Good and Bad News Round Three in Baku

The Olympiad in Baku continues to produce exciting battles. Today we had good news and bad news for US Chess fans. In the open section the Americans had a bumpy road against Argentina. Even though Nakamura was lost out of the opening, by the time he was down two pawns Wesley already won an exchange on board three.

[pgn]

[Event "Baku Chess Olympiad | Open"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Perez Ponsa, Federico"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2585"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Argentina"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARG"]
[WhiteClock "0:36:43"]
[BlackClock "0:32:17"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 Rf7 14. c5 Nxc5 15. Bxc5
dxc5 16. Bc4 Kf8 17. d6 cxd6 18. Bxf7 Kxf7 19. Nb5 d5 20. Rxc5 Be6 21. Nc7 dxe4
22. Qc2 Qd4+ 23. Kh1 Rd8 24. fxe4 g4 25. Nxe6 Kxe6 26. Rc7 b5 27. Qb3+ Kd6 28.
Nc2 Qa4 29. Qc3 Ke6 30. Re1 Qa6 31. Nb4 Qd6 32. Nd5 Rd7 33. Nxf4+ exf4 34. Qb3+
Ke5 35. Qxb5+ Ke6 36. Qb3+ Ke5 37. Qc3+ Ke6 38. Rxd7 Bxc3 39. Rxd6+ Kxd6 40.
bxc3 Ke5 41. Rb1 Nc6 42. Rb7 f3 43. gxf3 gxf3 44. Rc7 1-0

[/pgn]

Meanwhile Fabiano's position was complicated in his French against Peralta. Robson played very solidly with black and had the most stable game.

[pgn]

[Event "Baku Chess Olympiad | Open"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Flores, Diego"]
[Black "Robson, Ray"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2595"]
[BlackElo "2674"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "Argentina"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:36"]
[BlackClock "0:02:13"]

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2
b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rfd1 Rac8 12. Rac1 c5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Bb5 a6
15. Bxd7 Qxd7 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Ne2 Ne4 18. Ng3 f5 19. Be5 Be7 20. Nh5 g6 21.
Nf4 g5 22. Ne2 h6 23. Ba1 Qe6 24. Ne5 Bf6 25. Nd3 d4 26. f3 c4 27. bxc4 Nc3 28.
Nxc3 dxc3 29. c5 Qxe3+ 30. Kh1 Rfd8 31. Bxc3 Bxc3 32. Qxc3 Bxf3 33. gxf3 Qxf3+
34. Kg1 Qe3+ 35. Kg2 Qe4+ 36. Kf2 Qh4+ 37. Kg2 Qe4+ 38. Kg1 Qe3+ 39. Kf1 Qf3+
1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

The 3-1 score that America took in the end could easily have been a 2-2. In the end it was the persistence of the 2800s that made the difference. Nakamura somehow set up a dark square bind to hold a very unlikely draw.

[pgn]

[Event "Baku Chess Olympiad | Open"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Mareco, Sandro"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2606"]
[BlackElo "2789"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "Argentina"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:49"]
[BlackClock "0:11:51"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 Bg4 4. g3 Bxf3 5. exf3 a5 6. b5 Nd7 7. Bg2 e6 8. O-O
Ngf6 9. f4 Nc5 10. d3 Nfd7 11. Nd2 Be7 12. Nb3 O-O 13. Nxd4 Bf6 14. Be3 Qe7 15.
Rc1 Qd6 16. Nb3 Nxb3 17. axb3 Bd4 18. Bxb7 Rad8 19. Bf3 Nc5 20. Re1 g6 21. Qc2
Qb6 22. Ra1 Rd6 23. Bxd4 Rxd4 24. Re3 Rfd8 25. Rd1 Qd6 26. Qc3 Qb6 27. h4 h5
28. Be2 c6 29. bxc6 Qxc6 30. Ra1 Qb7 31. Rxa5 Qxb3 32. Qxb3 Nxb3 33. Ra3 Rb8
34. Ra7 Nc1 35. Bf1 Rb2 36. Re4 Rd8 37. Re1 Rc2 38. Ra1 Nb3 39. Rad1 Nd4 40.
Kg2 Nf5 41. Rb1 Rd2 42. Kg1 Nd4 43. Red1 Ra2 44. Ra1 Rb2 45. Rdb1 Rc2 46. Ra3
Rd7 47. Rba1 Kg7 48. Kg2 Rb7 49. R3a2 Rc3 50. Rd1 Kf6 51. f3 Rbb3 52. Kf2 Nc6
53. g4 Nb4 54. Rad2 Nc6 55. Ra1 Nb4 56. Rad1 Ra3 57. Be2 Nc6 58. g5+ Kg7 59. d4
Na5 60. c5 Nb3 61. Rd3 Rc2 62. Re1 Rb2 63. c6 Raa2 64. c7 Nc1 65. Rxc1 Rxe2+
66. Kf1 Rh2 67. Kg1 Rag2+ 68. Kf1 Rf2+ 69. Kg1 Rhg2+ 70. Kh1 Rh2+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Meanwhile, even though Fabi was pressing slightly through the game, his advantage was dwindling in the endgame when his opponent blundered.

[pgn]

[Event "Baku Chess Olympiad | Open"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Peralta, Fernando"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2590"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Argentina"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARG"]
[WhiteClock "0:36:18"]
[BlackClock "0:31:00"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Be3 b6 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. Nd1 O-O 10. c3 a5 11. Bb5 Ndb8 12. Ba4 Ba6 13. a3 b5 14. Bc2 Nd7 15. h4
cxd4 16. cxd4 f5 17. g4 Nb6 18. Qg2 Qd7 19. Bc1 b4 20. gxf5 exf5 21. Ne3 bxa3
22. bxa3 Bd8 23. Rg1 Ra7 24. Qh3 Ne7 25. Qg2 Nc6 26. Rb1 Nc4 27. Nxc4 Bxc4 28.
Kf2 a4 29. Bd2 Qe7 30. Qh3 Qxa3 31. Bxf5 Rxf5 32. Qxf5 Qxf3+ 33. Kxf3 Nxd4+ 34.
Kg4 Be2+ 35. Kh3 Nxf5 36. Rb8 Kf7 37. Rxd8 a3 38. e6+ Ke7 39. Rxd5 a2 40. Rxf5
a1=Q 41. Rxa1 Rxa1 42. Bb4+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Tomorrow the American squad faces Czech Republic. A top heavy team with the powerhouses of Navara and Laznicka on boards one and two, it is possible that USA will have to rely on its supremacy on the bottom two boards. The likely pairing of Wesley So with white against Hracek may be the biggest advantage in the US court. In the Women's section America suffered their first defeat. On the first board Krush had between little and nothing the entire game against Anna Muzychuk. The Ukrainian GM was able to hold a draw without any problems.

[pgn]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Krush, Irina"]
[Black "Muzychuk, Anna"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2444"]
[BlackElo "2550"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]
[WhiteClock "0:26:36"]
[BlackClock "0:30:51"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. d3 Nd7 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 e6 7. Nd2 Ngf6 8.
O-O Bd6 9. Bg2 Qc7 10. c4 O-O 11. b3 a5 12. a3 b5 13. Qc2 Rab8 14. Nf3 Rfc8 15.
Bd2 Ne5 16. Rfc1 Nfd7 17. d4 Nxf3+ 18. Bxf3 Qd8 19. Qd3 a4 20. cxb5 cxb5 21.
bxa4 bxa4 22. Qa6 Rxc1+ 23. Rxc1 Bxa3 24. Ra1 Bb4 25. Bxb4 Rxb4 26. Rxa4 Rxa4
27. Qxa4 g6 28. h4 h5 29. e3 Nf6 30. Qb5 Kg7 31. Kg2 Ne8 32. Qc6 Nd6 33. Be2
Qb8 34. Bd3 Qb4 35. Qc7 Nc4 36. Bf1 Qb3 37. Be2 Nd2 38. Qc1 Ne4 39. Bf3 Nc3 40.
Qd2 Qc4 41. Qb2 Qd3 42. Qb8 Qf5 43. Qb2 Qd3 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

On board two Anna's sister Mariya was pressing hard against Nazi, but the U.S. Champion held down her Caro-Kann and drew in spite of some suffering.

[pgn]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Muzychuk, Mariya"]
[Black "Paikidze, Nazi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2539"]
[BlackElo "2366"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:40"]
[BlackClock "0:00:33"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bd3 e6 8.
O-O Ngf6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. c4 O-O 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Rad1 Rfe8 14. Ne5
Rad8 15. Rfe1 c5 16. Nxd7 Nxd7 17. dxc5 Nxc5 18. Bxe7 Rxe7 19. b4 Rxd1 20. Rxd1
Nd7 21. a3 Nf6 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Re8 24. g3 Qc7 25. c5 Rc8 26. Rd4 Kf8 27.
Qh4 Kg8 28. Rd6 b6 29. Qd4 bxc5 30. bxc5 e5 31. Qxe5 Qxc5 32. Qxc5 Rxc5 33.
Rd8+ Kh7 34. Rd7 Ra5 35. Rxf7 Rxa3 36. h4 a5 37. Ra7 a4 38. Ra8 Ra2 39. Kg2 Ra3
40. f3 Ra1 41. Kh3 Ra3 42. Kg4 Ra1 43. Ra6 Ra2 44. Kf4 Ra1 45. g4 Ra3 46. Ra5
Ra1 47. Kg5 Ra2 48. f4 a3 49. h5 gxh5 50. Kxh5 Rh2+ 51. Kg5 a2 52. Ra8 Rb2 53.
f5 Rf2 54. Kh4 g6 55. Ra7+ Kg8 56. fxg6 Rb2 57. Kh5 Rh2+ 58. Kg5 Rb2 59. g7
Rb5+ 60. Kh6 Rb6+ 61. Kh5 a1=Q 62. Rxa1 Kxg7 63. g5 Rc6 64. Ra5 Kg8 65. g6 Rc1
1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Zatonskih and Zhukova didn't seem very familiar with their opening, and spent a good deal of time thinking about moves that had been played many times before. In time pressure the players agreed to a draw in an opposite colored bishop endgame.

[pgn]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Zatonskih, Anna"]
[Black "Zhukova, Natalia"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2449"]
[BlackElo "2475"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:57"]
[BlackClock "0:06:07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nxe5 Nxe5 7. d4 Bd6 8.
f4 Nc6 9. e5 Be7 10. d5 Nb4 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Ne4 c6 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Bc4 b5
15. Bb3 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 cxd5 17. c3 Re8 18. Qxd5 Qb6+ 19. Qd4 Qc6 20. Qf2 Bb7 21.
Bd2 Re4 22. Rfe1 Rae8 23. Rxe4 Rxe4 24. Re1 h6 25. h3 a5 26. a3 Rxe1+ 27. Bxe1
Qe4 28. Kh2 Bc6 29. Bd2 Qc2 30. Be3 Qxf2 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

In the last game Katerina Nemcova had an unfortunate opening and found herself on the ropes quickly against former Women's wWorld champion Anna Ushenina. The trend continued well into a rook endgame, in which the superior activity of White's rook coupled with the better pawn structure allowed Ushenina's king to penetrate. The activity of the monarch was decisive, and that was the end for Katerina.

[pgn]

[Event "Women's Baku Chess Olympiad"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[White "Ushenina, Anna"]
[Black "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2457"]
[BlackElo "2365"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
[WhiteClock "0:30:37"]
[BlackClock "0:26:41"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nxc3 8.
bxc3 Be7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Qg4 Nc6 11. Re1 f5 12. Qf3 Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Kh8 14. Bf4
Bd6 15. Re3 c6 16. Rae1 Bxf4 17. Qxf4 Rf7 18. h4 h6 19. h5 Qc7 20. Qxc7 Rxc7
21. Bxe6 f4 22. Re4 Bxe6 23. Rxe6 Rf7 24. Kh2 Rd8 25. Re8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kh7
27. Re5 g6 28. Kh3 g5 29. Kg4 Kg7 30. Re6 a6 31. a3 Kh7 32. Kf3 Kg7 33. Ke4 Rd7
34. c4 Rc7 35. Ke5 b5 36. c5 a5 37. Kd6 Ra7 38. Re2 b4 39. axb4 axb4 40. Kxc6
b3 41. Rb2 Ra2 42. Rxb3 Rxf2 43. g4 Rd2 44. d5 Kf6 45. Kd6 1-0

[/pgn]

The 2.5-1.5 loss is a blow for team USA, but they will try to recover tomorrow against Bosnia & Herzegovina, an easy pairing on paper but not a team that can be easily underestimated. Tomorrow might see the debut of Sabina Foisor, who has been sidelined somewhat due to arriving to the tournament late and suffering a bit of jetlag. Follow live games, results and find more photos at the tournament site.