia 3 as GM Hoang ended Nino Khomeriki’s winning streak and Georgians lost the match with the score of 3,5-0,5.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Italy-Ecuador
USA-BIH
Round 5
The team of USA emerged clear leader with the perfect score in the Women section after crushing Mongolia 3,5-0,5 in the 5th round of the Batumi Chess Olympiad. The points were delivered by Anna Zatonskih, Irina Krush and ultra-talented Jennifer Yu, while only Sabina-Francesca Foisor drew.
Before the round start a minute of silence in memory of late Grandmaster Nino Khurtsidze was observed. The organizers have announced a special award in memory of Khurtsidze to be presented to the girl born in 1999 and later with the best result in the Olympiad.
The derby match between Georgia 1 and Ukraine was tied. Nino Batsiashvili's winning streak was ended by the former World Champion Anna Ushenina, while Bela Khotenashvili scored for Georgia.
Armenia held the multiple Olympic champions from China thanks to Lilit Mkrtchian's win on the second board. Lei Tingjie won for the opposing team.
Armenia - China
India was convincing 3,5-0,5 against Argentina with wins by Koneru, Tania and Karavade, while the very motivated Georgia 2 achieved the same result against Turkey, by wins of Melia, Gvetadze and Khukhashvili.
Azerbaijan wisely used the white pieces to win 3-1 against Greece, just like Canada did in the clash with Tajikistan. Czech Republic took a narrow victory against Australia with a point by Karolina Olsarova on the top board.
Russia is back on the winning path with a convincing 3,5-0,5 against the 9th-seed Germany.
Top round 6 pairings in the Women section are India-USA, Ukraine-China, Russia-Armenia, Azerbaijan-Latvia, Italy-Cuba and Georgia 1-Georgia 2. Saturday 29th September is a free day and the 6th round will be played on Sunday 30th September.
Georgia - Ukraine
Kazakhstan-Belarus
In the Open section four teams are boasting perfect score: Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine.
Azerbaijan edged Armenia 2,5-1,5 for the fifth consecutive victory. Mamedyarov and Radjabov defeated Aronian and Sargissian respectively, while Melkumyan beat Naiditsch and the game Martirosyan-Mamedov was drawn.
After beating Russia in the previous round, Poland excelled again to defeat the higher rated France by 3-1. Vachier-Lagrave won on the top board, but Wojtaszek, Piorun and Tomczak scored for Poland.
Azerbaijan - Armenia
Czech Republic stunned the third seed China with wins by Laznicka and Stocek. Wei Yi is clearly struggling to find the shape as he lost twice in the last three games.
Israel held the defending champions from USA. Fabiano Caruana won again, but Emil Sutovsky equalised on the fourth board.
Ukraine narrowly edged Spain despite Eljanov's consecutive loss, and Germany did the same against Moldova thanks to the wins on the lower boards.
Russia-Peru
Netherlands broke no sweat to defeat Lithuania 3,5-0,5, while India had no mercy against Paraguay, also 3,5-0,5. Russia beat Peru 3-1.
Top round 6 pairings are Azerbaijan-Czech Republic, Poland-Ukraine, Israel-Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina-USA, Iran-China and Russia-India.
Sweden - Turkey
Cuba-Estonia
Two former World Champions: Susan Polgar interviewing Mariya Muzychuk
The fifth round of Batumi Chess Olympiad has ended without a loss of the Georgian teams. Georgia 1 in the Open section won against Brazil with the points from Mchedlishvili and Pantsulaia. Georgia 2 has gained a nice victory over the Mongolian team with the final score of 3-1. Georgia 3 has won their third match in a row, this time against Kyrgyzstan with the minimum score of 2.5-1.5 as Giorgi Sibashvili signed his third victory.
As for the girls, Georgia 3 defeated Finland with the help of Khomeriki and Koridze who managed to win their games, both playing with black pieces.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Round 4
In the top match-up until now in the Batumi Chess Olympiad the defending champion USA was paired against the 4th placed from Baku 2016 - India. The World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana "woke up" and won a game against none other than former World Champion Viswanathan Anand. This sole decisive result was sufficient for USA to claim the match.
The biggest surprise of the day was the success of the young team from Poland against the seasoned Russia. Duda held Karjakin, Wojtaszek lost to Nepomniachtchi, but Tomczak beat Kramnik and Dragun beat Jakovenko to turn the tables for a final 2,5-1,5.
France also signed a minimal victory, against Vietnam, "the strongest link" being GM Christian Bauer. In the similar fashion, Viktor Laznicka on the top board of the Czech Republic was the hero of the day in the clash with Iran.
On the second table Israel won 3-1 against Sweden despite Boris Gelfand's loss to Nils Grandelius. With the same result Armenia defeated Greece, thanks to the points of Levon Aronian and 18-years old Haik Martirosyan.
Viktor Laznicka
Azerbaijan stunned England with a high 3,5-0,5 win, the same result being recorded by China against Croatia and by Spain against Serbia.
Germany beat Hungary 2,5-1,5 with a win by Daniel Fridman who returned to the team after a rest. With points from Vassily Ivanchuk and Anton Korobov Ukraine won against Argentina where only Diego Flores was successful.
Top round 5 pairings are Armenia-Azerbaijan, France-Poland, China-Czech Republic, USA-Israel, Ukraine-Spain and Germany-Moldova.
Daniel Fridman
Levon Aronian with the team of Brazil
In the Women section China did not allow another surprise by Uzbekistan, recording a fine 3-1 victory. Steady hands also shown by the hosts Georgia 1, who used the black pieces to beat Vietnam.
Ukraine was perfect against Slovenia 4-0 and Mongolia convincing against Iran 3,5-0,5. In the high rated match 5th seed India beat 7th seed Poland 3-1. Harika Dronavalli delievered again, while Tania Sachdev returned after a day's rest to help the team.
China
Armenia's top boards Danielian and Mkrtchian were victorious against Italy, where only Di Benedetto was able to score a full point.
USA defeated Azerbaijan 2,5-1,5. Zatonskih and Krush have won for the USA, while Balajayeva scored for Azerbaijan.
Georgia 2 took a narrow victory against Hungary, as well as Turkey against Serbia.
Top round 5 pairings are Armenia-China, USA-Mongolia, Georgia 1-Ukraine, Argentina-India, Georgia 2-Turkey and Czech Republic-Australia.
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
It was a hard day for Georgia 3 girls who lost their match to Australia. Even though Khomeriki and Janiashvili drew, the last boards could not manage to ran away from losing.
As for the men, 1st team was powerless to gain a victory over Lithuania. Even though Jobava’s effort to win the game, he could not beat Sulskis. Georgia 2 did a tie against Australia and Georgia 3 had a tough fight against Morocco. Sibashvili got his second win with a beautiful match and Kacharava perfectly used Saber’s blunder and brought the final score of 3-1 to the team.
Hungary vs Georgia 2
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Sergey Karjakin
Round 3
 Round 3 of the Batumi Chess Olympiad still had some rating-mismatched pairings, but nevertheless many matches were closely contested.
France easily defeated Algeria 3,5-0,5, the only draw being given by Laurent Fressinet, who joked later that he is the "weakest link in the team".
Portugal put up a fight against Poland, with the experienced Luis Galego shocking the rising star Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but the higher rated team still clinched a match victory thanks to the perfect play with white pieces.
The defending champion and top seed USA won with white and drew with black for a total 3-1 against Netherlands. China scored the same victory against the ever-advancing team of Peru.
Azerbaijan walked past Slovenia 3,5-0,5, just like Vietnam did against Bangladesh and Israel did against Iceland.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
England pulled a narrow victory against Brazil, the hero being GM David Howell. In similar fashion GM Pavel Korobov delivered for Ukraine against Romania. The young team of Serbia held the higher rated Germany to a tie.
Top round 4 pairings are Vietnam-France, Israel-Sweden, USA-India, Czech Republic-Iran, Azerbaijan-England and China-Croatia.
David Howell
Fabiano Caruana
In the top table of the women section Serbia and India exchanged punches and when the dust settled the result was a tie 2-2.
Azerbaijan was convincing 3-1 against England despite the loss on the top board. Same score by Ukraine against Romania, but in a more cautious manner, wins with white and draws with black.
China stormed Cuba by 3,5-0,5, but it was slightly surprising that Vietnam managed the same score against Lithuania, as well as Armenia against the solid team of Greece.
The team of Vietnam
In the meantime, Turkey and Argentina held the elo-favourites from Poland (silver medalist from Baku 2016) and Hungary respectively.
Top round 4 pairings are China-Uzbekistan, Italy-Armenia, Iran-Mongolia, Vietnam-Georgia 1, Azerbaijan-USA and Ukraine-Slovenia.
The third day of the Olympiad has ended successfully for all of the Georgian Women teams. Georgia 1 won against France with the score of 2,5-1,5. Nino Batsiashvili was the only one who was able to bring the decisive point to the team.
It was really lucky day for Georgia 2 girls as Khukhashvili and Charkhalashvili managed to save their almost lost games against Spain and claimed the final winning score. Georgia 3 outplayed Brazil very easily and Nino Khomeriki got a third win on her account.
Georgia 1 - France
As for Georgian men two of them have won, sadly Georgia 2 boys lost against the team of Russia despite putting up the hard fight. Even though Paichadze and Sanikidze drew to Karjakin and Nepomniatchi, Beradze was unable to escape the loss against the ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
Georgia 1 and Georgia 3 have gained victories over the Mongolian and Nicaraguan teams respectively. Baadur Jobava and Giorgi Sibashvili made their first wins in the Olympiad.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Round 2
 In the second round of the Batumi Chess Olympiad most of the top rated teams continued scoring high victories, but not without exceptions.
In the Open section Georgia 3 put up a fierce resistance against the defending Olympiad champions USA and eventually lost by 1,5-2,5, the only win coming from Wesley So.
Russia had it slightly easier by winning 3-1 against Ireland. France, Poland and Netherlands were convincing against Uruguay, Indonesia and Scotland, respectively.
Vietnam, Ukraine and Armenia could achieve only minimal 2,5-1,5 against the motivated Iraq, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
In the Women section 31st seed Uzbekistan stunned the top rated Russia thanks to the win of WIM Nodira Nadirjanova against WGM Natalija Pogonina.
Nona Gaprindashvili making the symbolic first move in the match Georgia 3 vs USA
Second seed Ukraine also faced resistance from the 54th seed Turkmenistan, but Natalia Zhukova brought the victory home. In the meantime India and Azerbaijan crushed Venezuela and Belgium respectively.
Georgia 3 excelled in this section too, holding the higher rated Germany to a tie. Peru also held Kazakhstan 2-2.
Battle of the islands Malta-Palau
Colombia-China
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand
Eric Hansen (Canada) from the ChessBrah Videos
Two generations of champions: Ju Wenjun and Nana Aleksandria
Unlike the first round, the second day was extremely challenging for Georgian teams. Only two out of six managed to get their winning scores. Georgia 1 in the Women section got their full points against Norway and Javakhishvili won her first game in the Olympiad.
Georgia 1 in the Open section tied against Norway. Ivan Cheparinov claimed his first win, but unfortunately Mchedlishvili lost his game againt Aryan Tari. Pantsulaia And Jojua drew, which brought the final score 2-2 to the team.
Incredible thing happened to Georgia 2 boys, as Noe Tutisani managed to draw against world #2 Fabiano Caruana, and Petriashvili and Kacharava drew against Shankland and Robson. It must be said that Georgian young players had slightly better positions during the match and Americans pushed hard to escape the defeat. Even though Oboladze has lost his match to So, Georgians have gained a great and unbelievable experience. As for Georgia 2 women, they outplayed against Sweden with the score of 3,5-0,5.
Georgia 2 men have won against Denmark with the minimum score of 2,5-1,5. The only win was Quparadze’s, who played a very interesting game. Georgian 3 girls played a tie against the strong team of Germany with the help of Nino Khomeriki, who gave nothing to Paehtz.
Levon Aronian and Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Legend Eugenio Torre observing the match of Philippines
The big Caissa Cup has arrived from the Turkish Chess Federation to FIDE secretariat in Batumi
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Round 1
 The long anticipated 43rd World Chess Olympiad began today at the brand new Batumi Sports Palace with the games of the first round.
A record breaking 185 teams compete in the Open Section, while the Women Section has 151 teams participating.
President of Georgia Mr Giorgi Margvelashvili attended the first round of the 43rd Chess Olympiad at the Batumi Sports Palace and made the first symbolic move for the Georgian top player GM Baadur Jobava in the game against GM Yehuda Gruenfeld.
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia Mr Mikheil Batiashvili also attended the beginning of the games, having an honor to make the first symbolic move for the Georgian star Nana Dzagnidze in the game against Wang Chengjia of South Korea.
President of Georgia Mr Giorgi Margvelashvili making the first move for Baadur Jobava
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia Mr Mikheil Batiashvili making the first move for Nana Dzagnidze
Joining the President of Georgia were FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, ECU President and Head of the State Commission for organizing the 43rd Chess Olympiad Zurab Azmaiparashvili Georgian Chess Federation President and Charmain of the Organizing Committee Giorgi Giorgadze and other officials. A press conference devoted to the start of the Chess Olympiad was held afterwards. Brief statements are posted below.
As usual in the events run by Swiss pairing system, the first round saw the top seeded teams facing the lower rated opposition.
The team of Angola
Most of the world's best players participating in the Olympiad sat out of the first round. USA and Russia defeated Panama and Uganda respectively by maximum 4-0 score.
However, on the third table China conceded one point to Morocco as CM Mohamed-Mehdi Aithmidou beat GM Li Chao b. Azerbaijan allowed half a point to IPCA, as well as India to El Salvador and Ukraine to Zambia.
Angola took two draws from England and Madagascar achieved the same against Hungary.
The team of Azerbaijan
In the Women Section Ukraine and India were convincing, while Russia and China dropped half a point each to Costa Rica and Tajikistan.
Roza Eynula from South Korea stunned Lela Javakhisvhili from the hosting country Georgia's first team. Also Albania snatched one point from France as WCM Rozana Gjergji beat IM Sophie Milliet.
The 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi started successfully for all six of the Georgian teams. Georgia 1 in the women section outplayed against South Korea with 3-1, but Javakhisvhili lost her first game. Georgia 1 in the Open section defeated ICCD with 3,5-0,5 score. Baadur Jobava, who won the golden medal on the 1st board at the previous Chess Olympiad in Baku, gave half a point in the match.
Georgia 3 team in Open and Georgia 3 in the Women section won easily against Macau and Seychelles respectively with the 4-0 score.
As for the second teams, Georgia 2 in Women section have won 4:0 without any hesitation against South Africa and Georgia 2 in Open scored 3,5-0,5 against Liechtenstein.
Results, standings, pairings and multimedia on the official website of the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Press conference devoted to the start of the Chess Olympiad was attended by Georgian Chess Federation President and Charman of the Organizing Committee Giorgi Giorgadze, ECU President and Head of the State Commission for organizing the 43rd Chess Olympiad Zurab Azmaiparashvili and FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos.
FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos:
Georgia is a country of great chess tradition. At one point when the Soviet team was winning the Women Olympiad, it was composed entirely of Georgians. Of course, there were also strong male players, I am sitting here between two Grandmasters, ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and GCF President Giorgi Giorgadze. And together they have organized many great events, for women and men, of continental and world level.
ECU President and Head of the State Commission for organizing the 43rd Chess Olympiad Zurab Azmaiparashvili:
Georgian hospitality is well known and I believe the Olympiad is a perfect opportunity to present our country, to brand our country. And this is the reason why we had such an opening ceremony, which was highly praised by everybody, because beside our hospitality we wanted to present our culture to the world. With so many countries here at the Olympiad, Batumi and Georgia will benefit a lot, as I believe that when our guests return to their homes, they will pass a message that Georgia is peaceful country with great people welcoming the tourists from all over the world.
Georgian Chess Federation President and Charmain of the Organizing Committee Giorgi Giorgadze:
The Olympiad is a great opportunity for Georgia to become known all over the world. I agree with Mr Azmaiparashvili and Mr Makropoulos that yes, we might feel a little exhausted at this moment, but three months from now we will be seeking for new organizational challenges and what could we do next. After organizing the event of such level as is Olympiad, the next event will be a relaxation for us.
Minister Mikheil Batiashvili giving the interviews
Photos by Paul Truong, David Llada, Lana Afandiyeva and Goran Urosevic
|
|
|
