2016 Baku Rd2: the climb steepens

2016 Baku Olympiad

All games start at 3 p.m. local time = 15 p.m. in Europe (CEST), one hour earlier in Britain, and 2 p.m. in Moscow. You can find the starting time at your location here.

Watch it live on Playchess!

Round two

FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, playing the opening move to start the round, declared in a press conference during the second round that "This is my best Olympiad ever, in my memory." (photo by Paul Truong)

The second round saw much closer fights and matchups already, and while some teams still enjoyed a huge ratings edge over their opponents, a number of high-rated teams faced minimally worse (or better) rivals, leading to many tough matches. It is perhaps with an understanding of this that one can be astonished at how consistently the favorites were still able to ensure victory in the Open section, with the only upset in teams taking place on table 29. In other words, 28 matches followed their Elo expectations. This is by no means to suggest that the round held no surprises, but most of them were in the order of individual games than team-wide upsets.

Of the highest rated upsets, Luke McShane’s loss to his Indonesian opponent Irwanto Sadikin The (seen above). The Indonesian had played a great game and made the Englishman suffer throughout, but by the time they reached the queen endgame, Luke had every reason to believe he should hold, even if painfully. Indeed it was a theoretical draw all the way until the 68th move, when he blundered, after which there was no recovery.

Irwanto Sadikin The - Luke McShane

He was not the only player to drop at least a half-point, as even his compatriot Michael Adams (2738) drew Muhammad Ali (2411) after 166 moves. No, the Great One did not resurrect for the game, it was the Indonesian player Muhammad Lutfi Ali.

Still, the only team casualty came with the Iranian team, fielding three teenagers aged 17 or younger, who took on the very strong team of Georgia and drew. Baadur Jobava, who defeated Carlsen himself in the 2010 Olympiad, made no mistakes, but untitled Parham Maghsoodloo (2566) who recently skyrocketed after a monster win at the 1st Stars Cup in Iran with a 2862 performance, defeated GM Mchedlishvili (2609) to even the score at the end after the two other teens drew.

Round two highlights by GM Daniel King

For the most part, the top teams really only experienced sporadic concerns on a board here or there, but the overall collective came through.

Team Russia had no problems maintaining a perfect 4-0 score (photo by E. Kublashvili)

Team USA, with players such as Hikaru Nakamura, who has appeared very calm and focused, also steamrolled their opponents. (photo by Paul Truong)

At the very least he did, but Sam Shankland, one of the heroes of the US team of 2014, almost suffered his first Olympic defeat at the hands of Scottish GM Colin McNab, only to save it after a nerve-wracking fight. Enjoy the instructive comments by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

Colin McNab - Sam Shankland (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Team China has also been undisturbed aside from an unexpected draw by Wei Yi to FM Nicola Capone. Wang Yue replaced Ding Liren on board one and beat GM Luc Winants. (photo by David Llada)

There is no doubt that the Chinese are in Baku with a fire to repeat their success from 2014, and deny the other gold contenders. In round three they will face Brazil.

Magnus Carlsen appeared on board one of Norway today, a much anticipated and exciting moment (in spite of the look of near indifference) and after an unusual 1.e3, and a transposition to a Nimzo, he promptly walked all over his opponent as expected. (photo by Paul Truong)

The Azerbaijani team, spearheaded by GM Mamedyarov, has been immaculate, and beat the Macedonian team with a clear 4-0. In round three they will face the Hungarian team. (photo by David Llada)

Anna Rudolf is her with GM Judit Polgar, captain of the Hungarian Team (photo by M. Emelianova)

Top Czech player David Navara has scored 2.0/2 for his team. Today he beat Iceland’s GM Hannes Stefansson with a nice finish:

David Navara - Hannes Stefansson (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

India has also been undefeated, and unthreatened, and will face the second Azerbaijani team in round three. GM Vidit Gujrathi, playing on board two, has scored 2.0/2 for his team. (photo by David Llada)

The Jamaican team salute in honor of their greatest athlete, Usain Bolt. (photo by Paul Truong)

The Women’s competition seemed to start much as predicted, with the top four teams, China, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia, slaughtering their lower-rated rivals… at least that was the understandable expectation, but not everything went according to script.

China did indeed defeat Montenegro with little difficulty and maintains its perfect score. Hou Yifan has still not been asked to play and with the huge ratings advantage, nor was there any need. (photo by Paul Truong)

Team Ukraine also has little trouble defeating Moldova, and GM Natalia Zhukova scored her second win. Things promise to seriously heat up in round three though when they face Team USA. (photo by David Llada)

It was a fairly disappointing showing by the American women in round two, when they barely escaped a dreaded draw with Norway. US Champion IM Nazi Paikidze scored the team’s only win, winning the match by the narrowest of margins. (photo by David Llada)

To be fair, it was not only a matter of lackluster play by the American players, as the Norwegian ladies showed moments of extreme inspiration. Take a look at how Irina Krush’s rival avoided a loss with a shot that drew exclamations of admiration from even the American team’s captain: GM Seirawan.

Irina Krush - Sheila Barth Sahl

Still, close calls are just that: moments of nerves and cold sweat. One team saw the unbelieveable happen to them in a moment of utter disbelief.

GM Bela Khotenashvili (2463) was board two for Georgia (photo by David Llada), facing a vastly lower-rated WIM Jan Jodylin Fronda (2128) from the Philippines and had managed to build a positionally won rook endgame. What happened was the stuff of nightmares, and in one move she threw it away for a drawn pawn endgame. Then, exactly one move later she made a fatal blunder in that drawn pawn endgame, and suddenly she was lost, and never recovered.

Jan Jodylin Fronda - Bela Khotenashvili

Unfortunately, Georgia’s woes did not end there. While first board GM Dzagnidze (2522) also failed to score, splitting the point with WIM Janelle Frayna (2281), IM Salome Melia (above - photo by David Llada), rated 2419, also lost to Filipino WIM Catherine Secopito (2119) sealing their fate for one of the biggest upsets ever in the Women’s Olympiad.

The Philippinnes's Women's Team scored a truly historic win (photo by Paul Truong)

Ava San Nicolas, playing for Guam, is undoubtedly one of the youngest players in Baku (photo by L. Afanidiyeva)

The girls from Guyana have decided they will stand out one way or the other. Here is Jessica Clementson with a decidedly bright outlook. (photo by David Llada)

She is not alone as can be attested by Maria Varona Thomas... (photo by David Llada)

The Entertainment Area

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

The spacious entertainment area contains a variety of things to see, enjoy, and buy

Fine handcrafted work with a distinct chess theme

For the players who came with their families, there are areas where the children are taken care of and have activities to keep them busy

These lovely handmade chocolates may not be cheap, but they definitely look delicious

There is also an assortment of delicacies in tribute to the Chess Olympiad!

Round two games (with times per move)