Round seven preview

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/9/2014 – The Open section has many tough matches today; but the top board is the contest between Cuba and Azerbaijan, a close duel that will determine who leads the Olympiad after today. In the Women's section there is a decisive match as Russia takes on China, both teams on perfect scores. A little further down USA faces Armenia a match in which five Armenians will be playing!
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Round Seven

Round 7 on 2014/08/09 at 14:00
No. SNo     Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team     SNo
1 13     Cuba 18½ 11   :   11 18 Azerbaijan     8
2 16     Czech Republic 17½ 10   :   10 18 Russia     1
3 14     Norway 14½ 9   :   9 16½ Germany     12
4 29     Serbia 17 10   :   10 17½ China     7
5 18     Bulgaria 16½ 10   :   10 17½ Netherlands     11
6 24     Croatia 17½ 10   :   10 18 Romania     32
7 4     Armenia 17½ 10   :   10 17 Hungary     5
8 3     France 17½ 9   :   9 16 Georgia     21
9 57     Qatar 16 9   :   9 17½ India     19
10 6     USA 16½ 9   :   9 15½ Uzbekistan     33
11 15     Poland 17 9   :   9 16½ Bosnia & Herzegovina     42
12 49     Kazakhstan 15½ 9   :   9 17 Ukraine     2
13 30     Brazil 17½ 8   :   9 14½ Latvia     23
14 37     Canada 14 8   :   8 15½ England     10
15 59     Mongolia 13 8   :   8 15½ Israel     9
16 38     Egypt 16 8   :   8 15 Norway 2     58
17 17     Spain 15½ 8   :   8 13 Sweden     34
18 28     Slovenia 16 8   :   8 14½ Venezuela     61
19 39     Iran 15 8   :   8 17 Austria     41
20 47     Lithuania 17½ 8   :   8 15 Belarus     27

The number one match will be between Cuba and Azerbaijan. Both teams had a tremendous win, both crushing their opponents with a 3.5-0.5 score. The Czech Republic isn't Russia's toughest opponent, but the form that the Russians have been showing in this tournament is far from impressive. It will be interesting to see how much resistance the Czechs can put up.

There are a number of strong matches between teams with 10/12 points. The most noteworthy of these is probably Armenia vs. Hungary that is currently featuring Levon Aronian duking it out against Peter Leko. Aronian seems to be playing confidently and quickly as he has the White pieces and seems to have surprised his opponent.

With one less match point France and USA are in desperate need of a win to return to the top boards. USA faces the surprising Uzbekistan that has had a great tournament so far, led by Kasimdzhanov who has a 2925 (!) performance.

Speaking of rating performance...

The best players sorted according to rating performance

No. Ti. Name Rtg Team Rp Pts.
Gms
Bo.
1 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2707 Ukraine 3185 5.0
5
5
2 GM Beliavsky Alexander 2618 Slovenia 3114 4.0
4
2
3 GM Shankland Samuel 2624 USA 3108 5.0
5
5
4 GM Polgar Judit 2676 Hungary 3099 4.0
4
5
5 GM Carlsen Magnus 2877 Norway 2931 4.0
5
1
6 GM Adams Michael 2740 England 2926 3.0
4
1
7 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2700 Uzbekistan 2925 4.0
5
1
8 GM Iotov Valentin 2553 Bulgaria 2899 5.5
6
3
9 GM Ortiz Suarez Isan 2603 Cuba 2893 3.5
4
4
10 GM Mamedyarov Shak. 2743 Azerbaijan 2881 4.0
5
1
11 GM Topalov Veselin 2772 Bulgaria 2867 3.0
4
1
12 GM Giri Anish 2745 Netherlands 2844 4.5
6
1
13 GM Yu Yangyi 2668 China 2834 5.0
6
3
14 GM Ding Liren 2742 China 2831 4.0
5
2
15 GM Edouard Romain 2680 France 2828 3.5
4
4
16 GM Grischuk Alexander 2795 Russia 2824 3.5
4
2
17 GM Safarli Eltaj 2649 Azerbaijan 2823 4.5
5
4
18 GM Onischuk Alexander 2659 USA 2821 4.5
5
3
19 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2686 Armenia 2811 5.0
6
2
20 GM Saric Ivan 2671 Croatia 2808 5.0
6
1

Isan Ortiz Suarez is Cuba's fourth board today

Topalov-Giri headlines the Netherlands vs. Bulgaria match

Valentin Iotov hopes to keep adding to his score and fantastic tournament. He sits at 5.5/6 with a 2899 performance.

Aronian-Leko is definitely a must-see game

Nakamura has a tough opponent in Kasimdzhanov

Bruzon is using his typical solid Nimzo-Indian setup against Radjabov

Women's Section

Round 7 on 2014/08/09 at 14:00
No. SNo     Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team     SNo
1 2     Russia 19 12   :   12 21 China     1
2 38     Norway 17 8   :   8 15 Vietnam     20
3 8     Poland 16½ 11   :   10 18½ France     9
4 13     Hungary 17½ 10   :   10 17½ Romania     6
5 10     Armenia 17 10   :   10 17½ United States of America     7
6 23     Indonesia 17 10   :   9 19 Iran     21
7 4     Georgia 17 9   :   9 14½ Serbia     15
8 32     Greece 16 9   :   9 17½ Colombia     30
9 17     Kazakhstan 15 9   :   9 16 Ukraine     3
10 16     Netherlands 14½ 9   :   8 17 India     5
11 18     Slovakia 15 8   :   8 17½ Belarus     40
12 19     Cuba 15 8   :   8 17 Israel     26
13 42     Switzerland 14½ 8   :   8 15½ Spain     11
14 29     Sweden 16½ 8   :   8 14½ Lithuania     36
15 33     Turkey 14 8   :   8 15½ Germany     12
16 22     Azerbaijan 15½ 8   :   8 13½ Italy     31
17 47     Estonia 15 8   :   8 16½ Argentina     24
18 46     Uzbekistan 15½ 8   :   8 12½ Bolivia     71
19 52     Scotland 12½ 8   :   8 15½ Slovenia     37
20 72     Kyrgyzstan 15 8   :   8 16½ Montenegro     54

All eyes today will be in the Russia vs. China match. If Lagno is able to beat Hou Yifan than the Russian team has a great chance, but the 100+ rating point difference be a significant factor in this top board. It seems that Lagno is playing quickly and confidently so it might mean that she at least has the surprise factor on her side.

In a duel of the Cinderella stories Indonesia is playing Iran. Both teams have exceeded their expectations by far already and hope to keep accumulating points.

Another team that is doing very well for their starting rank is Colombia. Melissa Castrillon is at 4.0/5 and today will be fourth board against Markantonaki from Greece.

Armenia faces USA in the fourth board and it will definitely be an interesting encounter of two top teams. Interestingly enough, USA has two Armenians in their women's squad: the captain Melik Khachiyan (standing) and third board Tatev Abrahamyan.

After a problematic and controversial transfer it is time to see if Russia's troubles pay off. Can Kateryna Lagno take on Hou Yifan successfully?

Even without their top board, Koneru Humpy, the Indian team was expected to do a lot better than how they are doing. Today they play against the Netherlands in a match they should theoretically win.

Best Women by Rating Performance

No. Title Name Rtg Team Rp Pts.
Gms
Bo.
1 GM Hou Yifan 2661 China 3196 4.0
4
1
2 IM Bulmaga Irina 2354 Romania 2835 5.0
5
4
3 WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita 2327 Romania 2792 5.0
5
5
4 WFM Markantonaki Haritomeni 2180 Greece 2708 5.0
5
5
5 WGM Foisor Sabina-Francesca 2252 USA 2673 4.0
4
5
6 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2531 Russia 2669 4.5
5
3
7 GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 India 2637 4.5
5
1
8 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 Georgia 2631 4.5
5
1
9 GM Gunina Valentina 2524 Russia 2615 4.0
5
2
10 WGM Ju Wenjun 2559 China 2609 5.0
6
2
11 WGM Khademalsharieh S. 2324 Iran 2605 4.5
5
2
12 GM Lagno Kateryna 2540 Russia 2571 4.0
5
1
13 WGM Muhren Bianca 2314 Netherlands 2563 4.5
5
4
14 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2505 Bulgaria 2563 4.0
5
1
15 GM Cramling Pia 2500 Sweden 2549 5.5
6
1
16 WIM Dauletova Gulmira 2252 Kazakhstan 2547 4.0
4
5
17 GM Sebag Marie 2480 France 2538 2.5
4
1
18 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2398 Poland 2535 4.0
5
2
19 FM Stetsko Lanita 2261 Belarus 2531 5.5
6
2
20 GM Muzychuk Anna 2555 Ukraine 2510 3.5
5
1

Photos by Alejandro Ramirez

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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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