I'll add more here later, but wanted to get at least this one up now since it has some of the first round results. Buddy, former teammate, and erstwhile AP chess reporter Rob Huntington is blogging in Turin: www.allthingshuman.com. From the number of times I've watched his laptop crash over the years it's not going to win any tech or design awards, but hey, it's up and running so far! Actually, I see that WZ has the full board results up now. Check Rob out anyway. (A pic of him beardless at the bottom of this page. He's see no evil.)
The USA barely beat New Zealand, 2.5-1.5. Russia scored the predicted 4-0 over Kazakhstan. In a shocker, Morocco beats India 3-1! Get on that plane, Vishy!
Post links to other sources covering the Olympiad and I'll move the better ones up here.
Relax -- India is just playing the "Swiss Gambit."
They'd better check the Moroccan team for the clear and the cream.
Mongolia holding Azerbaijan to a draw has to be an upset, too. And who is that playing board four for the Azeris? Surely they're deeper than having a 2100 player even as a reserve.
Perhaps the Azerbaijani Chess Federation treasury is exhausted, after putting up the megaSwissFrancs for the Radjabov-Topalov match. ;-) The 2100 guy probably either made a big donation to the Federation, or is paying the team's travel and hotel bills...
USA men face giant killers Morocco tomorrow.
USA vs. Morocco -- a repeat of the Barbary Wars.
No that would be USA vs. Libya.
"From the Halls of Montezeuma
To the shores of Tripoli!"
In the Battle of Derna (1805, during the First Barbary War), Tripoli was a city-state, but I don't believe the country of Libya (as we currently know it) yet existed.
Further nitpicking - The Kingdom of Morocco was indeed one of the antagonists in the Barbary Wars (but they may have capitulated to the US without battle, I'm not sure).
Where is Kramnick wasn't he playig ?
Kramnik became sick again when he saw Topalov's comeback.
Swiss gambit? First time i hear this term. I guess it is kind of strategy for playing weaker opponents at the first rounds. But does it yield? I doubt..
Swiss Gambit. How does it actually work in such a high profile team event ? In the end, medals are based on Cumulated points. Does that not mean, every fraction of point is important ? Can some one explain or illustrate it if it actually worked out in the past.
Personally, I feel India has shown their worst performance.
According to the Hindu, Ubilava was so confident of victory that he decided to rest Sasikiran.
what a disaster.
Some photos from the Latvians travel to the Olympiad:
http://www.latchess.lv/coppermine/index.php
Today our men face the Russians, while the girls are up against Peru. Photos coming up later :)
Our American Russians will beat the Russians Russians and the Israeli Russians and the Ukrainian Russians and all the other Russians too.
Because Americans are the best!!
Hikaru Nakamura is not Russian. He was born to a Japanese Father and an American Mother.
"Hikaru Nakamura is not Russian."
Your grasp of facts is tremendous but your grasp of humor is less impressive. :)
watch out for wesley so our pinoychess phenom!
Akobian is not russian, he's armenian.
Onishuk is not Russian he's from Crimea, which is an autonamous republic south of Ukraine.
Kamsky is an ethnic Turk who was born in Russia, but not russian.
Ildar Ibragimov is the only russian on the US team. Humor is rooted in truth.
So sorry, I really thought Hikaru was from Omsk.
While Tunisia is hardly a chess power, Ethiopia managing to go 2-2 against Tunisia while fielding three non-FIDE-rated players is to be commended. Either that, or it's a sad commentary on Tunisia's non-GMs...
IBCA - Ukraine 1/2:3 1/2
Does anybody know what IBCA is?
International Barbeque Cookers Association?
Idaho Building Contractors Association?
Ithaca Breast Cancer Alliance?
International Braille Chess Association (an organization of blind chessplayers)
International Braille Chess Association -> IBCA
International Physically Disabled Chess Association -> IPCA
IBCA=International Braille Chess Association ICSC=International Committee of Silent Chess
IPCA=International Physically Disabled Chess Association
I had no idea that these organizations had their own teams in the Olympiad. And they even have 3, 3 and 4 IMs correspondingly on their teams. Not bad at all! :-)
Now, how come ICGA (International Computer Games Association) doesn't have its own team here? :-P
"Some photos from the Latvians travel to the Olympiad:
http://www.latchess.lv/coppermine/index.php
Today our men face the Russians, while the girls are up against Peru. Photos coming up later :)"
Yes, please post photos! Especially of WGM Reizniece Dana! :)
What place a team made of Rybka, Shredder, Fruit, and Toga take?
ChessBase could make their own team. Fritz, Junior, Hiarcs, Zap!, and Nimzo as reserve.
Wait so someone on the 2600 ELO+ Ukrainian team took a draw with a -blind- guy? That had to smart. Ivanchuk gives out enough dirty looks already I'd hate to be the guy who let that happen in a round where Russia went 4-0.
It was Ivanchuk who drew with IBCA's IM Krylov Sergey (2387). Guess the advantage of being blind is not being intimitated by Ivanchuk's stare. :-P
Is the IBCA team playing blinded or are they using braille/physical touch or some such? I assumed the latter.
Yuriy
Seems like braille chess is played with a special chess set, made in a way that makes it possible to distinguish the different coloured squares and pieces by touch.
http://www.braillechess.net/board.html
Right, KB.
I have played quite a few games against blind players. They used their Braille board and announced their moves, I used a regular chess board and announced mine. (The moves of course always being transferred to the respective other board by its player.)
We did not have special clocks (I suppose such exist?) The blind player was always allowed to ask for the remaining times. (The blind players kept a Braille score, so they knew the number of moves played.)
I remember playing at the world open in Philly a long time ago. this blind guy was playing next to me and he won his game. the loser was really angry. he was complaining that it was unfair that he had to sort of help the blind person know what the moves were. it took a long time to calm this guy down.
the blind person has a reasonably good tournament. I am not sure but he was in the middle of the group. I think a little better than average. or he was in the top half at least. definitely we were both out of the money. but he was having a good time.
I think one of his complaints was that he had to write down the moves and the blind person did not have to write down the moves.
Chess is a game and he should have been a better sport about it.
I too recall seeing blind people play at Open tournaments in the US, as early as the 1960s. They would constantly feel their Braille chess sets so as to "see" the position in progress. One guy I remember in particular was James Slagle, who played in many events in those years and was U.S. Blind Champion for awhile. (Yes, there was an annual championship only for the blind. John Manetta, a New York local player I got to know pretty well when I was a kid, later lost his eyesight and played in the blind championship.)
Hard to imagine someone being such a Neanderthal (and such a bad sport) as to complain about the inconvenience of having to play a blind guy.
Oh well, I recall a time when people used to complain when they were paired against "girls." Some would complain, out loud, to a TD; others would show their class by saying something offensive to the woman they'd been paired against.
I might add that if I remember correctly, the blind players I faced did not have to keep score, but did (in Braille).
The idea of complaining about the blind player not having to write down the moves is very ugly indeed.
I never experienced anyone complaining about being paired against "girls" (self included). Nor anyone complaining against losing against them just because they were female (self included again).
It seems I move in more pleasant chess circles than some people here. You have my sympathy.
Charles, there was a thread here less than a month ago, where numerous commenters -- including more than one Dirt regular -- were going back and forth with remarks about female players' breast sizes, and how they (the commenters) would feel if paired against them. Good thing you missed that one!
(And, lest anyone think I'm taking a "holier-than-thou" tone here, I'll confess I was part of that thread too, I think.)
The Bd 4 Azeri (Durarbeyli) took part in the U14 European Chp last year (according to the FIDE website). So he probably didn't make a large donation..
hello to the beautiful board one lady player of the philippine chess team!