Hello everyone, this is probably going to be my last update on the Olympiad. I’ve had a lot of fun bringing you the upsets and the latest news regarding the Olympiad. It’s been quite challenging and quite entertaining, but alas vacation is calling and I need to answer.
As far as the chess for this round goes I want to give a shout out to my main man Rustam Kasimdzhanov who is playing beautifully and beat Ivanchuk AND Kramnik back to back.
Top 5 Teams:
| Rank | SNo | Country | Games | + | = | – | TB1 | TB2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Azerbaijan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 127.0 |
| 2 | 13 | Cuba | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 112.0 |
| 3 | 1 | Russia | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 118.0 |
| 4 | 7 | China | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 117.0 |
| 5 | 29 | Serbia | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 116.5 |
Team Upsets:
- Serbia drew with Bulgaria
- Bosnia & Herzegovina drew France
- Romania defeated Belarus 3-1
- Canada drew with Israel
- Qatar defeated Greece 2.5 – 1.5
Rivalries:
| Games Played | Country | Name | Rating | Score | Country | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | NOR | Carlsen | 2877 | 16.0 – 8.0 | ITA | Caruana | 2801 |
| 14 | ARM | Aronian | 2805 | 8.5 – 5.5 | ENG | Adams | 2740 |
| 10 | AZE | Mamedyarov | 2743 | 5.5 – 4.5 | GEO | Jobava | 2713 |
| 9 | ARM | Movsesian | 2672 | 6.5 – 2.5 | ENG | Short | 2665 |
| 7 | UKR | Ivanchuk | 2744 | 6.0 – 1.0 | SUI | Pelletier | 2578 |
| 6 | HUN | Leko | 2740 | 2.5 – 3.5 | VIE | Le Quang Liem | 2710 |
Perfect Scores:
Gm’s Iotov and Svetushkin finally drew and our favorite under dog Lee lost so it is now only Moiseenko and Shankland who remain perfect (although they’ve each only played 5 games out of a possible 6). I added a few more names to the list because although they’re currently two games behind the feat is still quite impressive.
| Ranking | Games | Country | Title | Name | Rating | Score | % | Board | Perf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | UKR | GM | Moiseenko | 2707 | 5.0/5.0 | 100 | 5 | 3185 |
| 2 | 5 | USA | GM | Shankland | 2624 | 5.0/5.0 | 100 | 5 | 3108 |
| 3 | 4 | SLO | GM | Beliavsky | 2618 | 4.0/4.0 | 100 | 2 | 3114 |
| 4 | 4 | HUN | GM | Polgar | 2676 | 4.0/4.0 | 100 | 5 | 3099 |
| 5 | 4 | PLE | IM | Michel Yunis | 2311 | 4.0/4.0 | 100 | 5 | 2599 |