The US men’s team came up with the biggest win of the last round, knocking out Norway by the score of 3.5-.5. That vaulted them to a tie for third and winning the Bronze on tie-breaks. Congratulations to the US Men’s Team!
Armenia won the Gold as expected with 4 quick draws. China defeated the Netherlands by the score of 2.5-1.5 to win the first ever Olympiad team medal, Silver! Congrats to the Armenian and Chinese team!
Israel defeated the under-performed Russian’s men’s team by the score of 3-1 to tie for 3rd with the US. This is one of the most embarassing performances for the Russians. Coming in to this event, Russia brought in their A team to avenge their Silver standing in 2004 behind Ukraine. Their average team rating was 50+ ahead of others. They are going home with nothing and no where near the top.
Final Standings:
1. Armenia 36
2. China 34
3-4. Israel and USA 33 (USA winning the Bronze)
5. Hungary 32.5
In the women’s side, Ukraine drew Poland to secure the Gold. Russia defeated India 2-1 to secure a very disappointing Silver. The Russian women’s team also has an average rating of about 50 points higher than any other team but failed to live up to expectation again. They vowed to come home with 2 gold for men and women’s team. They are not even close.
China defeated Belarus 2.5-.5 to win the Silver. This is a very good performance for the Chinese women’s team without any of their women’s world champions such as Xie Jun, Xu Yuhua and Zhu Chen (plays for the Qatar men’s team). Congratulations to the Ukrainian women for their first ever Gold.
Final Standings (women):
1. Ukraine 29.5
2. Russia 28
3. China 27.5
4-6. USA, Hungary, Georgia 24.5
Boooo to the Hungarians for fixing a 4 game last rouns draw with the Armenians. Just serves them right to lose a medal with this approach. Boooooo.
Congratulations to USCF who proved to be the ultimate governing body for chess in the US. With no serious preparation, or even none at all to get such results in both tournaments is magical!
Susan, remember your “undefeated” blog. Well, the only two undefeated teams won both gold medals!! The new school of chess!
Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = – TB1 TB2 TB3
1 3 Armenia ARM 13 10 3 0 36.0 397.0 23
2 12 China CHN 13 8 1 4 34.0 393.0 17
3 7 USA USA 13 9 3 1 33.0 392.5 21
4 6 Israel ISR 13 9 3 1 33.0 380.5 21
5 16 Hungary HUN 13 7 4 2 32.5 386.5 18
6 1 Russia RUS 13 7 2 4 32.0 410.5 16
7 5 France FRA 13 7 5 1 32.0 396.0 19
8 4 Ukraine UKR 13 8 2 3 32.0 390.5 18
9 10 Bulgaria BUL 13 7 2 4 32.0 385.0 16
10 11 Spain ESP 13 7 4 2 32.0 377.5 18
11 20 Czech Republic CZE 13 7 4 2 31.0 399.0 18
12 8 Netherlands NED 13 8 1 4 31.0 396.0 17
13 30 Uzbekistan UZB 13 6 4 3 31.0 389.5 16
14 17 Georgia GEO 13 9 2 2 31.0 388.0 20
15 14 Germany GER 13 7 0 6 31.0 381.0 14
16 18 Cuba CUB 13 7 3 3 30.5 386.0 17
17 31 Sweden SWE 13 6 4 3 30.5 381.0 16
18 23 Moldova MDA 13 7 1 5 30.5 376.5 15
19 13 England ENG 13 8 2 3 30.5 366.0 18
20 25 Denmark DEN 13 8 2 3 30.0 396.0 18
21 21 Poland POL 13 7 1 5 30.0 381.0 15
22 22 Greece GRE 13 7 2 4 30.0 379.0 16
23 32 Slovenia SLO 13 8 2 3 30.0 378.5 18
24 9 Azerbaijan AZE 13 7 2 4 30.0 377.5 16
25 28 Croatia CRO 13 6 3 4 30.0 373.5 15
26 15 Romania ROM 13 5 4 4 30.0 372.0 14
27 29 Switzerland SUI 13 5 5 3 30.0 367.5 15
28 42 Latvia LAT 13 6 2 5 30.0 357.5 14
29 50 Australia AUS 13 7 0 6 30.0 351.0 14
30 2 India IND 13 6 3 4 29.5 391.5 15
31 24 Norway NOR 13 9 1 3 29.5 376.0 19
32 26 Brazil BRA 13 8 2 3 29.5 371.5 18
33 41 FYROM MKD 13 7 4 2 29.5 366.0 18
34 47 Canada CAN 13 7 0 6 29.5 357.0 14
35 43 Italy A ITA-A 13 5 3 5 29.5 354.5 13
36 19 Belarus BLR 13 7 2 4 29.0 381.0 16
37 33 Serbia & Montenegro SCG 13 6 1 6 29.0 376.0 13
38 34 Turkey TUR 13 6 2 5 29.0 372.5 14
39 37 Vietnam VIE 13 6 4 3 29.0 372.0 16
40 45 Indonesia INA 13 6 3 4 29.0 369.5 15
41 40 Bosnia Herzegovina BIH 13 6 4 3 29.0 367.5 16
42 39 Lithuania LTU 13 6 3 4 29.0 360.5 15
43 36 Slovakia SVK 13 7 0 6 28.5 373.5 14
44 35 Philippines PHI 13 4 5 4 28.5 369.5 13
45 27 Iceland ISL 13 7 1 5 28.5 368.0 15
46 46 Estonia EST 13 6 1 6 28.5 355.0 13
47 55 Mexico MEX 13 5 2 6 28.5 354.0 12
48 70 Italy B ITA-B 13 6 2 5 28.5 353.5 14
49 51 Iran IRI 13 5 1 7 28.0 375.5 11
50 48 Portugal POR 13 7 0 6 28.0 362.5 14
Stefanova,Antoaneta (2502) – Zatonskih,Anna (2433) [E04]
37th Olympiad w Turin ITA (5), 25.05.2006
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 a6 7.Nc3 Rb8 8.e4 Be7 9.Bf4 0-0 10.Qe2 b5 11.Rfd1 Nb4 12.Ne1 Bb7 13.a3 Nd3 14.Nxd3 cxd3 15.Rxd3 Nd7 16.h4 Nb6 17.Rdd1 Bd6 18.Be3 Nc4 19.Bc1 Nb6 20.b4 Qe8 21.e5 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Qc6+ 23.Ne4 Be7 24.Qf3 Qd5 25.Bg5 Rfe8 26.Kh2 h6 27.Bxe7 Rxe7 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Qg4+ Kh7 30.exf6 Rg8 31.fxe7 Rxg4 32.e8Q Qf3 33.Rd2 Nc4 34.Rda2 Ne3! [34…Rg8! 35.Qe7 Ne3 36.Rg1 Ng4+ 37.Kh3 Nxf2+ 38.Kh2 (38.Rxf2 is better, but Black is winning, eventually, after 38…Qxf2 39.Rg2 Qf5+ 40.Kh2 Rg4-+ ) 38…Rxg3! Is this is what Zatonskih missed? 39.Rxg3 Qh1# ]
35.Rg1 [35.fxe3?? Qxg3+ 36.Kh1 Rxh4+ 37.Rh2 Rxh2# ]
35…Rxh4+? A clever way to force a draw, at least if we ignore that Black could have won. [35…Rg8! 36.Qxg8+ (36.Qe7 transposes to 34…Rg8!) 36…Kxg8 37.fxe3 Qxe3 38.Rd1 f5 is much better for Black, though I’m not sure it’s enough to win.]
36.gxh4 Nf1+! The culmination of the combination.
37.Rxf1 Qf4+ 38.Kg1 Qg4+ 1/2-1/2
Women’s Final Standings
Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = – TB1 TB2 TB3
1 2 Ukraine UKR 13 12 1 0 29.5 299.0 25
2 1 Russia RUS 13 9 3 1 28.0 306.0 21
3 6 China CHN 13 8 3 2 27.5 307.5 19
4 5 USA USA 13 7 5 1 24.5 307.0 19
5 4 Hungary HUN 13 8 1 4 24.5 306.0 17
6 3 Georgia GEO 13 7 3 3 24.5 305.5 17
7 18 Netherlands NED 13 7 3 3 24.5 276.5 17
8 7 Armenia ARM 13 7 4 2 24.0 299.0 18
9 17 Slovenia SLO 13 7 2 4 24.0 286.0 16
10 22 Czech Republic CZE 13 8 0 5 24.0 270.5 16
11 8 Germany GER 13 6 5 2 23.5 287.5 17
12 9 India IND 13 7 2 4 23.0 305.0 16
13 10 Bulgaria BUL 13 7 3 3 23.0 302.0 17
14 11 Romania ROM 13 7 2 4 23.0 294.0 16
15 23 Vietnam VIE 13 5 3 5 23.0 283.5 13
16 26 Cuba CUB 13 7 3 3 23.0 279.0 17
17 25 Latvia LAT 13 7 2 4 23.0 263.0 16
18 15 France FRA 13 5 4 4 22.5 299.5 14
19 14 Greece GRE 13 8 2 3 22.5 297.0 18
20 12 Poland POL 13 8 1 4 22.5 293.0 17
21 32 Belarus BLR 13 6 3 4 22.5 293.0 15
22 16 Slovakia SVK 13 8 1 4 22.5 292.0 17
23 13 Lithuania LTU 13 7 1 5 22.0 286.5 15
24 41 Turkey TUR 13 6 4 3 22.0 273.0 16
25 19 Serbia & Montenegro SCG 13 5 3 5 22.0 272.5 13
26 60 Philippines PHI 13 6 3 4 22.0 271.5 15
27 37 Iran IRI 13 5 3 5 22.0 271.0 13
28 24 Spain ESP 13 5 4 4 21.5 286.0 14
29 20 Israel ISR 13 7 2 4 21.5 281.5 16
30 36 Croatia CRO 13 5 4 4 21.5 281.0 14
31 40 Sweden SWE 13 6 3 4 21.5 260.0 15
32 39 Uzbekistan UZB 13 7 1 5 21.5 257.0 15
33 34 Estonia EST 13 5 3 5 21.0 285.5 13
34 29 Mongolia MGL 13 7 1 5 21.0 282.5 15
35 28 Argentina ARG 13 6 2 5 21.0 273.5 14
36 43 Turkmenistan TKM 13 5 1 7 21.0 266.5 11
37 21 Italy A ITA-A 13 6 3 4 21.0 266.0 15
38 33 Switzerland SUI 13 5 3 5 21.0 265.5 13
39 30 Moldova MDA 13 4 4 5 21.0 262.5 12
40 68 Indonesia INA 13 5 4 4 21.0 257.5 14
41 51 Canada CAN 13 6 1 6 21.0 252.5 13
42 35 England ENG 13 5 2 6 20.5 271.5 12
43 71 Venezuela VEN 13 6 2 5 20.5 264.5 14
44 58 Malaysia MAS 13 6 2 5 20.5 259.5 14
45 31 Kazakhstan KAZ 13 6 1 6 20.0 283.5 13
46 27 Ecuador ECU 13 6 2 5 20.0 280.0 14
47 53 Portugal POR 13 5 3 5 20.0 258.0 13
48 46 Colombia COL 13 7 1 5 20.0 256.0 15
49 63 El Salvador ESA 13 7 2 4 20.0 254.0 16
50 55 Iceland ISL 13 7 3 3 20.0 249.0 17
apparently the usa won 3rd place on tiebreaks.
Russian men headed by Kramnik who had a good performance falling to 6th place is kind of amazing. Russia began as the #1 seed.
India in 30th place headed by Anand is even more amazing. India began as the #2 seed.
Why didn’t Kramnik play in the last round (which Russia lost badly)? What strategy was this? I don’t understand.
Olympiad 2010 is in Siberia. Is that the place they sent Mark, after losing to Bobby?
I wonder why they bothered to move a piece in the Hungary-Armenian match. Not good for chess…
The most embarassing part for Russia must be having a reigning World Champion on the team and placing sixth in the final.
Our results prove that no specialized training is necessary from USCF, the players can prepare well enough themselves, and save tax payers and donators money.
“The most embarassing part for Russia must be having a reigning World Champion on the team and placing sixth in the final.”
Kramnik is not the World Champion. Don’t fool the audience here. He is just another who first deflected and now decided to join FIDE and his family again.
Topalov from Bulgaria is the World Chess Champion.
Armenia rocks!!!
“I wonder why they bothered to move a piece in the Hungary-Armenian match. Not good for chess…”
Typical for cheaters. They try to trick the audience to think they actually played the games.
Not too wise chess rule makers have still not implemented a law that players may draw without making a move. Instead they require from pre-arranged games to be displayed. This results in tens of thousands of fake games in chess databases.
Where is Armenia actually? Somewhere near Russia, I presume.
Go USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Результаты матча 11-го тура Россия – США, только ставшие известными, показали, что предположения насчет нашей мужской команды не оправдываются. Жаль…
“without any of their women’s world champions such as Xie Jun”
The old womens’ generation must slowly or even immediately leave the big playing scene. Pia Cramling, Alisa Maric, Nana Ioseliani, Maya Chiburdanidze, all.
I wonder why are some people surprised that Armenians got gold. Go read some chess history.
Also, if you assume that Armenia-Hungary was fixed, why don’t you make the same assumption about some of the other games of other teams.
I think our team was well worth the gold medals.
” Anonymous said…
Результаты матча 11-го тура Россия – США, только ставшие известными, показали, что предположения насчет нашей мужской команды не оправдываются. Жаль… “
I definitely agree with this. I think. When I can tell what it says I’ll know for sure if I agree or disagree.
From Morphy to Kramnik is WORLD CHAMPION line. These FIDE tournament winners are all just top ten GM’s. Take a look at all of the FIDE champions including Topalov, just top ten GM’s. You will see Topalov lose to Kramnik later this year if the match takes place. Kramnik beat Kasparov and will have no trouble disposing of Topalov. Just go to http://www.chessgames.com or http://www.chesslab.com and see all of the games played between Kramnik and Topalov. Overall record: Vladimir Kramnik beat Veselin Topalov 19 to 9, with 33 draws. Speak with empirical data and facts to back up your statements or they are hot air in a balloon and will pop as such. Back to subject at hand after deflating Anonymous Coward: Great result for Men’s USA Team headed by Gata Kamsky who is definately back in form to be top ten GM. Great result for USA Women’s team in ending up just behind leaders. If only they would have had Board 1 SUsan Polgar it would have made all the difference in the world and they also would have won a medal.
USA WINS CATEGORY PRIZE!!!
Winners of the Category prizes:
Group A: Israel
Group B: Sweden
Group C: Italy B
Group D: Tajikistan
Group E: Japan
Women`s Category Prizes:
Group A: USA
Group B: Czech Republic
Group C: Philippines
Group D: Indonesia
Group E: Algeria
“You will see Topalov lose to Kramnik later this year if the match takes place.”
See you later this year, when we will blog again.
In both the general and women chess olympiad, the final matches were fixed. The longest game on the women side (Ukraine-Armenia) was 12 moves, 15 moves in the longest general (Armenia-Hungary). This is certainly not chess, let them have their draws without play and stop the silly show.