English Chess Forum

Would a draw in round 6 still be OK for getting medals in this 9-round event?

A win would keep England in the hunt for gold, especially as Armenia and Germany have yet to play.

Armenia played three German teams, then Canada and Iceland.

England would probably still have to play Iceland, even if they won.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:... especially as Armenia and Germany have yet to play.

Despite being the only two teams on 100%, they don't play tomorrow.

The explanation is that both have had Black on Board 1 in each of the last two rounds.

LawrenceCooper wrote:A convincing win for Mark today to take him to 4.5/5.

Keith on 100%, any idea why he has only played 3 of the 5 matches?

Mick Norris wrote:

LawrenceCooper wrote:A convincing win for Mark today to take him to 4.5/5.

Keith on 100%, any idea why he has only played 3 of the 5 matches?

The age old problem of five into four won't go. For the first four rounds this meant alternating Keith & Glenn and in round 5 Speelman rested. I would expect the top four to play against Armenia with Glenn possibly stepping in if Nunn or Hebden feel they need a rest in the closing rounds.

I had no idea until it happened, but the pairing system being used is one for an individual Swiss. There it is reasonable to prevent players having 3 of the same colour in a row. For a 4 player team event it is nonsense. Why not use the Olympiad Pairing system?
In Germany there is really no excuse for having a bye. At the bottom, players come to play, not get a win by default. They could have:
Found an extra German team.
Encouraged a local German team to stand down.
Shared out 4 members of 5 board German teams to make an extra team.
Jamboreed the bottom 3 teams.
Sadly Tunisia have only 3 players. So each of their opponents get one win bye. That is harder to overcome as here is a rule that everybody in a team has to be from the same federation.

The "three easy draws and leave it to Keith" strategy doesn't seem to be going very well. Again.

LawrenceCooper wrote: I would expect the top four to play against Armenia

Yes, and Nunn & Speelman have drawn, leaving the most in form duo to try and win the match - though I'm not sure if Mark & Keith are looking like winning, hopefully one or both will do so

Mick Norris wrote:

LawrenceCooper wrote: I would expect the top four to play against Armenia

Yes, and Nunn & Speelman have drawn, leaving the most in form duo to try and win the match - though I'm not sure if Mark & Keith are looking like winning, hopefully one or both will do so

Mark is maybe a tiny bit worse but I'm expecting a draw. Keith's looks worse at first glance but unless black can actually conjure up an attack then I'm hoping that the black e pawn may be weaker than the white f pawn if the queens ever come off.

33 Nc5 might be worth a punt for Keith, but I've no idea how good it is.

His opponent might be able to underpromote (51.Kd2 is the current position).
What is the evaluation? (I can only find games on the official site, are any other sites carrying the games?)
I can see that Black has at least a perpetual.

EDIT: Drawn. 2-2 is not too bad. Iceland may beat Germany.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:His opponent might be able to underpromote (51.Kd2 is the current position).
What is the evaluation? (I can only find games on the official site, are any other sites carrying the games?)
I can see that Black has at least a perpetual.

EDIT: Drawn. 2-2 is not too bad. Iceland may beat Germany.

Germany won 2.5-1.5.

So presumably Germany play Armenia next, and we play Jussapow's team

Mick Norris wrote:So presumably Germany play Armenia next, and we play Jussapow's team

Not quite, there are other teams on the same score:

1. Armenia - Germany 1 :
2. Canada - Emanuel-Lasker-Gesellschaft :
3. England 1 - Russia Women :
4. England 2 - Post-SV Ulm

Looks like England 1 will be on the live boards for round 7 in the 65+ section also

1. Russia 65+ - Austria :
2. England 1 - Sankt-Petersburg