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Photo by Susan Polgar

The cream is rising to the top and the top boards are starting to draw more.  This years Olympiad being held in Dresden, Germany, they have instituted a new rule. No draws before 30 moves.  Even with this new rule some of the games appear to have gone down some quiet lines.

The U.S. did have sweeping success against Hong Kong.  They will need many more of these type results to close the medal gap.

Round 5 on 2008/11/17 at 15:00
Bo.	9	Armenia (ARM)	Rtg	-	20	Netherlands (NED)	Rtg	2½:1½
1.1	GM	Aronian Levon	2757	-	GM	Van Wely Loek	2618	½ – ½
1.2	GM	Akopian Vladimir	2679	-	GM	Smeets Jan	2604	½ – ½
1.3	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2642	-	GM	Stellwagen Daniel	2605	1 – 0
1.4	GM	Petrosian Tigran L	2629	-	GM	L’Ami Erwin	2610	½ – ½
Bo.	11	Germany 1 (GER1)	Rtg	-	1	Russia (RUS)	Rtg	2 : 2
2.1	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2678	-	GM	Kramnik Vladimir	2772	½ – ½
2.2	GM	Khenkin Igor	2647	-	GM	Grischuk Alexander	2719	½ – ½
2.3	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2634	-	GM	Morozevich Alexander	2787	½ – ½
2.4	GM	Fridman Daniel	2630	-	GM	Jakovenko Dmitry	2737	½ – ½
Bo.	5	Hungary (HUN)	Rtg	-	2	Ukraine (UKR)	Rtg	1½:2½
3.1	GM	Leko Peter	2747	-	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2786	0 – 1
3.2	GM	Polgar Judit	2711	-	GM	Karjakin Sergey	2730	0 – 1
3.3	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2663	-	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2720	1 – 0
3.4	GM	Balogh Csaba	2616	-	GM	Volokitin Andrei	2659	½ – ½
Bo.	19	Norway (NOR)	Rtg	-	4	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	1 : 3
4.1	GM	Carlsen Magnus	2786	-	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2731	½ – ½
4.2	GM	Agdestein Simen	2588	-	GM	Gashimov Vugar	2703	0 – 1
4.3	GM	Lie Kjetil A	2526	-	GM	Huseynov Gadir	2650	½ – ½
4.4	IM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2522	-	GM	Mammadov Rauf	2631	0 – 1

Round Six will see some interesting matchups. The top ten boards are listed below.
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Photo by Susan Polgar

The cream is rising to the top and Russia may still be a force to be reckoned with. There are only two teams undefeated thus far in the 38th Chess Olympiad being held in Dresden, Germany.

Today’s games promise to be exciting.  Germany has two teams competing because they are the host country this year. But it is their top team who is reaking all of the havoc.  Germany 1 faced Scotland round 1, Slovenia round 2, Malaysia round 3, and Spain round 4.

Russia’s road wasn’t any easier, they played Switzerland round 1, Poland round 2, Cuba round 3 and India round 4.

With GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany and GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia both having a strong tournament we should expect fireworks.

The rest of the field is not far behind with Armenia, Hungary, Norway, Azerbaijan, England, Ukraine and the Netherlands all with one point of the leaders.  The U.S. team has dropped down to the middle of the pack with 5 points and really needs to shift gears to get back in the medal race.

Photo by Susan Polgar

Just when it looked like the U.S. Team was picking up some speed, they suffered a horrific defeat to Azerbaijan. The U.S. could only muster two draws against the European match-up. With so much at stake its no wonder why GM Gata Kamsky played cautiously and defensively out of the opening. However, with these results can the Americans continue down this path? Below is the Round 4 match up with Azerbaijan GM Teimour Radjabov.
Round 5 will see the U.S. Team paired against Hong Kong. (more…)

Photo by Susan Polgar

It is unclear what is going on in Dresden, Germany at the Olympiad this year.  Last round was a virtual nightmare for reporting.  It would appear that several results were misreported on multiple sites including the official site of the tournament.  Several games showed both players winning, even after looking to TWIC for the actual game score errors were found with games duplicated for the team entry.  Let’s hope Round four has found some resolution to this debacle.  The man behind the curtain must be revealed.

In this photo it looks like GM Shulman just received a text message that his game result has already been posted around the world, complete with his annotation!

Bo.	4	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	-	10	United States of America (USA)	Rtg	3 : 1
6.1	GM	Radjabov Teimour	2752	-	GM	Kamsky Gata	2729	1-0
6.2	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2731	-	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	2704	1-0
6.3	GM	Gashimov Vugar	2703	-	GM	Onischuk Alexander	2644	.5-.5
6.4	GM	Huseynov Gadir	2650	-	GM	Shulman Yuri	2616	.5-.5

After a surprising draw yesterday, the U.S. team storms back with a win over South Africa 3.5-.5. GM Gata Kamsky took a rest this round.  The Kobese-Nakamura game was a little interesting especially in the final position.  Some sites are reporting this game a win for Kobese, but the official score is showing Nakamura as the winner.  Tomorrow they face Azerbaijan.

Round 3 Open on 2008/11/15 at 15.00
Bo.	86	South Africa (RSA)	Rtg	–	10	United States (USA)	Rtg	0.5 : 3.5	>Games<
14.1	IM	Kobese Watu	2369	-	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	2704	0 : 1	>Game<
14.2	CM	Steel Henry Robert	2280	-	GM	Onischuk Alexander	2644	0 : 1	>Game<
14.3	CM	Cawdery Daniel	2265	-	GM	Shulman Yuri	2616	½ : ½	>Game<
14.4	IM	Mabusela Johanne Mayedi	2273	-	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2606	0 : 1	>Game<

Opening Ceremonies from the 38th Chess Olympiad being held in Dresden, Germany.

The Chess Olympiad, the pre-eminent team chess event in the world, which this year is being held in Dresden, Germany, has started and after two rounds the favorites have all posted two wins, but not without some scares.

Russia, the top-ranked team, edged out its two opponents, Switzerland and Poland, by 2.5 to 1.5. Ukraine, the No. 2 seed, beat its opponents, Vietnam and Serbia, by similarly slim margins. And China, No. 3, survived a loss in Round 1 by Ni Hua, its No. 2 player, to Wesley So of the Philippines, a 15-year-old prodigy who is already that country’s top player. Armenia, the defending champion, has looked very good, blowing out its Round 1 opponent, Italy, 4 to 0, and comfortably topping Moldova, 3 to 1, in Round 2.

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Team-Composition with round-results

25. United States of America (USA / RtgAvg:2673, Captain: Donaldson, John W / TB1: 3 / TB2: 12)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg	Rp
1	GM	Kamsky Gata	2729	USA	½	½		1,0	2	2586	0
2	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	2704	USA		½		0,5	2	2587	0
3	GM	Onischuk Alexander	2644	USA	1	1		2,0	3	2562	0
4	GM	Shulman Yuri	2616	USA	0			0,0	2	2492	0
5	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2606	USA	1	0		1,0	3	2523	0

Today was the first round of games in the 38th Chess Olympiad being held in Dresden, Germany.  We are expecting the United States team to get a medal this year.  We have one of the strongest teams we have ever put together.

The U.S. team includes Gata Kamsky,  Alexander Onischuk, Yuri Shulman, Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian.  The U.S. played Iceland in the first match and won 2.5 to 1.5.  Kamsky drew on board one while Shulman was beat by GM Henrik Danielsen.

The Shulman-Danielsen game was pretty good, however, I would love to know what kind time was left at the end of the game.  It appeared that Shulman kinda broke down in the final position as if the moves were blitzed off or something. The game is available here.

GM Hikaru Nakamura did not play the first round which allowed alternate Akobian to get in early.  FM Mike Klein is one of the masters covering the tournament for the United States Chess Federation.  He has a very detailed report here.  If you are unfamiliar with the United States Chess Federation click here for their site.

Round 1 on 2008/11/13 at 15:00
Bo.	45	Iceland (ISL)	Rtg	-	10	United States of America (USA)	Rtg	1½:2½
11.1	GM	Stefansson Hannes	2575	-	GM	Kamsky Gata	2729	½ – ½
11.2	GM	Steingrimsson Hedinn	2540	-	GM	Onischuk Alexander	2644	0 – 1
11.3	GM	Danielsen Henrik	2492	-	GM	Shulman Yuri	2616	1 – 0
11.4	IM	Kristjansson Stefan	2474	-	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2606	0 – 1

The 38th Chess Olympiad began with a spectacular opening ceremony, which took place in a giant ice skating hall (and on ice!). Delegations from 152 nations saw a very impressive show.

There are several sites covering the events.

Visit Chess.com, TheChessDrum, Chessbase, or the official site for regular updates.

If you want to see for yourself what is going on in Dresden, check out this new chess feature.

Chess Olympiad TV! It does require a Windows computer and a fast internet connection and finally a download.