39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 (the chess)

[Eoin Devane]

Russia 3 tomorrow for England. That will be tough - they've got Jakovenko, Motylev and Rublevsky plus two 2500s. Ireland have got Denmark, who have two GMs. Thus, provided he plays, Sam Collins will get to play the GM he needs - now he just needs the result.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Fantastic! They can't hide two GMs from our Sam

[Ian Thompson]

Fantastic! They can't hide two GMs from our Sam

Not quite true. Go to http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36795.a ... -1&wi=1000 and search for Nyback.

[Simon Spivack]

Well held Luke.

It does mean, though, that we are still awaiting an explanation of the dying words of George V. Perhaps Mr. Bogner has the answer?

[Jonathan Rogers]

Vietnam for our women tomorrow. A consistent team, all four of whom could play in any order in a 4NCL team, and all of whom would be between boards one and two in the England team.

Anyone want to guess/work out how many of their women team players are married to their men? *

* This is utterly pointless

[Michael Jones]

http://ugra-chess.com/liveboard?gameid=1000080574

g3 and f4 early on, and then Qd4 making sure just about everything can be forked.

I don't like to be too harsh because I realise that everyone has to start somewhere, but an Olympiad is probably not the best place for that 'somewhere' to be. Admittedly not every player at the tournament is a GM, but most have at least reached the stage where they don't leave pieces en prise as a matter of course. Even a strong player can have an occasional off day and lose in 10 or 15 moves (I've recently seen a 180 grade lose with white in 10), but this clearly isn't a case of someone having an off day, just being a very poor player in the first place. I can't honestly see the point in travelling from the Seychelles to KM to get completely hammered; apart from anything else, it must be dispiriting to be talked about as the worst player in the tournament. It can't be much fun for her opponents either; I recall the occasion in my local junior table tennis league when I had to play a girl who was several years younger than me and had only just started playing. I won 11-0 11-0 11-1, and felt pretty embarrassed about it - it seemed like I was stealing sweets from a baby. I imagine Ms Sirame's opponents would have had similar feelings - achievement in any competitive activity is measured by winning tough games against opponents of similar or higher ability to oneself; an easy win against a beginner is no achievement.

Lest anyone should misinterpret this post, I will add that I bear Ms Sirame no ill will, and indeed very much hope that she will be able to improve her play and participate in future Olympiads with at least a chance of winning some games; I just think this one was too early in her chess career for there to have been any point in her playing in it. Eric the Eel may not have been particularly fast, but at least he could swim two lengths of the pool without armbands.

[Ola Winfridsson]

Russia 3 tomorrow for England. That will be tough - they've got Jakovenko, Motylev and Rublevsky plus two 2500s. Ireland have got Denmark, who have two GMs. Thus, provided he plays, Sam Collins will get to play the GM he needs - now he just needs the result.

Should be a really interesting day tomorrow, in other words! A mouthwatering pairing for England both in the Open section and in the Women's (Vietnam) and make or break for Sam Collins. What are the exact permutations for him? Can he still make the required performance in the event of a loss?

[John Saunders]

Well held Luke.

It does mean, though, that we are still awaiting an explanation of the dying words of George V. Perhaps Mr. Bogner has the answer?

... and indeed what the late, alliterative monarch is alleged to have said when the alternative resort of Filey was suggested.

[Maxim Devereaux]

Make or break for Sam Collins. What are the exact permutations for him? Can he still make the required performance in the event of a loss?

Assuming my numbers were correct before:

If he draws with either Hansen or Rasmussen tomorrow, he will need to beat anyone (even unrated) for the norm (since they will count 2200, and the 2115 that was being boosted to 2200 will then count as 2115). If he wins, he would equally need to draw with anyone.

If he loses, he can still make a norm, but will need to beat a 2466 (if he plays Hansen) or a 2531 (if he plays Rasmussen) in order to make it.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"It does mean, though, that we are still awaiting an explanation of the dying words of George V. Perhaps Mr. Bogner has the answer?"

I encountered Mr Bogner at Gausdal a few years ago, (who was a nice guy, and assume still is), and commented to another German player, that he would be known as "Regis" in England. "Ah, I know the town" said my German friend, "but in German his name is pronounced 'Boner'".

I had to explain that he would thus attract a somewhat different nickname...

[Roger de Coverly]

If you look at the leader board for board prizes at http://www.ugra-chess.com/boardprizes.php, you will see that Gawain is the only open English player present. He's in 15th place with a performance rating so far of 2573.

Now up to fifth

http://www.ugra-chess.com/boardprizes.php

1 CZE GM Babula Vlastimil 2515 Czech Republic 83.3 5/6 2401 2674
2 SWE GM Grandelius Nils 2500 Sweden 78.6 5.5/7 2441 2671
3 FRA GM Feller Sebastien 2649 France 64.3 4.5/7 2565 2667
4 BLR IM Stupak Kirill 2502 Belarus 71.4 5/7 2497 2655
5 ENG GM Jones Gawain C B 2576 England 80 4/5 2396 2636

[IM Jack Rudd]

Kirill looks like a likely norm candidate there. Has he met the right mix of opponents?

[Matt Mackenzie]

If you think this Seychelles lady is bad, try searching out some of the efforts of the Afghan women's team last time round

Having said that, I am firmly of the "let 'em all play" school........

[Maxim Devereaux]

Kirill looks like a likely norm candidate there. Has he met the right mix of opponents?

2 GMs, 4 IMs and an FM so far, and yet to lose.
1 from 2 with a GM and almost anyone decent should do it, I think.

[Anthony Higgs]

I enjoyed Meri's position today after 26...Na4. All her own pieces on the back rank, all her opponent's pieces in her half of the board yet she's still winning by miles...