Matthias Bluebaum with the win of the tournament! Thanks for the help, Germany! :)
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) September 13, 2016
Showing posts with label Baku Olympiad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baku Olympiad. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Additional Olympiad Note
The US actually tied with Ukraine on match points, but won on the Sonneborn-Berger tie breaks. (Final match results: Team USA 9+ 0- 2=, Team Ukraine 10+ 1- 0=. Note that the US beat Ukraine in their individual contest.) Apparently, the final result was determined by Germany beating Estonia in the final round. Yikes!
Olympiad Final Round Update
In Round Ten, Jim won by forfeit against Congo, as I expected, and the Virgin Island team won their second match.
That left them playing a surprisingly strong team from Haiti in the final round, Round Eleven. Unfortunately, our guys lost all their games. So the final result for Jim is three wins, one draw, and five loses in games played, as well as the forfeit win and the team bye in Round Five. Overall, the Virgin Island team won two, lost ten, and the bye. Overall the Virgin Islands finished 167th out of 170 teams that played, with another ten teams that appear to have never shown up. Their seeding number was 158 (or 156 after adjusting for the absent teams), so that isn't too far off expectations.
Jim finished with a performance rating of 1974, and according to the website his new rating would be 2116. I don't know if that last bit is correct or not, though, as Jim's earlier rating was provisional, I believe. I'll try to remember to check the FIDE site next month for an update.
We'll have to wait to talk to Jim to see how he and they feel about it, but from here this looks like a decent result, and a good result if they had a good time. (Jim looked like he was enjoying himself in his photos posted to his Facebook page.)
I've looked for more photos of Jim on the official site, but I didn't see any. If anyone else wants to look the link can be found here.
In other Olympiad news, the US Team won the Gold Medals in the Open Section, with Wesley So winning individual Gold on the Third Board. Ukraine took Silver, and Russia a disappointing (for them) Bronze. The Open Board Prizes can be found here. Note that Board Prizes are decided on Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) and require a minimum number of games to qualify.
Some more Board Prize results: Caruana was third on the First Board while the Georgian Baadur Jobava (whose games I highly recommend) took Gold, Nakamura was fifth on Second Board while Kramnik took the Gold, So took Gold on Third Board, Sam Shankland finished a disappoint ninth on Fourth Board after taking Gold on that Board in the last Olympiad while Laurent Fressinet of France took Gold. Finally, on Board Five Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine took Gold.
The performance of Eugenio Torre (2447 FIDE) of the Philippines deserves special note. Playing in his 22nd Olympiad, he scored 9+ 0- 2=, was the only Filipino to play all eleven rounds, and won the individual Bronze Medal on Board Three with a TPR of 2836! Not bad for a man that turns 65 in a few weeks.
Caruana was First Board but Nakamura anchored the team, playing all eleven rounds. Caruana only skipped the first round, and So only missed the second. Shankland skipped the third, fifth and eighth rounds. The team only suffered three individual loses and had no team loses. They were the most consistent team of the event. On board points we would have only finished second, behind Russia (32) by a half-point, but that's only the second tie-break these days (after SB), not the primary scoring method, which is by match points.
In the Women's Olympiad, China took Gold (as expected), Russia Silver, and Poland Bronze. The US Women's Team finished sixth, which was their seeding number. The US Women played the 1, 2, 3, and 5 seeds in this tournament, so they had rough pairings. The Women's Board Prizes can be found at this link. None of the US women really came close to winning a Board Prize, from what I can see.
And thus concludes the best event on the Chess calendar. I'll see what stories or game notes I can get out of Jim when he gets back to the club.
That left them playing a surprisingly strong team from Haiti in the final round, Round Eleven. Unfortunately, our guys lost all their games. So the final result for Jim is three wins, one draw, and five loses in games played, as well as the forfeit win and the team bye in Round Five. Overall, the Virgin Island team won two, lost ten, and the bye. Overall the Virgin Islands finished 167th out of 170 teams that played, with another ten teams that appear to have never shown up. Their seeding number was 158 (or 156 after adjusting for the absent teams), so that isn't too far off expectations.
Jim finished with a performance rating of 1974, and according to the website his new rating would be 2116. I don't know if that last bit is correct or not, though, as Jim's earlier rating was provisional, I believe. I'll try to remember to check the FIDE site next month for an update.
We'll have to wait to talk to Jim to see how he and they feel about it, but from here this looks like a decent result, and a good result if they had a good time. (Jim looked like he was enjoying himself in his photos posted to his Facebook page.)
I've looked for more photos of Jim on the official site, but I didn't see any. If anyone else wants to look the link can be found here.
In other Olympiad news, the US Team won the Gold Medals in the Open Section, with Wesley So winning individual Gold on the Third Board. Ukraine took Silver, and Russia a disappointing (for them) Bronze. The Open Board Prizes can be found here. Note that Board Prizes are decided on Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) and require a minimum number of games to qualify.
Some more Board Prize results: Caruana was third on the First Board while the Georgian Baadur Jobava (whose games I highly recommend) took Gold, Nakamura was fifth on Second Board while Kramnik took the Gold, So took Gold on Third Board, Sam Shankland finished a disappoint ninth on Fourth Board after taking Gold on that Board in the last Olympiad while Laurent Fressinet of France took Gold. Finally, on Board Five Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine took Gold.
The performance of Eugenio Torre (2447 FIDE) of the Philippines deserves special note. Playing in his 22nd Olympiad, he scored 9+ 0- 2=, was the only Filipino to play all eleven rounds, and won the individual Bronze Medal on Board Three with a TPR of 2836! Not bad for a man that turns 65 in a few weeks.
Caruana was First Board but Nakamura anchored the team, playing all eleven rounds. Caruana only skipped the first round, and So only missed the second. Shankland skipped the third, fifth and eighth rounds. The team only suffered three individual loses and had no team loses. They were the most consistent team of the event. On board points we would have only finished second, behind Russia (32) by a half-point, but that's only the second tie-break these days (after SB), not the primary scoring method, which is by match points.
In the Women's Olympiad, China took Gold (as expected), Russia Silver, and Poland Bronze. The US Women's Team finished sixth, which was their seeding number. The US Women played the 1, 2, 3, and 5 seeds in this tournament, so they had rough pairings. The Women's Board Prizes can be found at this link. None of the US women really came close to winning a Board Prize, from what I can see.
And thus concludes the best event on the Chess calendar. I'll see what stories or game notes I can get out of Jim when he gets back to the club.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
The latest Olympiad news on our man in Baku
Jim won his round eight game against the Djibouti team, and drew his round nine game against a player from San Marino. Tomorrow the Virgin Islands (which won against Djibouti and lost to San Marino) will face the team from Congo. Congo seems to have four players registered but only three onsite. If I'm understanding what I'm seeing, Congo has been posting that fourth, non-present player as their FIRST board, allowing the other three to play down. If that's the case tomorrow, Jim will get a win by forfeit, which I always find disappointing. But it will help the team.
So good luck in the last two rounds to the Virgin Islands and James McTigue!
So good luck in the last two rounds to the Virgin Islands and James McTigue!
Never surrender!
If You ever lose all hope,just remember this Knight on h8
— Rakesh Kulkarni (@itherocky) September 11, 2016
You can die there,Or maybe Fight n become a hero! #FightOn pic.twitter.com/3yRnr3JJGd
Friday, September 9, 2016
Jim wins again, and inspiration for a bitter ender.
Jim McTigue won again today. It was a very smooth victory. As an interested observer I was also much happier with his time management today. That's steadily been getting better, and I think he's now finally settled in. Unfortunately, the team lost 1.5-2.5 again, and again at one point they were poised to do a little better. C'est la vie.
Tomorrow the Virgin Island team is paired against Djibouti, and I expect them to win. Djibouti had problems with their travel arrangements (many of the African countries did), and wasn't able to play until Round Six. (Hopefully they didn't miss the Bermuda Party, too.) Djibouti only has three players on their team, so they will be starting down one point to start the match. Of their three players, only one is rated - the second board sports a 1502 FIDE. Hopefully "our" guys will crash through to a good match victory tomorrow.
...
In other news, Russia smashed Czechia (don't blame me, it's what they call themselves now for marketing purposes) 3.5 to 0.5, and the US team beat the now former tournament leader India by the same score, setting up a Russia-USA match tomorrow. (That match-up will also occur in the Women's Olympiad.) The US now has sole lead of the tournament in match points, but it didn't come as easy as the score would suggest.
Shankland was flat out dead busted, stone cold lost, buried, finished, had bought the farm, and "everything that goes with it", against S. P. Sethuraman, but he played on. To lift a Shankland quote from Chess.com's report (which I recommend be read in full), "I wanted to resign, but I didn't." Perseverance paid off, even though his opponent was rated 2640, and Shankland went on to win a game in which his evals were at least as bad as -9.5. (Shankland had White.) That game is embedded in Chess.com's report, and is yet another example of why I play on until there is no possibility of my opponent letting me back in the game, and no one I play is rated anywhere close to 2640 FIDE.
...
A couple of other bits. First, Nepomniachtchi is now on 7/7, and has a performance rating over 3300. (I though they couldn't calculate those for players on perfect scores, as that's what I remember people saying from Caruana's streak in St. Louis a couple years back.) He's a very bad man in Baku, and I wouldn't want to meet him anywhere - unless I was on his team, of course.
Second, you'll need to read the bit on Nigel Short. He had "fun" with the organizers again today when they tried to inspect him for cheating in the middle of the game, in time pressure. Just read about it at Chess.com. Unbelievable, and one can't help but wonder if he didn't get singled out for this because of his well-known and long-running stance against FIDE.
Tomorrow the Virgin Island team is paired against Djibouti, and I expect them to win. Djibouti had problems with their travel arrangements (many of the African countries did), and wasn't able to play until Round Six. (Hopefully they didn't miss the Bermuda Party, too.) Djibouti only has three players on their team, so they will be starting down one point to start the match. Of their three players, only one is rated - the second board sports a 1502 FIDE. Hopefully "our" guys will crash through to a good match victory tomorrow.
...
In other news, Russia smashed Czechia (don't blame me, it's what they call themselves now for marketing purposes) 3.5 to 0.5, and the US team beat the now former tournament leader India by the same score, setting up a Russia-USA match tomorrow. (That match-up will also occur in the Women's Olympiad.) The US now has sole lead of the tournament in match points, but it didn't come as easy as the score would suggest.
Shankland was flat out dead busted, stone cold lost, buried, finished, had bought the farm, and "everything that goes with it", against S. P. Sethuraman, but he played on. To lift a Shankland quote from Chess.com's report (which I recommend be read in full), "I wanted to resign, but I didn't." Perseverance paid off, even though his opponent was rated 2640, and Shankland went on to win a game in which his evals were at least as bad as -9.5. (Shankland had White.) That game is embedded in Chess.com's report, and is yet another example of why I play on until there is no possibility of my opponent letting me back in the game, and no one I play is rated anywhere close to 2640 FIDE.
...
A couple of other bits. First, Nepomniachtchi is now on 7/7, and has a performance rating over 3300. (I though they couldn't calculate those for players on perfect scores, as that's what I remember people saying from Caruana's streak in St. Louis a couple years back.) He's a very bad man in Baku, and I wouldn't want to meet him anywhere - unless I was on his team, of course.
Second, you'll need to read the bit on Nigel Short. He had "fun" with the organizers again today when they tried to inspect him for cheating in the middle of the game, in time pressure. Just read about it at Chess.com. Unbelievable, and one can't help but wonder if he didn't get singled out for this because of his well-known and long-running stance against FIDE.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Olympiad pics
I've been looking through the official pictures from the Olympiad. I've found a couple of interest.
First, here's one of Jim in action versus Oman from Round 4.
The second one is a picture of a couple of members of the Estonian team.
That dude on the right is trying very hard to get his Phelps face on!
(Both of the pics from the Olympiad were taken by Maria Emelianova.)
First, here's one of Jim in action versus Oman from Round 4.
The second one is a picture of a couple of members of the Estonian team.
That dude on the right is trying very hard to get his Phelps face on!
(Both of the pics from the Olympiad were taken by Maria Emelianova.)
Jim wins! Jim wins! Jim wins!
Looks like a disappointing day for the team, though. It looked like they were going to win 3-1 at one point, but board three blundered a whole rook in a winning position, and boards two and four are getting ground down. 1-3 looks the likely result now.
But Jim Mctigue is on the scoreboard!
Here's the game.
Update: The US Virgin Island team lost 1.5 to 2.5. The Liechtenstein Board Four took a draw to win the match. Not sure if he saw that he could play for a win or not. It was probably trickier sitting at the board to see the right moves than it was sitting at home with an analysis engine running! Still, "our" team is finally getting board points. Hopefully match points will follow!
Update: The US Virgin Island team lost 1.5 to 2.5. The Liechtenstein Board Four took a draw to win the match. Not sure if he saw that he could play for a win or not. It was probably trickier sitting at the board to see the right moves than it was sitting at home with an analysis engine running! Still, "our" team is finally getting board points. Hopefully match points will follow!
At a guess ...
... here's someone who really hates the new bathroom rules!
Evelyn Romero Moncayo of Ecuador. She is due soon, Olympiad baby? :) @bakuchessol2016 @WOMChess #bakuchess pic.twitter.com/3zAMun114u
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) September 8, 2016
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Olympiad Update
The Olympiad has been tough for the Virgin Island team. They've mostly been heavily out-rated and it shows in the results, as they've been blanked in all four rounds in which they played. They received a bye today. (An odd number of teams means someone has to out each round, and that usually falls to the lowest scoring team that hasn't had a bye previously.) Tomorrow they will face Liechtenstein, and once again they will be out-rated on most boards. Jim will likely face Marcel Mannhart (2128 FIDE).
Jim HAS had some good games, though, despite the results. Paull Leggett has been posting the games to Facebook. As Paul wrote about Jim's fourth round game:
Game Two link
Game Three link
Game Four link
It should be noted that Jim appears to be having a good time regardless. He posted a bunch of pictures he's taken around Baku on his Facebook feed. He may even be at the Bermuda Party as we speak!
Jim HAS had some good games, though, despite the results. Paull Leggett has been posting the games to Facebook. As Paul wrote about Jim's fourth round game:
He equalized easily, and the game stayed even for a very long time. After a protracted defense (just playing through it is draining), it ends with a painful and undeserved loss, much in the way Karpov started losing to Kasparov. It is a very valuable study piece, even if the story has an unhappy ending.Clock management issues (especially in Game Three, according to a note by Jim) seem to be the biggest problem at this point. Hopefully, during the next round it will got better!
Game Two link
Game Three link
Game Four link
It should be noted that Jim appears to be having a good time regardless. He posted a bunch of pictures he's taken around Baku on his Facebook feed. He may even be at the Bermuda Party as we speak!
Friday, September 2, 2016
Round One Results
Unfortunately the US Virgin Island Team got blanked today. Tomorrow, Angola, which is another tough match-up. If Jim plays, he'll face one of two international masters on the Angolan team. (I'm not sure what the substitution pattern will be for Jim's team.)
I should note that the individual pairings are determined right before the round. So the US Virgin Islands (and both their opponents thus far) have five players, of whom four play. The exact line-up is determined shortly before the round starts.
ADDED: Paul added the game (with a few notes) to the Club's Facebook feed.
Editorial Note: I'm seeing some hand-wringing on Twitter concerning the event's use as propaganda by the Azeri dictatorship. (And the FIDE leadership, of course.) Perhaps I missed it, but I didn't see similar hand-wringing when Qatar hosted several events late last year. It certainly seems like a case of selective outrage.
I should note that the individual pairings are determined right before the round. So the US Virgin Islands (and both their opponents thus far) have five players, of whom four play. The exact line-up is determined shortly before the round starts.
ADDED: Paul added the game (with a few notes) to the Club's Facebook feed.
Editorial Note: I'm seeing some hand-wringing on Twitter concerning the event's use as propaganda by the Azeri dictatorship. (And the FIDE leadership, of course.) Perhaps I missed it, but I didn't see similar hand-wringing when Qatar hosted several events late last year. It certainly seems like a case of selective outrage.
A violation of the rules.
-or-
Don't eat the sushi in Baku!
Don't eat the sushi in Baku!
Weird anti-cheating rule at @bakuchessol2016 - players must warn arbiter each time they intend to go to toilet and arbiter must note request— Ian Rogers (@GMIanRogers) September 1, 2016
It has been dubbed a 'shit rule' by the players https://t.co/7trjXqEnYh— Jon Ludvig Hammer (@gmjlh) September 2, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
First round pairings are up!
The US Virgin Isles (ISV) are paired against Indonesia (INA) in Round 1. It looks like Jim (2205 FIDE) will have White against either GM Utut Adianto (2556) or IM Muhammed Lutfi Ali (2411). Adianto is a name familiar to us older players. Lutfi Ali is only 18 or 19, so I'm not familiar with him even by name.
Can you feel that?
No, we're not down with the sickness. (Not all of us - I can't speak for everyone.) No, we're feeling the excitement of the Chess Olympiad in Baku! Clermont actually has two players (one current, one former) playing in the Olympiad this year: doughty club stalwart Jim McTigue*, and Ray Robson, who made his way through the club many years ago on his way up the ladder. (Clermont - where Champions are made! Several Olympic medalists from the recently concluded Summer Games train in Clermont, too.)
And it's not just us. I think there's more excitement for this event on my Twitter feed than any other since I got on Twitter several years ago. Not even world championships have had this much interest. It really is a unique event in the chess world, and I'm looking forward to it.
The opening ceremony is today. The games start tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern Time. One should be able to follow the games at the Baku Olympiad Official Website, ICC, Chess.com, Chess24.com, or any of the usual suspects.
So far many of the people that have gone have commented on the hospitality of the organizers, but a few glitches have been reported. Nigel Short has reported some problems with the accreditation process, and he also reported that Uganda and Kenya have had problems.
One other thing I'm wondering about: Will the French team adjust their board order so that MVL plays White in every game?
No word from Jim, and I don't expect to hear anything from him during the event. He'll be too busy having a good time, we hope! Good luck, Jim, and here's hoping for a great event!
* I'm probably reading too much @HowardStaunton at the moment.
** Who does NOT train in Clermont!
And it's not just us. I think there's more excitement for this event on my Twitter feed than any other since I got on Twitter several years ago. Not even world championships have had this much interest. It really is a unique event in the chess world, and I'm looking forward to it.
The opening ceremony is today. The games start tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern Time. One should be able to follow the games at the Baku Olympiad Official Website, ICC, Chess.com, Chess24.com, or any of the usual suspects.
So far many of the people that have gone have commented on the hospitality of the organizers, but a few glitches have been reported. Nigel Short has reported some problems with the accreditation process, and he also reported that Uganda and Kenya have had problems.
We'll see. It'll probably be the usual large event, where some people have a great time and some have nothing but problems - and some create nothing but problems for themselves. (Note to the players and other people associated with the Baku Olympiad: Don't be Ryan Lochte**!) Hopefully the average will tend towards the former.Two countries - Uganda & Kenya - left high and dry by promises of tickets from Presidential Board friends. #nosympathy #bakuchess— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) September 1, 2016
One other thing I'm wondering about: Will the French team adjust their board order so that MVL plays White in every game?
No word from Jim, and I don't expect to hear anything from him during the event. He'll be too busy having a good time, we hope! Good luck, Jim, and here's hoping for a great event!
* I'm probably reading too much @HowardStaunton at the moment.
** Who does NOT train in Clermont!
Monday, August 29, 2016
Baku Chess Olympiad
As of this writing, the Baku Chess Olympiad starts in about three days. The official web page for the event can be found here. A listing of the teams can be found here. Our own Jim McTigue is listed on the US Virgin Islands Team, and those of us in Clermont will be following his results closely.Good luck, Jim!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Chess Olympiad Quiz
Quality Chess is running a quiz/guessing game about the upcoming Olympiad in Baku. It's free to enter and the winner gets 20 free books from Quality Chess, ten of the winner's choosing and ten of Quality Publishing's choice.
Give it a try and if any of you win, I want a cut!
Give it a try and if any of you win, I want a cut!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)