The US Women’s Team is currently in 3rd place at 15.5 points. They will have a chance to catch or even pass the leader Russia at 17.5 points. The US needs to win by the score of 2.5-.5 to tie and 3-0 to take overtake Russia. On the other hand, if the US loses this match, any chance for Gold is just about out the window.
Medal contender Hungary is facing the 2nd place team Ukraine while Georgia is facing Bulgaria. I believe Ukraine will be Russia’s toughest challenge on the leaderboard at the finish line.
On the overall side, 3rd place Cuba faces the leader Armenia while the Czech Republic is faces Russia. Denmark will be the next opponent for the US.
We have now passed the half way mark. Points are harder to come by since the competition will only get tougher. To win the Olympiad Gold, it takes desire, hard work, determination, heart, and strong nerve. It also requires taking precise calculated risks.
Years from now, people will only remember the Champion, the Winner, the #1. No one will remember the runner up or the ridiculous title vice-champion.
Will Armenia have what it takes to hold the Russian team in the overall Olympiad? Will Ukraine be able to catch Russia in the Women’s Olympiad? Will the US win any medal? 6 more rounds to go for all the marbles!
How not to play chess (see blacks moves only, especially the last one):
Kramnik,V (2729) – Aleksandrov,A (2634) [C67]
37th Olympiad Turin ITA (7), 28.05.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Ne4 Be7 12.b3 h5 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Nd4 Bd7 15.Ng5 Bxg5 16.Bxg5+ Ke8 17.e6 fxe6 18.Nxe6 Bc8 1-0
Susan, why do the Russian girls have two boards with white, and not our girls? It’s better to have more white pieces.
“Will the US win any medal?”
We wil win the gold if USCF and all bloggers send them greetings, faxes of support, call them and encourage them, etc, etc.
Does the USA womens team have a blog page? There was one at the US championship 2006.
There is no possibility, in a women’s match, for the amounts of players with white or black on a side to be equal because there’s only three boards playing.
Cuba in 3rd place? I guess there is something to be said in favor of state-sponsored chess. Oh yeah, all of Cuba’s players are home-grown too.
Final Results:
Women: USA 1.5 – Russia 1.5
(Krush wins)
Men: USA 3 – Sweden 1
(Kamsky and Onischuk win)
My apologies. It is USA men 3-1 over Denmark, not Sweden.
WELL tieing the first place russian team says we are equal to them. not bad. maybe we dont jump into first place. but we can hold our head up high.
so far it looks like the usa women are doing better than the usa men in terms of the position in the standings.
and nice game Irena. You Krushed them Russians real good.
13 rounds total. 8 played so far. that leaves 5 to go. A lot can happen in 5 games. like susan says every half point is important.
if every team that Russia faces holds them to a tie. 1.5 – 1.5 and we can do 1/2 point better than a tie. 2 – 1. then in 5 games we would gain 2.5 points on Russia.
Tomorrow will be more good games.