|
|
|
|---|
Last update: Monday June 5, 2006 14:49
Susan McFarland reports
The England teams rallied in the last three rounds, producing a good finish and turning what might have been a disappointing event into a satisfactory performance.
On Friday, the Men’s Team played Scotland. Michael Adams and Jonathan Speelman, with the black pieces, drew with Jonathan Rowson and John Shaw respectively, while Nigel Short and Stuart Conquest won against Colin McNab and Neil Berry. After this comfortable 3-1 victory, the team faced Iran in round twelve. Michael Adams’ win on Board one clinched the match as Nigel Short, Stuart Conquest and Nicholas Pert all drew their games. In the 13th and final round, England was paired against Serbia and Montenegro. Michael Adams and Nigel Short both won, and Nicholas Pert drew, making this England’s third victory in a row – an excellent finish in the Open Olympiad.
The Women’s Team achieved a convincing victory against the Dominican Republic on Friday, Jovanka Houska, Jessie Gilbert and Sophie Tidman winning 3-0. On Saturday, the team was paired against Switzerland, seeded two places higher. Jovanka Houska and Sophie Tidman drew, but Jessie Gilbert was not successful against WIM Monika Seps, and the match was lost. In the final round, England faced Finland, and wins from Jessie Gilbert and Jana Bellin secured the victory – a good finish in the Women’s Olympiad.
England’s Men’s Team started as the 13th seed and ended in 19th place, while the Women’s Team were the 35th seed and finished in 42nd place. Just half a point would have brought both teams close to their original seeding, so these were respectable performances. Contrast the Indian Men’s Team, the second seed, which found itself in 30th place. Three English players performed above their ratings: Michael Adams, Nicholas Pert and Sophie Tidman, and congratulations to them.
Armenia won gold in the Open Olympiad, the first time they have done so, a full two points ahead of silver medallists and 12th seed, China, for whom this was their first Olympiad team medal. The USA took the bronze medal after tie-break, as Israel tied with them for third place. In the Women’s Olympiad, the Ukraine won gold for the first time, one and a half points above the first seed, Russia. The silver medallists were just half a point higher than China, who captured bronze. All three medallists were significantly ahead of the field. China finished four points above fourth-placed Armenia, which tied with Hungary, Georgia and the Netherlands.
The best rating performance in the Open Olympiad was achieved by GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia with a performance of 2847. Three other players had performances over 2800, GM Yue Wang of China, GM Etienne Bacrot of France and Norwegian prodigy, GM Magnus Carlsen. Perhaps that by Yue Wang was the most noteworthy. At 2837, it was nearly 140 points above his own rating of 2598, achieved over 11 games. In the Women’s Olympiad, one player reached a performance over 2600 and two just below it. WGM Xue Zhao of China performed at 2617 over all 13 games. IM Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia had a performance of 2598, while twelve-year-old WFM Yifan Hou of China achieved an outstanding performance of 2596, some 300 points above her rating of 2298. Two such performances from China in a team without its former Women’s World Champions, Xie Jun, Xu Yuhua or Zhu Chen (who plays for the Qatar men’s team), augurs extremely well for the continuing strength of Chinese women players.
As the 37th Olympiads were nearing their conclusion, the FIDE Congress and General Assembly was in session, voting in the FIDE presidential election. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was re-elected, winning with 96 votes to Bessel Kok’s 54. Another matter decided was the host for the 39th Olympiads. In 2010, they will be held in Khanti Mansiysk in the Siberian northern region of Ugra. Before then, the Olympiads will re-convene in 2008 in Dresden, Germany, and the England teams will play next in the European Team Championships in Heraklio, Greece, in the autumn of 2007.
Following its win against Lithuania, the England Men’s Team played Mexico in round nine. While Jonathan Speelman was unlucky on Board two, Stuart Conquest drew on Board three and Michael Adams and Nicholas Pert won on Boards one and four, thus securing another victory for the team. Yesterday, England faced tougher opposition in the form of 19th seed Belarus. Michael Adams, Nigel Short and Nicholas Pert all drew, but Daniel Gormally found himself on the wrong side of an exciting game and the team lost. On Friday, the team will play Scotland.
The England Women’s Team played Austria in round nine. Jovanka Houska, Jana Bellin and Sophie Tidman all drew their games, thus drawing the match. This led to a pairing against Azerbaijan yesterday when Jovanka Houska, on Board one, won the only point and so England, sadly, lost. The team’s next match is against the Dominican Republic.
Armenia, with 29 points, is still leading the Open Olympiad a full two points ahead of its nearest rival, China. Russia is now in third place with the Czech Republic, only half a point ahead of France which has 26 points. In the Women’s Olympiad, the Ukraine has 23 points, nosing half a point ahead of Russia. A gap of 2.5 points separates them from China, which is just half a point ahead of Georgia and closely followed by Bulgaria, India and Greece.
Today is a rest day, so the players will have a chance to relax before the final three rounds. They could stay in the Olympic Village, the accommodation complex built for the 2006 Winter Olympics, reports of which have been decidedly mixed, or spend the day sight-seeing. Turin is both a modern, commercial centre and an historic city with much to offer its visitors. Play will resume on Friday at the usual time. For those watching the games live on the internet, the last round will be on Sunday, starting at 10.00am local time (9.00am BST).
The three rounds over the bank holiday weekend saw mixed fortunes for the England teams.
On Saturday, the Men’s Team played the youthful squad from Peru, Michael Adams drawing with strong grandmaster Julio Granda and Nigel Short drawing with Emilio Cordova. Daniel Gormally’s loss was offset by Stuart Conquest’s win, and the team drew. Thus, in round seven, England was paired with Norway, for whom the fifteen-year-old GM Magnus Carlsen was Board one. A hard-fought game with Michael Adams resulted in a win for the Norwegian prodigy, while Jonathan Speelman suffered a rare loss against GM Kjetil Lie. Nicholas Pert drew his game with GM Rune Djurhuus, and Nigel Short won against GM Leif Johannessen, but the team lost the match. Yesterday, England played Lithuania and bounced back as Jonathan and Nick both won their games and Nigel drew his on Board one. Fortified with this win, the team plays Mexico today.
Fortune smiled less kindly on the Women’s Team. The match on Saturday against Venezuela saw another win for Jessie Gilbert but losses for Jana Bellin and Jovanka Houska. After this defeat, the team was up-floated to play Moldova in round seven. Jovanka drew with fellow IM Svetlana Petrenko, while Jessie and Jana drew with WGMs Karolina Smokina and Elena Partac respectively. This very respectable result led to yet another up-float, and yesterday England faced the Czech Republic. Sadly, the team lost despite a good win for Jovanka on Board one. Today England plays Austria.
Currently leading the Open Olympiad is Armenia with 24 points, two points ahead of Russia and the Ukraine. Hot on their heels are France, Georgia and China with 21.5 points each. Russia continues to dominate the Women’s Olympiad with 19 points, followed closely by the Ukraine with 18.5 points and then by China and the USA with 17 points each.
With five rounds to go, including today’s, there is still a great deal of potential for the England teams, and the prospect of more excitement as the leading four or five teams in each Olympiad battle to stay in medal contention and another five or six teams keen and close enough to catch them up.
After a surprise defeat to the 34th seed, Turkey, despite Michael Adam’s win against GM Mikhail Gurevich (2643), the England Men’s Team bounced back yesterday with a victory over 73rd seed, Kazakhstan. Both Michael Adams and Nigel Short have played four games, the rest of the team playing three, in the five rounds so far. And Michael Adams’ rating performance is 2832, more than 100 points above his rating of 2720. Today is a rest day so, suitably refreshed, the team will play Peru tomorrow.
The England Women’s Team faced tough opposition in round four in the shape of 12th seed Poland. Out-rated on all boards, only Jovanka Houska on Board 1 secured a win, against Iweta Radziewicz (2439), and the team was defeated. Yesterday, England played Iran, seeded only two places below her at 37, and a win for Jovanka and draws for Jessie Gilbert and Sophie Tidman achieved victory. These three players have played four games, and Jana Bellin three, in the five rounds so far. Jovanka’s rating performance is 2514, more than 150 points above her rating of 2378. After a rest today, the team will play Venezuela tomorrow.
Russia dominates the Olympiads. In the Open, the Men’s Team has 15.5 points, together with Armenia, followed closely by the Netherlands (15 points) and Uzbekistan (14.5 points). England, with 12.5 points, is lying in 31st place. In the Women’s Olympiad, Russia is half a point ahead with 12.5 points. The Ukraine is currently in second place (12 points) and Hungary in third (11.5 points). England has 8.5 points and is lying in 40th place.
GM Peter Wells has advised me that live coverage of the games is now available on the official site. For the general “World Map” page where viewers can choose either a round or, for example, a country, go to http://www3.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/sungam/indRoundG2.do.htm
I have found the Wiener Zeitung website, mentioned earlier, very helpful for summarised information. For those wishing to watch the action live, rounds start at 3.00pm local time (2.00pm BST), except round 13 which will start at 10.00am (9.00am BST). My next up-date will be on Tuesday, after the bank holiday.
England’s teams have made steady start at the 37th Chess Olympiads currently under way in Turin, Italy (20th May to 5th June). Played in the enormous, ultra-modern Palasport Oval, built for the 2006 Winter Olympics, these thirteen-round events are the biggest Olympiads yet, contested by 149 Men’s (Open) Teams of up to six players and 108 Women’s Teams of up to four players, a total of some1300 players. Only three Men’s Teams are fielding the minimum four boards necessary per round, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda and the Seychelles, while six Women’s Teams are fielding the minimum three boards, including Fiji and Rwanda.
The England Men’s Team won its first two rounds against the United Arab Emirates, 3.5-0.5, and Turkmenistan, 2.5-1.5, and drew in the third round with Indonesia, acquiring eight points. As the 13th seed, England is clearly a strong team, and with a full complement of grandmasters Mickey Adams, Nigel Short, Jonathan Speelman, Stuart Conquest and Nick Pert, it has every prospect of a good final result. Today they are playing Turkey.
In the Women’s Olympiad, England is the 35th seed and the team comprises IM Jovanka Houska, WFM Jessie Gilbert, WGM Jana Bellin and WFM Sophie Tidman. Their 3-0 first-round victory against Botswana was followed by a battle against the 6th seed, China, which China won 3-0. Yesterday’s round saw England win 2.5-0.5 against Brazil, giving a total of 5.5 points, and today they play the 12th seed, Poland.
The leaders of the Open Olympiad after three rounds are Russia, China and Uzbekistan, all with 10.5 points. Lithuania is half a point ahead in the Women’s Olympiad with a perfect nine points, followed by Russia and China on 8.5 points.
These promise to be exciting events to follow, so it is a pity that the live coverage on the official website has not started yet. The organisers report that the problem should soon be fixed. Full team and individual results can be found on the Austrian Chess Server at schach.wienerzeitung.at, which is also accessible through the FIDE website at www.fide.com.