Chennai R2: Zambia and Bulgaria score upsets

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/31/2022 – Most games favoured the favourites in round 2 of the Chess Olympiad, with a few exceptions. In the open section, Zambia and Bulgaria upset Denmark and Croatia respectively, while among the women, Ecuador got the better of Slovenia. World champion Magnus Carlsen made his debut, and outplayed Georg Meier in a balanced endgame to help Norway get a 4-0 win over Uruguay. | Pictured: Mohamed Emli Ramla (Dijibouti) | Photo: Mark Livshitz

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Carlsen joins the fray in style

A second round of, still, mostly lopsided matches was played on Saturday in Chennai. However, some of the teams already fielded their top players after allowing them to rest on opening day. Notably, Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana — who celebrated his 30th birthday — made their debuts for the Norwegian and US teams respectively.

While Caruana used a pragmatic approach, signing a safe draw with white against Paraguay’s Axel Bachmann, Carlsen worked extra hard until getting an on-brand victory over Uruguay’s Georg Meier. The world champion thus helped Norway score a 4-0 win over the South American squad now reinforced by the recently transferred Meier.

In the game, Carlsen gained a pawn just before entering a queen endgame. Engines showed zeros for quite a while, but commentators suspected the world champion was not going to stop trying, and that it was likely he would eventually succeed.

And they were right: it was a typical Carlsen endgame grind. As GM Karsten Müller shows in his analysis below, even when White gained a second extra pawn and had connected passers on the kingside, the 6-men tablebases evaluate the position as drawn. But precise defence is needed to keep the balance.

 

Chess Olympiad Chennai 2022

Norway vs Uruguay | Photo: Stev Bonhage

Upsets by Zambia and Bulgaria

To describe Bulgaria as an underdog does not sound quite right. However, this time around, the European country has not sent its highest-rated players to the Olympiad. According to the July official FIDE ratings list, Bulgaria’s number 10 is representing the country on top board, while an untitled 2272-rated player is fourth in the lineup.

The relatively low ratings did not prevent them from taking down the 15th seeds from Croatia by a convincing 3½-½ score. On board 3, Tsvetan Stoyanov (rated 2450) tactically outplayed Ante Brkic (2611) from the white side of a Sicilian.

 
Stoyanov vs. Brkic

31...Rf8 was a blunder, since it allowed 32.Rg5, as after 32...Rxf4 White has 33.Qe8+ Bf8 34.Qxe5, grabbing the initiative while keeping his extra exchange.

Chess Olympiad Chennai 2022

The playing hall | Photo: Madelene Belinki

Bulgaria is, notwithstanding, a traditional chess country. Zambia’s upset was, therefore, perhaps more surprising. The squad from the landlocked South-African nation defeated Denmark despite having a 200+ rating deficit on all four boards.

Olimpiu Di Luppi described it best.

Draws were seen on boards 1-3 while Nase Lungu (2216) scored the all-important victory, over Martin Haubro (2411), on the fourth board.

 
Lungu vs. Haubro

Black’s 31...Rd6 was not a great idea. Lungu quickly replied with 32.g5, and after a series of exchanges in the centre, the knight had a marvellous outpost on f6 to wreak havoc on Black’s camp. Haubro was checkmated seven moves later.

Zambia, Chess Olympiad

The women’s squad from Zambia | Photo: David Llada

More evenly matched encounters will be seen in round 3, with the favourites from the United States paired up against Georgia and the second seeds from India set to face Greece.

Find Sunday’s top pairings and more technical information at the end of this article.

Bulgaria vs Croatia and Zambia vs Denmark

 
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1.e4 2 c5 15 2.Nf3 4 d6 7 3.Bb5+ 17 Nd7 24 4.a4 10 Ngf6 41 5.Nc3 5 g6 16 6.0-0 0 B51: Sicilian: Moscow Variation (3 Bb5+) without 3...Bd7. Bg7 0 7.Re1 12 0-0 59 8.d4 44 White has an edge. cxd4 2:26 9.Nxd4 17 Nc5 0 10.Bf1 2:26 Bd7 8:00
11.f3N 0 Predecessor: 11.a5 Rc8 12.f3 a6 13.Be3 Re8 14.Qd2 Qc7 15.Ra3 Qb8 16.Qf2 e5 17.Nb3 1-0 (48) Bharath,S (2479)-Papadiamandis,E (2369) Biel 2022 11...Nh5 23:02 12.a5 5:05 Ne6 2:51 13.Nxe6 3:47 fxe6 39 14.Be3 1:32 b5 6:55 15.Bxb5 7:58 White is more active. Bxb5 0 16.Nxb5 8 Bxb2 6 17.Rb1 4:01 Be5 1:45 18.a6 40 Qc8 2:25
18...Qa5 19.c3!± 11:03 Nf4 10:47 20.g3 0 Nh5 1:06 21.f4 0 21.Bxa7?! Qxa6 22.Bd4 Rfc8 21.Kg2+- 21...Bg7 0 21...Nxf4± 22.gxf4 Bxf4 22.Qb3+- 42 Kh8 3:53
23.Rf1? 18:33 23.e5!+- 23...Nf6= 2:54 24.Nd4 5:07 But not 24.Bxa7 Nxe4 25.Be3 Rxa6 Of course not 24.Nxa7 Qxa6 25.Nb5 Ng4 24...Ng4! 2:43 25.Bd2 2:53 Qxa6 1:08 ...Bxd4+ is the strong threat. 26.Qb5 7:14 Not 26.Qxe6? Bxd4+ 27.cxd4 Qe2 28.Qxg4 Qxg4-+ 26...Bxd4+ 2:06 27.cxd4 0 Qxb5 2:03 28.Rxb5 5 Rfc8 55 29.f5! 5:51 gxf5 3:35 30.exf5 11 The position is equal. Rc2 2:03 31.Bg5 3:22 Nxh2 1:01 32.Rf2 39 Rxf2 23 33.Kxf2 1 exf5 1:44 34.Bxe7 25 Endgame KRB-KRN a5 1:39 35.Rxf5 5:01 Kg8 0 36.Bxd6 44 Threatens to win with Kg2. Ng4+ 33 37.Kf3 2:40 Nh6 3 38.Rg5+ 37 Kf7 6 39.Ba3 2:00 a4 51 40.Kf4 0 Rg8 1:16 41.Rd5 10:01 Rg4+ 3:13 42.Kf3 6 Rg6! 2:32 43.Ra5 1:31 Rf6+ 2:12 44.Ke4 6 Re6+ 17 45.Kd5 1:41 Nf5 27 46.Rxa4 2:26 h5 0 47.Ra7+ 4:34 Kf6 6 48.Ra8 1:14 And now Rf8+ would win. Re3 2:07 49.Rf8+ 4:07 Kg6 7 50.Bc1 4:31 Rd3 3:11 51.Rg8+ 6:26 Kf7 1:46 52.Rg5 3 Kf6 0 53.Rxh5 2:28 Rxd4+ 7 54.Kc5 2 White threatens Rxf5+! and mate. Rg4 17 55.Bf4 39 Nxg3 8 56.Bxg3 3 Rxg3 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.11 (very precise) /Black=0.07 (flawless)
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Saric,I2680Petkov,M2510½–½202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.17
Kozul,Z2602Yordanov,L23160–1202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.17
Stoyanov,T2450Brkic,A26111–0202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.17
Georgiev,T2272Bosiocic,M25491–0202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.17
Bjerre,J2608Bwalya,G2396½–½202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.27
Rasmussen,A2550Phiri,R2293½–½202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.27
Mwali,C2320Thybo,J2520½–½202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.27
Lungu,N2216Haubro,M24111–0202244th Chess Olympiad Open 20222.27

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Ecuador’s women beat Slovenia

A larger number of upsets on individual boards were seen in the women’s section. However, the favourites mostly managed to win the matches against their lower-rated opponents. 

The one major surprise was seen on board 26, where Ecuador defeated the 26th seeds from Slovenia. Wins on boards 2 and 3 were enough for the South Americans to get their second consecutive victory, plus the right to face the 19th seeds from Israel in round 3.

On board 3, Slovenia’s Teja Vidic (2099), playing black, would have kept the game balanced against Josselyne Peñafiel (1804) had she swapped queens at the right time.

 
Peñafiel vs. Vidic

Although 56...Rg2+ is by no means losing, 56...Qxc4 was a better alternative for Black. After 57.Kd3 Qxc4+ 58.Rxc4 White had better prospects in the ensuing endgame. Peñafiel showed good technique until getting a 72-move victory.

Carla Heredia

Ecuador’s Carla Heredia | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In round 3 of the women’s tournament, the favourites from India will face England, while the second seeds from Ukraine will be paired against Slovakia.

Ecuador vs Slovenia

 
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1.d4 16 Nf6 28 2.c4 7 e6 0 3.Nc3 4 Bb4 54 4.e3 14 b6 1:52 5.Nge2 7 0-0 4:47 6.a3 0 Bxc3+ 11 7.Nxc3 6 d5 6 8.cxd5 1:40 exd5 2:43 9.Bd3 21 Re8 2:34 10.0-0 3:21 Nbd7 3:03 11.b4 0 Bb7 3:46 12.Bb2 2:35 Ne4 14:03 13.Rc1 6:00 Ndf6 1:11 14.Re1 2:48 a6 1:46 15.f3 3:01 Nd6 5 16.Rc2 0 Qd7 2:10 17.g4 8:00 Re7 3:57 18.Rce2 3:07 b5 12:11 19.Bb1 2:09 a5 0 20.Qd3 2:02 g6 19 21.Bc1 5:07 axb4 3:43 22.axb4 6 Rae8 38 23.Nd1 2:53 Nc4 3:25 24.Nf2 54 Qd6 0 25.Qc3 9:16 Bc6 10:25 26.Kg2 7:17 Re6 55 27.Nd3 1:32 Nd7 2:52 28.Nf4 3:10 R6e7 1 29.h4 55 Nf8 0 30.h5 2:44 Ne6 12 31.Nh3 50 gxh5 2:48 32.Qd3 16:11 f6 26 33.Nf2 0 Rg7 1:13 34.Rh1 42 Ree7 2:27 35.Kf1 5:18 Ng5 2:31 36.f4 56 Ne4 0 37.Nxe4 46 dxe4 1 38.Qc2 11 hxg4 19 39.Rg2 1:17 Qxb4 15 40.Ba2 4 Bd5 58 41.Rh5 1:53 c6 0 42.Qe2 1:18 Qc3 53 43.Bd2 1:13 Qa3 3:58 44.Bb1 1:42 Qb3 1:15 45.Qe1 28 Na3 5 46.Bb4 46 Ra7 0 47.Bc5 1:34 Ra4 12 48.Bxa3 11 Rxa3 9 49.Rf5 2:45 Ra1 39 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Urh,Z2321Ortiz Verdezoto,A20460–1202244th Chess Olympiad Women 20222.26
Rozman,M2104Miranda Vargas,A17231–0202244th Chess Olympiad Women 20222.26
Heredia Serrano,C2090Unuk,L2340½–½202244th Chess Olympiad Women 20222.26
Penafiel Mendoza,J1804Vidic,T20991–0202244th Chess Olympiad Women 20222.26

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Round 3 pairings - Open

Team Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team Team
IND India *) 4   :   4 Greece GRE
GEO Georgia 8 4   :   4 6 United States USA
ITA Italy 4   :   4 Norway NOR
ESP Spain 4   :   4 Brazil BRA
AUS Australia 4   :   4 7 Poland POL
AZE Azerbaijan 7 4   :   4 8 Argentina ARG
SWE Sweden 6 4   :   4 Netherlands NED
UKR Ukraine 8 4   :   4 8 Cuba CUB
AUT Austria 7 4   :   4 7 Germany GER
ENG England 7 4   :   4 Lithuania LTU
SUI Switzerland 7 4   :   4 8 India 2 IND
ARM Armenia 7 4   :   4 6 Egypt EGY
MNE Montenegro 8 4   :   4 Iran IRI
UZB Uzbekistan 8 4   :   4 Slovenia SLO
CHI Chile 4   :   4 France FRA

...96 boards

Round 3 pairings - Women

Team Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team Team
ENG England 7 4   :   4 India *) IND
UKR Ukraine 7 4   :   4 Slovakia SVK
CZE Czech Republic 6 4   :   4 Georgia GEO
POL Poland 4   :   4 6 Vietnam VIE
ITA Italy 4   :   4 8 France FRA
AZE Azerbaijan 8 4   :   4 7 Greece GRE
MGL Mongolia 8 4   :   4 7 United States USA
GER Germany 7 4   :   4 7 Switzerland SUI
EST Estonia 7 4   :   4 8 Armenia ARM
KAZ Kazakhstan 7 4   :   4 8 Peru PER
INA Indonesia 8 4   :   4 India 2 IND2
HUN Hungary 4   :   4 8 Colombia COL
SWE Sweden 8 4   :   4 8 Spain ESP
CUB Cuba 4   :   4 7 Australia AUS
BRA Brazil 8 4   :   4 Bulgaria BUL

...78 boards

*) This team is assigned to a fixed board.



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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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