The American men’s team had big problems in round 1 where they were expected to score a big win. Remember, the Olympiad is NOT about match scores but individual points. Therefore, every point counts!

The 7th ranked US Men’s Team faced a weaker #79th ranked New Zealand team with 3 IMs and 1 FM. Onischuk, Ibragimov and Akobian all drew against players a few hundred points below them. Only Kaidanov won on board 3 for a 2.5 – 1.5 US win. This is a slow start for the US men’s team. I hope they can come back and have a big second round.

According to the official site, the US Women’s Team won by a 2 – 1 margin. However, on the Olympiad site, it shows that the team won by a 3 – 0 margin. I believe 3 – 0 is the correct score.

The Russian Men’s and Women’s Team scored 7-0 as expected. It would be a big upset if the Russians do not walk away with double Gold medals by a wide margins. The Indian Men’s team was upset by Morocco!

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tags: