Posted in Interviews, Olympiad, The Chess Drum, Tournaments on Nov 28th, 2008 4 Comments »
GM Pontus Carlsson (Sweden)
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
GM Pontus Carlsson (Sweden) - Carlsson was Sweden’s 16th GM and the second Black player to earn the coveted GM title. In this interview, he gives a candid interview about the Olympiad, rule changes, his career and his future. Carlsson always speaks candidly on issues and if you’ve [...]
Posted in Opinion/Editorials, Tournaments on Nov 27th, 2008 1 Comment »
ARMENIA, GEORGIA WIN GOLD!
Armenia men rejoicing over 2nd consecutive Olympiad gold.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The legendary Maia Chiburdanidze (center) was clearly the leader.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The 38th Chess Olympiad ended with a rousing Closing Ceremony as traditional chess powers Armenia (open) and Georgia (women) won the gold. The presence of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in the [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Photos on Nov 24th, 2008 1 Comment »
Men Final
The Armenian men repeat, Israel second… the USA wins bronze!
China 1½-2½ Armenia
USA 3½-½ Ukraine
Israel 2½-1½ Netherlands
Russia 2-2 Spain
France 1½-2½ Azerbaijan
Women Final
Georgian women edge Ukraine for the gold… USA women match men’s performance, power over France to bronze!
Poland 1½-2½ Ukraine
Georgia 3-1 Serbia
USA 2½-1½ France
Netherlands 1½-2½ Russia
Romania 2-2 China
Pregame Analysis: China will look to [...]
Posted in Caribbean, Drum Majors, Jamaica on Nov 24th, 2008 24 Comments »
Jomo Pitterson (Jamaica)
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
Jomo Pitterson of Jamaica clinched the FM title after drawing with IM Basheer Al-Qudaimi. He has earned the requisite six points and becomes the third Jamaica player to earn the title after Grantel Gibbs and Warren Elliott who both earned there titles at subzonals. Jamaica also won the match 3-1. [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Photos, Tournaments on Nov 23rd, 2008 5 Comments »
Top Boards
Ukraine tops Israel… Poland wins, sits atop women’s field!
Ukraine 2½-1½ Israel
Serbia 1-3 Armenia
England 1½- 2½ China
Slovenia ½-3½ Russia
Spain 3-1 Bulgaria
Pregame Analysis: Israel is attempting to hold onto a slim lead going into the 10th round match with the Ukraine. Boris Gelfand is in form 6.5/8 and Maxim Rodshtein of Israel is on 6/7 and [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Photos, Tournaments on Nov 22nd, 2008 6 Comments »
Top Boards
Armenia 1½-2½ Israel
Poland 2-2 Germany 1
Russia 1½-2½ Ukraine
Serbia2½-1½ Azerbaijan
France 1-3 China
Round #9 Analysis: Before the tournament, practically every chess pundit and journalist picked Russia to win the gold medal primarily because of the powerful individual players with an average rating of over 2750. Even others who did not pick Russia for the gold, felt [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Photos, Tournaments on Nov 21st, 2008 6 Comments »
Top Boards
Armenia crushes France… USA women beats Russia!
France ½-3½ Armenia
Israel 2½-1½ Germany 1
USA 1½-2½ Russia
China 2-2 Vietnam
Ukraine 4-0 New Zealand
Azerbaijan 2½-1½ Croatia
Bulgaria 2-2 Belarus
England 2½-1½ Georgia
Slovakia 3-1 Greece
Turkey 1½-2½ Poland
Rround #8 Analysis: If Armenia did not make a statement by beating Russia in round #7, then they certainly made a statement by thoroughly crushing France. [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 20th, 2008 2 Comments »
Top Boards
Russia upset by Armenia… Chinese women held by USA, but retain lead
Armenia 2½-1½ Russia
Germany 2½-1½ Romania
Ukraine 2-2 China
India 1½-2½ France
Israel 3-1 Spain
USA 2½-1½ Hungary
England 2-2 Azerbaijan
Greece 2-2 Belarus
Vietnam 2½-1½ Netherlands
Bulgaria 4-0 Australia
Round #7 Analysis: Armenia maintains the inside track on successfully defending their Olympiad title with four rounds left. They beat Russia on [...]
Posted in Olympiad on Nov 19th, 2008 40 Comments »
Facts and Figures of the Chess Olympiad in Dresden
The final turnout of the participants of the Chess Olympiad is now set. “Replacement or new nominations are not possible anymore”, says Werner Stubenvoll of the Technical Administration Panel (TAP).
A total of 1270 chess players take part at the Olympiad in Dresden, 722 of them are [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 19th, 2008 1 Comment »
Top Boards
Russia 3-1 England
Ukraine 2-2 Germany 1
Azerbaijan 1½-2½ Armenia
France 3-1 Poland
Bosnia & Herzegovina 1½-2½ India
Sweden 1½-2½ Israel
Georgia 1½-2½ China
Romania 2½-1½ Bulgaria
Pregame Analysis: Near the midway point, the beat goes on as Russia is back on board #1 facing England. England has done well with the young duo of Howell and Jones. Both Germany and Russia [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 17th, 2008 6 Comments »
Top Boards
Germany 2-1 Russia
Armenia 2½-1½ Netherlands
Hungary 1½-2½ Ukraine
Norway 1-3 Azerbaijan
England 2½-1½ Italy
Pregame Analysis: Host Germany is finally on board #1 after being riveted on board #2 as the host country. They will get a stiff test today when they face the powerful Russia squad. Russia barely escaped India after Kramnik was able to draw [...]
Posted in Africa, Drum Majors, Nigeria, Olympiad on Nov 16th, 2008 3 Comments »
International Master Odion Aikhoje is celebrating the 10th year anniversary of his gold medal performance at the Elista Olympiad in 1998. This was a crowning achievement for Africa’s most populous nation, but Aikhoje had to leave before receiving the medal at the closing ceremony. What happened to his medal thereafter is the subject of fierce [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 16th, 2008 14 Comments »
Top Boards
Ukraine 2-2 Armenia
Spain 1½-2½ Germany 1
Norway 2-2 England
Russia 2½-1½ India
Romania 1-3 Hungary
Azerbaijan 3-1 USA
Pregame Analysis: These top matches may allow someone to make a break from the pack. There will be a number of drawn matches here, but two interesting matchups are Russia-India and Azerbaijan-USA. If Russia can continue marching, they will have [...]
Posted in Africa, Germany, Olympiad, Uganda on Nov 15th, 2008 7 Comments »
Wanyama Harold (Uganda)
After months of desparately trying to raise funds and attend the Olympiad, players on the Ugandan side are without visas to travel. Only two players have been able to secure a visa, but the team forfeited for failing to field 50% of the team. They have missed the first three rounds and are [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 15th, 2008 12 Comments »
Russia keeps pace… China upset!
Top Boards
Russia 3½-½ Cuba
Germany 1 3½-½ Malaysia
Georgia 2½-1½ Ukraine
China 1½-2½ Norway
Netherlands 2-2 Azerbaijan
Armenia 4-0 Faroe Islands
Tajikistan 1-3 Spain
India 3½-½ El Salvador
Japan 1-3 Romania
England 4-0 Malta
Pregame Analysis: Here is where the rubber meets the road. The first match between top 20 teams. One [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 14th, 2008 2 Comments »
Top nations holding… USA nicked for draw by Greece
Top Boards
Poland 1½-2½ Russia
Ukraine 2½-1½ Serbia
Belarus 1-3 China
Azerbaijan 3-1 Slovakia
Moldova 1-3 Armenia
Pregame Analysis: Due to some problems in the team pairing the round started late, but the matches are beginning to heat up. While the top boards may not see an upset, but the Ukraine had better [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 14th, 2008 18 Comments »
Drama in Dresden… upsets begin!
Top Boards
Russia 2½-1½ Switzerland
Vietnam 1½-2½ Ukraine
China 2½-1½ Philippines
Azerbaijan 4-0 Macedonia
Hungary 2-2 Iran
Pregame Analysis: There are some very interesting match-ups in the first round of the 2008 Olympiad. In the past, a 4-0 result was typical of the Swiss format pitting a strong team against teams without titled players. However, using [...]
Posted in Media Stories, Olympiad on Nov 13th, 2008 No Comments »
After Foidos successfully rolled out their multimedia presentation software for the World Chess Championship, the Olympiad will feature Tadaah software which will allow viewers worldwide access to live coverage. This represents a shift in chess coverage and will provide more marketing exposure to dynamic world of chess. Tadaah has multple channels covering a variety of [...]
Posted in Olympiad, Tournaments on Nov 12th, 2008 1 Comment »
Playing Hall at Dresden Congress Center. Photo by ChessBase.
The Olympiad tournament has a long history dating back to 1924 when 18 countries arrived in Paris. A lot has happened since that time. The curtains will open today on the 2008 Chess Olympiad as 1345 players from 154 nations will assemble in Dresden, Germany for a [...]
Posted in Olympiad, The Chess Drum, Tournaments on Nov 11th, 2008 6 Comments »
The Dresden Olympiad is here and there have been a lot of changes since the last biennial tournament. Armenia took the men’s gold while the Ukraine took the women’s gold in a tournament marked by the rise of the Chinese men (2nd) and the fall of the Russians (6th). This year, these two nations [...]
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