Several people have sent in scattered results from round two. Don't see them posted yet. The official website is, of course, a joke. What would be useful doesn't work and what works isn't useful. Reminds me of the Spanish diplomat who told the press, "What I can tell you isn't interesting and what is interesting I cannot tell you." I wonder how many tens of thousands of dollars were spent on a site and web staff currently serving no demonstrable purpose. I wonder if it will be updated during the event at all. The "go to games" section never works for me until the games are over. How has your luck been? (It's up now, so you can piece together results here. Click the little arrow image on the left to launch the viewing applet.)
Anyway, post'em as you get'em. Wiener-Zeitung should have the full board results up here eventually. USA beat Morocco 3.5-0.5 to get into gear. Russia scored another 4-0 with the same team. Are they saving Kramnik for someone stronger instead of getting him warmed up with weaker opposition?
Update: Other notable results include Azerbaijan getting spanked 3.5-0.5 by Portugal. Quick, name a player from Portugal. Exactly. Radjabov didn't play and Mamedyarov isn't playing (?), but still, yikes. I hope their captain regrets the match strategy of giving a nine-move draw on board three, although maybe that was the only thing preventing a 4-nil score. Maybe all their training money is going to the Radjabov challenge of Topalov... Shirov also took a non-game draw today, on board one against Estonia's Kulaots, whose name is not French. England only edged Turkmenistan thanks to a win by Adams.
Russia is the only team with 8 board points. They play Germany tomorrow. The USA plays the tough Phillipines team. The Phillipine media is, as usual, providing a blizzard of coverage. The 53-year-old Eugenio Torre just set the record for most consecutive Olympiad appearances, 19. More on that record and others in this Manila Bulletin article. Ukraine got back on track and faces Serbia & Montenegro in round 3, probably the last time that nation will participate.
Actually, I just checked "Go to games" part of the website, and for the first time, it actually worked.
Open group
Norway - Mexico 3-1
Females
Norway - France 0-3
Peace and Tranquility on Board.
Kulaots (Estonia)-Shirov (Spain) drawn in 13 moves.
Yah, round 2 game link now working.
http://www3.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/sungam/indRoundG2.do.htm
Yes! Chinese Taipei (my birth country) finally manages to score 1/2 a point after two rounds!
In the Shirov game, it looked as if the variation of the Ruy Lopez Shirov chose to defend as black allowed white to force a repetition if he wished to. He may have been hoping Kulaots would go for more, but he didn't, so repetition draw very early.
It's a known line and repetition trick. If either player doesn't want a draw, he avoids this line. Clearly it suited both players.
A couple of Estonian players were seconds to Shirov for his match with Kramnik. Is this guy one of them ? That would explain an early draw.
Quoted:
"Yes! Chinese Taipei (my birth country) finally manages to score 1/2 a point after two rounds!"
And they're playing Afghanistan next. Not a bad chance to win that match, either...
Some sanity restored, India beat Cyprus 4-0. Next up is Mongolia I think. Anand should be in by round 4.
Mig, I suspect you must be a big admirer of the Philippine's Eugenio Torre, since he shares your fondness for the Trompowsky ... ;-)
Surprising both that Shirov played the Zaitsev and that Kulaots went for the weenie repetition. The Zaitsev has really been taking a pummelling in recent high-profile tournaments (I recall Bacrot, in particular, being routed). This makes me suspect a prearranged draw.
I shall never forget GM Torre, chuckling along with a demented former World Champion on Radio Bomba (if I remember the station's name correctly).
I think England DELIBERATLY agreed a lot of draws so they wouldn't get too tough a pairing in the next round.
It's a better strategy than I thought at first glance.
In a team match using game points to determine the winner, the Swiss Gambit is potentially more effective. More ground can be made up by sweeping an opponent 4-0 while the point-leaders draw their match 2-2, as compared to an individual Swiss tournament.
The key is to stay just far behind the leading teams one's trying to avoid, while staying within range so that in the final two rounds, 7 to 8 points could send you over the top.
Isn't there a rule in these team events which requires that one player can play on only one board?
Sasikiran played on board 1 yesterday for India and is on board 2 today ...
6.3.8.7
Board order
See D.II.07, paragraphs 1.172 - 1.174 and 3.7. Not later than 20 hours before the start of Round 1, the players in each team must be listed in a fixed board order by their captain (men: boards 1-6; women: boards 1-4). The board order cannot be changed during the tournament.
6.3.9.1
Before the start of a round, the captain of a team must deliver to the Chief Arbiter, a sealed envelope containing a list of the team members who are to take part in the round in question. If this list is not delivered by the appointed time, the team may only use its top 4 players (men) or its top 3 players (women).
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I assume this means the four players who are picked by the team captain for each round, have to play in the board order (1-6) decided prior to the Olympiad. However this doesn't mean they'll necessarily be on the same board (1-4) every round. Sasikiran is registered as board 2 for India, and was only playing on board 1 while Anand wasn't present. Of course, if both Anand and Sasikiran decide to have a rest day later, Harikrishna (registered as board 3) will temporarily play as board 1.
So it is possible to *play* on different boards, unless you are registered as board 1 (or 6) for your country, in which case you'll always play on the first (or fourth) board when you are in action.
Interesting development with respect to the referendum in which independence for Montenegro was approved. So, now there will be a separate Montenegrin chess team. Does anybody have an idea of the chess strength of Montenegro, as an independent nation? The old federated Yugoslavia was a real powerhouse--certainly among the Top 5 chess countries in the World. Clearly, the sum of the parts is not greater than the whole...at least with respect to international sporting competitions. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that Herzegovina will not secede from Bosnia, nor Tobago from Trinidad! ;-)
Interesting development with respect to the referendum in which independence for Montenegro was approved. So, now there will be a separate Montenegrin chess team. Does anybody have an idea of the chess strength of Montenegro, as an independent nation? The old federated Yugoslavia was a real powerhouse--certainly among the Top 5 chess countries in the World. Clearly, the sum of the parts is not greater than the whole...at least with respect to international sporting competitions. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that Herzegovina will not secede from Bosnia, nor Tobago from Trinidad! ;-)
Mongolia have their sole GM and highest rated player on fourth board? Is such behaviour allowed?
I don't think Mongolia are breaking any rules. However, since the GM is registered as player number 6 for Mongolia, he'll only be able to play on board 4. Not possible to put him on board 1 later in the tournament.
I have no idea why they would do it like that, though. Maybe they finished in that order at the Mongolian national championships?
I don't think Mongolia are breaking any rules. However, since the GM is registered as player number 6 for Mongolia, he'll only be able to play on board 4. Not possible to put him on board 1 later in the tournament.
I have no idea why they would do it like that, though. Maybe they finished in that order at the Mongolian national championships?
Montenegro is by far the weaker chess half of Serbia and Montenegro. (They have a much smaller population, also.) I don't think there are any Montenegrans in the 2006 S&M Olympic team.