CHESS #112008

Russia and defending champions Armenia are locked at the top of the Olympiad standings, with both teams having 11 points out of a possible maximum of 12. They have drawn each other. Seven teams including India, China, Israel, Ukraine, France, and Germany occupy the second slot. In the women’s section, defending champions China have a clear lead after winning a key match versus Hungary.

In an 11-round Swiss, the chances are good that tiebreaks will be required. The rule of thumb is that with 150-odd teams in the fray, the square root of 150 (about 13 rounds) would be required for clear 1,2,3 to emerge.

The Armenians are playing outstandingly as a team and the switch to scoring by victory points has helped them. Aronyan and Akopyan have been knocking off wins on the top boards while Sargissian and Petrosian hold draws down the order. Since in this format, a minimum win of 2.5 points is good enough, it has worked well as a strategy.

Russia won narrowly against India with Harikrishna scoring a fast brilliancy against Peter Svidler and Sasikiran drawing a superior position against Kramnik. But Grischuk and Morozevich pulled it back for the Russians.

So far, Sasikiran has been outstanding with rating performances of over 2800, while Harikrishna, Ganguly and Gopal have also played well above their ratings. If the team can maintain its current momentum it could definitely be a surprise medal contender. It has a fair blend of experience and class and it’s obviously gelled well as a team. Individual members have gone into each match with a clear idea of their task for the day (win/ draw).

On the distaff side, the women pulled a creditable draw against Russia but they have lost to Hungary. The women appear less likely to maker a medal challenge simply because it’s a rather inexperienced squad. In crunch matches, it will be difficult for them to combine well.

Meanwhile, the on/off Kamsky Topalov match has provided a sideshow with Sofia making a bid that Kamsky has apparently accepted. The details are not clear and with this match, there’s likely to be more twists and turns. The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY, (Harikrishna Vs Svidler, Olympiad 2008) is set up for a spectacular finish. White played 25. Rxe6!! The idea is 25. -fxe6 26. Bxe6+ Kh8 27. Qf3 Bd4 28. Qh3+ Kg7 29. Qh6+ Kf6 30. Bf5! Rg8 31. Qg5+ Kg7 32. Qe7+ Kh8 33. Qh4+ Kg7 34. Bh6+ - this is a long but extremely convincing variation and there are other ways to win as well. Svidler responded with 25. Rxe6 Rab8 26. Qf3 Nc4 27. Re7 (1-0). The threats of Be3, Rc7 etc force resignation.