2016 Olympiad - Baku

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Excellent stuff still. 15/20!

But it's hard to see Russia losing, so we should think in terms of making the top 6, rather than medals. And, fairly or unfairly it seem a bit too easy if we get there by, say, beating Peru in the last round - not, I am sure, that even that would be easy with black on odds. I would like us to play one of the top three teams before the event is over; and to win! Let's at least play kingmakers!

Who would we want to win the event - USA or Ukraine? well, it's a choice between the one which has paid two world class players to defect to them and the other which has lost its top player to a hostile neighbour and has lost another world class player to a draughts tournament! You have to wish for the latter, don't you?

Where is Vassily Ivanchuk?

(I knew I'd regret getting behind reading up on chess news)

[John Moore]

75 .. Bg4 looked the right try - says he sitting here on his comfy chair and studiously ignoring all the rubbish the engine spouts on the official website - because it controls the d7 square. However, incredibly difficult to defend these positions for a long time even without the clock being a problem - David did well to create a position with some drawing chances.

[John Moore]

Oops sorry - just realised Mr Rogers has pontificated. I was talking about Mamedov-Howell!

[John Moore]

How about the two teams on 15 points who are getting the upfloat (one of them England, maybe) duffing up the USA and Ukraine and Russia with a big win over Peru winning the title on tiebreak.

[John Moore]

Li Chao returned again for China after being rested in Round 9 after successive losses to Nigel and to Almasi (Hungary) and promptly lost again against Belarus.

[IanCalvert]

I think 15/20 deserves a ten round Top Ten norm.

I am unsure about the wickedness of playing king-maker but an ideal scenario is a final round 2-2 draw with Russia and finishing above the Netherlands this Olympiad!

[John Moore]

I suspect that whoever we get in the last round will be a bit nervous about Nigel with the white pieces on Board 4 (even the mighty Volokitin from the Ukraine).

[Mick Norris]

Final round tweet

possibile pairings USA-Canada Ukraine-Slovenia Russia-Italy India-Norway England-Peru

If that was it, I'd expect USA, Ukraine & Russia to win - India v Norway would be a good match, if it meant that Harikrishna played Carlsen straight after beating Karjakin

Harikrishna up to 11 on the live ratings - Kramnik back to number 2 - So up to 6 above J'adoubeamura

Mickey back in the top 20

[Matt Mackenzie]

His opposition hasn't always been the strongest, but in his 23rd Olympiad for the Philippines (a record, and one which could stand for many years) GM Eugenio Torre has racked up an astonishing 9/10. The temptation to rest him for the last round so he goes unbeaten must be there

[JustinHorton]

His opposition hasn't always been the strongest, but in his 23rd Olympiad for the Philippines (a record, and one which could stand for many years) GM Eugenio Torre has racked up an astonishing 9/10. The temptation to rest him for the last round so he goes unbeaten must be there

Au contraire, no way can you be remembered as the guy who went unbeaten for ten games and sat out the last one.

Harikrishna up to 11 on the live ratings - Kramnik back to number 2 - So up to 6 above J'adoubeamura

Such, such a shame he didn't play in the Candidates.

[John Moore]

Final round tweet

possibile pairings USA-Canada Ukraine-Slovenia Russia-Italy India-Norway England-Peru

If that was it, I'd expect USA, Ukraine & Russia to win - India v Norway would be a good match, if it meant that Harikrishna played Carlsen straight after beating Karjakin

Harikrishna up to 11 on the live ratings - Kramnik back to number 2 - So up to 6 above J'adoubeamura

Mickey back in the top 20

Interesting if that's true. Should Luke come back for David who must be fairly tired but would probably appreciate a White. He did have 5 blacks in a row in the middle of the tournament and then another one against Mamedov. Luke, on the other hand, had 4 Whites in a row in the middle of the tournament which is when, as Loz pointed out, he had his most solid results

[JustinHorton]

I'm delighted to see that a Wikipedia page for Olympiad controversies is being maintained.

And more joy for the negative-minded among us - here's the top underperforming teams

[John Moore]

I'm delighted to see that a Wikipedia page for Olympiad controversies is being maintained.

And more joy for the negative-minded among us - here's the top underperforming teams

Funny to see the Netherlands in there after beating us so easily.

[Alex Holowczak]

Match 65 today - the real highlight of the event.... Guernsey vs Jersey.

If you were looking for interesting local derbies, you presumably missed match 53 of Round 9: Iraq v Syria!

[IanCalvert]

John

Thanks for mentioning the Netherlands. I was so shocked at seeing Germany on the list. I looked no further down!