Chess Olympiad begins in Spain

[Carte Blanche]

Originally posted by Tintin
India screwed up badly in the 9th and 11th rounds to lose to Cuba and Israel. Even the defeat against Russia could have been avoided. Hopefully, we'll still finish in top 5

Yes I was hoping India would finish within the top 3 before the Olympiad started. Heh I tend to forget that Vishy can win only 1 game per round. He played 2 outstanding games in the last few days though. He crushed Morozevich, and today's game against Macijiea was just another example of what a class act he is. Nimzowitsch would've loved to see him play if he was alive today. Vishy will soon cross the 2800 barrier. So will Kasparov actually (other way around).

[cricketfan]

After 13 rounds(one more round to go), Ukraine is 3 points clear of their nearest rival and they are virtually assured of men's title. There is nothing virtual in the women's category though where China have actually won with one round to spare. They have a lead of 3.5 points over their nearest rivals and as such they have won and thus retained their title.

Standing after 13 rounds:

Men:

1. Ukraine 36.5
2. Russia 33.5
3. Armenia 33.0
4. Israel 32.5
5. India 31.5
6. US 31.5
7. Cuba 31.5
8. Bulgaria 31.0
9. Georgia 31.0
10. France 30.5

Women:

1. China 29.0
2. US 25.5
3. Russia 25.5
4. Georgia 25.0
5. France 24.5
6. Hungary 24.0
7. Slovakia 24
8. India 23.5
9. Ukraine 23.0
10. England 23.0

[cricketfan]

Indian men with 3 super GMs and the World no. 2 in their ranks are seeded 5 th and it looks like they will just about justify their seeding. They are at present 5th with one round to go and in the last round they face Bulgaria(seeded 20th). If results go according to rankings then India should finish in top 5 with third place a distant possibility.

Indian Women headed by the prodigiously talented Koneru Humpy who owns a men's GM title are seeded 6th and they are also likely to just about live up to their seeding. They will play England(seeded 27 th) in the last round.

Performance of the two Indian teams have been slightly disappointing considering the talent at their disposal in this tournament, but looking at it statistically, this is already the best ever performance by India in any chess olympiad.

[mahbubH]

Bangladesh finished the chess olympiad with good note. This year they improve their overall standing.

This year : 41
Last year : 47

As we all are expecting some GM norms from Rifat, Rakib and Rajib but they failed to get any. Bangladesh is also lucky to have a weak team at the last round in Lebanon.

At there are some improvements ....

[Zunaid]

Br. Name Elo FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pkt. Rp
1 GM Rahman Ziaur 2535 BAN 10200037 1 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 7.0 2539
2 IM Reefat Bin-Sattar 2462 BAN 10200207 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 5.5 2439
3 IM Abdulla Al-Rakib 2474 BAN 10200444 1 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 6.0 2398
5 IM Hossain Enamul 2413 BAN 10200649 1 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 7.5 2444
6 FM Ahmed Sk Nasir 2359 BAN 10200525 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 4.5 2322

Only Zia and Rajib played marginally above their ratings. The others below. Rajib had a great start but lost it at the end.

This was a satisfactor performance.

Bangladesh actually was the best in Asia behind the traditional powerhouses (ex soviet republics of Armenia/Azerbaizan/Uzbekistan/Kazakhstan, India and China).

It's good to see us above some other traditionally strong Asian countries (Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines - the last has fallen since the days of Eugene Torre).

I was also surprised to see Sweden and Croatia so low in the list - At least Pia Cramling made up for it for the Swedish women. I am always a fan of Swedish women.

[Carte Blanche]

lol Dr Z. Pia Cramling isn't really a hot cake, compared to most other Swedish Women

[cricketfan]

As expected, Ukraine lifted men's title ahead of Russia. China had already won women's title with one round to spare.

Indian men finished 6th and Indian women were 9th. It is their best ever performance in Chess Olympiad but below their seedings.

Indian men though can feel proud of their performance. In this type of meet, draw plays an important role in deciding the final outcome. Indian men team was the only team that had to face as many as 8 out of top ten seeded teams( England were the only top ten team they did not face, India themselves being the remaining top ten team). Other top seeded teams did not have to face more than five or six top ten teams and often got to play against some weak teams. This may have cost them about two points. However, Indian performance against the top ten teams was quite outstanding.