Olympiad Recap Part Three: American Teams Get Their Shots Against the Leaders

Editor's note: This report covers rounds seven through ten of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Part two can be found here and part one here. The final round will take place Sunday, September 22, at 4:00 a.m. CDT (four hours earlier than previous rounds).

The rounds following the rest day of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad saw both American teams start in a similar situation. Having each dropped a match earlier in the tournament, each team could expect a couple of rounds on slightly lower boards. Hopefully, good results would give them some shots at the tournament leaders, and, hopefully, no team would run away with the tournament before that happened! Below is a quick recap of each team's results and the stakes for the final round. Read on below for more in-depth coverage.

Photo by Lennart Ootes

Women's: Anything Could Happen

In the Women's tournament, Team USA boasted a strong 5/6 score and survived a tough match-up against Armenia, emerging 2 – 2 from a skirmish that saw decisive results on all four boards. Then, a win against Uzbekistan set up a critical match-up against tournament-leading India. The Americans again drew their match, only this time they were so close to pulling an upset victory.

Then, a fine result against Ukraine in the tenth round sees Team USA enter the final round with an 8/10 score, tied for third with Poland. India and Kazakhstan are tied for first, a half-point ahead. If USA defeats Kazakhstan, then this would put the Americans in one of the four scenarios:

Tied first (if India draws Azerbaijan and/or India loses and Poland defeats Georgia)
Outright first (if India loses and Poland does not win)
Outright second (if India wins and Poland does not win)
Tied second (if India and Poland both win)

It's been a great tournament for tenth-seeded Kazakhstan, who are led by IMs Bibisara Assaubayeva and Meruert Kamalidenova on the top boards. On paper, the seventh-seeded Americans should have a slight edge, but it will be a tough match-up to say the least.

It's also worth noting that, on board two, Carissa Yip is an undefeated 9/10 so far. This means she has drawn two rounds, sat out zero games, and won the other eight. Her performance rating is currently over 2600 thanks to her most recent victory (over Ukrainian GM Anna Ushenina).

Alice Lee has put up solid results at her first (of many, we hope!) Olympiads (Photo courtesy Maria Emlieanova/FIDE)

Open: A Silver Lining After A Tough Loss

In the Open Tournament, Team USA was only on a 4½/6 score after a tough draw against Romania, but turned things around admirably after the rest day. Consecutive wins against Greece, France, and finally a very strong Hungary put the Americans exactly where they wanted headed into the penultimate round: paired against tournament-leading India. With a win, the Americans would have fully caught up and tied for the lead entering the last round.

Alas, a 2½ – 1½ loss to India ended the Americans' hopes of a gold medal. Instead, Team USA has the best tiebreaks of the eight teams tied for fourth with 7½/10 scores. In tomorrow's match-ups, India (9½/10) faces Slovenia (8/10) and China (8½/10) faces Team USA.

Photo by Lennart Ootes

The head-to-head pairing with China puts the Americans a bit more in control of their own destiny, as a win should put them on the podium in either silver or bronze position. This is because, crucially, the Americans have the most total game points of all the teams with 7½/10 scores and, interestingly enough, a half-point more than China as well. So, in a world where Slovenia defeats India and China loses to Team USA, the Americans would be guaranteed a bronze medal ahead of China, as USA currently leads China in terms of total game points. However, France is only one point behind USA in total game points, so there is a (very remote!) possibility of France winning 4 – 0 against Uzbekistan and leapfrogging the Americans and China to claim the bronze medal.

The best outcome, on the other hand, would be a win over China and a Slovenian loss to India, as a Slovenian draw would likely put Slovenia ahead of the Americans on tiebreaks. This would all but guarantee the Americans a silver medal. Of course, this is all predicated on a win against a very tough Chinese team that is of course looking to secure a silver medal of their own. Read on for the games!

That's a lot of wins! Caruana, Yip, and Aronian are all putting up great numbers this event (Photo courtesy FIDE/Maria Emelianova)

Women's

The seventh-round match-up with Armenia resulted in a "bloody" tie, with four decisive results. IMs Carissa Yip and Alice Lee won on boards two and four with the white pieces:

IM Begim Tokhirjonova was unable to hold off a spirited attack on the top board, giving Armenia a much-needed point:

GM Irina Krush looked to be capable of sealing the match with a draw, but as the clocks dwindled down, her equally experienced grandmaster opponent got the better of her:

In the next day's match against Uzbekistan, Krush was able to bounce back with a fine attacking victory of her own:

Once again, Lee and Yip delivered as well, clinching the match. With Tokhirjonova sitting out against her country of origin, Yip's victory came on board one, no less!

The victory set up a critical match against an Indian team that had just dropped a match after a 7/7 start. A win by the Americans could put them in pole position! But, outmatched on the top boards, this would not be easy. But there is pressure that comes with being the favorites, and that's exactly what happened in GM Vaishali Rameshbabu's game against Tokhirjonova:

The good news kept rolling in when Lee survived an unclear attack from IM Tania Sachdev. Watching with the engines, one might think that Lee was never in much danger. But, watching the Chess.com broadcast with GM Judit Polgar, one got the sense that White was on the verge of crashing through any moment. The truth was perhaps somewhere in the middle:

With Yip delivering a very professional draw on board two against IM Divya Deshmukh, once again the pressure was on Krush to clinch the match with a draw. Unfortunately, Krush looked to be in danger from the outset on board three, and when one miraculous chance to hold appeared in the final moments, it was too late from a practical standpoint.

The draw certainly was not the end of the world against such a tough team, and if there were any doubts about Team USA's mood after the match, they were settled by the energetic victory over Ukraine earlier today, featuring wins on the top two boards by Tokhirjonova and Yip:

An incredibly tough second half of the tournament continued for Krush, who once again found herself in a sticky spot in mutual time trouble. This time, all three results were in play, but the outcome ended up seeing Krush checkmated on a board with four queens.

As stated above, USA is currently tied for third with Poland a half-point behind leaders India and Kazakhstan. A win will guarantee a spot on the podium. Full pairings and results are available here.

Open

Entering the second half of the event with a 4½/6 score, the Americans roared back first with a 3 – 1 victory over Greece featuring nice wins from Dominguez and Aronian on the bottom two boards:

It hasn't always been pretty, but GM Levon Aronian currently boasts a 7½/9 score on board four, and his win over French GM Maxime Lagarde was the only decisive result in the eighth-round win against France.

The ninth-round match with Hungary saw a high-profile clash on the top board between Caruana and Rapport that certainly lived up to the hype. Earlier on, it looked like Caruana had excellent winning chances. And then Dominguez won on board three:

But Rapport managed to play inventive defense, retaining chances to even win in the final moments. But – after an incorrect claim of repetition from Caruana – the game eventually ended peacefully.

The tenth-round match against India was a great opportunity for the veteran Americans to show how they could match up against a youthful Indian team. The results were even-keeled and entertaining. GM Wesley So outplayed GM Praggnanandhaa R. on board two, while Dominguez found himself on the wrong end of things against GM Arjun Erigaisi.

With Aronian and GM Vidit Gujrathi having shook hands peacefully, it looked like Caruana was going to settle for a draw after a relatively wild game against GM Gukesh D. This would leave India controlling its own destiny in the final round, but would be an acceptable result that would leave USA tied for third a half-point behind China. And then Caruana pushed too hard:

The unfortunate decision from Caruana saw India extend its lead and leave USA outside of the top three. The silver lining (besides the fact that a win could deliver a silver medal) is that we still get a USA – China match-up to close out the tournament. All results are available here.

The final round begins at 4:00 a.m. CDT on Sunday, September 22. Note that the start time is four hours earlier than all previous rounds.

Awards, Congress, FIDE 100

The Olympiad also serves as an opportunity for FIDE to bestow a number of honors on the arbiters, organizers, and educators who make such international tournaments possible.

With recipients from federations around the world being honored, it was especially exciting to see IA Abel Talamantez honored for his work as a teacher and coach for Hamilton K-8 School in Novato, California. More about Talamantez and the other awards (including honors for GM Hikaru Nakamura's social media influence) can be found here.

Additionally, IA Mike Hoffpauir was honored for his work on the Rules Committee. The former President and current Secretary of US Chess received this honor from a grandmaster who knows a thing or two about career achievements:

Congratulations to NTD and IA Mike Hoffpauir — current Secretary and former President of US Chess — for being presented with a @FIDE_chess award (by none other than @vishy64theking!) for his work on the Rules Committee at the #ChessOlympiad FIDE Congress! pic.twitter.com/nKsJx8FqyU
— US Chess (@USChess) September 19, 2024

The Olympiad has been more than a tournament for Budapest. FIDE has taken the opportunity to coordinate with top Hungarian players such as GM Judit Polgar while giving other local legends the opportunity to show off their talents outside of chess. The Olympiad has, once again, proven to be a global occasion as well as a celebration of local tradition.