No. 1  Abera-Wheeler (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; Ethiopia-Jamaica)
In this 3rd board battle, Black played the Alekhine's Defense and yielded space to his Ethiopian opponent. White pounced with 18.Nxh7! and after 18…Kxh7,  the "Conquering Lion" seized his prey with 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Bxg6 Rf7 21.Qh7+ Kf8 22.Bh6! 1-0. (See game)

No. 2  Almannai-Gwaze (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; Suriname-Zimbabwe)
IM Robert Gwaze had a fabulous tournament and this game was one of the many gems he produced. It's obvious that Black is winning here as his pieces have taken up menacing locations behind enemy lines.  White has just played 25.e6 which threatens 26.Qh8+! If Black goes for 25…Bxd4 26.Nxd4, he will have to contend with threats on the h-file. Gwaze sees this and plays both a defending and attacking move in 25… Bh6!  After 26.Nc1 Nxd2! 27.Qxh6, Black plays 27…Nf3+ and White resigned in lieu of 28.Kd1 Nh4+ 29.Kd2 Rxb2+ 30.Ke3 Re4#. (See game)

No. 3  Nsubuga-Chong (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; Uganda-Hong Kong)
This is one of those snappy mates found in wide open positions. It may appear that Black has all the bases covered due to the Rook on g3 being attacked in case of a discovered check on e8, but Grace lowered the boom with 35.Bf7+! (double check!) After 35… Kxf7 , White sealed Black's back-rank coffin with 36. Qh7+ Ke8 37. Qg8# 1-0. (See game)

No. 4 Al-Tamimi-Adegboyega (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; Qatar-Nigeria)
The Nigerian sprinted out of the gate and was on the prowl before White had a chance to get his pieces out. Adegboyega cracked his whip with 34…Bxg3! (On 35.Kxg3, Black plays the shocker… Rf3+!! with mate to follow.) Al-Tamimi met his fate with 35.Be3 Bxh4 (35…Rf3!!) 36. Rad1 Bxf2 37.Qxa3 Rg5+ and it's mate in four. (See game)

No. 5 Hamperl-Pitterson (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; Guernsey-Jamaica)
This game was an exciting battle involving heavy fighting between minor pieces. In the diagrammed position, it appears as if Black is about to lose material, but Pitterson unleashed fury with the devastating 29…Rxb2+! If 30.Kxb2, a slow and painful death is met by 30…Nxf3+ and 31…Nxg5. Thus, Hamperl chose a quick and painless death with 30.Ka1 Nc2#! (See game)

No. 6 K. Solomon-Bhowany (Chess Olympiad, Bled, 2002; South Africa-Mauritius)
Kenny Solomon is known as a tenacious player and in this position he has sliced through Black's position like a hot knife through butter… or perhaps Swiss cheese. Black has serious white square weaknesses in his position, but how does white penetrate? White has several candidate moves, but they do not match the earth-shattering 24.Qh7!! After 24…Nxc4 (24…Nxh7 25.Nxh7#), White finishes the job with 25.Qh8+ Ng8 26.Qxg8+! 1-0 (See game)