The Chess Olympiad is underway in Istanbul with 158 teams in the open section and 126 teams in the women's section. This is the usual “complicated” Swiss format with 11 rounds. Team wins count for two points, and tie-breaks start with the sum of board points. The format introduces some randomness — a few “good” pairings towards the end can pull a team out of the pack and into the medal rankings.
There have been no major team upsets so far. Most contenders have won their first three matches. Both sections are wide open. Russia remains the eternal top seed in the open section. The defending champions, Ukraine, are almost as strong. Armenia is weaker on paper but it has won two golds in the past four Olympiads. China is not so strong on top board but its lower boards are pretty tough. The Azeris are another excellent squad with depth. Plus, Israel, US, England, Germany, etc., will all be hoping for that little bit of luck.
The women’s section is quite as open. On paper, the Chinese are the strongest but Russia is almost as strong and the defending champion. Georgia and the Ukraine are again, serious contenders. In both sections, India would count as a potential dark horse. It’s seeded 13th in the Open with the highly experienced crew of Sasikiran, Harikrisna, Negi, Abhijeet Gupta and G N Gopal. The women’s squad is seeded 6th with Harika, Eesha Karavade, Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes and Sowmya Swaminathan. Three key players are missing. Anand is on holiday in Hawaii. Humpy’s opted out — her relationship with the Federation isn’t great. Surya Sekhar Ganguly is also out.
Despite the absences, both squads could crack medals, with a little luck. As of now, both teams have perfect scores. The pairings will get progressively tougher. The men meet the USA in Rd 4 and the women have already won a good match against Armenia and play Serbia in the fourth.
The diagram, BLACK TO PLAY. (Harikrishna Vs Beliavsky, Istanbul Olympiad 2012) is better for white - he’s freed his pieces in a Marshall Gambit and retains the extra pawn. Black played 23.--- g5? 24.Re1! Qxe1+ Or else, 24...Qd7 25.Rxe8+ Rxe8 26.Rxh6 just leaves white with an easy win. 25.Nxe1 Rxe1+ 26.Kg2.
Yes, black has a material advantage but he’s lost. There are horrible weaknesses near the king and the three pieces are loose. If 26. - gxh4 27. Bxd6, Qf5, Be5, will build a winning attack. Belyavsky played 26.-- gxf4 27.Qf5 (1-0). An early resignation but 27.-- Re6 28. Rxh6 Ne8 29. Rxe6 Ng7! 30. Rg6! Fxg6 31 Qf6 f3+ 32. Qxf3 Rc8 33. Qg4 Rd8 etc. leaves white winning. Black’s pieces are still hanging and there's a big pawn roller.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player