9/27/2018 – The third round of the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018 saw no real problems for the top seeds. Almost all of them won their games and it seems as if the real battles between strong teams will begin from the fourth round, the most interesting being India versus USA. In the women's section too, there were some draws, but no loss for the higher seeded team. This report is broken into four parts. The first part gives you the idea of the results of round three, second part are positions and analysis selected by GM Ganguly, third part are photos by Amruta Mokal and fourth is videos by Sagar Shah!
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Unleash your chess potential with this dynamic course focused on mastering the initiative.
€39.90
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)
No.
SNo
Team
Team
Pts.
MP
Res.
:
Res.
MP
Pts.
Team
Team
SNo
1
7
FRA
France
8
4
3½
:
½
4
7
Algeria
ALG
57
2
63
POR
Portugal
7
4
1½
:
2½
4
8
Poland
POL
11
3
13
NED
Netherlands
8
4
1
:
3
4
6½
United States of America
USA
1
4
19
PER
Peru
8
4
1
:
3
4
6½
China
CHN
3
5
4
AZE
Azerbaijan
6½
4
3½
:
½
4
8
Slovenia
SLO
26
6
29
BRA
Brazil
8
4
1½
:
2½
4
6½
England
ENG
9
7
27
VIE
Vietnam
6½
4
3½
:
½
4
8
Bangladesh
BAN
64
8
44
ISL
Iceland
6½
4
½
:
3½
4
7½
Israel
ISR
10
9
16
GER
Germany
7½
4
2
:
2
4
6½
Serbia
SRB
45
10
54
PHI
Philippines
6½
4
1
:
3
4
7½
Croatia
CRO
18
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)
No.
SNo
Team
Team
Pts.
MP
Res.
:
Res.
MP
Pts.
Team
Team
SNo
1
23
SRB
Serbia
7
4
2
:
2
4
8
India
IND
5
2
25
ENG
England
7
4
1
:
3
4
8
Azerbaijan
AZE
11
3
34
LTU
Lithuania
7
4
½
:
3½
4
8
Vietnam
VIE
19
4
20
ROU
Romania
8
4
1
:
3
4
6½
Ukraine
UKR
2
5
22
CUB
Cuba
8
4
½
:
3½
4
6½
China
CHN
3
6
24
TUR
Turkey
8
4
2
:
2
4
6½
Poland
POL
7
7
27
GRE
Greece
8
4
½
:
3½
4
6½
Armenia
ARM
12
8
30
ARG
Argentina
8
4
2
:
2
4
6½
Hungary
HUN
13
9
14
GEO2
Georgia 2
7½
4
2
:
2
4
6½
Spain
ESP
15
10
26
CZE
Czech Republic
7½
4
1½
:
2½
4
6½
Italy
ITA
18
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.
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 (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:
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)
No.
SNo
Team
Team
Pts.
MP
Res.
:
Res.
MP
Pts.
Team
Team
SNo
1
27
VIE
Vietnam
10
6
:
6
11½
France
FRA
7
2
10
ISR
Israel
11
6
:
6
10
Sweden
SWE
32
3
1
USA
United States of America
9½
6
:
6
10½
India
IND
5
4
15
CZE
Czech Republic
9½
6
:
6
10½
Iran
IRI
23
5
4
AZE
Azerbaijan
10
6
:
6
9
England
ENG
9
6
3
CHN
China
9½
6
:
6
10½
Croatia
CRO
18
7
25
GRE
Greece
10
6
:
6
8½
Armenia
ARM
8
8
20
ARG
Argentina
10
6
:
6
8½
Ukraine
UKR
6
9
11
POL
Poland
10½
6
:
6
9½
Russia
RUS
2
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)
No.
SNo
Team
Team
Pts.
MP
Res.
:
Res.
MP
Pts.
Team
Team
SNo
1
3
CHN
China
10
6
:
6
9½
Uzbekistan
UZB
31
2
18
ITA
Italy
9
6
:
6
10
Armenia
ARM
12
3
28
IRI
Iran
11
6
:
6
9½
Mongolia
MGL
17
4
19
VIE
Vietnam
11½
6
:
6
9½
Georgia 1
GEO1
4
5
11
AZE
Azerbaijan
11
6
:
6
9½
United States of America
USA
10
6
2
UKR
Ukraine
9½
6
:
6
8½
Slovenia
SLO
35
7
13
HUN
Hungary
8½
5
:
5
9½
Georgia 2
GEO2
14
8
5
IND
India
10
5
:
5
8½
Poland
POL
7
9
24
TUR
Turkey
10
5
:
5
9
Serbia
SRB
23
10
56
GEO3
Georgia 3
9½
5
:
5
8
Australia
AUS
33
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
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
€34.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.