2016 Olympiad - Baku

[John Moore]

So to ask a question I asked earlier - if you were Captain, who would you rest against China tomorrow.

[IanCalvert]

As an England fan, hoping for a Top 10 finish, IMHO:

I think England should aim for a 2.5-1.5 score (or better) against China rather than 2-2(or better).

I guess this means aiming for a win on Board 3 or Board 4 and nobody losing : assuming Mickey will try on Board 1 with White but is unlikely to win.

Assuming Luke and or David Howell is confident of holding with Black on Board 2 and JS agrees, I think that whoever is rested (possibly Nigel) should be given the prospect of an easy round 8 game if England lose.

.. but overall I think it is a JS decision

[Tim Harding]

So to ask a question I asked earlier - if you were Captain, who would you rest against China tomorrow.

I would rest McShane as I think he is the weakest link up against a superpower.

SInce China have White on even numbered boards I think they will play Wang Yue and expect him to draw with Black against Adams.

They will expect Ding Liren to beat whoever we put out.

Unfortunately our board order means Gawain cannot play Ding Liren as a KIng's Indian theory battle between them would have been fascinating.

Gawain is ikely to be against Li Chao as Yu Yangyi doesn't seem to be on his top form? Let Nigel tackle Wei Yi who seems to be drawing lots of games.

[Matthew Peat]

I'm at least hoping for Wei Yi - Short.

Will be a very tough match but if China rest Wang Yue (who lost today) it will give us a bit more of a chance IMO.

A top ten finish would be on if England only had 1 player out of form but both McShane and Howell look a bit out of sorts. Hope I'm proved wrong.

The live coverage is great but the substitution of Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam for Illescas has made the commentary a bit flat. Credit to Miroshnichenko for holding it all together.

[David Sedgwick]

Assuming Luke and or David Howell is confident of holding with Black on Board 2 and JS agrees, I think that whoever is rested (possibly Nigel) should be given the prospect of an easy round 8 game if England lose.

.. but overall I think it is a JS decision

I wouldn't have thought so. Jon Speelman is the captain of the England Women's Team.

[Nick Grey]

Luke is out of form as well as Howell but I will pick Howell.
Aim ought to be a 4-0 win & that may bring back the form & worry the rest.

May try & catch up on the matches but may wait until tomorrow.

[Jonathan Rogers]

...
Aim ought to be a 4-0 win & that may bring back the form & worry the rest.

Just so long as there is a plan B, in case beating China 4-0 proves difficult

We are clear underdogs, but I am still looking forward to the match. They (China) are not quite on their 2014 form yet, to look on the bright side. But we should remember that China work their magic in the fourth or fifth hour of play, so we should probably not draw too many conclusions about where the match is heading at an early stage.

[PeterFarr]

At least the decision of who to leave out is now difficult for positive reasons. But really from this distance how can you know about the players' states of mind and who is tired etc.?

Certainly been enjoyable seeing Gawain's last 2 games and also Nigel's good showing after Tromso.

[David Robertson]

ENG v CHN...back to Liverpool, 2007. Then it was UK v CHN with Jonathan Rowson (& Keti) in the team.

Thereafter, in 2016, all current ENG played in 2007; only Wang Yue survives for CHN

Moreover, in 2007, we won none of the matches. In 2016, CHN are younger and stronger than before. ENG are somewhat stronger too; but rather older

[Simon Brown]

I think dropping Gawain for this match is best. The others are more solid against 2700 players so give Luke and David a chance to play themselves back into form.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Hard to say who should be dropped for this one; easier to say that we certainly need Adams and Short, who are probably still the players the Chinese would worry about most. For us to really trouble them, we would want to be able to give them both White as well, but the rather surprising decision to put Short on board five means that he can never play the same colour as Adams.

[JustinHorton]

I've missed pretty much everything up to now as I've been travelling without the assistance of 4G. That Holland match looks like it must have been fun to follow.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Only one rest day for the whole Olympiad. Six games on successive days and an early start on the final day. I know this has been discussed before, but it is still not ideal. Anyone want to hazard a guess what score will be needed to make the top 10?

[Jonathan Rogers]

I'll be honest; I've only just noticed it's an eleven round event. So it is possible to get a medal by avoiding quite a few of the top teams, and Ukraine really are doing it the hard way.

Presumably 15 or 16/22 needed for top ten.

[Mick Norris]

I think dropping Gawain for this match is best. The others are more solid against 2700 players so give Luke and David a chance to play themselves back into form.

England (ENG) - 3 China (CHN)

6.1 GM Adams, Michael 2738 - GM Wang, Yue 2737
6.2 GM Howell, David W L 2665 - GM Ding, Liren 2753
6.3 GM McShane, Luke J 2671 - GM Yu, Yangyi 2725
6.4 GM Short, Nigel D 2666 - GM Li, Chao b 2746