ROUND NINE REPORT 2002 CHESS OLYMPIAD, BLED SLOVENIA

Jamaica had a satisfactory day "at the office" on the ninth day of competition at the 35th chess olympiad being held in Bled, Slovenia. The men won their encounter with a very competitive Malta team and the women, steadily improving, held the strong Costa Ricans to a draw. Both teams, therefore, continued the tough climb up the rankings and the tables.

WOMEN

JAMAICA

In match 39, their highest board to date, Jamaica, playing with the Black pieces on boards one and three, respectively, faced a very tough Costa Rican team which had performed creditably hitherto against quality opponents. The Jamaican girls were nonetheless determined to fight as hard and as long as possible to reap success on the chess battlefields.

On board one Maria Palmer's theoeretical preparation and hard work were rewarded when she faced the strong Sofia Lowsky's English opening. The Costa Rican could not find a way through and offered a draw which the team captain authorized Palmer to accept.

FANTASTIC WIN BY HUI ZHU

The draw followed Hui Zhu's fantastic win on board three over a bewildered Carla Da Bosco. Zhu, having prepared the Petroff thoroughly, played the Russian defence brilliantly and easily refuted her opponent's Cochrane Sacrifice (3.Nxf7?!) winning in less than 20 moves. At the time her befuddled adversary cried "no mas no mas por favor", Zhu still had more than an hour on her clock while the Costa Rican had less than ten minutes !!! With a record of 4/7 Zhu is now the only Jamaican woman with a plus score.

On board two, national female champion Deborah Richards faced the very resilient Eva Gonzales and the Jamaican's English opening did not survive. After fighting on hopefully in a difficult position, Richards acknowledged defeat by shaking her opponent's hand with mate to follow in one.

In round ten, the Jamaican "chess queens" on 10.5 points will play on board 37 facing Luxembourg, a difficult opponent with WFM Grayzna Bakalarz on board one.

BAJAN PRINCESSES

Barbados drew 1.5-1.5 with Brunei after a very tough fight. On board one Nathali Greenidge beat Qalila Dk Omar Mohd Pg, while on board two Rashida Corbin (no relation to Philip) drew with Atiyah Farah Zainal. On board three Rashaana Blenman tried but she could not survive against Zhen Wei Leong.

GEORGIA ROUTS THE PRETENDERS

At the top of the leader board, former world female champion 41 year-old GM Maia Chiburdanidze led the Georgian women to a 3-0 sweep of Romania, Maia beating WGM Corina Peptan on board one.

The USA and Poland had a tough 1.5-1.5 draw, China turned back Vietnam 2.5-0.5 and Russia beat Bulgaria 2-1 with WGM Tatiana Kosintseva achieving the only win of the match by beating WGM Maria Velcheva on board three.

Georgia are now on 22 points and, with five rounds left, seem like a sure bet to win the women's title.

MEN

JAMAICA

Jamaica's men registered another victory by defeating Malta which put up stout resistance. On board one FM Warren Elliott, playing with the Black pieces and in time trouble, was offered a draw by Peter Briffa Sammut with material equal and the team captain authorized him to take it.

On board two NM Shane Matthews, whose game was the last to finish, ensured victory for Jamaica by drawing with Henry Camilleri who, along with Swiss GM Victor Korchnoi, is one of the oldest players in the olympiad.

On board three NM Jomo Pitterson's game against Daniel Abela was the first to be completed, ending in a draw.  

On board four NM Duane Rowe ensured that Jamaica took home the honours by using the White pieces to defeat Joseph Grech and thus recorded the only win of the match.  

Jamaica is now on 16 points and will face Lebanon in round ten.

WEST INDIAN NEIGHBOURS

Barbados went down 1-3 to Turkey. On board one FM Ricardo Szmetan drew with fM Yakup and on board two FM Philip Corbin drew with FM Umut Atakisi. Turkey pocketed victory, however, with wins on boards two and three over FM Delisle Warner and Kevin Greenidge, respectively. In round ten the "Bajan Knights" from the land of the flying fish should have a fairly comfortable assignment against Hong Kong.

Trinidad and Tobago had a solid 3-1 victory over Uganda in match 50. On board one FM Ryan Harper defeated the highly touted Grace Nsubuga and on board four Ravishen Singh defeated Emmanuel Mwaka. The other games were drawn.

The "soca Rooks" from the land of the hummingbird will face a tough Albanian team in round ten.

THE TWO Zs

Botswana beat Zambia 3.5 - 0.5 after the men from Lusaka rested their star IM Amon Simutowe.

Zimbabwe rested board one hero IM Robert Gwaze for the second straight round and lost to the Intl.Comm. for Silent Chess (ICSC)(comprising deaf players) 1.5-2.5.

A SHOCKING RESULT AT THE TOP

Russia, traditional chess powerhouses and leaders of the tournament, were stunned by a broadside attack from the Budapest machinery and never recovered losing 1.5-2.5 to Hungary. On board one a possible future world championship match-up saw GM Peter Leko opting for the English attack against Garry Kasparov's Sicilian defence. Despite the tension on the battlefield the game was drawn. Kasparov entered this match with a 4.5/5 record in the tournament with an incredible ELO equivalent of 3002 !!!!! His current rating is the stratospheric 2838.

On board two GM Judit Polgar, playing with the Black pieces, faced GM Alexander Grischuk's Ruy Lopez and survived after an interesting skirmish. A draw was the final result.

The game on board three was also drawn as GM Zoltan Almasi could not use the white pieces to defeat the very compact Russian superGM Alexander Khalifman.

The match was decided on board four as GM Peter Svidler surprisingly lost to the unheralded GM Robert Ruck. Svidler, until then, was undefeated and had performed at a very impressive 2917 ELO  rating. His rating is 2690.

Hungary was repeating its victory over Russia in the last olympiad although Kasparov did not play then.

CHINA - STEP FORWARD PLEASE

China beat Slovakia 2.5-1.5 with FM Ni Hua beating IM Jan Markos on board four to register the only win of the tie.

India's young grandmasters continued to impress in the absence of world number three GM Vishwanathan Anand, as GM Abhijit Kunte beat GM David Navara on board three to register the only win of the match as India beat the Czech Republic 2.5-1.5.

England continued its resurgence with a 3-1 win over Belarus, GM Michael Adams and GM Nigel Short winning on boards one and two respectively.

In a battle of possible future world title contenders France's champion GM Etienne Bacrot defeated GM Teimour Radjabov on board one as France defeated Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5.

Russia's defeat has left things very interestingly poised at the top as although they continue to lead they only have 25.5 points to Hungary's 25.

ROUND TEN CLASHES

In the tenth round Russia will face China on the top board with Kasparov squaring off against the very impressive GM Ye Jiangchuan on board one. Ye, rated 2667, has a performance rating of 2881.

Hungary will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on the second board with GM Peter Leko facing the ultra-tough veteran player GM Predrag Nikolic on board one.

SLOVENIAN TIDBIT: Most Slovenes (about seventy percent) are Catholic.

Ian Wilkinson

Jamaican team captain

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Festivalna Dvorana

Bled, Slovenia