Drawing by my sister Sofia

There is a very interesting point about the Olympiad. Some people raised the issue that how come the US Men’s Team is tied for 4th even though the team is 6-0?

There are a few teams with perfect match records so far:

Women’s side -> Ukraine 6-0 (2nd)

Men’s side -> Belarus 6-0 (3rd), USA 6-0 (tie for 4th)

However, none of these teams are in 1st place. Why? Because match scores do not matter. A team can go 13-0 or 14-0 and still finish out of medal if every win is 2.5-1.5 or 2-1. This is why I mentioned before that strongest line ups must used as often as possible. Every half point counts! The US Women’s Team had the best overall match score in 2004 but only got the Silver because China had the best overall points.
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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