Batumi Olympiad Round 3: Top seeds sail through!

What happened in the third round?

There were no real upsets in the third round, just tense and hard-fought games.

Results of round three (Open)

France had it easy against Algeria. Poland got a small shock when their top-rated player Duda Jan-Krzysztof lost to Luis Galega but the remaining two boards managed the show. USA was just too strong for Netherlands and so was China for Peru. But we have to mention that Cori Jorge was able to beat Wei Yi.

England versus Brazil was hard fought encounter with David Howell scoring the crucial win for England for a 2.5-1.5. Serbia fought well to hold Germany to a draw.

Results of round three (Women)

Serbia managed to hold India to a draw. Top two boards of India Humpy and Harika won their games but the bottom two boards lost. Jovanka Houska scored a fine win for England, but the remaining three boards lost their games. Turkey held Poland to a commendable draw. 

Time to put your thinking cap on!

Kramnik played a fine game to beat Irakli Beradze of Georgia 2. His win helped the team to score the full point. Here's the game annotated by Surya Sekhar Ganguly:

The Semi-Slav: A GM guide for the tournament player

The Semi-Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6) can arise via various move orders, has decided World Championships, and is one of Black's most fascinating replies to 1 d4. Magnus Carlsen's second, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen explains in detail what this opening is all about.

Harikrishna is a fantastic positional player, but in the third round he played an aggressive game to beat GM Razvan Preotu from the white side of an offbeat Sicilian | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly has annotated the game of Harikrishna from which you can learn a thing or two about how deeply these super grandmasters think:

How Bobby Fischer battled the Sicilian

Fischer liked to play aggressive but basically sound lines against the Sicilian and many of his variations are still very much alive and a good choice for players of all levels.

Video Gallery by Sagar Shah

Viswanathan Anand played the offbeat 3...g6 in the Ruy Lopez with Black and beat GM Eric Hansen. This was a great result for Indian GM. While he is clearly superior to his opponent by 150 Elo points, winning with the black pieces against a 2629 GM is never easy. Vishy explains his win to us and also shows us how his dynamic feel and understanding of chess is at such a high level. In the video, we also ask Vishy about the photographer disturbing at the start of the game and he tells us what he thinks about the same.

Anish Giri drew his game pretty quickly with the white pieces against Fabiano Caruana in the Berlin. After the game, we asked him about the Re1 variation in Berlin and what is basically White's idea. How does White play for a win in such symmetrical positions? Anish answers this question in great depth and detail. We also ask him about the World Championship match between Caruana and Carlsen and who is the favourite. Hypothetically in whose team would he like to work for the World Championship Match is also answered.

Finally, we just ask Anish about the game of his countryman Jorden van Foreest and we start analyzing the game with him. It is here that you see the super GM strength in full action. Giri finds variations, moves and ideas in a flash. This video gives you a great idea as to how the minds of geniuses like Anish Giri work.

Parham Maghsoodloo and team Iran are in great form at the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018. The team started as the 23rd seeds but have clawed their way up to the top with three wins from three matches. In round three they beat the strong Belarus team with ease. We caught up with their top board and asked him about the game.

Saba Jamal Mohammed Abo ALQamachi is the fifth board of the Iraq team. She tells us about the situation of chess in Iraq. In a country dominated by terrorism and where bombs can go off at any moment, how does chess get priority? Saba tells us some stories and facts that will open your eyes to how lucky you are if you are living in a peaceful country.

Togo is a small country in West Africa. We caught up with Kolani-Banake  Sopague  and asked him about how chess is developing in his country. According to Kolani, there are 7 million people who live in Togo but only 200 play chess. Know more about chess in Togo from this interview.

Lucie  Zephir  is an unrated chess player from Mauritius. She tells us about the state of chess in her country and also her experience at the Batumi Olympiad 2018.

Pairings for round 4 (open)

Some lip smacking chess coming your way in round four of the open section. Vietnam has Le Quang Liem on the top board, but for a team of France's calibre, it might just fall short. The real big encounter according to me is between USA and India - Fabiano Caruana versus Vishy Anand, Wesley So against Harikrishna,  Hikaru Nakamura against Vidit Gujrathi and Shankland against Sasikiran or Adhiban. In 2016 USA had defeated India 3.5-0.5

Pairings for round 4 (women)

Uzbekistan has played really well in this tournament. They defeated Russia in round two. Can they do the same to China as well?

Photo gallery by Amruta Mokal

Levon Aronian in his casual attire! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Baadur Jobava always gives it his 100%. Be it with his fans... | Photo: Amruta Mokal

...or on the chess board! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The usual routine of Vidit Gujrathi before the game is to spend some time with his Dutch friends Anish Giri and Erwin l'Ami | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Ivan Cheparinov transferred to Georgia after the Bulgarian Chess Federation lost its affiliation with FIDE | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Ivanchuk has played two games and drawn both of them. Until now the heavy hitting in the Ukrainian team has been done by their fourth board player Anton Korobov who has scored two wins to given Ukraine 2½-1½ victories against Uzbekistan and Romania. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Some players bring companions to the game! Readers can correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't he the Lion from Madagascar | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The US team had a clinical performance against Netherlands with Wesley So beating Erwin l'Ami and Sam Shankland getting the better of Jorden van Foreest | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The youngest captain in the tournament hall?! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Inspired by the one and only Bob Marley! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Third youngest GM in the history of chess Abdusattorov Nodirbek just turned 14 a few days ago. He is representing the Uzbekistan team and could well be the youngest participant in this Olympiad | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The Poles at the Batumi Olympiad have a perfect mix of experience and youth. While Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Jacek Tomczak are the ones with the grey hair, Duda, Piorun and Kamil are the young guns in the team. Poland is a team that you have to watch out for. Today they take on Russia.  | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Jacob Aagaard has been the trainer of Sam Shankland and has played a critical role in Shankland breaking into 2700 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has players inside the venue who are his big fans! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

FIDE Presidential candidate Nigel Short with Shohreh Bayat and Alina l'Ami | Photo: Amruta Mokal

When administrators, coaches and players have fun together, the sport flourishes! It seems the case for Turkey - players with coach Michal Krasenkow (right) and President of Turkish Chess Federation Gulkis Tulay. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Links

• Official website
• Round 1: Li Chao is the biggest casualty
• Round 2: Improve your chess with the Olympians
• The best ever chess opening ceremony!
• ChessBase India Youtube Channel