Tromso: R4 preview and interviews

Day Four

Round Four has started in the Tromso Olympiad. There were considerably less zero tolerance forfeit losses, but the following bizarre game has already occured:

The game between Rhoda Masiyazi (Zimbabwe) vs. Akua Kosife Esse (Togo) finished after only 3 moves: 1.e4 f6 2.d4 g5 3.Qh5#. As much as the player from Togo would like to visit the city of Tromso, it seems rather disrespectful to come to the Olympiad and "play" such a game. Something very similar actually happened in the previous round.

The highlights are definitely in the Open section. The Women's still doesn't have as many clashes between the top of the top, although there are some interesting ones going on such as Germany vs. Russia.

In the Open the top level games can be found anywhere. France is playing Azerbaijan in board one, spearheaded by the clash between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Despite not having 6/6, Norway will always play on the second board; and that also features a brilliant encounter in Carlsen-Wojtaszek. Russia finally faces a very, very strong team and China will certainly not be an easy opponent; despite the fact that Li Chao, Bu Xiangzhi and Wang Hao are not playing.

Even down in the lower boards the chess is hot. Cuba faces India, and in an interesting strategic decision India is resting their top board, Parimarjan Negi, as he lost yesterday to Fabiano Caruana.

A couple of boards behind that Latvia faces England, the top board being the classical 90's match between Adams and Shirov.

Bangladesh, not a particularly top team but one that fields four grandmasters, is facing the powerhouse of Ukraine. On board one somehow there is already a draw as Ivanchuk has yet to win a game since round one.

Interview with Chuchelov

A young player hopes to be the next Magnus Carlsen. For now he is happy being sandwiched in a photo with
Elina Danielian (Armenia), Kateryna Lagno (Russia) and Lilit Mrktchian (Armenia).

One of the important organizers of the tournament: Elise Forsa, Tromso local

Terao Juliana Sayumi, from Brazil

Paula Andrea Rodriguez Rueda has seen a massive rating boost in the past few months.
Colombia is playing Kazakhstan today.

Former Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova faces Monica Socko in a very tough Bulgaria vs. Poland match

Armenia's loss yesterday sent them to board 24 where they face Costa Rica

Elshan Moradiabadi, always adding style

Mexico beat Estonia yesterday and today they will play Georgia today

Round Four Pairings

Open:

France will have a tough round again as they face Azerbaijan. Despite being on board four, an amazing match will take place there. The Russian squad will face off against China; a team that despite not having their top rated players is strong and playing well... they just took out Hungary! Next to them the match Netherlands and Israel is a complete toss-up.

Another close match will be India vs. Cuba. India's board one lost today against Caruana (Italy) and might have to face Dominguez next. Not an easy time!

Women:

Iran's 12-0 puts them on the top board of the Women's section, and will face Slovakia who is only half a board point behind... despite these board points not being the first tiebreak in the final standings, the board the teams are playing on seem to be largely based on this. China will face a relatively weaker team in Azerbaijan, whose women's team is not as elite as their open squad.

Photos by Alejandro Ramirez

All you need to know about the Olympiad

• Full information on the games, the venue, the atmosphere and what's happening on and off the chessboard – 68 pages in PDF, 45 MB in size.
• All practical details you need to know before and after your arrival, including information about money, the climate, arriving at Oslo and Tromsø Airports, lost or delayed luggage, check-in at the hotels, the accreditation desk, information offices and the opening ceremony.

All ChessBase reports on the 2014 Olympiad in Tromsø