2010 Chess Olympiad: Bulgaria and Azerbaijan stumble in round two

by Albert Silver
9/23/2010 – The second round continued with disparate pairings, but this time, instead of the oddball upset, top teams stumbled against opponents they were expected to beat. Who would have thought Bulgaria with Topalov would go down to Croatia, much less Azerbaijan, with Mamedyarov and Radjabov, to Vietnam? They no doubt dearly miss Gashimov now. Round two report with videos and games.

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The 2010 Chess Olympiad takes place from September 21st to October 3rd in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. It is an 11-round Swiss System team event, in which each team has four players with one reserve.

Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds/move as of move one.

Game start: rounds 1-10 at 9 AM UTC (5 AM New York / 2 AM Pacific daylight), and round 11 at 5 AM UTC (1 AM New York / 10 PM Pacific daylight)

Rest day: September 26th (after round 5) and October 2nd (after round 10).

2010 Chess Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk

Round 2

The second round at Khanty-Mansiysk already brought its first share of major surprises, and we aren’t talking about a smattering of isolated board results either. The absolute leaders continued their march forward, with Ukraine having yet to drop a half-point, with its second 4-0 victory in a row.  Russia, now fielding Kramnik on board one, also beat Venezuela comfortably, while the US enjoyed enormous luck in its 3.5-0.5 win, considering that Nakamura was quite lost for a large part of his game, but somehow came up with a win after his opponent consistently failed to put him away.

The first surprises were the drawn matches by Israel with Indonesia, despite a 200 Elo edge, followed by France’s draw with Slovenia. Hungary was also in danger of a drawn match with Argentina , but Judit Polgar made the difference and clinched the match in their favor.  Then the real surprises came. England, fielding Adams, Short, McShane, and Howell, fell to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Ivan Sokolov’s win over Adams being the only decisive game in their match. Astonishingly, Bulgaria, now playing with Topalov on board one, followed by Cheparinov, and Georgiev, fell to Croatia, who only had two players even rated 2600. Topalov was actually lost in his game, and pulled out all his resources to miraculously draw, however Kiril Georgiev’s loss in the Wilkes-Barre/Traxler of a Two Knights defense against Ivan Saric was the team’s downfall, and Croatia took it 2.5-1.5.


The Vietnamese team pulled off one of the the biggest upsets of round two, by
beating the Azerbaijan team led by Mamedyarov and Radjabov.

Although the rating difference would suggest that the Vietnamese win over Azerbaijan was a fraction less spectacular, it was actually more so. The reason is that although Bulgaria’s average Elo of their four boards is the same as Azerbaijan, the fact is the Azerbaijani do not have a 2800 Elo to make that single difference. Their Elo advantage is distributed throughout all their boards and would theoretically make it an easier win. Instead, neither Mamedyarov (playing Le Quang ‘tis true), nor Radjabov were able to win, and GM Rauf Mamedov (2660) fell to a nasty tactic against Nguyen Anh Dung (2500) and was unable to salvage the game. Despite their obviously elevated rating average, one strongly suspects that there are deep regrets at the absence of Vugar Gashimov, who was barred by his federation for obscure reasons, and who could easily have been the difference in their favor.

Mamedov,Rauf (2660) - Nguyen,Anh Dung (2500)
39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 (2), 22.09.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.Bb3 h6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.h3 Be6 9.Nf1 d5 10.Qe2 Re8 11.g4 a5 12.Ba4 dxe4 13.dxe4.








13...Nxe4!! A beautiful shot, completely missed by White. 14.Qxe4 Bd5 15.Qe2 e4 16.Bxc6 Bxc6 17.Nd4.








17...e3! White cannot protect the rook, and will lose the exchange. 18.Bxe3. Moving the rook away from the bishop's attack with 18.Rg1 runs into 18...exf2+ 19.Kxf2 Rxe2+, and 18.f3 is equally disastrous after 18...Qh4+ 19.Kd1 Bxd4 20.cxd4 Qf6! 21.Nh2 Ba4+ 22.Ke1 (22.b3 Qxd4+ 23.Kc2 Qxa1 24.bxa4 Qxa2+ 25.Bb2 Re5) 22...Qh4+ 23.Kf1 Bb5!! 24.Qxb5 Qf2# 18...Bxh1-+ Try as he might, White was unable to save the game thereafter. 19.0-0-0 Qf6 20.Ng3 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 Bf3 22.Qc4 Rad8 23.Rf4 Bd5 24.Qxc7 Qa6 25.Qb6 Bxa2 26.Qxa6 bxa6 27.Kc2 Rb8 28.Nf5 Bb3+ 29.Kc1 a4 30.Nd4 a3 31.bxa3 Rec8 32.Bd2 Ba2 33.Nf5 Kh7 34.Nd6 Rc7 35.h4 Rb6 36.Nf5 Bb1 37.Ne3 Bd3 38.Rb4 Rb5 39.Kb2 h5 40.g5 Re7 41.a4 Rxb4+ 42.cxb4 Re4 43.Ng2 Be2 44.Nf4 Bd1 45.a5 Rc4 46.Ka3 g6 47.Be3 Kg8 48.Bd2 Kf8 49.Be3 Ke7 50.Kb2 Kd6 51.b5 axb5 52.a6 Bf3 53.a7 Ke5 54.Nd3+ Kf5 55.Ne1 Ba8 56.Nc2 Rxh4 57.Nd4+ Rxd4 58.Bxd4 h4 0-1 [Click to replay]

The Norwegian team, led by world number one Magnus Carlsen (2826) and Jon Hammer (2633), had a perfect 4-0 win over Portugal, despite their last two boards being of equivalent ratings. Carlsen played Portuguese GM Luis Gallego (2500), and had few difficulties in imposing his will.


Top-seed Magnus Carlsen in his first Olympic game as world
number one.

Carlsen,Magnus (2826) - Galego,Luis (2500)
39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 (2), 22.09.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Nbd2 Qe7 10.0-0 e5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.e4 White's plan is to play his center majority against black's queenside majority. 12...N5f6?! [The usual move is 12...N5b6 ] 13.Rfe1 exd4 14.e5 Nd5 15.Nxd4 N7b6 16.f4! Nb4 17.Qe4 White has achieved what he wanted and is clearly to be favored. 17...Rd8 18.N2f3 Bg4 19.Rad1 Bxf3? Why play this without being forced to? 20.Bxf3 Qc5.








Black would still be in big trouble after 20...Nxa2 21.f5! Nd5 22.f6! and his position would collapse after 22...gxf6?! 23.Nf5! Qf8 24.Qh4 b6 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.Nh6+ Kh8 (26...Kg7 27.Qxf6#) 27.Qxf6+ Qg7 28.Nxf7+ Kg8 29.Qxc6 21.e6! fxe6 22.Kh1 Qd5 23.Qe3 Qxa2 24.Nxe6 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 The threat of Qe5 is very tough to meet. 25...Qxb2? 26.Nd8! This lovely move wins by force. 26...Qf6 27.Qe8+ Qf8 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Nf7+ Kg8.








30.Rd8! Rxd8 31.Nxd8+ Kh8 32.Nf7+ Kg8 33.Ng5+ Kh8 34.Qe4 g6 35.Qd4+ Qg7 36.Qxb4? Winning a piece and no doubt the game, but he had a stronger continuation all the same. 36.Qd8+ Qg8 37.Qf6+ Qg7 38.Nf7+ Kg8 39.Nh6+! Undoubtedly the move that Carlsen missed. 39...Qxh6 40.Bg4! and the threat of Be6 is unstoppable. 36...h6 37.Ne4 Nd5 38.Qa3 b5 39.Qc5 b4 40.Qxc6 Qa1+ 41.Kg2 Ne3+ 42.Kf2 Qd4 43.Qe8+ Kg7 44.Qe7+ 1-0 [Click to replay]

 

An interesting game, somewhat uncharacteristic, was played by Lev Aronian (2783) against Australia-based GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (2583), as he played an all out attack against his opponent.


Lev Aronian was out for blood in the second round.

Aronian,Levon (2783) - Zhao,Zong-Yuan (2583)
39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 (2), 22.09.2010

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.Nc3 Na6 12.Ne5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Nd5 14.Rad1 c6 15.Bc1 Nab4 16.e4 Nb6 17.Qe2 Nd7 18.Nf3!? Certainly not the obvious direction to take the game, but Aronian is feeling punchy and decides to go straight for the jugular. 18...Re8 19.h4 Qb6 20.Ng5 h6








21.Rh1! One cannot complain the Armenian is not being consistent. 21...Bf8 The knight is untouchable. If 21...hxg5? 22.hxg5 Black's position would soon become untenable. 22...g6 23.Qf3 Threatening Rh8+ followed by Qxf7 and mate. 23...f5 24.g4! White's attack is crushing. 22.e5 f5 23.Qh5! White is winning. 23...Re7 24.Qg6 hxg5 25.hxg5 c5 26.Nb5! The threat is Nd6, covering the f7 square, followed by Qh7 mate. 26...Qc6+ 27.f3 cxd4 28.Qh7+ After 28...Kf7 29.Nd6+ wins the queen. 1-0 [Click to replay]

Among the most interesting matchups for round three, are Russia 1 against Italy, which should see Vladimir Kramnik face Fabiano Caruana on board one.

The women's matches have held few surprises thus far, other than France's unexpected loss to Latvia, and the Czech Republic's victory over Armenia. The biggest single game upset in either men's or women's event was unquestionably Russian IM Galliamova (2482) loss after she blundered a piece to Bosnia Sanja Dedijer (2050), though this did not change the result of the match.

Men's team pairings for round 3
Women's team pairings for round 3

Photographs by FIDE and Turkish Chess Federation

Watching the games

It goes without saying that the options to watch the games live are wide and varied. You can watch them at no cost on Playchess, enjoying the software's new options to display multiple boards at the same time, and if you are a Premium member, live grandmaster commentary will be provided on Playchess for every round by GM Daniel King, author of the best-selling Power Play series, and GM Yasser Seirawan. If you miss the live games, you can always watch the commentary after the fact, or get an abridged tale via the Daily Roundup show also hosted on Playchess at 6 PM UTC (2 PM New York). Again, if you miss the show, it remains available on the server at your disposal.

Video reports

We received video reports by both Elmira Mirzoeva and Europe Echecs which we are sharing with their kind permission.

 
Russian speakers will find that the Russian report of day two contains a post-game interview with Kramnik.

 
Europe Echecs will be providing daily video reports.

Top men's results

Bd
2
 Ukraine (UKR)
Rtg
-
63
 Scotland (SCO)
Rtg
4 : 0
1.1
GM
Ivanchuk Vassily
2754
-
GM
McNab Colin A
2445
1 - 0
1.2
GM
Eljanov Pavel
2761
-
GM
Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan
2451
1 - 0
1.3
GM
Efimenko Zahar
2683
-
GM
Shaw John
2446
1 - 0
1.4
GM
Moiseenko Alexander
2658
-
IM
Burns-Mannion Stephen
2372
1 - 0
Bd
4
 Russia 2 (RUS2)
Rtg
-
64
 Venezuela (VEN)
Rtg
3½: ½
2.1
GM
Alekseev Evgeny
2691
-
GM
Iturrizaga Eduardo
2609
1 - 0
2.2
GM
Vitiugov Nikita
2709
-
IM
Alvarez Marquez Johann
2414
½ - ½
2.3
GM
Tomashevsky Evgeny
2701
-
FM
Soto Paez Oliver
2373
1 - 0
2.4
GM
Timofeev Artyom
2690
-
FM
Semerene Dumit
2318
1 - 0
Bd
66
 Mongolia (MGL)
Rtg
-
9
 United States (USA)
Rtg
½ :3½
3.1
 
Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan
2460
-
GM
Nakamura Hikaru
2733
0 - 1
3.2
FM
Battulga Namkhai
2421
-
GM
Kamsky Gata
2705
0 - 1
3.3
 
Erdene Ganzorig
2330
-
GM
Onischuk Alexander
2688
0 - 1
3.4
IM
Batchuluun Tsegmed
2422
-
GM
Shulman Yuri
2636
½ - ½
Bd
11
 Israel (ISR)
Rtg
-
67
 Indonesia (INA)
Rtg
2 : 2
4.1
GM
Sutovsky Emil
2665
-
GM
Megaranto Susanto
2516
½ - ½
4.2
GM
Smirin Ilia
2657
-
IM
Purnama Tirta Chandra
2400
0 - 1
4.3
GM
Rodshtein Maxim
2632
-
FM
Novita Anjas
2356
1 - 0
4.4
GM
Mikhalevski Victor
2610
-
IM
Irwanto Sadikin
2419
½ - ½
Bd
68
 Albania (ALB)
Rtg
-
15
 Poland (POL)
Rtg
0 : 4
5.1
IM
Mehmeti Dritan
2415
-
GM
Wojtaszek Radoslaw
2711
0 - 1
5.2
IM
Seitaj Ilir
2390
-
GM
Macieja Bartlomiej
2651
0 - 1
5.3
FM
Rama Lorenc
2276
-
GM
Miton Kamil
2629
0 - 1
5.4
FM
Boshku Harallamb
2314
-
GM
Bartel Mateusz
2599
0 - 1
Bd
18
 Cuba (CUB)
Rtg
-
69
 Turkmenistan (TKM)
Rtg
3 : 1
6.1
GM
Dominguez Perez Leinier
2716
-
GM
Amanov Mesgen
2493
1 - 0
6.2
GM
Quesada Perez Yuniesky
2614
-
IM
Annaberdiev Meylis
2465
½ - ½
6.3
GM
Corrales Jimenez Fidel
2599
-
FM
Atabayev Maksat
2318
1 - 0
6.4
GM
Hernandez Carmenates H.
2563
-
GM
Odeev Handszar
2397
½ - ½
Bd
72
 ICSC (ICSC)
Rtg
-
19
 India (IND)
Rtg
½ :3½
7.1
GM
Gruenfeld Yehuda
2464
-
GM
Sasikiran Krishnan
2681
½ - ½
7.2
IM
Collutiis Duilio
2447
-
GM
Ganguly Surya Shekhar
2650
0 - 1
7.3
 
Klasan Vladimir
2393
-
GM
Gopal Geetha
2603
0 - 1
7.4
IM
Salov Sergej
2271
-
IM
Adhiban Baskaran
2516
0 - 1
Bd
20
 Georgia (GEO)
Rtg
-
73
 Singapore (SIN)
Rtg
4 : 0
8.1
GM
Jobava Baadur
2710
-
GM
Zhang Zhong
2582
1 - 0
8.2
GM
Gagunashvili Merab
2598
-
IM
Fernandez Daniel Howard
2371
1 - 0
8.3
GM
Mchedlishvili Mikheil
2628
-
FM
Chan Wei Xuan Timothy
2338
1 - 0
8.4
GM
Gelashvili Tamaz
2611
-
FM
Chua Zheng Yuan Terry
2280
1 - 0
Bd
1
 Russia 1 (RUS1)
Rtg
-
21
 Serbia (SRB)
Rtg
3 : 1
9.1
GM
Kramnik Vladimir
2780
-
GM
Sedlak Nikola
2550
1 - 0
9.2
GM
Grischuk Alexander
2760
-
GM
Vuckovic Bojan
2615
1 - 0
9.3
GM
Svidler Peter
2731
-
GM
Ivanisevic Ivan
2613
½ - ½
9.4
GM
Malakhov Vladimir
2725
-
GM
Markus Robert
2624
½ - ½
Bd
24
 Brazil (BRA)
Rtg
-
3
 China (CHN)
Rtg
1 : 3
10.1
GM
Leitao Rafael
2624
-
GM
Wang Yue
2732
0 - 1
10.2
GM
Fier Alexandr
2588
-
GM
Wang Hao
2724
0 - 1
10.3
GM
Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag
2550
-
GM
Bu Xiangzhi
2695
½ - ½
10.4
GM
Diamant Andre
2498
-
GM
Zhou Jianchao
2660
½ - ½
Bd
26
 Argentina (ARG)
Rtg
-
5
 Hungary (HUN)
Rtg
1½:2½
11.1
GM
Flores Diego
2615
-
GM
Leko Peter
2724
½ - ½
11.2
GM
Felgaer Ruben
2597
-
GM
Almasi Zoltan
2707
½ - ½
11.3
GM
Peralta Fernando
2572
-
GM
Polgar Judit
2682
0 - 1
11.4
GM
Lafuente Pablo
2565
-
GM
Berkes Ferenc
2678
½ - ½
Bd
7
 Azerbaijan (AZE)
Rtg
-
27
 Vietnam (VIE)
Rtg
1½:2½
12.1
GM
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2756
-
GM
Le Quang Liem
2694
½ - ½
12.2
GM
Radjabov Teimour
2748
-
GM
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son
2633
½ - ½
12.3
GM
Mamedov Rauf
2660
-
GM
Nguyen Anh Dung
2500
0 - 1
12.4
GM
Guseinov Gadir
2611
-
GM
Dao Thien Hai
2520
½ - ½
Bd
28
 Croatia (CRO)
Rtg
-
8
 Bulgaria (BUL)
Rtg
2½:1½
13.1
GM
Stevic Hrvoje
2607
-
GM
Topalov Veselin
2803
½ - ½
13.2
GM
Kozul Zdenko
2604
-
GM
Cheparinov Ivan
2661
½ - ½
13.3
GM
Saric Ivan
2567
-
GM
Georgiev Kiril
2685
1 - 0
13.4
GM
Palac Mladen
2561
-
GM
Delchev Aleksander
2623
½ - ½
Bd
10
 France (FRA)
Rtg
-
29
 Slovenia (SLO)
Rtg
2 : 2
14.1
GM
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2721
-
GM
Beliavsky Alexander G
2632
½ - ½
14.2
GM
Fressinet Laurent
2718
-
GM
Lenic Luka
2603
½ - ½
14.3
GM
Tkachiev Vladislav
2632
-
GM
Pavasovic Dusko
2568
½ - ½
14.4
GM
Feller Sebastien
2649
-
IM
Sebenik Matej
2516
½ - ½
Bd
32
 Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH)
Rtg
-
12
 England (ENG)
Rtg
2½:1½
15.1
GM
Sokolov Ivan
2641
-
GM
Adams Michael
2728
1 - 0
15.2
GM
Predojevic Borki
2624
-
GM
Short Nigel D
2690
½ - ½
15.3
GM
Kurajica Bojan
2535
-
GM
McShane Luke J
2657
½ - ½
15.4
IM
Stojanovic Dalibor
2496
-
GM
Howell David W L
2616
½ - ½

Click here for complete men's results

Top women's results

Bd
1
 Russia 1 (RUS1)
Rtg
-
43
 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Rtg
2½:1½
1.1
GM
Kosintseva Tatiana
2573
-
WIM
Boric Elena
2286
1 - 0
1.2
IM
Kosintseva Nadezhda
2565
-
WFM
Dimitrijevic Aleksandra
2242
½ - ½
1.3
GM
Kosteniuk Alexandra
2524
-
WFM
Dengler Dijana
2088
1 - 0
1.4
IM
Galliamova Alisa
2482
-
 
Dedijer Sanja
2055
0 - 1
Bd
45
 Norway (NOR)
Rtg
-
2
 China (CHN)
Rtg
½ :3½
2.1
WIM
Tjolsen Katrine
2259
-
GM
Hou Yifan
2578
0 - 1
2.2
WIM
Bjerke Silje
2205
-
WGM
Ju Wenjun
2516
0 - 1
2.3
WIM
Sahl Sheila Barth
2175
-
GM
Zhao Xue
2469
½ - ½
2.4
 
Reppen Ellisiv
1954
-
IM
Wang Yu
2394
0 - 1
Bd
3
 Ukraine (UKR)
Rtg
-
46
 Switzerland (SUI)
Rtg
3½: ½
3.1
GM
Lahno Kateryna
2539
-
WIM
Heinatz Gundula
2228
1 - 0
3.2
IM
Ushenina Anna
2466
-
WIM
Seps Monika
2184
½ - ½
3.3
IM
Gaponenko Inna
2469
-
WFM
Wilson Alexandra
2047
1 - 0
3.4
IM
Muzychuk Mariya
2464
-
 
De Seroux Camille
2020
1 - 0
Bd
47
 Montenegro (MNE)
Rtg
-
4
 Georgia (GEO)
Rtg
½ :3½
4.1
WGM
Vojinovic Jovana
2319
-
IM
Javakhishvili Lela
2451
½ - ½
4.2
WFM
Milovic Aleksandra
2182
-
IM
Melia Salome
2439
0 - 1
4.3
WFM
Stojanovic Marija R
2112
-
IM
Khukhashvili Sopiko
2422
0 - 1
4.4
WFM
Blagojevic Lidija
2013
-
IM
Khotenashvili Bela
2464
0 - 1
Bd
5
 Russia 2 (RUS2)
Rtg
-
48
 Turkey (TUR)
Rtg
2½:1½
5.1
WGM
Pogonina Natalija
2491
-
WIM
Yildiz Betul Cemre
2252
½ - ½
5.2
WGM
Savina Anastasia
2404
-
WIM
Ozturk Kubra
2235
½ - ½
5.3
IM
Bodnaruk Anastasia
2399
-
 
Kaya Emel
2070
1 - 0
5.4
WGM
Kashlinskaya Alina
2358
-
 
Sasmazel Burcu
1909
½ - ½
Bd
49
 Estonia (EST)
Rtg
-
6
 United States (USA)
Rtg
1 : 3
6.1
WIM
Fomina Tatjana
2256
-
IM
Krush Irina
2490
0 - 1
6.2
WFM
Gansvind Valeriya I
2218
-
IM
Zatonskih Anna
2480
0 - 1
6.3
WIM
Piarnpuu Leili
2111
-
WGM
Baginskaite Kamile
2328
½ - ½
6.4
WFM
Vahtra Tuuli
1991
-
WGM
Foisor Sabina-Francesca
2293
½ - ½

Click here for complete women's results


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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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