Ukraine Wins Chess Olympiad
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
To win gold medals at any chess olympiad, you need exceptional performances
of at least two players, who know how to take risks and collect points. But
you also need a few others who can steady the team – solid players hard
to defeat. If that is not enough, you need some luck. The team of Ukraine had
it all at the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, that finished
Sunday.
Led by the amazing GM Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ukraine clinched the gold undefeated,
winning eight matches, tying three and collecting 19 points. Russia's top team
finished with the silver medals with 18 points. Israel tied for third place
with Hungary with 17 points, but won the bronze on a better tiebreak.
Ivanchuk receiving the gold medal, Russian team on the left
In the Women's olympiad, Russia 1, led by the Kosintseva sisters, Tatiana and
Nadezhda, and by the women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, grabbed first
place, winning all 11 matches, collecting 22 points. China sneaked into second
place with 18 points. The once powerful team of Georgia won the bronze medal
with a better tiebreak over several teams, including the U.S. team.
Russian golden women, China on the left
We can speculate why the all-mighty Russian team did not win. A loss to Hungary
didn't help, but an all-out effort by Russia's GM Peter Svidler, who lost against
Spain in the last round, allowed the Ukrainian team to tie their last match
against Israel 2-2 and clinched the gold. In the end the dreaded tiebreak worked
out well for Israel.
Ukraine had two players among the top ten performers. Ivanchuk's 8-2 score
was the best on the first board, earning him 2890 performance points. It was
eclipsed only by five points by the Israeli second board, GM Emil Sutovsky.
GM Sergei Karjakin, an Ukrainian deserter who believed that his career can advance
better in Moscow, was the top scorer for Russia's fourth board.
Russia didn't win despite a huge monetary bonus promised to each member for
the first place. When was the last time they won? Those interested in the answer
can visit Olimpbase, an incredible,
monumental web site, covering all olympiads to date and various team events.
Ukraine had two steady players: the former world champion GM Ruslan Ponomairov,
with 5-4, and GM Pavel Eljanov, with 7-3. The biggest surprise was the performance
of GM Zahar Efimenko, 25, who chipped in with a 8,5-2,5 score. He secured the
most important victories in long rook endgames. We present his win against Bosnian
IM Dalibor Stojanovic, a Spanish encounter with an explosive middlegame attack.
Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to
follow the game.
Original
column here – Copyright
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