Tromso Penultimate Preview

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/12/2014 – The medal contention is nearing the final battles. In the open section China and France are duking it out for the lead, but they are followed by a contingency of strong teams only half a match point behind them. In the Women's there is the grudge match between Ukraine and Russia, a very loaded encounter. Can the Russian team keep their lead? Preview of an exciting round.

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Round Ten Preview

No. SNo Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team SNo
1 3 France 25½ 15   :   15 26 China 7
2 2 Ukraine 25 14   :   14 23½ Azerbaijan 8
3 24 Croatia 23½ 12   :   12 21 Norway 14
4 5 Hungary 24 14   :   14 24½ Romania 32
5 18 Bulgaria 23½ 14   :   13 25 Poland 15
6 6 United States of America 24 13   :   13 23½ Argentina 35
7 29 Serbia 22½ 13   :   13 23½ Russia 1
8 12 Germany 23 13   :   13 24½ India 19
9 11 Netherlands 24 13   :   13 22½ Uzbekistan 33
10 16 Czech Republic 24 13   :   13 22½ Belarus 27
11 31 Vietnam 25 13   :   13 23½ Armenia 4
12 13 Cuba 23½ 12   :   12 22 Georgia 21
13 49 Kazakhstan 21 12   :   12 22½ Spain 17
14 23 Latvia 21 12   :   12 23 Israel 9
15 10 England 22½ 12   :   12 21 Sweden 34
16 43 Iceland 24½ 12   :   12 22½ Turkey 26
17 36 Slovakia 22½ 12   :   12 24 Brazil 30
18 47 Lithuania 24 12   :   12 22½ Qatar 57
19 64 Colombia 24½ 11   :   11 21 Norway 2 58
20 46 Mexico 22½ 11   :   11 21 Indonesia 72

France and China will be having a tough fight for first place. Bacrot has been an incredibly key player for France in the last two rounds giving the decisive point for his team in both encounters, once against Poland and the other against the Czech Republic. Today he is white against Ding Liren, China's highest rated player in this Olympiad.

Ukraine vs. Azerbaijan is an absolute duel of powerhouses. Much of this match will depend on how well Ivanchuk decides to play today; he is known to swing between absurdity and genius beyond words. Hungary will be facing the surprising Romania, a win for either team will catapult them to the medal positions. Another surprising team, Bulgaria, will be facing Poland. Jan-Krzysztof Duda is Poland's star player, with an astonishing 7.5/9 and most of them with the black pieces!

Cheparinov and Topalov have been working together for a long time; in this Olympiad they have been performing rather well, but it has been Iotov and Rusev in the lower boards that are really putting Bulgaria in the top spots.

Ding Liren's 2742 makes him China's #1 in the Olympic team, but he is playing second board

Ukraine faces the strong team from Azerbaijan. The Ukrainians have bounced back after a bad start.

Duda: 2768 rating performance

Rk. Team  TB1   TB2 
1 China 15 276.0
2 France 15 260.0
3 Ukraine 14 257.0
4 Azerbaijan 14 248.5
5 Bulgaria 14 247.0
6 Hungary 14 240.5
7 Romania 14 235.0
8 United States of America 13 241.0
9 Russia 13 241.0
10 India 13 240.0
11 Netherlands 13 237.5
12 Czech Republic 13 237.0
13 Armenia 13 235.5
14 Poland 13 228.5
15 Uzbekistan 13 222.0
16 Serbia 13 220.0
17 Vietnam 13 212.0
18 Germany 13 211.0
19 Belarus 13 203.0
20 Argentina 13 197.5

Women's Section

No. SNo Team Pts. MP Res. : Res. MP Pts. Team SNo
1 3 Ukraine 24 15   :   18 28 Russia 2
2 38 Norway 22½ 12   :   12 23 Azerbaijan 22
3 1 China 28½ 16   :   14 24½ Spain 11
4 12 Germany 24 14   :   14 24 Romania 6
5 4 Georgia 25 13   :   14 22 Poland 8
6 17 Kazakhstan 21 13   :   13 23½ France 9
7 18 Slovakia 23½ 13   :   13 26 Bulgaria 14
8 35 Croatia 23½ 13   :   13 24 Armenia 10
9 42 Switzerland 23 12   :   12 25 India 5
10 27 Czech Republic 25 12   :   12 23 Uzbekistan 46
11 20 Vietnam 22½ 12   :   12 23 United States of America 7
12 24 Argentina 23½ 12   :   12 23 Montenegro 54
13 13 Hungary 22 12   :   11 23½ Mongolia 28
14 40 Belarus 23½ 11   :   11 20½ Indonesia 23
15 15 Serbia 20 11   :   11 22½ Greece 32
16 16 Netherlands 20½ 11   :   11 22 Colombia 30
17 37 Slovenia 22 11   :   11 19½ Kyrgyzstan 72
18 31 Italy 19½ 11   :   11 22 Lithuania 36
19 25 Latvia 19 11   :   11 21½ Philippines 43
20 34 Austria 18½ 11   :   11 21½ Canada 45

The match of the day is obviously the grudge encounter between Ukraine and Russia. This is important not only for the political situation of both countries, but also because Kateryna Lagno used to be Ukraine's board number one. She will now be playing against Muzychuk (Anna, not Mariya, who is in second board) in the first board encounter. Russia will want to preserve their full match point lead over China, but it will not be easy.

Melanie Ohme is one of the Olympiad's Ambassadors

The Lilits: Galojan (right) and Mrktchian (left)

The Spanish team has had a good second half of the Olympiad and has risen to the top boards. However today they face China, which seems to be quite a tough match up.

Germany vs. Romania is a close match. Neither team has faced the top boards quite yet so they have a good chance for a surprise in the last round if they are victorious today.

Poland is still in striking distance of the top teams, but they will need a win against the tough squad of Georgia.

Amina Mezioud from Algeria

Rk. Team  TB1   TB2 
1 Russia 18 301.0
2 China 16 294.0
3 Ukraine 15 236.5
4 Spain 14 246.0
5 Germany 14 234.0
6 Romania 14 230.0
7 Poland 14 226.0
8 Georgia 13 250.5
9 France 13 244.5
10 Bulgaria 13 230.5
11 Armenia 13 221.0
12 Slovakia 13 201.5
13 Croatia 13 193.5
14 Kazakhstan 13 183.5
15 India 12 243.5
16 Czech Republic 12 225.0
17 United States of America 12 217.5
18 Vietnam 12 217.0
19 Azerbaijan 12 206.5
20 Hungary 12 204.0

And here's a little puzzle for you: can you guess who this young lady is?

Hint: in her television interview she says her goal is to become a chess grandmaster...

... and not a famous dancer. The answer will follow in our round ten report.

Photos by Alejandro Ramirez, Pascal Simon and André Schulz


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All you need to know about the Olympiad

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All ChessBase reports on the 2014 Olympiad in Tromsø


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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