2010 Chess Olympiad round 1

2010 Chess Olympiad round 1 LIVE!
Minute by minute updates from Khanty Mansiysk

13:35 CET

Vukovic and Sedlak make it 2-0 for Serbia against Monaco.

13:30 CET

Nakamura is the first US player to finish for today, and he does it in blitz style, finishing with 1 hour more on the clock than his opponent 1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Nge2 e5 7.O-O c6 8.a4 a5 9.h3 Qc7 10.Be3 Na6 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Rad1 Nb4 13.f4 b6 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.d5 Ba6 16.Bg5 Qd6 17.Rf2 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 Nh5 19.Qf3 f6 20.Be3 Rf8 21.dxc6 Qxc6 22.Rfd2 Rab8 23.Qf2 Qc8 24.Nb5 f5 25.Nd6 Qe6 26.Bf1 Kh8 27.Bc4 Qf6 28.g4 Nf4 29.Bxf4 exf4 30.exf5 gxf5 31.Nxf5 Qxb2 32.Nxg7 Qxg7 33.Rd7 Qe5 34.Re1 1–0

13:15 CET

Moiseenko wins against Noah giving a full point to Ukraine 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 a6 4.Bxc4 b5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Qf3+ Nf6 7.Qxa8 Be6 8.Qf3 Nc6 9.Qd1 Bf5 10.Nf3 Nb4 11.O-O c5 12.Nc3 Ke8 13.a3 Nc2 14.Ra2 b4 15.axb4 cxb4 16.e4 Nxe4 17.Qxc2 bxc3 18.Qa4+ Bd7 19.Qxa6 1–0

Note: In the live games from Khanty Mansiysk there can be temporary errors due to broadcast bandwidth. If you notice a strange position, please, let us know.

13:10 CET

Judith Polgar is out of danger after a blunder from her opponent. Almasi is still in an equal, but pleasant position, making the things look good for Hungary.

13:05 CET

GM Kiril Georgiev (white) will have to show why he is a great endgame player. His game against Abu Sufian reached 2 Rooks and pawns against 2 rooks and pawns, and the position currently is totally equal.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Qa4 Nc6 10.Nf3 a6 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Qb3 e6 13.Ne5 Bd6 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.O-O Ng4 17.g3 h5 18.Ne2 h4 19.h3 Nf6 20.g4 Ne4 21.Qc2 O-O 22.f3 Ng3 23.Nxg3 Qxg3+ 24.Qg2 Qxg2+ 25.Kxg2 Rfb8 26.Rf2 a5 27.f4

13:00 CET

Could this be true? Pentala Harikrishna is also down! Tim Kett scores for Wales, a memorable and great victory!

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.a5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e3 g6 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.O-O Qd8 12.e4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 O-O 14.b4 e5 15.d5 c5 16.Qb3 cxb4 17.Qxb4 Re8 18.Rfd1 Bf8 19.d6 Nb8 20.Qb3 Be6 21.Nxe5 Bxc4 22.Nxc4 Nd7 23.f4 Rc8 24.e5 g5 25.Nd5 gxf4 26.Ncb6 Nxb6 27.Nf6+ 1–0

12:55 CET

Incredible, but the first super GM defeat came in round 1! This is GM Le Quang Liem, who loses to the Botswana player Kheto Phemelo. Now someone will say, how come Botswana? We reported on the country’s expectations just 5 days before the Olympiad, read for yourself

Here are the moves of the game 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. b3 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Bb2 Bf5 6. c3 e6 7. Be2 cxd4 8. exd4 Bd6 9. O-O Ne4 10. Nbd2 Qf6 11. c4 Qh6 12. cxd5 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Bxh2+ 14. Nxh2 Qxd2 15. dxc6 Qxe2 16. cxb7 Rb8 17. Ba3 Qa6 18. Bc5 f6 19. Rfe1 Kf7 20. a4 Qxb7 21. b4 h5 22. a5 a6 23. Re3 h4 24. Nf3 h3 25. g3 h2+ 26. Nxh2 Rxh2 27. Kxh2 Rh8+ 0-1

12:45 CET

After 14. g5? from Akylbekov, Wang Yue is on the way to winning his game.

12:30 CET

Polgar’s teammate, GM Almasi, is also going to have a long game, he is currently in an equal position on board 1 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 d5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 a6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. b4 Bd6 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Be2 Re8 12. O-O Bg4 13. Re1 Bc7 14. Rc1 Qd6 15. g3 Rad8 16. Na4 Ne4 17. Nc5 *

12:15 CET

Judit Polgar, playing in the men team of Hungary, is going to have a difficult game. So far her opponent Ahmad Fawzi Samhouri has advantage 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. d5 c5 10. g3 Ne8 11. Nh4 Nb6 12. Bd2 Bd7 13. Rab1 Rc8 14. Ng2 *, follow the featured game here

12:00 CET

GM Karjakin has now chances after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Qc7 8. c3 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 Nf6 10. Bc2 Bd6 11. Bg5 Bd7 12. Re1 h6 13. Bh4 O-O-O 14. Ne5 Rhf8 *, 15.Bg3 would give nice advantage to white.

11:45 CET

To an Olympiad all players come prepared. This is confirmed by Amanda Marques Pereira (1980) who is putting up a good fight against Ju Wenjun (2580). After the opening the position is completely equal 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Kh1 O-O 9. f4 d6 10. Qe1 Bd7 11. Qg3 Nc6 * This game is featured with separate special broadcast here

11:30 CET

After the initial confusion caused by the high traffic, the games are now live here.

11:15 CET

The long expected Olympiad proves to have generated maximum interest. The multiple users converging at the official website have provoked an expected crash down in the live coverage all over the world (currently not available anywhere).

11:00 CET

And the games are on! Grischuk and Collins opened on board 1 with 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 a6 *

Note: the official site server is inaccessible at the moment, Round 1 live with computer analysis will start in a few minutes!

10:30 CET

Now the playing hall is getting busy, with all the boards on their places and players, accompanying people, trainers, arbiters, coaches, and audience arriving. True Olympic spirit, that started with a spectacular opening ceremony yesterday.

10:15 CET

One of the central discussions of the day in Khanty Mansiysk is the participation of five Russian teams in the open section, plus three in the women section. Viktor Novotny from Novoborsky just commented, “Our problem is that Russia 2 and 3 are very strong and can damage our final position, which is very important for our federation. If there is no good result (at least 16th, we’re seeded 17th, having three Russian teams above us), there will be no money from the state.”

10:00 CET

More surprises are expected in the women section, where ratings are closer. The favorites Russia, China, and Ukraine all rest one important player, but will aim at maximum points possible. Starting from board 13 the average rating difference goes down to 100 points, while the number of titled players is equal, thus making the competition very interesting.

9:45 CET

Top cumulative rating games of the day:

GM Wang Yue 2732 – Akylbekov Nasyr 2390
GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 – IM Khader Sami 2449
IM Arias Santana Mauricio 2345 – GM Akopian Vladimir 2691
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756 – IM Solomon Kenny 2394
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2733 – IM Ziska Helgi Dam 2439
IM Cubas Jose Fernando 2463 – GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2721
IM Mas Hafizulhelmi 2422 – GM Adams Michael 2728
GM De La Riva Aguado Oscar 2521 – GM Motylev Alexandr 2694
GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2681 – FM Jones Richard S 2373
GM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2633 – FM Elliott Warren 2254
GM Banikas Hristos 2590 – CM Machin Rivera Mark 2229
M So Wesley 2668 – CM Lee Sanghoon 2146

9:30 CET

The first round is scheduled for 11:00 CET (15:00 local time). As the tradition goes, there can be a slight delay due to honorary move and official start of the games. The moment moves are on the board, they will appear here.

Yesterday GM Kramnik expressed his high desire to win gold at the Olympiad. This explains his absence from board 1 today, where GM Grischuk and IM Collins will have the honor to start the tournament.

9:15 CET

Round 1 has paired the favorites against relatively weaker teams (average 350 ELO points difference). On one hand this gives the favorites a secure start, but on the other the Olympiad is very balanced and every game counts – both as a tiebreak and as a possibility for individual medal. Regarding the underdogs, this is their chance to play against the top elite and get a shot at a good game in from of numerous audience. How would it feel to beat a 2700 GM? And what about an ex world champion?

Round 1 is also a chance for lower boards of the top teams to get some action. As this is a long competition, many teams opt to give rest to their experienced players. Kramnik, Ponomariov, Radjabov, Aronian, Gelfand, Navara, Dominguez, and Carlsen are some of the players that will have rest in the first game of the Chess Olympiad.

9:05 CET

As the news from Khanty Mansiysk are coming, feel free to browse through the general Olympiad news section where you can find over 50 news, 200 updates, 150 photos, all related to the Chess Olympiad 2010.

9:00 CET

Hello everyone and welcome to the live coverage of the Olympiad on Chessdom.com! Continuing in the same style as yesterday, we will follow for you the latest details from the playing hall in Khanty Mansiysk. The pairings (open section and women section) are already known, and with them many details that will be presented in today’s coverage.