Vladimir Kramnik to lead Russian team at the Chess Olympiad
November 12-25 (Dresden, Germany)
Russian Chess Federation has announced its five-men lineup for the Chess Olympiads, which will be held from 12th to 25th November in Dresden, Sport Telekanal reported. The selected players are Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Yakovenko, basically top rated Russians from the July rating list.
Having in mind that Dresden Chess Olympiad starts only twelve days after the end of the World Championship match between Kramnik and Anand, it is obvious that Russia wants to reclaim their dominance after losing the last two Olympiads to Ukraine and Armenia respectively. Russia took their last team gold at the 2002 Bled Olympiad when Garry Kasparov played on board one. Their powerful charge at the European Team Chess Championship on last November justifies the ambition.
Source: http://www.chessdom.com/news/chess-olympiad-russian-team
Now that Kramnik made a decision to play in the Olympiad, should Anand, Topalov, and Kamsky represent their countries in the Olympiad as well or should they sit out because of their matches?
They should but I don’t think the would.
I hear Kraminks Toilet won the coaching spot for the Russian team.
Good for Kramnik! Representing one’s country should be an honor,
unless you’re Jonathan Rowson and Nigel Short and can’t agree on whether you are countrymen or not!
Now that Kramnik made a decision to play in the Olympiad, should Anand, Topalov, and Kamsky represent their countries in the Olympiad as well or should they sit out because of their matches?
Chess is not a team sport. Having countries compete in chess, is totally non-serious. Kind of like the Davis Cup in tennis. Taking these seriously is a poorly interpreted patriotism.
Kramnik is certainly no poster boy for patriotism. He has barely played in the team in the recent past, save for 2006, when he was desperate for some practice and agreed to be a part of the team.