Final results of chess olympiad

The last round was incredible. Ukraine couldn't win against Israel (2-2) whereas Russia wasn't able to overcome Spain (2-2)! Ukraine won again after 2004. No win for Russia since 2002.

Some big clashes of this last round:
Poland 1,5 - 2,5 Hungary
France 2 - 2 Armenia
Azerbaijan 2 - 2 Russia-3
Cuba 1,5 - 2,5 USA
England 2 - 2 Czech Republic
India 2,5 - 1,5 Georgia

Final ranking in the open section:
1.Ukraine 19
2.Russia 18
3.Israel 17
4.Hungary 17

Individual board gold medals: (with Rating Performance)
1st board: Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2890
2nd board: Emil Sutovsky ISR 2895
3rd board: Vitaly Teterev BLR 2853
4th board: Sergey Karjakin RUS 2859
5th board: Sebastien Feller FRA 2702

All results here

King's hunting at chess olympiad

() vs. ()
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[Event "39th Olympiad Men"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2010.09.22"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Black "Novita, Anjas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2356"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2010.09.21"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "ISR"] [BlackTeam "INA"] {This game was played in the match Israel vs Indonesia} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Qxd4 8. Bxb4 Qxe5 {white sacrificed 2 pawns to get the dark-squared bishop and keep the black king in the center. The hunting is open !} 9. Na3 b5 10. Bd6 Qxb2 {third pawn !} 11. O-O a6 12. Rb1 Qc3 {black don't want the fourth :-)} ( 12... Qxa2 {the computer wants !} 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. Qd6 Rb6 16. Qc7 {but he agrees the price is a whole rook !} O-O 17. Qxb6 Qxe2 { with a crazy position, probably winning for white though}) 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14. Qd6 {still no castle} Rb6 15. Nxc4 ({another good possibility was} 15. Rfc1 Qa5 16. Qc7 {white lets black castling but creates a very unpleasant pin} O-O 17. Nxc4 bxc4 18. Qxb6 Qxa2 19. Rb2 Qa3 20. Bxc6 $16) 15... Qxc4 16. Rbc1 Qxe2 ( 16... Qxa2 17. Rxc6 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Bd7 19. Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. Rd1 Qd5 (20... g6 $2 21. Qxd7+ Kf8 22. Qd6+ Kg7 23. Qe5+ $18) 21. Rxd5 exd5 22. Qxd5 { and white is winning}) 17. Bxc6+ (17. Rxc6 $2 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Nd7 19. Bxd7+ Bxd7 20. Rd1 g6 $1 {and black survives}) 17... Nd7 18. Rfd1 $5 ({Rodshtein would like more than this: } 18. Bxd7+ Bxd7 19. Qxb6 O-O 20. Qxa6 $16) 18... Kd8 {only move} 19. Qd4 Rxc6 20. Rxc6 Ke7 {black is still ahead in material but his king is still hunted !} 21. Rc7 h5 {black tries to create some counter play} 22. Rdc1 h4 $2 (22... f6 {was better, the position remains very unclear}) 23. Qxg7 hxg3 24. Qg5+ f6 25. Qg7+ { the black king is forced to try his luck in the center of the board} Kd6 26. Qxg3+ e5 $2 ({More resilient was} 26... Ne5 27. R7c2 Qd3 28. Rxc8 Qxg3+ 29. hxg3 Rxc8 30. Rxc8 a5 31. Kf1 $16 {and white has to work to win that}) 27. R7c6+ Kd5 {unfortunately forced} 28. Qg2+ e4 29. Qg3 e3 30. Rd6+ {the simplest} (30. Qg2+ {was even stronger} Kd4 31. Rd6+ Ke5 32. f4+ Kxd6 (32... Kxf4 33. Qxe2) 33. Rc6+ Ke7 34. Qg7+ Kd8 35. Qxh8+ Ke7 36. Qg7+ Kd8 37. Qg8+ { and black will be mated}) 30... Ke4 31. f3+ Qxf3 32. Rd4+ Kxd4 33. Qxf3 $18 Ne5 34. Rd1+ Kc4 35. Qxe3 Rh3 36. Qd4# {The king was finally trapped !} 1-0

Ivanchuk 5/5 at Chess Olympiad!

Vassily Ivanchuk must play between 2900 and 3000 Elo when he is in good shape. For now he is, he won all his Olympiad games so far. You can find them below. In all 5 games the same feeling: he wins effortlessly...

[Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Ahmed, Abdul Sattar abdul"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C27"] [WhiteElo "2342"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Iraq"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IRQ"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. d4 dxc4 6. Qe2 Qxd4 7. Nf3 Qd5 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nc6 11. Ba3 f6 12. Nd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 Qf7 15. Nc5 b6 16. Nxd7 Rxd7 17. Rxd7 Qxd7 18. Qxc4 Rd8 19. h3 Kb7 20. Rb1 Qd5 21. Qa4 Qxa2 22. Rb2 Qd5 23. Kh2 Qd2 24. Bc5 Qxc3 0-1 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.22"] [Round "2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "McNab, Colin A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2445"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Scotland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "SCO"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. e4 e5 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. Be3 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Bb7 11. f3 Re8 12. Qd2 c6 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. b4 Rad8 15. Bf1 Ne5 16. Bg5 a6 17. b5 axb5 18. cxb5 c5 19. Nc2 c4 20. Kh1 Nd3 21. Bxd3 cxd3 22. Nb4 Qc5 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Ncd5 Bg7 25. Qxd3 Rc8 26. a4 h5 27. Na6 Bxa6 28. bxa6 Qa5 29. Qb5 Be5 30. f4 Bc3 31. Re2 Kg7 32. g3 h4 33. gxh4 Rh8 34. Rc2 Be1 35. Qb2+ Kh6 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. Qg2 Bxh4 38. Qh3 1-0 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.24"] [Round "4"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Beliavsky, Alexander G"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2632"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Slovenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "SLO"] 1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nxd4 8. Nf3 Nxf3+ 9. Qxf3 Qc7 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. O-O Bc6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Rad1 e6 14. Nd5 O-O-O 15. Bxc6 exd5 16. Bxd5 Kb8 17. Rc1 Qd7 18. Rcd1 Be7 19. g3 Qc7 20. Rc1 Qd7 21. Rfd1 Rc8 22. Bxb7 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qxb7 24. Qf4+ Ka8 25. Rc7 1-0 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.25"] [Round "5"] [White "Sokolov, Ivan"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A57"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bosnia Herzegovina"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Qc2 bxc4 5. e4 d6 6. Bxc4 g6 7. b3 Nxe4 8. Bb2 Qa5+ 9. Kf1 Nf6 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Re1 Qd8 12. Qe2 Nbd7 13. h4 Ne5 14. Bb5+ Bd7 15. f4 Nh5 16. Bxd7+ Qxd7 17. Qe3 Qf5 18. Nh3 Qd3+ 19. Kg1 Qxe3+ 20. Rxe3 Ng4 21. Rf3 Bd4+ 22. Kf1 Ne3+ 23. Ke2 Nxg2 24. Ng5 h6 25. Nge4 Ngxf4+ 0-1 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.27"] [Round "6"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Leko, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2724"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Hungary"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "HUN"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bd3 Qc7 12. Bd2 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. a4 bxa4 15. Rxa4 Bb7 16. Rc4 Qa7 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rac8 20. Qd4 Bc5 21. Qc3 Rcd8 22. Qc2 Rfe8 23. Ng5 g6 24. Ba5 Bb6 25. Bc3 e5 26. Ne4 Re6 27. Bb4 Kg7 28. Rc6 Nf6 29. Rxe6 fxe6 30. Nxf6 Kxf6 31. Ra1 Qb7 32. Bc3 a5 33. Qa4 g5 34. h4 h6 35. Qg4 Qh7 36. Qh5 Qg6 37. Bxe5+ Kf7 38. Qf3+ Kg8 39. Qc6 1-0

Vachier-Lagrave outplayed Gelfand

() vs. ()
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[Event "39th Olympiad Men"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2010.09.23"] [Round "3.17"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2010.09.21"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "FRA"] [BlackTeam "ISR"] {This game was played on the first board of the France-Israel match} 1. d4 {No Petroff, thanks!} d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 {Maxime prefers this sharp anti-moscow gambit} 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 b4 (14... c5 {was played 3 times in the Gelfand - Leko match last month, Gelfand was white and scored 2,5/3. By playing b4 he probably wanted to avoid some home preparation... but according to Rybka it's the best move and Maxime was ready}) 15. Na4 c5 {attacking both white central pawns} 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxd7+ Kxd7 19. O-O-O+ (19. Rd1+ Ke7 20. Bd6+ Ke8 $11) 19... Ke8 20. Bf4 Nxc5 21. Bxb7 Nxb7 22. Bxh6 Nc5 (22... Rxg2 23. Be3 { and the Nb7 is not very impressive, but the h pawn is still ready to run}) 23. Be3 Nd3+ 24. Kb1 Rxg2 25. h5 {in the interview after the game, Vachier-Lagrave said he was prepared until there approximatively. White has sacrificed a pawn to get the h-passed pawn} f5 {this move looks logical to come with the king} 26. h6 Kf7 27. h7 Rh8 {White played h5 h6 h7 but what to do now ?} 28. b3 $1 { destabilizing the knight} e5 {black wants to stop Bd4 to take in f2} (28... Nxf2 29. Rd7+ Ke8 (29... Kf6 $2 30. Rh6+ Rg6 31. Bd4+ e5 32. Bxe5+ Kxe5 33. Rxg6 $18) 30. Rxa7 Nxh1 31. Ra8+ Kf7 32. Rxh8 Rh2 33. bxc4 Ng3 34. Bf4 Rh1+ 35. Kc2 Ne2 36. Be5 f4 37. Kd2 Nc3 38. Bxf4 Rh5 39. Be5 $1 Ne4+ 40. Kd3 Nf2+ 41. Kc2 Ng4 42. Bd6 $18) 29. bxc4 {Wath carefully this second passed pawn...} Nxf2 30. Bxf2 Rxf2 { at first sight one could think this endgame is balanced} 31. c5 { the sentence of this game is : passed pawns should be pushed !} Rf3 { Boris knows since a very long time that rooks should be behind passed pawns, so he is going to c3. But amazingly he is already dead lost!!} (31... e4 32. c6 e3 33. c7 e2 34. Rc1 $18) 32. c6 $18 (32. Rc1 $2 Rd3 33. c6 Rdd8 34. c7 Rc8 {beautiful picture :-) But it must be draw}) 32... Rc3 33. Rd7+ Kg6 (33... Ke6 34. Rh6# {is unexpected !}) (33... Ke8 34. Rg1 Rxc6 35. Rxa7 $18) 34. c7 { impressive: 2 pawns reached the seventh rank after a mere 34 moves} f4 35. Rd6+ Kg7 36. Rg1+ Kf7 (36... Kxh7 37. Rh1+ Kg7 38. Rd7+ Kg8 39. Rd8+ Kg7 40. Rdxh8 $18) 37. Rd8 {Maxime still had 1 hour on his clock. Very few players can say they defeated the ultra solid and experimented Boris Gelfand with so much ease. } 1-0

39th chess Olympiad

I know it's not very original but Chess Olympiad are such a beautiful event I can't resist speaking of it!

In 2010 it will be played in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).

In the Open section, 150 teams are expected.
A tough battle is predictable between Russia-1 (Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler, Karjakin) and Ukraine (Eljanov, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Efimenko). But there are a lot of other strong teams like China, Hungary (with Judit), Armenia (2006 and 2008 titles holder!!), Azerbaijan (withouth Gashimov), France (without Bacrot), Israël, England (experience+youth), etc.
Russia (last time winner in... 2002) will have 5 teams in Open, Russia-2 being 4th seed and Russia-3 19th!
Past winners

In the Women section, 108 teams are expected.
Here too Russia-1 is the hot favorite but hasn't win since... 1986!! Main rivals will be China, Ukraine and Georgia, as usual.
Past winners

First round will be played on September 21^st, 11^th round on October 3^rd.