Flash Report: U.S Beats India in Open, Women Win Vs. Azerbaijan

Today in round four of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, the U.S. team was one of the first to finish. They scored a crucial 2.5-1.5 match victory over India, thanks to Fabiano Carauna's win on board one over five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

[pgn] [Event "Batumi Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Date "2018.09.27"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E03"] [WhiteElo "2827"] [BlackElo "2771"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Be3 Bd6 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Nh3 e5 10. O-O h6 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nc3 Qe7 13. Rad1 Re8 14. Nf4 c6 15. Bd4 g5 16. Nd3 Nxd3 17. Rxd3 Be5 18. Qd2 Bf5 19. e4 Bg6 20. f4 gxf4 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 22. gxf4 Qc5+ 23. Kh1 Nxe4 24. Nxe4 Rxe4 25. Rg3 Rd4 26. Qe3 1-0 [/pgn]

All other games were drawn, securing the match W for the U.S.

The women also had a nail-biter against Azerbaijan, with Irina Krush scoring a key victory.

[pgn] [Event "Batumi Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Date "2018.09.27"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Mamedjarova, Zeinab"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2423"] [BlackElo "2358"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] 1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. h4 h5 10. Nh3 Bb4 11. Qd1 Nd7 12. Nf4 Qa5 13. Qc1 Bd6 14. Be2 Nf8 15. Qd1 Qb6 16. Qd2 Ne6 17. g3 Nxf4 18. exf4 O-O-O 19. O-O Kb8 20. a3 Qc7 21. b4 Ka8 22. Rfc1 Qd7 23. b5 Bf5 24. bxc6 bxc6 25. Na4 Rb8 26. Nc5 Qe7 27. Rc3 Qd8 28. Na6 Rb6 29. Rac1 Qc8 30. Nb4 Bxb4 31. axb4 Qd8 32. Rxc6 Rxc6 33. Rxc6 Qe7 34. b5 Qe4 35. Bf1 Rc8 36. Qc3 Kb8 37. Qc5 Rxc6 38. bxc6 Kc7 39. Bg2 Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Be4 41. Qe7+ Kxc6 42. f3 Kb5 43. fxe4 Kc4 44. Qc5+ Kd3 45. exd5 Qb1 46. d6 1-0 [/pgn]

Tatev Abrahamyan lost on board three to even the score. Update: After a 100+ move game, Anna Zatonskih ground down her opponent and secured the match victory for the United States!

[pgn] [Event "Batumi Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Date "2018.09.27"] [White "Mammadzada, Gunay"] [Black "Zatonskih, Anna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2438"] [BlackElo "2431"] [PlyCount "211"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. N2f3 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 Nb6 11. Be2 Qf6 12. Qg5 N8d7 13. Qxf6 Nxf6 14. c4 Rd8 15. b3 Bd7 16. Ne5 Be8 17. Rd1 Nbd7 18. Nxd7 Rxd7 19. f3 Rad8 20. Nc2 Kf8 21. Kf2 Ke7 22. Ke3 Rxd1 23. Bxd1 Nd7 24. f4 a5 25. a3 f6 26. Bf3 Bg6 27. Nd4 e5 28. fxe5 fxe5 29. Nb5 Nc5 30. b4 Rd3+ 31. Ke2 axb4 32. axb4 Ne6 33. Bxb7 Rb3 34. Rc1 Nf4+ 35. Kd2 Rd3+ 36. Ke1 Rb3 37. Rc3 Rxb4 38. Re3 Kf6 39. Nd6 Ke6 40. Nb5 Rxc4 41. Nc3 Rb4 42. Bf3 Rb2 43. Kf1 Bd3+ 44. Kg1 Rc2 45. Ne4 h6 46. h4 Be2 47. Nc5+ Rxc5 48. Bxe2 Kf5 49. Bf3 Rc4 50. g4+ Kf6 51. Kf2 Ne6 52. Ra3 Rb4 53. Ke3 Nc5 54. Ra5 Rb3+ 55. Ke2 Rc3 56. Kf2 e4 57. Be2 Ke5 58. Ra7 Ne6 59. Ra5+ Rc5 60. Ra7 Rc7 61. Ra5+ Rc5 62. Ra7 g6 63. Re7 Rc2 64. Ke3 Rc3+ 65. Kd2 Rc8 66. g5 Rd8+ 67. Ke3 Kd6 68. Rh7 hxg5 69. Kxe4 Re8 70. Bb5 Rb8 71. Rd7+ Kc5 72. Rd5+ Kb4 73. Be2 gxh4 74. Bg4 Nc5+ 75. Kf4 Kc4 76. Rd6 Rf8+ 77. Ke3 Re8+ 78. Kf4 Rf8+ 79. Ke3 Re8+ 80. Kf4 g5+ 81. Kf5 Ne4 82. Rd7 Rf8+ 83. Ke5 Re8+ 84. Kf5 Nf2 85. Bh5 Re1 86. Kxg5 h3 87. Bf3 h2 88. Kf4 Nd3+ 89. Kg3 Ne5 90. Rc7+ Kd4 91. Bg2 h1=Q 92. Bxh1 Rxh1 93. Rc2 Ke3 94. Rc3+ Ke4 95. Kg2 Rh8 96. Rh3 Rg8+ 97. Rg3 Ra8 98. Rb3 Nd3 99. Rb7 Nf4+ 100. Kf2 Ra2+ 101. Ke1 Nd5 102. Rf7 Ke3 103. Kf1 Ra1+ 104. Kg2 Nf4+ 105. Kg3 Rg1+ 106. Kh4 0-1 [/pgn]

White resigned in view of ...Kf3, threatening Rg4#! More good news today: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley started vlogging for US Chess! Check out his vlogs on our social media networks, instagram and twitter. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1045114264715972609 https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1045294599261106176 The Olympiad takes place from September 24-October 5 in Batumi, Georgia with rounds everyday at 7 a.m. ET (except for September 29, the rest day). Find more photos and information on the official website, as well as live games in the Open and Women’s sections.