
Who could have imagined that a team with the highest average Elo by far, and having won more gold medals at the Chess Olympiad than any other nation would start with a staggering 0-2? Yet that is exactly what happened, followed in suit by Team USA. It is true that Russia had failed to take any spot on the podium in Norway last year, but for all onlookers and pundits, it was a fluke nothing more. If that was a fluke, then what to make of this disastrous start? It is hard to explain: statistical blip, coincidence, disinterest... Who can say?

The medals awaiting the winners...

... and the trophies.
If Russia had a bad start, the US was not much better, though in their defense their lineup was the second lowest rated, ahead only of Egypt, so anything above would be a windfall. Ultimately, a solid result by top board Sam Shankland, with above average results by the team, most notably Aleksandr Lenderman who won his last four games, with a 2818 performance.

Though Sam Shankland was the absolute star of the US team and Tromso,
here he was the rock of gibraltar providing a shield against the biggest guns
If Egypt came as the heavy underdog rated 100 Elo less than penultimate USA and over 200 behind Russia, they still managed to draw their match against Israel, and lose by only the smallest margin to China, Hungary and Armenia.

Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon shows his disgust at the way they concluded the event

Though Gelfand did not win any games, nor did he lose any
While the top teams were slow out of the gates, both Israel and Cuba had strong starts taking the early lead, but they could not keep up the momentum and other nations were able to overcome their hesitant beginning to make up the lost ground. The new leaders came in the guise of Ukraine and China, who soon fought every round toe-to-toe, while distancing themselves from their rivals.
It all came down to the last two rounds, both tied, when Ukraine unexpectedly lost to the USA, while China beat Cuba handily. The final round saw Ukraine only draw against Hungary as China trounced India by 3-1.

The proud Chinese team
Deep Sengupta - Wei Yi
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.Bf4 15.Re1 0-0 16.b4 Qd7 17.h3 Bg6 18.Bg5 Bxg5 19.Nxg5 a5 20.e6 fxe6 21.Nxe6 Rfe8 22.Nc5 Qd6 23.Bxd3 Rxe1+ 24.Qxe1 Re8 25.Qd1 axb4 26.cxb4 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Qxd3 28.Nxd3 Rd8 29.Ra3 Rd4 30.Rb3 Ne7 31.Nc5 c6 32.Re3 Nd5 33.Re6 Nxb4 34.Re7 Rd6 35.Ne6 Nd5 36.Rxg7+ Kh8 37.Nc7 Rd8 38.Rf7 Kg8 39.Rg7+ Kh8 40.Rf7 Kg8 41.Rg7+ Kh8 15...0-0 16.Ne1 Qd5 17.Bxd3 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Qxb3 19.Qf3 Qe6 20.Nd3 Rfd8 21.Rad1 Rd7 22.Rde1? Rad8 23.Nc1 Na5 24.Ne2 Nb3 25.Qg3 c5 26.Kh1 Nd2 27.Bxd2 Rxd2 28.Nf4 Qf5 29.b3 c4 30.bxc4 bxc4 31.h4 a5! 32.h5 32.Ra1 32...a4 33.h6 Bg5 34.Nh3 R2d3 35.f3 Bxh6 36.Qh4 Bd2 37.Re2 Bxc3 38.e6 fxe6 39.Qxc4 a3 40.Nf2 Rd2 41.Rfe1 Rxe2 42.Rxe2 Be5 43.Qb3 Rb8 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Sengupta,D | 2567 | Wei,Y | 2706 | 0–1 | 2015 | C83 | 10th World Teams 2015 | 9.4 |
Please, wait...

The Chinese team receives its deserving medals

The top-scoring individuals overall was dominated by 15-year-old Wei Yi at the end, scoring
7.0/9 and a 2846 performance
Top individual scoring

The Chinese players sign autographs

Top Hungarian Peter Leko giving an interview on TV
The disparity between the two leaders and the rest meant a condensation of teams, nearly everyone, with realistic chances for the bronze. Who was favorite was anyone's guess, especially after so many unexpected results.

While the Ukrainian team had the clearest success
The key moment would have to be Armenia's defeat of Russia in round seven, right when the Russians had seemed to be working on a comeback, giving the Armenian the slimmest of leads. This was all it took them, and with wins over India and Egypt, were able to secure the last spot on the podium.

Armenia managed to grab the bronze over the many challengers

Once the formalities had been resolved the entertainment could begin with a piano...

...and an opera singer.
Photos by Arman Karakhanyan
Results of round nine
Bo. |
5 |
China |
Rtg |
FED |
- |
10 |
India |
Rtg |
FED |
3 : 1 |
1.1 |
GM |
Ding, Liren |
2751 |
CHN |
- |
GM |
Harikrishna, P. |
2731 |
IND |
½ - ½ |
1.2 |
GM |
Yu, Yangyi |
2724 |
CHN |
- |
GM |
Sethuraman, S.P. |
2634 |
IND |
1 - 0 |
1.3 |
GM |
Bu, Xiangzhi |
2681 |
CHN |
- |
GM |
Sasikiran, Krishnan |
2654 |
IND |
½ - ½ |
1.4 |
GM |
Wei, Yi |
2703 |
CHN |
- |
GM |
Sengupta, Deep |
2576 |
IND |
1 - 0 |
Bo. |
6 |
USA |
Rtg |
FED |
- |
4 |
Cuba |
Rtg |
FED |
3 : 1 |
2.1 |
GM |
Shankland, Samuel L |
2661 |
USA |
- |
GM |
Dominguez Perez, Leinier |
2729 |
CUB |
½ - ½ |
2.2 |
GM |
Lenderman, Aleksandr |
2617 |
USA |
- |
GM |
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro |
2691 |
CUB |
1 - 0 |
2.3 |
GM |
Akobian, Varuzhan |
2622 |
USA |
- |
GM |
Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo |
2612 |
CUB |
1 - 0 |
2.4 |
GM |
Naroditsky, Daniel |
2640 |
USA |
- |
GM |
Gonzalez Vidal, Yuri |
2557 |
CUB |
½ - ½ |
Bo. |
7 |
Hungary |
Rtg |
FED |
- |
3 |
Ukraine |
Rtg |
FED |
2 : 2 |
3.1 |
GM |
Leko, Peter |
2713 |
HUN |
- |
GM |
Ponomariov, Ruslan |
2713 |
UKR |
½ - ½ |
3.2 |
GM |
Erdos, Viktor |
2612 |
HUN |
- |
GM |
Ivanchuk, Vassily |
2731 |
UKR |
½ - ½ |
3.3 |
GM |
Almasi, Zoltan |
2698 |
HUN |
- |
GM |
Kryvoruchko, Yuriy |
2686 |
UKR |
½ - ½ |
3.4 |
GM |
Balogh, Csaba |
2651 |
HUN |
- |
GM |
Moiseenko, Alexander |
2697 |
UKR |
½ - ½ |
Bo. |
8 |
Russia |
Rtg |
FED |
- |
2 |
Israel |
Rtg |
FED |
2½:1½ |
4.1 |
GM |
Grischuk, Alexander |
2794 |
RUS |
- |
GM |
Gelfand, Boris |
2747 |
ISR |
½ - ½ |
4.2 |
GM |
Karjakin, Sergey |
2757 |
RUS |
- |
GM |
Sutovsky, Emil |
2628 |
ISR |
½ - ½ |
4.3 |
GM |
Tomashevsky, Evgeny |
2745 |
RUS |
- |
GM |
Rodshtein, Maxim |
2667 |
ISR |
1 - 0 |
4.4 |
GM |
Vitiugov, Nikita |
2736 |
RUS |
- |
GM |
Postny, Evgeny |
2636 |
ISR |
½ - ½ |
Bo. |
9 |
Armenia |
Rtg |
FED |
- |
1 |
Egypt |
Rtg |
FED |
2½:1½ |
5.1 |
GM |
Aronian, Levon |
2770 |
ARM |
- |
GM |
Shoker, Samy |
2482 |
EGY |
1 - 0 |
5.2 |
GM |
Sargissian, Gabriel |
2674 |
ARM |
- |
IM |
Ezat, Mohamed |
2479 |
EGY |
1 - 0 |
5.3 |
GM |
Movsesian, Sergei |
2665 |
ARM |
- |
GM |
Adly, Ahmed |
2595 |
EGY |
0 - 1 |
5.4 |
GM |
Melkumyan, Hrant |
2651 |
ARM |
- |
IM |
Farahat, Ali |
2389 |
EGY |
½ - ½ |
Final standings
Rk |
Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
1 |
China |
* |
2 |
3½ |
2 |
2½ |
2 |
2½ |
3 |
3 |
2½ |
15 |
23.0 |
397.5 |
2 |
Ukraine |
2 |
* |
1½ |
2½ |
1½ |
2 |
2½ |
2½ |
2½ |
4 |
12 |
21.0 |
355.0 |
3 |
Armenia |
½ |
2½ |
* |
2½ |
2½ |
2 |
1½ |
1½ |
2½ |
2½ |
11 |
18.0 |
315.5 |
4 |
Russia |
2 |
1½ |
1½ |
* |
2 |
3½ |
2½ |
1½ |
2½ |
3½ |
10 |
20.5 |
349.0 |
5 |
USA |
1½ |
2½ |
1½ |
2 |
* |
1½ |
2½ |
3 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
19.5 |
338.3 |
6 |
Hungary |
2 |
2 |
2 |
½ |
2½ |
* |
2 |
2 |
1½ |
2½ |
9 |
17.0 |
302.0 |
7 |
Israel |
1½ |
1½ |
2½ |
1½ |
1½ |
2 |
* |
2½ |
3½ |
2 |
8 |
18.5 |
322.3 |
8 |
Cuba |
1 |
1½ |
2½ |
2½ |
1 |
2 |
1½ |
* |
1½ |
3 |
7 |
16.5 |
286.0 |
9 |
India |
1 |
1½ |
1½ |
1½ |
2 |
2½ |
½ |
2½ |
* |
3 |
7 |
16.0 |
274.3 |
10 |
Egypt |
1½ |
0 |
1½ |
½ |
1 |
1½ |
2 |
1 |
1 |
* |
1 |
10.0 |
186.3 |
Tie Break 1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for draws, 0 for losses)
Tie Break 2: points (game-points)
Tie Break 3: FIDE Sonneborn-Berger