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Chess: 2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round five

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  • Chess: 2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round five

    Chess Base, Germany
    Sept 2 2012


    2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round five


    02.09.2012- Today saw a number of match-ups of powerhouse teams in the
    Open section. On the first match table, two-time Olympiad Champion
    Armenia defeated defending champions Ukraine 2,5-1,5, with Aronian
    scoring against Ivanchuk. GM Alejandro Ramirez wrote "Beautiful game
    by Lev, dude's a monster" - and sent us his analysis of the game Levon
    Aronian vs Vassily Ivanchuk. GM analysis.

    The 40th Chess Olympiad is scheduled to take place in the Turkish
    metropole of Istanbul, from August 27 to September 10th, 2012. A
    record of 158 national chess federations have brought teams to
    Istanbul to participate in this prestigious event, which is being
    staged in the WOW Hotel and Convention Center, just minutes away from
    the airport.

    Round five

    Armenian Super GM and World #2 Levon Aronian (above middle, with
    team-mate Sergei Movsesian and Armenian trainer Arshak Petrosian)
    played the only decisive game in the match against Vassily Ivanchuk.
    Aronian went up an exchange and sealed the fate of Ivanchuk and the
    Ukrainian team a few moves later. Armenia scored a 2,5-1,5 victory.



    The Russian and Hungarian teams engaged on the second match table,
    pitting the long-time friends and competitors Kramnik and Leko (above)
    against each other. The spectators were happy to see something that
    wasn't a Petroff between these two players. 32 moves later a quiet
    draw was taken. But on the board next to them Grischuk slashed and
    hacked at Almasi's defenses until all that was left was yet another
    simple tactical sequence to finish him off. The Russians had stuck the
    proverbial fork into their Hungarian competitors and finished them off
    2,5-1,5.

    The Azeri's and Chinese teams demolished their Canadian and Iranian
    counterparts with a 3,5-0,5 score in each case, while France suffered
    their first loss against the Croatian team with score of 2,5-1,5. On
    the fifth match table we saw the USA held to yet another draw by the
    Czech team. The US team has their work cut out for them, still having
    to face the chess giants of Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, China, and
    Azerbaijan.

    In the Women Section Russia quickly secured the decisive advantage
    against France, with the two victories on the lower boards. Sophie
    Milliet could only reduce the losing margin after the European
    Champion Valentina Gunina ran into a checkmate. Russia won 2,5-1,5 to
    assume sole lead as the only team with a perfect score.

    Serbia once again excelled as they defeated their Bulgarian neighbors
    by a score of 2,5-1,5. Ana Benderac, returning to the playing arena
    after being a captain for several years, won against Elitsa Raeva. The
    experienced Margarita Voiska turned the tables against Andjelija
    Stojanovic to even the score, but Maria Manakova continued to play in
    fantastic shape to score her 5th consecutive victory and bring two
    match points for Serbia.

    Poland achieved a narrow victory against Greece, thanks to Jolanta
    Zawadzka, while Slovakia won with the same result against Latvia,
    where Veronika Machalova won the crucial game on the fourth board.

    Harika Dronavalli made a good start for India in the match with China
    as she held the World Champion Hou Yifan to a draw with the black
    pieces. Yifan admitted that she couldn't find any advantage against
    the ultra-solid defence. Indian IM Karavade carelessly maneuvered a
    knight into enemy territory with no where to escape. On the bottom
    three boards the Chinese team scored three victories to obliterate the
    Indian team with a 3,5-0,5 score.

    Georgia and Ukraine, as well as Slovenia and Israel, tied their
    matches with draws on all four boards. The US suffered a devastating
    3-1 loss against Vietnam, who gave up an average of 158 rating points
    to the Americans. Perhaps the US players were bored to death with the
    lifeless London System showing up on boards 1 and 3 and dropped their
    defences, losing those games. Interestingly enough boards 2 and 4 both
    saw Caro-type formations for the Vietnamese ladies, where they split
    the games.

    For results, go to http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8450

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