9/7/2016 – The fifth round shows the Olympiad in Baku now in full swing, and lopsided pairings are now mostly a thing of the past. In the Open section, Ukraine continued their fantastic run, and after their great win over Russia, they now beat the Chinese, and remain unbeaten. Joining them is the Netherlands, who won against Belarus, followed by India who soundly defeated the Azeri team. In the Women’s section, only Russia and Ukraine remain unblemished. Still, what really stood out was the inordinate number of spectacular games, analyzed for your pleasure.
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2016 Baku Olympiad
All games start at 3 p.m. local time = 1 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.
It was a true feast for the chess lovers with great matches, great moments and great games. While the games chosen all have special moments, you are invited to try your hand at them and see if your creativity and skill can match those of the players.
The Russians have been on the comeback trail, and while they won in round five and well, they still depend on their rivals to slip. Sergey Karjakin has been impeccable though and is 3.5/4 on board one. (photo by David Llada)
The biggest match of the day was Azerbaijan against India. Both teams had played gret, and both had superstars in their midst. It was India's day as Pentala Harikrishna defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on board one with black. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi also won, making it 3-1 for India. Please note that Vidit is on 5.0/5! (photo by M. Emelianova)
The Chinese have been trying to keep up that magic that brought them gold in 2014, notably thanks to the incredible performance by this man, Ding Liren. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as they fell to Ukraine in round five. (photo by M. Emelianova)
This man, Yuriy Kryvoruchko, defeated Yu Yangyi and secured victory for his team. (photo by David Llada)
Holland also continued its amazing performance, beating Belarus in round five. The key game was Benajmin Bok's absolutely mind-boggling win over Kirill Stupak. (photo by E. Kublashvili)
Kirill Stupak - Benjamin Bok (analyzed by GM Elshan Morodiabadi)
[Event "42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2016.09.06"] [Round "5.8"] [White "Stupak, Kirill"] [Black "Bok, Benjamin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2561"] [BlackElo "2592"] [Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [WhiteTeam "Belarus"] [BlackTeam "Netherlands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BLR"] [BlackTeamCountry "NED"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] {Bok puts Netherlands on top of the table with this fine victory with black.} 1. d4 {(0s)} Nf6 {(0s)} 2. c4 {(0s)} e6 {(0s)} 3. Nf3 {(96s)} d5 {(0s) } 4. Nc3 {(147s)} c6 {(0s)} 5. Bg5 {(2s)} h6 {(4s)} 6. Bxf6 {(2s) Stupak has no interest in a theoretical duel in the 'Moscow variation'.} Qxf6 {(7s)} 7. e3 {(3s)} g6 {(31s)} 8. e4 $5 {(7s) A very rare choice and an odd continuation.} dxe4 {(318s)} 9. Nxe4 {(2s)} Bb4+ {(8s)} 10. Ke2 {(1s) The computers cry that this is a bad move but the idea of taking his majesty to the battlefield dates back to the time of Steinintz when he used to, sometimes, opt for 1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef4 3. d4?! Qh4+ 4.Ke2 !!} Qg7 {(8s)} 11. c5 {(132s) Stupak cuts off this bishop and his entire plan revolves around keeping the bishop on c8 out of the game.} O-O {(15s)} 12. Qa4 {(783s)} Na6 {( 75s)} 13. Ke3 $2 {(183s) Stupak plays fast and inaccurately. He is playing with fire. It may seem that he is about to win a piece but in reality he gets his king exposed to numerous threats.} b5 {(185s)} (13... f5 14. Bxa6 fxe4 {looks also very good for black.}) 14. cxb6 {(935s)} axb6 {(90s)} 15. Qxc6 {(26s)} f5 $5 { (943s) Of course! A king hunt is about to begin!} 16. Qxa8 {(637s)} Nc7 { (2007s)} 17. Nf6+ {(19s)} Qxf6 {(5s)} 18. Qc6 {(1119s)} Nd5+ {(485s)} 19. Ke2 { (40s)} Rd8 {(684s) None of White's pieces can protect his king while all of Black's pieces are active. That all happened with the mere material investment of an exchange and a pawn!} 20. g3 {(961s)} Bc5 $1 {(610s) Brilliant play by Bok! } 21. Qa4 {(58s)} (21. dxc5 Qxb2+ {wins on the spot.}) (21. Bg2 Ba6+ 22. Ke1 Nb4 { This is the idea of Bc5! it frees the b4 square for the knight!}) 21... Nb4 $2 {(36s) This almost lets White escape.} (21... Bxd4 $3 22. Nxd4 (22. Qxd4 Nf4+ 23. gxf4 Rxd4 $19) 22... Nb4 $3 23. Bg2 (23. Rd1 Qe5+ 24. Kd2 Rxd4+ 25. Kc1 Nd3+ $19) (23. Qxb4 Rxd4 24. Qb5 (24. Qxb6 Qe5+ 25. Kf3 Qe4#) 24... Ba6 25. Qxa6 Qe5+ 26. Kf3 Qe4#) 23... Ba6+ 24. Qxa6 Nxa6 $19) 22. Rd1 {(179s)} (22. a3 Ba6+ 23. Ke1 Rxd4 24. Qe8+ Kg7 25. Bxa6 Rd8 26. Qxd8 (26. Qa4 Qxb2 $19 { [#] Ahh you were worried about castling? Forget it! White's king has made way too many moves!}) 26... Nc2+ 27. Kd2 Qxd8+ 28. Kxc2 Qa8 29. Be2 Qe4+ 30. Kd2 Bxf2 $44 {And it is not easy to imagine how Bok was going to win this game.}) 22... Bb7 {( 106s)} 23. Rd2 {(179s)} Ra8 {(441s)} 24. Qd1 {(245s)} Bf8 $2 {(29s) Loss of an important tempo.} (24... Rxa2) (24... e5) 25. a3 { (36s)} e5 {(10s)} 26. axb4 {(280s)} exd4 {(23s)} 27. Qb3+ {(75s)} Kh8 {(13s)} 28. Rd1 $4 {(41s) I have a very hard time understanding this move.} (28. Bg2 { and I do not see how Black is going to prove that he has enough compensation when his material investment has gone from an exchange to a whole rook!}) 28... Re8+ {(59s)} (28... Qe7+ 29. Kd2 Bxf3 30. Qxf3 Qxb4+ {was probably better!}) 29. Kd2 {(16s)} Bxf3 {(25s)} 30. Qxf3 {(33s)} d3 $1 {(1s) Now White's king is exposed again!} 31. Rb1 $4 {(56s)} (31. Kxd3 Qxb2 32. Qc6 Rd8+ 33. Ke3 Rxd1 34. Kf3 {doesn't seem to be losing just yet. Stupak should have kept his faith in his king and had to let him to take care of himself!}) 31... Bxb4+ {(63s) Now Black owns White's king.} 32. Kxd3 {(1s)} Qe6 $1 {(18s) accurate play! This covers all of White's king possible sorties.} 33. Kc2 {(63s) } Rc8+ {(16s)} 34. Qc3+ {(28s)} Bxc3 {(8s)} 35. bxc3 {(1s)} Qc6 {(13s) And finally Bok's attack pays off in this tupsy-turvy game!} 0-1
Norway faced Belgium and won rather easily. It should be noted that the Norwegian team's performance has been rather lackluster thus far, but with Magnus there... anything can happen! (photo by David Llada)
Speaking of fantastic performances. Poland has been fine, and in particular Jan-Krzysztof Duda (center) who has scored an amazing 5.0/5 himself against GM opposition. See his handiwork in round five. It was impressive. (photo by M. Emelianova)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Viorel Iordachescu
The English had lost a really bad match to Holland in round four, but they bounced back with a powerful win over Vietnam. Whatever ailed them before was quietly swept under the carpet as Gawain Jones played a game reminiscent of the great Tal! (photo by M. Emelianova)
Anh Khoi Nguyen - Gawain Jones(annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)
Among the many warriors at the Olympiad, a special shout out must be made to the IBCA, for the blind players who come to compete. FM Stanislav Babarykin (2339) has had a good event so far with 3.0/5 and a 2445 performance. (photo by M. Emelianova)
Still, the star of the IBCA team so far has been FM Oliver Mueller (2272 FIDE) from Germany, who has also scored 3.0/5 with a 2448 performance, nearly 200 Elo more than his rating. (photo by M. Emelianova)
If the repatrated Latvian, Alexei Shirov, has been somewhat quiet this far, he was not in round five when he locked horns with the equally maverick Richard Rapport. (photo by David Llada)
Alexei Shirov - Richard Rapport
[Event "42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2016.09.06"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C75"] [WhiteElo "2673"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [WhiteTeam "Latvia"] [BlackTeam "Hungary"] [WhiteTeamCountry "LAT"] [BlackTeamCountry "HUN"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 {0} e5 {5} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {5} 3. Bb5 {0} a6 {9} 4. Ba4 {0} Nge7 {5} 5. c3 {1018} d6 {41} 6. d4 {12} Bd7 {5} 7. h4 {844 The idea is to not only threaten to weaken Black's kingside, but take advantage that his pieces are so awkwardly placed.} h6 {268} 8. h5 {33} Ng8 {1439 The idea of this strange looking retreat is to play Nf6 Be7 and castle, while possibly attacking the h5 pawn.} 9. d5 {303} Nce7 {160} 10. c4 {18} b5 {63} 11. Bc2 {569} f5 $6 {213 This seems far too optimistic. The point is to weaken White's hold on f5 and be able to play Nf5, Nf6 and Be7, but this presume White has nothing better to do that sit back and watch Black do what he likes.} 12. Nh4 {1204 Shirov isn't exactly known for 'sitting back' and doing nothing.} f4 {494} 13. g3 {160} fxg3 {122} 14. f4 {8} Nf6 {269} 15. fxe5 {13} Bg4 {388} 16. Qd3 {193} Nxh5 $6 { 41 O Ye of Little Faith.} 17. e6 {79} Ng6 $2 {402 It is hard to know what to make of this. Desperation?} ({It's true that the more normal} 17... c6 18. Qd4 c5 19. Qd3 {seems to only promise trouble, but still, it has to be more resistant than chucking a piece out the window.}) 18. Nxg6 {275} Qf6 {56} 19. Qf1 {90} Bf3 {708} 20. Rg1 {123} Be7 {12} 21. Nxh8 {543 I'll take that rook, thank you very much.} Qd4 {73} 22. Rg2 {16} 1-0
In spite of all the hard competition, one of the wonderful things about an event such as the Olympiad is the opportunity to meet friends, make new ones, and bring people closer. Here are Iranian FM Aryan Gholami, Norwegian GM Aryan Tari, and WGM Zhansaya Abdumalik from Kazakhstan. (photo by M. Emelianova)
Tania Sachdev enjoys some laughs with Pentala Harikrishna (photo by M. Emelianova)
New generations and old: FM Aryan Gholami from Iran with GM Ehsan Maghami (photo by M. Emelianova)
The Women's competition was just as hard fought and just as brilliant. While Russia kept their perfect score by beating the rising team from Kazakhstan, Ukraine did just as well by defeating Serbia 3-1. In particular see Anna Muzychuk's fantastic win on board one. (photo by David Llada)
Jovana Rapport - Anna Muzychuk (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)
Here is the Women's team of Lithuania with IM Deimante Daulyte, WIM Salomeja Zaksaite, WFM Daiva Batyte, and WFM Laima Domarkaite. Although they failed to defeat the US in round five, their top board did beat GM Irina Krush in a flourish. (photo by David Llada)
Irina Krush - Deimante Daulyte
Video impressions of round five by Vijay Kumar with interviews of the victorious Indians (see 10:20)
About GM Elshan Moradiabadi
Elshan Moradiabadi is a GM born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He moved to the US in 2012. Ever since, he has been active in US college chess scenes and in US chess.
Elshan co-authored "Chess and the Art of War: Ancient Wisdom to Make You a Better Player" with Al Lawrence. He has also published written articles for ChessBase, and edited opening materials for fellow authors.
Elshan Moradiabadi is a veteran instructor and teaches chess to every level, with students ranging from beginners to IM. He can be contacted for projects or teaching at his email.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Albert SilverBorn in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.
The new Komodo Dragon 3 engine has gained 100 Elo points in playing strength over its predecessor when using a processor core in blitz. That's a huge improvement for a program that already reached at
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Throughout my playing career I have found the Hedgehog one of the most difficult type of positions to master. The basic aim of this video is to improve understanding of these complex positions and to help tournament players score better.
Studying this video course should greatly improve the viewer’s handling of dynamic pawn positions! As with all my other video courses material here is predominantly aimed at improving players and tournament players.
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