Olympiad R4: Germany ahead of Russia

11/17/2008 – Talk about home advantage: the German Olympiad team is in the lead, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia, both teams having won all their matches so far. Israel beat Egypt in a somewhat charged political match. In the women's section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8. We bring you results, games and once again a giant pictorial report.

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38th Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008

The Olympiad is taking place from November 12th to 25th, 2008, in the Congress Hall in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. 156 teams from 152 nations are participating, with most of the top players present.

Round four men's section

The sensation of the fourth round was the victory by Germany over Spain (with Arkadij Naiditsch using the Berlin Defence taking a full point with black from Alexei Shirov), which put Germany in first place, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia. Both teams have won all their matches so far. In round four Russia beat India when Krishnan Sasikiran agreed to a draw against Vladimir Kramnik in a promising position ("Sashi" had very little time on his clock) and Surya Ganguly succumbed to Alexander Grischuk. Ukraine and Armenia drew all their games against each other and are both now in the group with 7/8 points. In a bit of a political match eight seed Israel defeated 49th seed Egypt, with GMs Gelfand and Avrukh scoring the winning points. Egypt struck back with a consolution point scored by Egyptian FM Abdel Razik Khaled, rated 2406, against Israeli GM Postny Evgeny, 2674.

Bo. 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg
2 : 2
 9 Armenia (ARM) Rtg
1.1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786
½ - ½
 GM Aronian Levon 2757
1.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2730
½ - ½
 GM Akopian Vladimir 2679
1.3 GM Efimenko Zahar 2680
½ - ½
 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642
1.4 GM Volokitin Andrei 2659
½ - ½
 GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629
Bo. 12 Spain (ESP) Rtg
1½:2½
 11 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg
2.1 GM Shirov Alexei 2726
0 - 1
 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678
2.2 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2664
½ - ½
 GM Khenkin Igor 2647
2.3 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2604
1 - 0
 GM Fridman Daniel 2630
2.4 GM Khamrakulov Ibragim S 2580
0 - 1
 GM Baramidze David 2557
Bo. 19 Norway (NOR) Rtg
2 : 2
 15 England (ENG) Rtg
3.1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2786
1 - 0
 GM Adams Michael 2734
3.2 GM Agdestein Simen 2588
½ - ½
 GM Short Nigel D 2642
3.3 GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2545
0 - 1
 GM Howell David W L 2593
3.4 IM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2522
½ - ½
 GM Jones Gawain C B 2548
Bo. 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg
2½:1½
 13 India (IND) Rtg
4.1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772
½ - ½
 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2694
4.2 GM Svidler Peter 2727
0 - 1
 GM Harikrishna P 2659
4.3 GM Grischuk Alexander 2719
1 - 0
 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2603
4.4 GM Morozevich Alexander 2787
1 - 0
 GM Sandipan Chanda 2579
Bo. 14 Romania (ROU) Rtg
1 : 3
 5 Hungary (HUN) Rtg
5.1 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2684
½ - ½
 GM Leko Peter 2747
5.2 GM Istratescu Andrei 2633
½ - ½
 GM Polgar Judit 2711
5.3 GM Parligras Mircea 2611
0 - 1
 GM Almasi Zoltan 2663
5.4 GM Lupulescu Constantin 2594
0 - 1
 GM Berkes Ferenc 2645
Bo. 4 Azerbaijan (AZE) Rtg
3 : 1
 10 United States (USA) Rtg
6.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2752
1 - 0
 GM Kamsky Gata 2729
6.2 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731
1 - 0
 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2704
6.3 GM Gashimov Vugar 2703
½ - ½
 GM Onischuk Alexander 2644
6.4 GM Huseynov Gadir 2650
½ - ½
 GM Shulman Yuri 2616
Bo. 72 Faroe Islands (FAI) Rtg
1½:2½
 20 Netherlands (NED) Rtg
7.1 IM Ziska Helgi Dam 2416
1 - 0
 GM Van Wely Loek 2618
7.2 FM Olsen Heini 2376
0 - 1
 GM Stellwagen Daniel 2605
7.3 IM Rodgaard John 2383
0 - 1
 GM L'Ami Erwin 2610
7.4 Andreasen Joan Hendrik 2179
½ - ½
 GM Werle Jan 2582
Bo. 109 Malta (MLT) Rtg
½ :3½
 21 Poland (POL) Rtg
8.1 Sorensen Torben 2383
½ - ½
 GM Socko Bartosz 2631
8.2 CM Pace Colin 2148
0 - 1
 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2599
8.3 Borg Andrew 2112
0 - 1
 GM Gajewski Grzegorz 2577
8.4 Zerafa Robert 1991
0 - 1
 GM Bartel Mateusz 2602
Bo. 57 Ireland (IRL) Rtg
½ :3½
 29 Bosnia Herzegovina (BIH) Rtg
9.1 GM Baburin Alexander 2544
½ - ½
 GM Nikolic Predrag 2669
9.2 IM Kelly Brian 2488
0 - 1
 GM Predojevic Borki 2615
9.3 IM Collins Sam E 2412
0 - 1
 GM Saric Ibro 2559
9.4 IM Heidenfeld Mark 2364
0 - 1
 IM Stojanovic Dalibor 2455
Bo. 39 Former Yug Rep Macedonia Rtg
0 : 4
 3 China (CHN) Rtg
10.1 GM Georgiev Vladimir 2517
0 - 1
 GM Wang Yue 2736
10.2 GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2502
0 - 1
 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2714
10.3 GM Mitkov Nikola 2556
0 - 1
 GM Ni Hua 2710
10.4 IM Colovic Aleksandar 2458
0 - 1
 GM Wang Hao 2696
Bo. 91 El Salvador (ESA) Rtg
0 : 4
 35 Lithuania (LTU) Rtg
11.1 IM Leyva Hector 2399
0 - 1
 GM Kveinys Aloyzas 2533
11.2 IM Arias Lemmys A 2372
0 - 1
 GM Rozentalis Eduardas 2577
11.3 FM Chavez Ricardo Ernesto 2226
0 - 1
 IM Zagorskis Darius 2509
11.4 FM Martinez Nelson 2149
0 - 1
 IM Sarakauskas Gediminas 2429
Bo. 44 Italy (ITA) Rtg
2½:1½
 36 Switzerland (SUI) Rtg
12.1 GM Caruana Fabiano 2640
1 - 0
 GM Korchnoi Viktor 2584
12.2 GM Godena Michele 2517
½ - ½
 GM Pelletier Yannick 2557
12.3 IM Shytaj Luca 2472
½ - ½
 GM Jenni Florian 2543
12.4 IM Brunello Sabino 2455
½ - ½
 GM Gallagher Joseph G 2480
Bo. 65 Ecuador (ECU) Rtg
½ :3½
 22 Serbia (SRB) Rtg
13.1 GM Matamoros Franco Carlos S 2525
½ - ½
 GM Solak Dragan 2595
13.2 IM Pazos Gambarrotti Plinio 2327
0 - 1
 GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2581
13.3 Aucay Pelaez Mauro 2335
0 - 1
 GM Perunovic Milos 2580
13.4 Macias Murillo Bryan 2333
0 - 1
 GM Vuckovic Bojan 2561
Bo. 61 Portugal (POR) Rtg
½ :3½
 17 Georgia (GEO) Rtg
14.1 GM Galego Luis 2484
0 - 1
 GM Jobava Baadur 2664
14.2 IM Damaso Rui 2425
0 - 1
 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2615
14.3 IM Rocha Sergio 2417
½ - ½
 GM Pantsulaia Levan 2580
14.4 FM Pereira Ruben 2437
0 - 1
 GM Arutinian David 2584
Bo. 73 Malaysia (MAS) Rtg
½ :3½
 25 Slovakia (SVK) Rtg
15.1 IM Mas Hafizulhelmi 2439
0 - 1
 GM Ftacnik Lubomir 2571
15.2 FM Lim Yee-Weng 2396
½ - ½
 GM Markos Jan 2557
15.3 FM Mok Tze-Meng 2308
0 - 1
 GM Petrik Tomas 2487
15.4 Edward Lee Kim Han 0
0 - 1
 IM Vavrak Peter 2478
Bo. 8 Israel (ISR) Rtg
2½:1½
 49 Egypt (EGY) Rtg
16.1 GM Gelfand Boris 2719
1 - 0
 GM Adly Ahmed 2586
16.2 GM Roiz Michael 2677
½ - ½
 GM Amin Bassem 2560
16.3 GM Avrukh Boris 2657
1 - 0
 IM Ezat Mohamed 2425
16.4 GM Postny Evgeny 2674
0 - 1
 FM Abdel Razik Khaled 2406
Bo. 32 Denmark (DEN) Rtg
2½:1½
 55 Bangladesh (BAN) Rtg
17.1 GM Hansen Lars Bo 2570
1 - 0
 GM Rahman Ziaur 2510
17.2 GM Nielsen Peter Heine 2662
1 - 0
 GM Hossain Enamul 2494
17.3 GM Schandorff Lars 2520
½ - ½
 GM Abdulla Al-Rakib 2522
17.4 IM Glud Jakob Vang 2444
0 - 1
 FM Minhazuddin Ahmed 2377
Bo. 27 Greece (GRE) Rtg
2 : 2
 38 Philippines (PHI) Rtg
18.1 GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2597
½ - ½
 GM So Wesley 2610
18.2 GM Kotronias Vasilios 2587
1 - 0
 GM Gonzales Jayson 2469
18.3 GM Halkias Stelios 2584
0 - 1
 IM Gomez John Paul 2519
18.4 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2572
½ - ½
 GM Laylo Darwin 2507
Bo. 6 Bulgaria (BUL) Rtg
3½: ½
 70 Mongolia (MGL) Rtg
19.1 GM Topalov Veselin 2791
1 - 0
 Gundavaa Bayarsaihan 2458
19.2 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2696
½ - ½
 GM Hatanbaatar Bazar 2375
19.3 GM Delchev Aleksander 2632
1 - 0
 Oyunbaatar Tumendemberel 2306
19.4 GM Iotov Valentin 2532
1 - 0
 Bayarmandah Balgan 2339
Rk. SNo Team Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
  - 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
1 11 Germany 1 GER1
4
4
0
0
8
54.0
18.0
12.5
2 1 Russia RUS
4
4
0
0
8
51.0
18.0
11.0
3 9 Armenia ARM
4
3
1
0
7
53.0
18.0
13.0
4 5 Hungary HUN
4
3
1
0
7
50.5
16.0
11.5
5 19 Norway NOR
4
3
1
0
7
47.0
19.0
10.5
6 4 Azerbaijan AZE
4
3
1
0
7
47.0
18.0
12.0
7 15 England ENG
4
3
1
0
7
44.5
18.0
11.5
8 2 Ukraine UKR
4
3
1
0
7
44.0
19.0
9.5
9 20 Netherlands NED
4
3
1
0
7
40.0
15.0
11.0
10 13 India IND
4
3
0
1
6
44.0
18.0
10.5
11 21 Poland POL
4
3
0
1
6
42.0
16.0
12.0
12 3 China CHN
4
3
0
1
6
41.0
18.0
11.0
13 37 Vietnam VIE
4
3
0
1
6
40.5
15.0
12.5
14 8 Israel ISR
4
2
2
0
6
39.5
16.0
10.0
15 12 Spain ESP
4
3
0
1
6
39.0
18.0
10.5
16 28 Slovenia SLO
4
3
0
1
6
39.0
17.0
11.0
17 35 Lithuania LTU
4
2
2
0
6
38.0
15.0
11.0
18 22 Serbia SRB
4
3
0
1
6
37.0
16.0
10.5
19 30 Sweden SWE
4
3
0
1
6
37.0
16.0
10.5
20 25 Slovakia SVK
4
3
0
1
6
37.0
15.0
12.0

Round four women's section

In this section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8, Russia being ahead on tiebreak points. In the second group with 7/8 we find Russia, Hungary, Georgia and India.

Bo. 8 Hungary (HUN) Rtg
2 : 2
 4 Georgia (GEO) Rtg
1.1 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2483
½ - ½
 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2489
1.2 IM Vajda Szidonia 2380
1 - 0
 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2503
1.3 IM Madl Ildiko 2376
½ - ½
 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2473
1.4 WGM Rudolf Anna 2318
0 - 1
 IM Lomineishvili Maia 2437
Bo. 11 India (IND) Rtg
3 : 1
 12 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg
2.1 IM Harika Dronavalli 2462
½ - ½
 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471
2.2 IM Tania Sachdev 2425
1 - 0
 IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2371
2.3 WGM Swathi Ghate 2320
½ - ½
 WGM Michna Marta 2399
2.4 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2298
1 - 0
 WFM Hoolt Sarah 2274
Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg
3½: ½
 6 Armenia (ARM) Rtg
3.1 WGM Hou Yifan 2578
1 - 0
 IM Danielian Elina 2513
3.2 GM Zhao Xue 2518
½ - ½
 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2443
3.3 WGM Shen Yang 2450
1 - 0
 WGM Aginian Nelly 2325
3.4 Tan Zhongyi 2395
1 - 0
 WIM Galojan Lilit 2305
Bo. 10 Serbia (SRB) Rtg
1½:2½
 9 Poland (POL) Rtg
4.1 IM Maric Alisa 2405
½ - ½
 IM Socko Monika 2434
4.2 IM Bojkovic Natasa 2420
0 - 1
 IM Rajlich Iweta 2404
4.3 WGM Stojanovic Andjelija 2357
1 - 0
 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2378
4.4 WGM Benderac Ana 2310
0 - 1
 WIM Majdan Joanna 2284
Bo. 67 Indonesia (INA) Rtg
0 : 4
 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg
5.1 WIM Sukandar Irine Kharisma 2303
0 - 1
 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2513
5.2 Lindiawati Evi 2121
0 - 1
 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2468
5.3 Dewi Aa Citra 1802
0 - 1
 IM Korbut Ekaterina 2459
5.4 Kadek Iin Dwijayanti 1859
0 - 1
 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2474
Bo. 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg
2 : 2
 23 Lithuania (LTU) Rtg
6.1 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2488
½ - ½
 IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2512
6.2 IM Ushenina Anna 2496
0 - 1
 WIM Daulyte Deimante 2278
6.3 IM Gaponenko Inna 2473
½ - ½
 WFM Limontaite Simona 2197
6.4 WGM Zdebskaja Natalia 2419
1 - 0
 Ziogaite Jovita 2093
Bo. 57 Mexico (MEX) Rtg
1½:2½
 18 Czech Republic (CZE) Rtg
7.1 WIM Esquivel De Leon Aurora 2037
1 - 0
 WGM Nemcova Katerina 2369
7.2 WIM Hernandez Guerrero Yadira 2228
½ - ½
 WGM Kulovana Eva 2286
7.3 WIM Guerrero Alejandra 2143
0 - 1
 WGM Richtrova Eliska 2270
7.4 Real Pereyra Diana Karime 1766
0 - 1
 WFM Pertlova Sona 2239
Bo. 58 Denmark (DEN) Rtg
0 : 4
 25 Cuba (CUB) Rtg
8.1 WIM Hansen Evgenia 2169
0 - 1
 WGM Arribas Robaina Maritza 2303
8.2 WFM De Blecourt Sandra 2078
0 - 1
 WGM Pina Vega Sulennis 2286
8.3 Fredericia Louise 2095
0 - 1
 WIM Linares Napoles Oleiny 2261
8.4 Treppendahl Trine 2049
0 - 1
 WIM Marrero Lopez Yaniet 2260
Bo. 16 Romania (ROU) Rtg
4 : 0
 52 ICSC (ICSC) Rtg
9.1 IM Peptan Corina-Isabela 2430
1 - 0
 WIM Baklanova Tatiana 2231
9.2 WGM Cosma Elena Luminita 2340
1 - 0
 WFM Ryvova Anna 2009
9.3 WIM Paulet Iozefina 2307
1 - 0
 WIM Gerasimova Olga 2316
9.4 WGM Motoc Alina 2313
1 - 0
 WCM Mucha Annegret 1965
Bo. 17 Netherlands (NED) Rtg
3 : 1
 60 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) Rtg
10.1 FM Schuurman Petra 2324
½ - ½
 Tilenbaeva Janyl 2037
10.2 WIM Bensdorp Marlies 2303
½ - ½
 WIM Ostry Irina 2183
10.3 WIM Van Weersel Arlette 2209
1 - 0
 Lim Greta 2072
10.4 Schut Lisa 2153
1 - 0
 Shyngys Kyzy Aijarkyn 1707
Rk. SNo Team Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
  - 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
1 3 China CHN
4
4
0
0
8
54.0
18.0
12.5
2 9 Poland POL
4
4
0
0
8
51.0
18.0
12.5
3 1 Russia RUS
4
3
1
0
7
56.0
19.0
13.0
4 8 Hungary HUN
4
3
1
0
7
52.5
18.0
13.0
5 4 Georgia GEO
4
3
1
0
7
47.0
19.0
10.0
6 11 India IND
4
3
1
0
7
44.0
17.0
10.5
7 16 Romania ROU
4
3
0
1
6
44.5
17.0
12.5
8 10 Serbia SRB
4
3
0
1
6
42.0
20.0
10.5
9 17 Netherlands NED
4
3
0
1
6
39.0
18.0
10.0
10 25 Cuba CUB
4
3
0
1
6
39.0
14.0
13.0
11 18 Czech Republic CZE
4
3
0
1
6
39.0
14.0
11.5
12 2 Ukraine UKR
4
2
2
0
6
37.5
14.0
10.5
13 23 Lithuania LTU
4
2
2
0
6
37.5
14.0
10.5
14 14 Slovenia SLO
4
3
0
1
6
37.0
15.0
12.0
15 7 USA USA
4
3
0
1
6
37.0
14.0
11.5
16 6 Armenia ARM
4
3
0
1
6
36.5
19.0
10.5
17 21 Israel ISR
4
3
0
1
6
36.0
17.0
10.0
18 24 Vietnam VIE
4
3
0
1
6
36.0
16.0
11.0
19 5 France FRA
4
3
0
1
6
35.0
14.0
12.0
20 40 Norway NOR
4
3
0
1
6
35.0
14.0
12.0

I was in Dresden!

By Lakhdar Mazouz

After some unexpected downs during the first two rounds, the Olympiads have entered their normal routine: routine in the sense that players are getting used to the new regulations adopted by FIDE and have become accustomed to transport from and to the playing scene.

The interest of the media and the public is huge. On Saturday, the Congress hall where the chess is being played, was totally crowded. People of all ages were moving around like ants, never tired to watch the games on the screens, to throw a glimpse on the playing ground, to watch eagerly on a big board live comments and analysis made with great command by GM S. Polgar or GM K. Bischof. Moreover, numerous fans invaded shops selling chess material, books and souvenirs.

All eyes were focused on the super stars like Kramnik, Topalov, Carlsen, Aronian, Leko, Kamsky and Polgar. But there was also a big interest in the diversity of chess players coming from all continents. It is always a special happening during the Olympiads when so many nations meet and commune together. Chess is indeed one of the few sport activities that makes this possible.

With each round, the playing ground, although very vast, gives the impression of being overfilled with such gathering of players, arbiters, officials and spectators. This is not surprising when a record number of teams compete for the privilege of getting the much revered medals. One can sense the excitement and fiber that radiate in the playing hall. The whole atmosphere is unique. There is nothing so nice and attractive in chess to compare with the Olympiads.

Furthermore, this exceptional gathering is taking place in Dresden, a city with a long and rich history, known to host many monuments such as the “ Frauenkirche” Church, a city that encourages culture and arts and that is proud of its impressive achievements through the years. Olympiad participants must certainly be happy to belong to the very few selected people who will say later: I was in Dresden!

Source: FIDE

Pictorial impressions from Round Four

By André Schulz and Carsten Straub


Armenis vs Ukraine: Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian


Levon Aronian, top Armenian GM


Top Ukrainians Sergey Karjakin and Vassily Ivanchuk


Gabriel Sargissian and Tigran L Petrosian on the Armenian side


Andrej Volokitin and Zahar Efimenko


The ceremonial first moves were made by Prof. Christian Hesse and actor/singer Vaile


Vaile, a keen amateur player, executes the first move on the board of Hoang Thanh Trang


Naiditsch, Igor Khenkin, playing for Germany


David Baramidze, who scored a valuable point for Germany in round four


Elisabeth Pähtz and Ketino Kachiani-Gersinska on the German women's team


Tania Sachdev and Harika Dronavalli


Tania


Elisabeth Pähtz


Sara Hoolt


Marta Michna


Lela Javakhishvili, Maia Lomineishvili


Top Hungarian player Hoang Thanh Trang, originally from Vietnam


"Commonwelth Team" Nigel Short and Pentala Harikrishna


Pentala Harikrishna, one of India's top GMs


India vs Russia, with Harikrishna and Sasikiran facting Svidler and Kramnik


Surya Ganguly, Alexander Morozevich and Alexander Grischuk


In a good mood: Peter Svidler and Vlad Kramnik


Alexander Morozevich


Veselin Topalov


Ivan Cheparinov


Leko and Polgar playing for Hungary


Bartosz Socko


Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu


Fabiano Caruana, playing for Italy


Michele Godena, Italy


Sabino Brunello


Luca Shytaj


Vasilios Kotronias, Greece


Susanto Megaranto , Indonesien


Sadikin Irwanto


Simbolon Yohannes


Farid Firmansyah


Pia Cramling, Sweden


Poland with Monicka Socko and Iweta Rajlich


Jolanta Zawadzka, Joanna Majdan


Lorena Zepeda


Sonia Zepeda


Gabriela Avelar


Ingrid Sanchez


Batkhuyag Munguntuul if Mongolia


Dulamsuren Yanjindulam


Altanolzii Enxtuul


Cegmed Munhchuluun


Yelena Dembo


Anna-Maria Botsari


Marina Makropoulou


Ekaterini Fakhiridou


Mira Dedijer, Bosnien-Herzegowina


Nermina Malokas


German players Elisabeth Pähtz and Melanie Ohme


The "Bulgarian Delegation"

TV ChessBase


Today our star guest with André Schulz: Sophie Leko


Sophie Leko revealed the secrets of what it is like to be married to a GM


André Schulz interviews Chief Arbiter Ignatius Leong


Jobava Baduur after his win against Vassily Ivanschuk

Pictures by Carsten Straub and André Schulz in Dresden

Live coverage on Playchess

A selection of 32 games will be broadcast live on our chess server Playchess.com. There will also be live video interviews with players after their games. If you are not a member of the Playchess community (which as of Monday, November 8th 2008 had 307,966 registered users) you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. If you have ChessBase, Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Rybka, Hiarcs, Shredder) you can automatically access the server. All these programs come with a one-year subscription to Playchess. Note that if you have a trial account you may not be able to watch the games if too many registered members are logged in.

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