8/3/2014 – Fire on the board, and it is only round two! Ukraine did not win their match against Norway Two - but it was far from the only upset of the day. World's number one and two - Carlsen and Aronian - was unable to win their games as they both drew against Nyback and Smerdon respectively. Tomorrow's round promises very exciting matches. Round two report!
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Second Round
Olympiad Tromsø 2014 - Round 2 midnight report by GM Daniel King
Round 2 on 2014/08/03 at 14:00
Bo.
1
Russia (RUS)
Rtg
-
57
Qatar (QAT)
Rtg
3½: ½
1.1
GM
Kramnik, Vladimir
2760
-
GM
Al-Modiahki, Mohamad
2549
1 - 0
1.2
GM
Grischuk, Alexander
2795
-
GM
Zhu, Chen
2461
1 - 0
1.3
GM
Karjakin, Sergey
2786
-
IM
Nezad, Husein Aziz
2365
1 - 0
1.4
GM
Nepomniachtchi, Ian
2714
-
Al-Tamimi, Hamad
2186
½ - ½
Bo.
58
Norway 2 (NOR2)
Rtg
-
2
Ukraine (UKR)
Rtg
2 : 2
2.1
IM
Urkedal, Frode
2500
-
GM
Ivanchuk, Vassily
2744
1 - 0
2.2
IM
Elsness, Frode
2477
-
GM
Eljanov, Pavel
2723
½ - ½
2.3
IM
Hansen, Torbjorn Ringdal
2450
-
GM
Korobov, Anton
2680
½ - ½
2.4
IM
Tari, Aryan
2440
-
GM
Moiseenko, Alexander
2707
0 - 1
Bo.
56
Finland (FIN)
Rtg
-
14
Norway (NOR)
Rtg
2 : 2
3.1
GM
Nyback, Tomi
2591
-
GM
Carlsen, Magnus
2877
½ - ½
3.2
IM
Karttunen, Mika
2437
-
GM
Agdestein, Simen
2630
½ - ½
3.3
IM
Sipila, Vilka
2425
-
GM
Johannessen, Leif Erlend
2528
½ - ½
3.4
FM
Ebeling, Daniel
2445
-
GM
Lie, Kjetil A.
2528
½ - ½
Bo.
3
France (FRA)
Rtg
-
59
Mongolia (MGL)
Rtg
4 : 0
4.1
GM
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
2768
-
GM
Batchuluun, Tsegmed
2513
1 - 0
4.2
GM
Fressinet, Laurent
2708
-
GM
Khatanbaatar, Bazar
2390
1 - 0
4.3
GM
Edouard, Romain
2680
-
GM
Gundavaa, Bayarsaikhan
2501
1 - 0
4.4
GM
Tkachiev, Vladislav
2624
-
IM
Munkhgal, Gombosuren
2418
1 - 0
Bo.
60
Australia (AUS)
Rtg
-
4
Armenia (ARM)
Rtg
1 : 3
5.1
GM
Smerdon, David
2513
-
GM
Aronian, Levon
2805
½ - ½
5.2
IM
Ly, Moulthun
2462
-
GM
Sargissian, Gabriel
2686
0 - 1
5.3
IM
Illingworth, Max
2439
-
GM
Movsesian, Sergei
2672
½ - ½
5.4
FM
Ikeda, Junta
2402
-
GM
Akopian, Vladimir
2655
0 - 1
Bo.
5
Hungary (HUN)
Rtg
-
61
Venezuela (VEN)
Rtg
2½:1½
6.1
GM
Leko, Peter
2740
-
GM
Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo
2653
½ - ½
6.2
GM
Almasi, Zoltan
2690
-
IM
Ynojosa Aponte, Felix Jose
2448
1 - 0
6.3
GM
Rapport, Richard
2704
-
IM
Rohl Montes, Juan Armando
2390
0 - 1
6.4
GM
Polgar, Judit
2676
-
FM
Guerrero Vargas, Andres
2318
1 - 0
Bo.
64
Colombia (COL)
Rtg
-
6
United States of America (USA)
Rtg
1 : 3
7.1
GM
Cuartas, Jaime Alexander
2489
-
GM
Kamsky, Gata
2706
½ - ½
7.2
IM
Rios, Cristhian Camilo
2427
-
GM
Onischuk, Alexander
2659
0 - 1
7.3
IM
Ruiz C, Joshua D
2382
-
GM
Akobian, Varuzhan
2653
½ - ½
7.4
IM
Martinez Romero, Martin
2387
-
GM
Shankland, Samuel L
2624
0 - 1
Bo.
7
China (CHN)
Rtg
-
63
Albania (ALB)
Rtg
3½: ½
8.1
GM
Wang, Yue
2718
-
GM
Dervishi, Erald
2581
½ - ½
8.2
GM
Yu, Yangyi
2668
-
IM
Mehmeti, Dritan
2416
1 - 0
8.3
GM
Ni, Hua
2666
-
Ashiku, Franc
2284
1 - 0
8.4
GM
Wei, Yi
2638
-
Pasku, Llambi
2327
1 - 0
Bo.
66
Scotland (SCO)
Rtg
-
8
Azerbaijan (AZE)
Rtg
½ :3½
9.1
GM
McNab, Colin A
2441
-
GM
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
2743
½ - ½
9.2
IM
Greet, Andrew N
2431
-
GM
Mamedov, Rauf
2659
0 - 1
9.3
GM
Shaw, John
2419
-
GM
Safarli, Eltaj
2649
0 - 1
9.4
FM
Tate, Alan
2347
-
GM
Guseinov, Gadir
2613
0 - 1
Bo.
9
Israel (ISR)
Rtg
-
67
Tajikistan (TJK)
Rtg
3½: ½
10.1
GM
Gelfand, Boris
2753
-
GM
Amonatov, Farrukh
2590
1 - 0
10.2
GM
Smirin, Ilia
2656
-
IM
Khusenkhojaev, Muhammad
2410
½ - ½
10.3
GM
Sutovsky, Emil
2624
-
IM
Khamdamov, Suhrob
2301
1 - 0
10.4
GM
Postny, Evgeny
2651
-
Kabilov, Amin
2181
1 - 0
Bo.
68
Singapore (SIN)
Rtg
-
10
England (ENG)
Rtg
1 : 3
11.1
GM
Zhang, Zhong
2611
-
GM
Jones, Gawain C B
2665
½ - ½
11.2
IM
Goh, Wei Ming Kevin
2433
-
GM
Short, Nigel D
2665
½ - ½
11.3
WIM
Gong, Qianyun
2328
-
GM
Howell, David W L
2650
0 - 1
11.4
FM
Tin, Jingyao
2251
-
GM
Sadler, Matthew D
2653
0 - 1
Bo.
11
Netherlands (NED)
Rtg
-
69
Ecuador (ECU)
Rtg
4 : 0
12.1
GM
Giri, Anish
2745
-
GM
Matamoros Franco, Carlos S.
2525
1 - 0
12.2
GM
L'Ami, Erwin
2631
-
IM
Munoz Sanchez, Miguel
2296
1 - 0
12.3
GM
Tiviakov, Sergei
2664
-
IM
Mieles Palau, Daniel
2374
1 - 0
12.4
GM
Van Wely, Loek
2662
-
IM
Santos Flores, Alberto
2291
1 - 0
Bo.
71
Norway 3 (NOR3)
Rtg
-
12
Germany (GER)
Rtg
0 : 4
13.1
IM
Lie, Espen
2435
-
GM
Naiditsch, Arkadij
2709
0 - 1
13.2
GM
Djurhuus, Rune
2436
-
GM
Fridman, Daniel
2639
0 - 1
13.3
FM
Hauge, Lars Oskar
2346
-
GM
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
2689
0 - 1
13.4
CM
Mihajlov, Sebastian
2305
-
GM
Baramidze, David
2612
0 - 1
Bo.
13
Cuba (CUB)
Rtg
-
75
Portugal (POR)
Rtg
4 : 0
14.1
GM
Dominguez Perez, Leinier
2760
-
IM
Dias, Paulo
2416
1 - 0
14.2
GM
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro
2664
-
IM
Ferreira, Jorge Viterbo
2413
1 - 0
14.3
GM
Quesada Perez, Yuniesky
2649
-
IM
Rocha, Sergio
2392
1 - 0
14.4
GM
Gonzalez Vidal, Yuri
2550
-
Rego, Pedro Filipe
2273
1 - 0
Bo.
15
Poland (POL)
Rtg
-
76
New Zealand (NZL)
Rtg
3 : 1
15.1
GM
Gajewski, Grzegorz
2659
-
IM
Wang, Puchen
2449
½ - ½
15.2
GM
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
2576
-
IM
Dive, Russell John
2318
1 - 0
15.3
GM
Bartel, Mateusz
2640
-
FM
Li, Zuhao Luke
2365
½ - ½
15.4
GM
Socko, Bartosz
2612
-
IM
Ker, Anthony F
2316
1 - 0
Bo.
77
Morocco (MAR)
Rtg
-
16
Czech Republic (CZE)
Rtg
½ :3½
16.1
IM
Ali, Sebbar
2387
-
GM
Navara, David
2716
0 - 1
16.2
IM
Tissir, Mohamed
2366
-
GM
Laznicka, Viktor
2676
½ - ½
16.3
IM
Onkoud, Abdelaziz
2383
-
GM
Hracek, Zbynek
2634
0 - 1
16.4
IM
Hifad, Rachid
2311
-
GM
Babula, Vlastimil
2549
0 - 1
Bo.
78
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Rtg
-
18
Bulgaria (BUL)
Rtg
½ :3½
17.1
IM
Omar, Noaman
2350
-
GM
Cheparinov, Ivan
2681
0 - 1
17.2
FM
Alhuwar, Jasem
2277
-
GM
Iotov, Valentin
2553
0 - 1
17.3
FM
Khouri, Ibrahim Mohamed
2225
-
GM
Rusev, Krasimir
2548
½ - ½
17.4
Ahmed, Fareed
1899
-
IM
Dimitrov, Radoslav
2461
0 - 1
Bo.
79
South Africa (RSA)
Rtg
-
20
Italy (ITA)
Rtg
0 : 4
18.1
IM
Solomon, Kenny
2378
-
GM
Caruana, Fabiano
2801
0 - 1
18.2
IM
Steel, Henry Robert
2399
-
GM
Vocaturo, Daniele
2587
0 - 1
18.3
IM
Kobese, Watu
2333
-
GM
Brunello, Sabino
2560
0 - 1
18.4
FM
Van Den Heever, Donovan
2289
-
GM
Dvirnyy, Danyyil
2530
0 - 1
Bo.
81
Luxembourg (LUX)
Rtg
-
26
Turkey (TUR)
Rtg
1 : 3
19.1
IM
Wiedenkeller, Michael
2471
-
GM
Solak, Dragan
2632
½ - ½
19.2
WGM
Berend, Elvira
2330
-
GM
Can, Emre
2529
½ - ½
19.3
IM
Berend, Fred
2380
-
GM
Yilmaz, Mustafa
2569
0 - 1
19.4
Jeitz, Christian
2189
-
GM
Ipatov, Alexander
2614
0 - 1
Bo.
27
Belarus (BLR)
Rtg
-
72
Indonesia (INA)
Rtg
2½:1½
20.1
GM
Zhigalko, Sergei
2678
-
GM
Megaranto, Susanto
2527
0 - 1
20.2
GM
Zhigalko, Andrey
2580
-
IM
Farid, Firman Syah
2400
1 - 0
20.3
GM
Kovalev, Vladislav
2532
-
Ali Lutfi, Muhammad
2339
½ - ½
20.4
GM
Stupak, Kirill
2514
-
Priasmoro, Novendra
2250
1 - 0
The biggest news of the day without a doubt is Ukraine's inability to beat the much lower rated team of Norway Two. With draws by Korobov and Eljanov against Hansen and Elsness and a win by Moiseenko against the young talent Tari it all came down to Ivanchuk's game:
Oops! Ivanchuk did it again!
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1.e4
1,158,681
54%
2422
---
1.d4
941,833
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
279,666
56%
2441
---
1.c4
181,067
56%
2443
---
1.g3
19,629
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,068
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,835
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,722
51%
2384
---
1.b4
1,731
48%
2378
---
1.a3
1,182
53%
2403
---
1.e3
1,058
48%
2407
---
1.d3
932
50%
2377
---
1.g4
652
46%
2360
---
1.h4
438
52%
2371
---
1.c3
418
51%
2423
---
1.h3
266
56%
2414
---
1.a4
102
58%
2474
---
1.Nh3
88
66%
2510
---
1.f3
84
46%
2432
---
1.Na3
39
62%
2474
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3f52.d3Nc63.d4This strange move is surprisingly the computer's
first choice. The point is something along the lines that the knight on c6
would be misplaced in a stonewall position.3.e4d6is not so bad for
Black, but maybe still better for White.3...e64.g3d55.Bg2Rb8Only
Ivanchuk can come up with a move like this.6.0-0Nf67.Bf4b58.b3Ba69.Qc1Bd610.Nbd20-011.e3Ne4Despite Black's stranges moves it is clear
that his position is fine right now.12.Re1Qe713.a3Na514.Bf1Rb615.c3g516.Bxd6cxd617.b4Nb7?!17...Nc4=18.a4Rc819.Nxe4fxe420.Nd2Nd8This knight has very little future.21.axb5Bxb522.Bxb5Rxb523.Ra3Rxb4?Trading the two rooks for the queen is not good for Black.24.cxb4Rxc125.Rxc1Qb726.Rac3Maybe Ivanchuk underestimated how weak his king is!
Nf727.Rc8+Kg728.R1c7Qxb429.Nf1Black is simply helpless against the
threaet of Rxa7 and Rcc7. The rook can also go to d7 or e7.1–0
The young talent Aryan Tari was the only loss in Norway Two 2-2 against Ukraine
Movsesian was in trouble again in Armenia's match. Again he won, which was quite important since Aronian was unable to crack Smerdon's defense. Armenia took that match 3-1. In the top board Kramnik demolished Al-Modiahki while Grischuk played a nice win against Zhu Chen. However Nepomniachtchi was unable to win against a 2100 so Russia only took 3.5 points.
Kramnik played a crushing game
And speaking of Kramnik, we have a lengthy interview with him!:
Vachier-Lagrave led France to a 4-0 victory against Mongolia
Carlsen's debut in the Olympiad was definitely not what the locals were hoping for. His draw was rather dull and it was one of four draws in the match, the 2-2 split definitely being a good result for Finland. Interestingly enough one of the games started 1.Na3 e5 2.Nc4. That's one way of avoiding preparation!
America beat Colombia after Onischuk's opponent blundered and Shankland won a bizarre game:
Attack meets counterattack! Sam Shankland vs. Martin Martinez
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Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
18...Be519.Qg5!Nb4!A surprising resource19...Qc720.Rd2!Bf421.Nf6+!Kh822.Qh5+Bh623.Ng4±20.f6Bf4+The point, it is the only way to avoid immediate mate and Black's attack is powerful.21.Qxf4Rac822.Bd3!22.Rd2Qxa223.Kd1Nd524.Qg5g625.Ke2!is winning, and not human.22...Qa423.Qf223.c3‼dxc324.Qg5Nxd3+25.Rxd3cxb2+26.Kd2!Rc2+27.Ke3Re2+28.Kxe2Qxe4+29.Kf2Qg630.Qxg6+-is winning and DEFINITELY not human.23...Rxc2+24.Bxc2Rc825.Rd2Qxa226.Kd1Qa1+27.Ke2Qxh128.Qg3!Counter attack is the best defense!g629.Bd3Nxd330.Kxd3Rd830...Qc1!31.Nd6!±31.Qf4b532.Ng3Qc633.Ke2Rd6?33...Re8+is still not easy.34.Ne4Re635.Rxd4Qc2+36.Kf3Qb3+37.Nc3a strange but fascinating game.1–0
Yesterday we reported that if one of the last three boards was an upset in Venezuela-Hungary there was a chance that the European team would not win. Juan Rohl surprised Rapport as the Venezuelan convincingly won. Luckily for Rapport, Almasi and Polgar won while Leko pressed the entire game against Iturrizaga and at the end drew.
Not a good day for the Hungarian prodigy Richard Rapport
In some of the close matches of the day India destroyed Canada despite only being a slight favorite. Spain edged out Argentina thanks to a win from Anton Guijarro over Felgaer. Iran surprised Slovenia as they won the match 2.5-1.5, this was largely due to Beliavsky showing up late to the game and losing to the zero tolerance rule.
The women section had almost no surprises. The matches saw relatively few surprises as most of the top boards won 4-0 or at least they won in a convincing fashion. Tomorrow's rounds will surely be more interesting.
Muzychuk (above) and Ushenina did not win their games against Australia, but the team won 3-1 anyways
Ju Wenjun played board one again as Hou Yifan rested for the second time in a row
The Russian Women dispatched Brazil without a problem
Amazing matches in the top boards! All eyes will be in Armenia vs. France, seeds two and three playing each other - but many other matches are brutally strong. USA vs. Netherlands will be very strong and Nakamura is expected to be able to play that game against Giri. In board eleven the match Hungary vs. China is also very, very strong and could go either way. Round three is already too close to call!
Women:
Round 3 on 2014/08/04 at 14:00
No.
SNo
Team
Pts.
MP
Res.
:
Res.
MP
Pts.
Team
SNo
1
7
United States of America
7
4
:
4
8
China
1
2
38
Norway
7
4
:
4
8
Hungary
13
3
2
Russia
8
4
:
4
7
France
9
4
10
Armenia
8
4
:
4
7
Vietnam
20
5
41
Bosnia & Herzegovina
7
4
:
4
8
Iran
21
6
22
Azerbaijan
8
4
:
4
7
Switzerland
42
7
6
Romania
6½
4
:
4
8
Indonesia
23
8
12
Germany
6½
4
:
4
8
Argentina
24
9
40
Belarus
8
4
:
4
6½
Netherlands
16
10
17
Kazakhstan
6½
4
:
4
7½
India
5
11
33
Turkey
6½
4
:
4
7½
Bulgaria
14
12
35
Croatia
6½
4
:
4
7½
Cuba
19
13
11
Spain
6
4
:
4
7
Ukraine
3
14
18
Slovakia
7½
4
:
4
6½
Austria
34
15
8
Poland
6
4
:
4
7½
Philippines
43
16
4
Georgia
7
4
:
4
6
Italy
31
17
30
Colombia
6
3
:
3
5
Latvia
25
18
46
Uzbekistan
6
3
:
3
5½
Serbia
15
19
27
Czech Republic
5½
2
:
2
4
El Salvador
66
20
67
Wales
4
2
:
2
5½
Egypt
60
The Women's section is going to be equally close. The top match between America and China favors the Asian team who is expected to field Hou Yifan, but it won't be easy at all. Russia vs. France will be an equally strong match while Ukraine, who dropped a full board point today, will be facing the strong squad of Spain.
Photos by Pascal Simon
All you need to know about the Olympiad
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Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster 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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