More quickchats and preview from Tromso

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/10/2014 – The Russian women's team is in a great position and they simply have to defend their lead to cruise to victory, but with many strong teams at their heels it is easier said than done! Today they face Hungary. In the Open things are quite hot, but with Azerbaijan having the lead it will be up to China to stop them. Plus quickchats with Ipatov, Giri and Ponomariov!

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Round Eight Preview

No. SNo Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team SNo
1 7 China 21 12   :   13 20½ Azerbaijan 8
2 32 Romania 20½ 12   :   12 20½ Czech Republic 16
3 42 Bosnia & Herzegovina 17½ 9   :   9 16 Norway 14
4 2 Ukraine 20½ 11   :   12 19½ Bulgaria 18
5 3 France 20½ 11   :   11 20 Poland 15
6 12 Germany 19 11   :   11 20 Cuba 13
7 19 India 20½ 11   :   11 19½ Armenia 4
8 5 Hungary 19 11   :   11 20 United States of America 6
9 11 Netherlands 18½ 10   :   10 20 Brazil 30
10 1 Russia 19 10   :   10 18½ Spain 17
11 72 Indonesia 18½ 10   :   10 18½ Israel 9
12 27 Belarus 18 10   :   10 19 Croatia 24
13 10 England 18½ 10   :   10 17½ Serbia 29
14 35 Argentina 19 10   :   10 18½ Slovenia 28
15 43 Iceland 19½ 9   :   10 17 Scotland 66
16 33 Uzbekistan 16 9   :   9 17½ Australia 60
17 58 Norway 2 17 9   :   9 18 Morocco 77
18 31 Vietnam 18½ 9   :   9 17 Iran 39
19 51 Switzerland 17 9   :   9 18 Egypt 38
20 23 Latvia 16 9   :   9 17½ Italy 20

China comes from some fantastic matches and will try to topple Azerbaijan. This will be the big match of the day in which anything could happen, especially as China is fielding their top rating player on board two! The youth of both teams will play a significant impact in the styles in the games and you can expect that this match will be full of explosive games.

The surprising team of Romania has wiggled their way through the top boards. They play the Czech Republic that crushed Russia yesterday and it is hard to believe that the Czech's will not win today again.

The Ukrainian team is back on board four and they desperately need to keep winning to keep their medalling hopes alive. However Bulgaria has been playing way above their level and will not be an easy prey. Iotov on board three is giving Bulgaria all the points they need, can he keep providing?

Boards five to eight are full of relatively close matches in which one side is slightly favored. France should edge out Poland, Germany and Cuba are probably dead even but the Cubans have been showing an amazing performance so far (if anything Germany's win against Norway yesterday was a shock, they could have very easily lost it). India will have a very tough opponent in Armenia and although the USA and Hungary are very close in rating, one of these teams has been playing the top boards while the other is recovering from a terrible start. Can America keep gaining those vital points?

Ukraine vs. Bulgaria features Ivanchuk vs. Topalov

Leko faces Nakamura in the top board of Hungary vs. USA

The Czech's play Romania, a relatively weak team for a board two pairing

The woes of the Olympiad: Costa Rica drew the weak team of Nicaragua yesterday,
only to be paired against the quite strong Greek team!

Yanick Pelletier is board one against Amin Bassem in Switzerland vs. Egypt

Ni Hua is board four against Guseinov. Every point is vital in the China-Azerbaijan match at the very top!

Poland will have to play above their level to beat France. Duda is one of their young and still under-rated stars, but he can beat Edouard who is having a fantastic tournament?

Standings

Rk. Team  TB1   TB2 
1 Azerbaijan 13 166.5
2 China 12 166.0
3 Czech Republic 12 150.0
4 Bulgaria 12 149.5
5 Romania 12 138.0
6 France 11 159.0
7 Cuba 11 153.5
8 Armenia 11 145.0
9 India 11 138.5
10 Ukraine 11 136.5
11 Hungary 11 136.0
12 Poland 11 134.0
13 Germany 11 133.0
14 United States of America 11 125.5
15 Netherlands 10 146.5
16 Russia 10 146.0
17 Israel 10 145.5
18 Croatia 10 143.5
19 Spain 10 142.0
20 Serbia 10 140.5

Women's Section

After yesterday's brilliant victory by Russia against China things are suddenly clear: Russia needs to simply play good matches to take the championship. None of their close competitors have had a particularly good tournament, with Armenia bouncing around the top boards, but not the first three, and Georgia having already been taken care of. Ukraine is also having a bad showing, so who will stop the Russians?

Today they play Hungary which should be a match that is not so problematic for them. China faces Poland and that should keep the Chinese in hot pursuit of Russia. France and United States face off in a very interesting board four; it is a match that is simply too close to call. In an interesting turn of events USA has rested their top board, Irina Krush, after she has had a simply dismal performance in this tournament.

Ukraine and Georgia is an excellent match and will determine which of these two teams keeps their hopes alive to pursue Russia. Colombia has had a fantastic tournament and if they beat Armenia they will certainly be the surprise of the event, but it seems difficult for them to pull this off.

Speaking of teams that are having good and bad tournaments, the Indian team will face Indonesia. India must redeem themselves from their mediocre tournament so far while Indonesia simply tries to keep impressing.

Australia comes from beating Mexico and England, but Serbia will certainly be a difficult opponent

Aijarkyn Shyngs Kyzy is fourth board today for Kyrgyzstan, a match that seems impossible for them today as they face the powerhouse of Bulgaria

Anna Zatonskih will lead the American team today in Irina Krush's absence

Natalia Pogonina (Russia) rested yesterday and is ready for action against Hungary

Harika Dronavalli will try to rake up some much needed points for India

Lilit Galojan is not Armenia's only Lilit, Mrktchian shares her first name

FIDE President went around for a stroll near the top boards

Standings

Rk. Team  TB1   TB2 
1 Russia 14 179.5
2 China 12 188.5
3 Hungary 12 148.0
4 Poland 12 136.5
5 France 11 170.5
6 Georgia 11 153.0
7 United States of America 11 143.0
8 Indonesia 11 141.5
9 Ukraine 11 134.0
10 Armenia 11 133.5
11 Colombia 11 127.5
12 Germany 10 143.0
13 India 10 139.0
14 Iran 10 138.0
15 Romania 10 137.0
16 Spain 10 135.5
17 Argentina 10 131.0
18 Vietnam 10 131.0
19 Uzbekistan 10 123.0
20 Cuba 10 119.0

Photos by Alejandro Ramirez, Pascal Simon and André Schulz


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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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