2010 Chess Olympiad - It's Over!

Open - final top 10:

Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 2 Ukraine UKR 11 8 3 0 19 380,5 31,0 143,00
2 1 Russia 1 RUS1 11 8 2 1 18 379,5 28,0 157,00
3 11 Israel ISR 11 7 3 1 17 367,5 29,0 148,00
4 5 Hungary HUN 11 8 1 2 17 355,5 26,5 157,00
5 3 China CHN 11 7 2 2 16 362,0 29,0 147,00
6 4 Russia 2 RUS2 11 8 0 3 16 355,0 29,5 144,00
7 6 Armenia ARM 11 7 2 2 16 345,0 27,0 147,00
8 16 Spain ESP 11 7 2 2 16 332,0 28,5 137,00
9 9 United States of America USA 11 7 2 2 16 315,5 27,0 141,00
10 10 France FRA 11 6 4 1 16 311,5 25,0 149,00

Ivanchuk on Board 1 was incredible for Ukraine (8.0/10 points, with 1 draw and 1 loss), as was Board #4 Efimenko (8.5/11 with no losses)!  Both players will add double digits to their ELOs.  Well done!

Team Hungary - one can only ask "what if" - Leko had performed up to his rating - in this Olympiad, he did not, with 4.5/10 including two losses.  Judit Polgar also had 2 losses, but she still garnered 6.0/10 and a PR of 2703, above her ELO of 2682.  The star of the Hungarian team was GM Zoltan Almasi on Board 2 who will add about 12 points to his ELO.  Well done! 

Team USA - Kamsky played well, the others were - disappointing (except for youngster and Olympiad rookie Hess, who didn't have much opportunity to play). 

A great medal for Team Israel, who came in ranked 11th.  As for Russia 1, well, they should have medaled - good thing for them they did.  One can only imagine what Putin would have done if they did not - is there anyone left to fire in the whole of Mother Russia?

And the ladies - here are the top 10 final:

Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 1 Russia 1 RUS1 11 11 0 0 22 439,5 34,0 147,00
2 2 China CHN 11 9 0 2 18 386,5 31,5 146,00
3 4 Georgia GEO 11 7 2 2 16 384,0 29,0 155,00
4 18 Cuba CUB 11 8 0 3 16 348,5 30,0 136,00
5 6 United States of America USA 11 7 2 2 16 336,5 28,5 140,00
6 10 Poland POL 11 7 2 2 16 336,0 29,5 132,00
7 26 Azerbaijan AZE 11 8 0 3 16 320,0 28,0 136,00
8 12 Bulgaria BUL 11 7 2 2 16 296,5 24,5 147,00
9 3 Ukraine UKR 11 7 1 3 15 366,5 28,5 156,00
10 5 Russia 2 RUS2 11 6 3 2 15 335,5 26,5 152,00

China and Georgia battled back (some news accounts had writtten off both teams in earlier rounds after some match losses) to earn well-deserved medals. Well done, Ladies. Cuba and particularly Azerbaijan are pleasant surprises in the top 10 relative to their start positions.  Both of those teams should be very proud of the way they played.

In the final round, Russia 1 played Russia 2. :

Bo. 5 Russia 2 (RUS2) Rtg - 1 Russia 1 (RUS1) Rtg 1½:2½ 1.1 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2491 - GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2573 ½ - ½
1.2 WGM Girya Olga 2414 - GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2524 ½ - ½
1.3 IM Bodnaruk Anastasia 2399 - IM Galliamova Alisa 2482 ½ - ½
1.4 WGM Kashlinskaya Alina 2358 - WGM Gunina Valentina 2465 0 - 1

I guess Gunina didn't get the memo. Will Putin banish her to Mansky Kamsky for not drawing her final game against a much lower rated player, hmmm???

USA Women met Indian Women in the final round:

Round 11 on 2010/10/03 at 11:00
Bo. 6 United States of America (USA) Rtg - 8 India (IND) Rtg 2½:1½
5.1 IM Krush Irina 2490 - IM Harika Dronavalli 2515 ½ - ½
5.2 IM Zatonskih Anna 2480 - IM Tania Sachdev 2382 ½ - ½
5.3 WFM Abrahamyan Tatev 2352 - IM Karavade Eesha 2365 1 - 0
5.4 WGM Baginskaite Kamile 2328 - WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2336 ½ - ½

The match loss by India dropped the team out of the top 10 to 17th place, which must be a bitter disappointment for a team that started ranked 8th. I wish USA and India had been able to play other teams, because I like both teams very much.

As this is a USA-oriented blog, here are the individual totals for the USA Women's Team:

5. United States of America (USA / RtgAvg:2413, Captain: Khodarkovsky, Michael / TB1: 16 / TB2: 336,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. Games Rp w we w-we K rtg+/-
1 IM Krush Irina 2490 USA 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 7,0 11 2494 7 6,55 0,45 10 4,5
2 IM Zatonskih Anna 2480 USA 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6,5 10 2454 6,5 6,72 -0,22 10 -2,2
3 WFM Abrahamyan Tatev 2352 USA 1 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 6,0 10 2358 6 5,82 0,18 15 2,7
4 WGM Baginskaite Kamile 2328 USA 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6,0 8 2354 6 5,48 0,52 15 7,8
5 WGM Foisor Sabina-Francesca 2293 USA 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 3,0 5 2279 3 2,85 0,15 15 2,3

It was, perhaps, fitting, that Abrahamyan had the decisive game in the final round.  She often pushes the envelope and sometimes goes over the edge, resulting in a ZERO where another player would play for a draw - one has only to look at her game line in this Olympiad.  She earned 6.0/10 on Board 3 despite 3 losses!  Abrahamyan has won two Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award prizes for her performances at U.S. Women's Chess Championship.  A leopard cannot change her spots.  Do she and Nakamura date?  Just saying - chesswise - they seem a perfect match...

Irina Krush was a rock-solid Board 1 and had no games off.  Zatonskih disappointed, although her game did seem to pick up a bit in the second half of the Olympiad.  Baginskaite delivered, as she has in many past Olympiads for the American women.  She played 8 games on Board 4 and garnered 6.0, with no losses. 

Women playing on Open teams:

GM Judit Polgar - see above (Team Hungary).

GM Victoria Cmilyte, Lithuania, Board 3:
Cmilyte had a sub-par performance, with 5.0/9 including 3 losses, but she did win her game in R11.  Her performance rating of 2424 is quite a bit below her ELO of 2513.

GM Zhu Chen, Qatar, Board 3:
Zhu Chen garnered 7.0/11 (1 loss but 6 draws).  Her performance rating of 2366 is well below her ELO of 2480.

GM Keti Arakhamia-Grant, Scotland, Board 2:
5.5/10, with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 5 draws.  Her performance rating was 2395.  Her ELO is 2451.

WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni, Luxembourg, Board 5:
Finished her Olympiad appearance with a draw (her team won 3.0/1.0 against Wales).  Her score was 5.0/8 (3 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss) for a PR of 2014, below her ELO of 2152. 

Canadian Women, disappointed by their 67th place finish (started at 58th), despite fine performances by Boards 1 and 2:

67. Canada (CAN / RtgAvg:2054, Captain: Shi, Shao Min / TB1: 10 / TB2: 217)
Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. Games Rp w we w-we K rtg+/-
1 WIM Yuan Yuanling 2189 CAN 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 7,5 11 2271 6,5 4,43 2,07 15 31,0
2 WIM Kagramanov Dina 2086 CAN 1 1 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 5,5 9 2111 4,5 3,50 1,00 15 15,0
3 Lacau-Rodean Iulia 2024 CAN ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 3,5 9 1908 3 3,32 -0,32 15 -4,8
4 Orlova Yelizaveta 1917 CAN 1 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 3,5 8 1915 2,5 2,18 0,32 15 4,8
5 Kagramanov Dalia 1866 CAN 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 3,0 7 1810 2 2,21 -0,21 15 -3,2

Who won individual medals for board performances? Info from the official website:

Board 1
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2573 Russia 1 70 7/10 2479 2628
2 WGM Mamedjarova Zeinab 2234 Azerbaijan 81.8 9/11 2361 2623
3 GM Hou Yifan 2578 China 72.7 8/11 2398 2573

Board 2
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2565 Russia 1 85 8.5/10 2366 2662
2 WGM Ju Wenjun 2516 China 86.4 9.5/11 2327 2636
3 WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2304 Vietnam 85 8.5/10 2185 2481

Board 3
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 WGM Marrero Lopez Yaniet 2324 Cuba 87.5 7/8 2175 2511
2 IM Melia Salome 2439 Georgia 70 7/10 2309 2458 (a personal favorite player)
3 WGM Berzina Ilze 2283 Latvia 81.8 9/11 2188 2450

Board 4
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Gaponenko Inna 2469 Ukraine 93.8 7.5/8 2247 2691
2 IM Bodnaruk Anastasia 2399 Russia 2 87.5 7/8 2233 2569
3 WIM Vasiliev Olga 2293 Israel 77.8 7/9 2159 2379

Board 5
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2464 Ukraine 72.2 6.5/9 2265 2431
2 WGM Kashlinskaya Alina 2358 Russia 2 61.1 5.5/9 2247 2327
3 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2464 Georgia 62.5 5/8 2194 2289

Open Section medals:

Board 1
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2754 Ukraine 80 8/10 2650 2890 (a personal favorite player)
2 GM Aronian Levon 2783 Armenia 75 7.5/10 2695 2888
3 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2706 Russia 2 72.2 6.5/9 2655 2821

Board 2
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Sutovsky Emil 2665 Israel 81.3 6.5/8 2644 2895
2 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 Hungary 70 7/10 2652 2801
3 GM Wang Hao 2724 China 75 7.5/10 2590 2783

Board 3
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Teterev Vitaly 2511 Belarus 87.5 7/8 2517 2853
2 GM Eljanov Pavel 2761 Ukraine 70 7/10 2588 2737
3 GM Rublevsky Sergei 2683 Russia 3 72.7 8/11 2552 2727
4 GM Polgar Judit 2682 Hungary 60 6/10 2631 2703 (a personal favorite player)
(honorable mention for Polgar)

Board 4
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Karjakin Sergey 2747 Russia 1 80 8/10 2619 2859
2 GM Efimenko Zahar 2683 Ukraine 77.3 8.5/11 2572 2783
3 GM Giri Anish 2677 Netherlands 72.7 8/11 2555 2730

Board 5
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Feller Sebastien 2649 France 66.7 6/9 2583 2708
2 GM Bartel Mateusz 2599 Poland 77.8 7/9 2486 2706
3 GM Babula Vlastimil 2515 Czech Republic 77.8 7/9 2448 2668