The biggest upset of the Turin Olympiad in round 1 is the collapse of the Indian Men’s Team. Even without Anand who just finished Mtel, they were the heavy favorite. However, they lost to the Moroccan team with 1 GM, 2 FMs and 1 untitled player scored 3 – 1 against the #2 seed.
I am sure India will bounce back. Just remember that every point counts in the Olympiad. It is very important not to waste even 1/2 point. That is why Anna Zatonskih and I played in all 14 games in 2004 and Irina Krush played 12 / 14 games.
Here is the list of some of the upsets:
#74 Morocco (MAR) – #2 India (IND) 3 : 1
#9 Azerbaijan (AZE) – #81 Mongolia (MGL) 2 : 2
#69 Tunisia (TUN) – #143 Ethiopia (ETH) 2 : 2
#7 USA (USA) – #79 New Zealand (NZL) 2½ : 1½
#90 Algeria (ALG) – #18 Cuba (CUB) 1½ : 2½
#19 Belarus (BLR) – #91 Wales (WLS) 2½ : 1½
#92 El Salvador (ESA) – #20 Czech Republic (CZE) 1½ : 2½
#120 Cyprus (CYP) – #48 Portugal (POR) 1½:2½
In the women’s side, #71 seed Venezuela (VEN) defeated the #19 seed Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) by the score of 2 – 1.
Indians are a bunch of knuckleheads
This is shocking! Very bad job by the team!
Wow! India lost! Amazing!
anonymous : “Indians are a bunch of knuckleheads”
I think this blog spot is not the right place for this kind of comments.
Yeah, for that kind of comments, they need to go to daily dirt, not here.
Please do not insult the Indian team. I am sure they will bounce back next round.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
http://www.PolgarChess.com
Susan, where can I find the complete results (including invidual games) of the Olympiads ? ICC only shows the results of the star games.
http://schach.wienerzeitung.at/tnr3410.aspx?tnr=3410&art=2&rd=1&lan=1&flag=30
http://schach.wienerzeitung.at/tnr3411.aspx?tnr=3411&art=2&rd=2&lan=1&flag=30
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
if every point is so important why are teams holding back?
where didn’t:
shirov, adams, kramnik, aronian, radjabov, nakamura, bu,
play in the 1st round? this is the olympics people the most presitguous thing more presitigous than individual crowns.
I don’t know. I have played 56 consecutive games without ever sitting out. I am very much against top players sitting out.
Our captain in 2004 insisted the top 3 boards to play in every game unless someone is not well. That was why we won the Silver when the US has never won a single medal before that.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
The blog title “Indian men’s team collapsed in round 1” was too provocative for some. Susan is becoming too much of a journalist.
“In the women’s side, #71 seed Venezuela (VEN) defeated the #19 seed Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) by the score of 2 – 1.”
How can a team from Venecuela (I don’t even know where this country is) defeat a team of three woman grandmasters, which also has imported russian players??
Morocco, Mongolia and Venezuela, I love you!
The Chess Olympiad is so beautiful. Can we see some live photos from maybe some of your friends over there?
Where is Morocco?
“Wow! India lost! Amazing!”
No its not. India has no quality trainers like we have. Their players are lefto to work alone. Remember Anand’s comments a few years ago? Even his Chess Academy couldn’t get things going for India.
Susan, you were right (as usual) about the official Olympiad site. It is, so far, good enough only for: boooooooooo.
Guys and gals, I don’t mean to insult you but I don’t think that it is a good testimonial for you to parade with the fact that you don’t know where a specific country is. For example, do you know where Hungary or Bulgaria are…? Please, I appeal to you to abondon such kind of commentary and focus on the chess aspects right?
faso
As an Indian myself I am not surprized that they lost because indians lack in team compition, may be they dont have good coaches to teach them about team play!!!
“That is why Anna Zatonskih and I played in all 14 games in 2004 and Irina Krush played 12 / 14” – This is an amazing comment – what about the poor other player(s) – were they being paid for the trip or what? Or just shafted