2010 Chess Olympiad: Ukraine takes sole lead in round 7

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 7

They started imperially with 4-0 in both their first matches, and then when they let Ivanchuk take a day off for the third round, they were unable to do any more than a draw. Since then, Ukraine has not let Ivanchuk off the hook, and match by match they have clawed their way back to the top until they finally met the intrepid Georgians, who had done outstandingly until now. Jobava had always shown himself up to the task, but he now faced the event’s most in-form player.

Ivanchuk,Vassily (2754) - Jobava,Baadur (2710) [B12]
39th Olympiad Men Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (7.1), 28.09.2010

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Though not the first time Ivanchuk plays this line, the main proponents of the day are Timofeev, Nepomniachtchi, and Zviaginsev. 3...Qb6 Though it is certainly offbeat, it was hardly a surprise as Jobava played this twice in the European Championship earlier this year against Timofeev and Nepomniachtchi. Note that Ivanchuk himself played this as Black in the 2010 Capablanca Memorial, beating Nepomniachtchi. 4.a3.

So much for the fledgling theory that existed. Obviously both players are more than desirous to play original and little-analyzed positions, but Jobava seems to feel this modest move is a red flag being waved at him.

Ivanchuk after playing his novelty 4.a3

4...e5!? There is nothing wrong with this move though it does tend to dissolve the central tension almost immediately, barring certain extreme sacrificial reactions by certain black-piece players that is... 5.exd5 Nf6. 5...cxd5 would be a calmer and more principled continuation as white would have to justify both a3 and f3, which don't help his development any. 6.c3 (6.dxe5?! Bc5 7.Nh3 Nc6 and black looks better.) 6...Nc6 With a good game. 6.dxe5 Bc5 It seems clear that black had already decided on this continuation upon playing 5...Nf6. The gloves are off! 7.exf6 Bf2+ 8.Ke2 0-0

9.Qd2

9...Re8+?! On principle, this decision looks quite odd. It isn't so much the material issue of two pieces and rook for the queen (and chaos on the board still), but the fact that black will trade off two developed pieces for the queen, with no immediate way to aggressively sustain the initiative. For this reason alone Bxg1 seemed more logical. 10.Kd1 Re1+ 11.Qxe1 Bxe1 12.Kxe1 Bf5 13.Be2 The plans for both sides are quite clear: white must try to defend his king and material against the oncoming onslaught and if successful should win, and Black must pressure and threaten white so that he either wins by a mating attack or forces material concessions in his favor. The key issue is really how to proceed. 13...Nd7 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Bd1 Re8+ 16.Ne2 Nxf6 17.Nbc3.

In terms of piece play alone, it is hard to see how black can increase pressure. He opts to reroute the bishop to a6, but perhaps it won't really change all that much. Possibly black had to try and figure a way to soften the kingside up with the pawns and pieces, whle keeping white tied up in the center. Whether or not that is even possible is hard to judge of course, but as it stands, black's initiative seems to be pettering out. 17...Bc8 18.a4 a5 19.Rf1 Ba6 20.Rf2 h5 21.Ra3 h4 22.g3 h3 23.g4 Rd8 24.Nf4 Nd7 25.Rb3 Qd4 26.Nfe2 Re8 27.Ne4 Qxa4 28.Bd2 Qa1 29.Bc3 Ne5 30.Ra3 Qb1 31.Nd2 Qc1 32.Rxa5 Ng6 33.Rxa6 Nf4 34.Ra8! After 34...Rxa8 35.Nxc1 1-0 [Click to replay]

 

With this decisive win, and Armenia losing to Azerbaijan 1.5-2.5, Ukraine is now in sole lead, and Ivanchuk reigns supreme on top of Mount Olympiad with a perfect six in six. The two top Russian teams also faced each other, both fielding their strongest players, and the top three boards quickly equalized and drew. Fourth board Karjakin (2747) broke the stalemate after Tomashevsky (2701) blundered and lost, allowing Russia 1 to win by 2.5-1.5. Still, it says a lot that both Russian teams have fourth boards rated over 2700...

Sergey Karjakin (2747), world number 14, and fourth board for Russia 1.

Among the more surprising results of the round were Russia 3’s inability to beat Iran, winning on the top two boards, but losing on the third and fourth, not to mention England’s very surprising loss to Belarus, who had an international master as well as an untitled player. That said, in all fairness, the untitled Padolchenko, who beat Howell, is rated 2506, and had already distinguished himself in the European Championship earlier this year. Nevertheless, a 3-1 drubbing was certainly not in the cards.

As to individual results, it would seem the Olympiad is a bad place to be rated 2800, as after the two surprise losses by Magnus Carlsen, it was Topalov’s turn to slip, losing to Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein.

Bluvshtein,Mark (2583) - Topalov,Veselin (2803) [E90]
39th Olympiad Men Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (7.18), 28.09.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3 Na6 7.Bg5 c6 8.Be2 e5 9.d5 h6 10.Be3 Nh5 11.dxc6N bxc6 11...Nf4 deserved consideration. 12.0-0 (If 12.cxb7? Nxg2+ 13.Kf1 Nxe3+ 14.fxe3 Bxb7 is good for black.) 12...bxc6 12.Qd2 Nf4 13.0-0 f5 14.Bxf4 exf4 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.Rad1 Rb8 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Bf3! Black is in trouble. 18...Qb6 19.Nb3 Be5 20.Ne4?! 20.Rfe1! Rfd8 21.Nd5!! cxd5 22.Qxd5+ Kg7 23.c5! Nxc5 24.Nxc5 Qxc5 25.Qxc5 dxc5 26.Rxe5 Bf5 (26...Rxb2 would lose the exchange as the pins are indefensible. 27.Rxc5 and now, for example 27...Kf7 (Or 27...Rxa2 28.Rc7) 28.Bc6 Ke6 29.Rcd5) 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Rxc5 20...Rbd8 21.Qe2?! c5 Black has managed to re-establish the balance now. 22.Rd2 Rfe8 23.Rfd1 Bf5??

After struggling to regain control of the game, Topalov blunders tragically, and is now lost. 24.Nxd6! Bxd6 25.Rxd6 Rxe2 26.Rxd8+ Kf7 27.Bxe2 Ke7 28.Bg4. The engines suggest 28.Rh8 as being stronger, and it may very well be, however the endgame after the text move is quite won for white and sufficient. 28...Bxg4 29.hxg4 Qxd8 30.Rxd8 Kxd8 31.Kf1 Ke7 32.Ke2 Kd6 33.a3 Nb8 34.Kf3 Ke5 35.Nxc5 g5 36.Nb3 Nd7 37.Ke2 Kd6 38.f3 Ne5 39.Na5 Kc5 40.b4+ Kd4 41.c5 Kd5 42.Kd2 1-0 [Click to replay]

Bulgaria’s fourth board IM Kiprian Berbatov, the nephew of famed Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, was the savior of the day, with a win over IM Noritsyn, saving the match for a 2-2 draw.

16-year-old Dutch Anish Giri observing Carlsen's game against GM Sulskis.

As an aside, after yesterday’s traumatic loss, Magnus Carlsen bounced back with a solid win over Lithuanian GM Sulskis, winning the match for Norway, though it is unclear whether he can avoid any Elo loss in the tournament at this juncture.

In the women’s section, top-seed Russia 1, who had overcome their main rivals until now, and were in sole lead, crushed Hungary by 4-0, and are now huge favorites for the gold.

It took its time in happening, but tomorrow will pit the top two seeds of the men’s section with Russia 1 taking on Ukraine,  followed by Hungary, who beat Brazil 3-1, facing Azerbaijan. In the women’s section, Russia 1 faces India, who are playing without Koneru Humpy, while Georgia plays Serbia.

Men's team pairings for round 8
Women's team pairings for round 8

Photographs by FIDE and Austrian 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.

 
The seventh round report includes impressions of GM Loek van Wely on Russian GM Nepomniachtchi.

 
The seventh round report includes pre-match comments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan clash.

Top men's results

Current men's standings (after seven rounds)

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Top women's results

Current women's standings (after seven rounds)

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Links Official tournament site Men's games in PGN (zipped) Women's games in PGN (zipped) The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!