US Draws Israel; Women Maintain Perfect Match Score

The round before the rest day is important in any event, but perhaps even more so in a team tournament. The result might change the mood and team chemistry of the players, who usually hang out with each other for an entire day before jumping back into action! Tonight is also the Bermuda party, and part of the announcements before the round by the Chief Arbiter was the location and time of the event. Also mentioned was the fact that a cover charge of $10 applied to men, while ladies were allowed in free. Playing hall one is evenly divided into male and female sections, and it was clear that one seemed pretty pleased while a look of confusion reigned on the other half. Our women’s team faced the strong contingent of Mongolia, which interestingly has one player that used to represent America! Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, their reserve player (even though she is the third highest rated player on the team) lived in California, and I’m sure many people from that area remember her fondly, before she moved back to Ulanbaatar. It was precisely Batchimeg, though, that gave America their first scare of the round. In a sharp variation of the Slav, in which black clings on to the extra pawn on c4 but White gets a strong center, our young Jennifer Yu was unable to navigate the maze of variations as well as her more experienced opponent. Batchimeg convincingly created problems that were too difficult to solve for Jennifer, and especially her bishop on b4 seemed very badly situated at some point. The transition to a kingside attack was decisive. The whole story, however, was not written! After missing a few decisive blows, Batchimeg blundered badly in time pressure, allowing an incredibly resourceful maneuver of Qd5+ and Rf7!! to get Black back in the game. With the game now a mess, and, with no time on her clock, the Mongolian player was unable to hold her own: when the game was very complex and a draw might be a good result, she refused a triple repetition and ended up losing.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Batchimeg Tuvshintugs"]
[Black "Yu Jennifer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2268"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:37"]
[BlackClock "0:01:24"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. O-O Bb7 7. b3 cxb3 8. axb3
e6 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Qc2 Nd5 11. Nc3 Be7 12. Ne4 O-O 13. Rfc1 a5 14. h4 h6 15.
Ne5 Nb4 16. Qc3 Nd5 17. Qd2 Bb4 18. Qc2 Rc8 19. Nc5 Nxc5 20. dxc5 Qe7 21. Nd3
Rfd8 22. Be5 Ra8 23. e4 Nf6 24. Bd6 Qe8 25. Qb2 Qd7 26. Nxb4 axb4 27. Qd4 Ne8
28. e5 Nc7 29. Qxb4 Nd5 30. Qd4 Qe8 31. Be4 Rxa1 32. Rxa1 Ra8 33. Re1 Bc8 34.
h5 Ra7 35. Bd3 g6 36. Qg4 Kg7 37. Qf3 Qd8 38. Kg2 Ra2 39. Rh1 Qg5 40. hxg6 Ne3+
41. Kg1 Ra1+ 42. Kh2 Ng4+ 43. Kg2 Ra7 44. Be4 fxg6 45. Qf8+ Kh7 46. Bb1 Qd2 47.
Rh4 Qd5+ 48. Qf3 Rf7 49. Qxd5 exd5 50. f4 Kg7 51. Kf3 h5 52. Rh1 Ra7 53. f5
Bxf5 54. Bxf5 Rf7 55. e6 Rxf5+ 56. Ke2 Rf2+ 57. Kd3 Rf3+ 58. Kd2 Rf2+ 59. Kd3
Rf3+ 60. Kd4 Nf2 61. Rf1 Kf6 62. Be5+ Kxe6 0-1[/pgn]

Board two was an incredibly complex affair between Irina Krush and Mongolia’s young 18-year-old talent, Davaademberel Nomin-Endere. Krush certainly was looking for revenge from last Olympiad’s loss to this youngster, in which she blundered a pawn in a drawn rook endgame, a fact that she certainly had in her mind as she mentioned it to me on our car ride to the playing hall. Pawns were simply advancing everywhere in this game! White achieved b5 and a6 as connected passed pawns, while Black gave away her own passed pawns to create counterplay against White’s king! The evaluation bar from the engines analyzing the position kept swinging one way to the other, sometimes because the engines themselves didn’t know what was happening!  In deep time pressure, both players blundered away wins. As Tartakower put it: "The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." Krush emerged victorious and sealed the match!

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel"]
[Black "Krush Irina"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B41"]
[WhiteElo "2377"]
[BlackElo "2423"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:42"]
[BlackClock "0:01:49"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. a3 b6 8. Be3
Bb7 9. f3 d6 10. Rc1 Be7 11. b4 O-O 12. Be2 Nbd7 13. O-O Rfc8 14. Qd2 Rab8 15.
Rc2 Ne5 16. Na4 Ba8 17. Rfc1 Qd7 18. Nb2 Qe8 19. Nb3 h6 20. Qe1 Qd8 21. Kh1
Nfd7 22. a4 a5 23. c5 bxc5 24. b5 Qf8 25. Nxa5 f5 26. exf5 Qxf5 27. Nac4 Nxc4
28. Rxc4 d5 29. R4c2 c4 30. Qg3 Kh8 31. f4 Rf8 32. Bd4 Bf6 33. Bg4 Qe4 34. Ba7
Rbe8 35. Re2 Qg6 36. a5 Bd8 37. a6 Bc7 38. Bh3 Qf6 39. Rf1 Bxf4 40. Qe1 Qg6 41.
Bd4 c3 42. Bxc3 d4 43. Bxd4 Qh5 44. Kg1 Qxb5 45. a7 e5 46. Bf2 Nc5 47. Bg3 Ne4
48. Bxf4 exf4 49. Bg4 Qc5+ 50. Kh1 Qxa7 51. Nd3 g5 52. Qb4 Nf6 53. Rxe8 Rxe8
54. Qc3 Qg7 55. Bf5 Nd5 56. Qxg7+ Kxg7 57. Ra1 Ne3 58. Bd7 Bxg2+ 59. Kg1 Re7
60. Nc5 Bd5 61. Kf2 Bf7 62. h3 Re5 63. Rc1 Rd5 64. Bc6 Rd2+ 65. Kg1 Rc2 66.
Rxc2 Nxc2 67. Kf2 Kf6 68. Bd7 Ke5 69. Nd3+ Kd6 70. Bg4 Bg6 71. Nc1 Ne3 72. Be2
Bf5 73. h4 g4 74. Ba6 g3+ 75. Ke1 0-1[/pgn]

Sabina Foisor certainly got the better position from the opening against her opponent. With the white pieces and outrating her opponent by 200 points, this seemed like the best chance to break an otherwise tight match up. However, her opponent proved to be an incredibly tough defender, and the draw was a fair result.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Foisor Sabina-Francesca"]
[Black "Yanjindulam Dulamsuren"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2311"]
[BlackElo "2123"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:35"]
[BlackClock "0:00:55"]1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 f5 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 e6 5. g3 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. c4 c6 8. O-O Ne4
9. Nbd2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 Nd7 11. Qc2 Nf6 12. e3 Qe8 13. Ne1 Bd8 14. Nd3 Bc7 15. c5
d5 16. b4 Bd7 17. a4 g5 18. f4 h6 19. Bc3 Qh5 20. Qd1 Be8 21. Qxh5 Bxh5 22. Ra2
Be8 23. Rb1 a6 24. Bf1 Ne4 25. Be1 Bd7 26. Nf2 Nf6 27. Rba1 Rfb8 28. b5 axb5
29. axb5 Rxa2 30. Rxa2 cxb5 31. Nd3 Ne4 32. Nb4 Be8 33. Ra7 Bd8 34. Bd3 Nf6 35.
Bc3 Kf8 36. Bb2 Ng4 37. Bc1 Nf6 38. Bd2 Ng4 39. h3 Nf6 40. Kg2 Bc6 41. Nc2 g4
42. h4 Be7 43. Ra2 Be8 44. Bb4 Bc6 45. Ra7 Be8 46. Ba5 Bc6 47. Bb4 Nd7 48. Ra5
Bd8 49. Ra7 Be7 50. Ra5 Bd8 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Anna Zatonskih played a fantastic game on board one against the young and talented IM Bathkuyag Munguntuul. Preparation led to a slight opening advantage in which Anna found herself in a very comfortable position. Her excellent move d5, temporarily sacrificing a pawn to achieve great piece activity and dominate her opponent’s pieces, was terrific. The lack of space and coordination ended up costing black material and the game. This was truly a model and incredibly instructive game.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Zatonskih Anna"]
[Black "Munguntuul Batkhuyag"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:09:51"]
[BlackClock "0:14:16"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bf5 6. g3 Nbd7 7. Bg2 e6 8.
O-O Be7 9. e3 O-O 10. Qe2 Ne4 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Nfd2 Nxd2 13. Bxd2 c5 14. e4 Bg6
15. Bf4 Qb6 16. d5 exd5 17. Nc3 d4 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. Bc7 Qe8 20. e5 Bf5 21. Nxe7+
Qxe7 22. Bd6 Qe6 23. Bxb7 Rab8 24. Bg2 d3 25. Qd2 Nxe5 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Re1
Qf6 28. Qe3 Nd7 29. b3 Qd6 30. Rad1 Nf6 31. Qe5 Qxe5 32. Rxe5 Bg6 33. Rxc5 Rd8
34. Rd2 Ne4 35. Bxe4 Bxe4 36. Rc3 Rd7 37. f3 Bg6 38. Kf2 f6 39. g4 Kf7 40. h3
h6 41. h4 Bh7 42. h5 g5 43. hxg6+ Bxg6 44. Rc5 Kg7 45. f4 Be4 46. f5 Re7 47.
Kg3 Kf7 48. Kf4 Kg7 49. Rc4 Bb7 50. Rxd3 Ba6 51. Re3 Rd7 52. Rc5 Bb7 53. Rec3
1-0[/pgn]

In the Open section, the first two games were decisive and interesting. First, our first board, Fabiano Caruana, struck yet again with a complete demolition of Boris Gelfand.

[pgn][Event "Batumi Chess Olympiad | Open"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2827"]
[BlackElo "2703"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Israel"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8.
O-O Ne8 9. Be3 b6 10. e5 f6 11. Re1 Nc7 12. Qd2 fxe5 13. Bh6 Rxf3 14. Bxg7 Kxg7
15. gxf3 Bxh3 16. Rxe5 e6 17. Rg5 Qf6 18. Rg3 Bf5 19. Kg2 h5 20. Rh1 Rh8 21.
Ne4 Qxb2 22. Qf4 Nd5 23. Qd6 e5 24. Rh4 Qd4 25. Kg1 Rf8 26. Rxh5 Bxe4 27. Qd7+
Kf6 28. Qxc6+ Kg7 29. Qd7+ Kf6 30. fxe4 Nf4 31. Rf5+ gxf5 32. Qxf5+ Ke7 33.
Rg7+ 1-0[/pgn]

Disaster struck in the game between ACP President Emil Sutovsky and Sam Shankland. With excellent preparation in the Caro-Kann, Sam obtained a drawn endgame without consuming time on the clock. The position still required a couple of accurate touches to it, however, as Black was down a pawn, but it was fully compensated by White’s awkward rook on b3 and the powerful Black one on d2. For some reason, perhaps a bit of overconfidence in his position, Shankland kept playing instantly, making his life difficult. Suddenly, he was down a pawn, and White had everything to play for. The U.S. Champion was unable to hold the position and ended up losing in the rook endgame.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Sutovsky Emil"]
[Black "Shankland Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:18:49"]
[BlackClock "0:47:32"]1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ne5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. Bf4 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Qa5+ 13. c3 Nf6 14. O-O Ng4
15. Rad1 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Rd8 17. Qxd8+ Qxd8 18. Rxd8+ Kxd8 19. Rd1+ Kc7 20. Rd3
Be7 21. Rf3 Rf8 22. Nh5 g6 23. Nf6 Bxf6 24. Rxf6 Kd7 25. h5 gxh5 26. Rxh6 Ke7
27. Rxh5 Rd8 28. Rh4 Rd1+ 29. Kh2 Rd2 30. Rb4 b5 31. f4 a5 32. Rb3 a4 33. Rb4
a3 34. bxa3 Rxa2 35. Rb3 Rc2 36. Kg3 Kf8 37. Kf3 c5 38. Ke4 c4 39. Rxb5 Rxc3
40. a4 Ra3 41. a5 c3 42. Kd3 Kg7 43. g4 Kg6 44. Kc2 Kh6 45. Rb7 Kg6 46. Rb5 Kh6
47. Rb7 Kg6 48. Ra7 Ra4 49. a6 Rxf4 50. Ra8 Ra4 51. a7 Kg7 52. Kxc3 Ra1 53. g5
Kh7 54. Kc4 Ra2 55. Kc5 Ra6 56. Kb5 Ra1 57. Kb6 Rb1+ 58. Kc6 Ra1 59. Kd6 Kg7
60. Kd7 Ra2 61. g6 Kxg6 62. Rg8+ Kf5 63. a8=Q Rxa8 64. Rxa8 Kxe5 65. Ra5+ Ke4
66. Kd6 f5 67. Ra4+ 1-0[/pgn]

Hikaru Nakamura on board three put tremendous pressure on Tamir Nabaty. The four-time U.S. Champion was without a doubt making progress with Black’s exposed king being a big hindrance. Black’s only source of real counterplay was his powerful pawn on c3, which he hoped would force the trade of material or at least less attack against his king. In the critical moment, Nakamura missed a good chance to play a strong Be4 and claim the advantage. Missing this opportunity, the pawn did prove too powerful, and Hikaru was forced to simplify into a drawn endgame.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Nakamura Hikaru"]
[Black "Nabaty Tamir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2692"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:01"]
[BlackClock "0:07:06"]1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Qd7 5. Qxc4 c5 6. Qc2 Nc6 7. Nf3 Nf6 8.
O-O Be7 9. d3 O-O 10. Be3 Qc7 11. Nc3 Bd7 12. Rac1 Rac8 13. Rfd1 e5 14. Bg5 Be6
15. Qa4 Qb6 16. Nd2 Qxb2 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nde4 Nd4 19. e3 b5 20. Qa6 b4 21.
Rb1 Qc2 22. exd4 bxc3 23. d5 Bf5 24. Nxf6+ gxf6 25. Qxf6 Bxd3 26. Rbc1 Qb2 27.
Qxe5 Bc2 28. Qg5+ Bg6 29. Qf6 Bc2 30. Qg5+ Bg6 31. Qf6 Bc2 32. Re1 Rce8 33. Bf1
Rxe1 34. Rxe1 Bg6 35. Re3 Qxa2 36. Qxc3 Qxd5 37. Re5 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Wesley So really tried his best against Maxim Rodshtein. His play was strong, and it was clear at a certain point that it was Black and not White who was playing for the advantage. Unfortunately for team USA, Rodshtein’s defense was very good, dynamic and well-timed. Black never had the opportunity to blockade on c5 with his knight which would dominate the position, and the game petered out to a drawn rook endgame. Israel and USA split the points down the middle, both reaching 9/10 match points.

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Rodshtein Maxim"]
[Black "So Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:18:55"]
[BlackClock "0:09:27"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Nbd2 b5 11. Ng5 Ra7 12. Nde4 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 f5 14. Qc2 h6
15. Nf3 Bb7 16. b3 Be4 17. Qc3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 b4 19. bxc4 a5 20. Bb2 Bd4 21.
Rfd1 Rd7 22. Bxd4 Rxd4 23. Rdc1 e5 24. Qb7 e4 25. c5 Qd5 26. Qxd5+ Rxd5 27. c6
Rc8 28. c7 Nd7 29. Rc6 Nc5 30. f3 Nb3 31. fxe4 Rd7 32. Re1 Rdxc7 33. Ra6 Rc5
34. exf5 Nd4 35. g4 Re5 36. Kf2 Rc2 37. Bf3 b3 38. Rd6 Nxf3 39. Kxf3 b2 40. Rb6
Rc1 41. Kf2 Re4 42. Rxb2 Rxe1 43. Kxe1 Rxg4 44. Rb5 Rxa4 45. Kf2 Ra2 46. Kf3 a4
47. Ra5 a3 48. Ra7 Ra1 49. Kf4 a2 50. Ke5 Rh1 51. Rxa2 Rxh2 52. f6 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

The current leaders are Poland, who destroyed France, and a strong Azerbaijani team that dispatched Armenia. In that match-up, I can highly recommend Aronian vs. Mamedyarov, simply brilliant!

[pgn][Event "World Chess Olympiad 2018"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.28"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Aronian Levon"]
[Black "Mamedyarov Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2820"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:38"]
[BlackClock "0:24:26"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8.
Rxe4 d5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 bxa4 11. Qe1 f6 12. Re3 c5 13. Qd1 O-O 14. Nc3
Rb8 15. b3 cxd4 16. Qxd4 Bd6 17. Qxd5+ Kh8 18. Rd3 Qe8 19. Bb2 Be5 20. Nxa4 Rb5
21. Qf3 Bb7 22. Qe3 Be4 23. Rd2 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Qg6+ 25. Kf1 Bxh2 26. Re1 Rg5 27.
Ke2 Re8 28. Kd1 Rg1 29. Be5 Bxe5 30. Rde2 h5 31. Qd3 Qg2 32. Nb6 Rxe1+ 33. Rxe1
Qxf2 34. Nd5 Rd8 35. c4 Qxa2 36. Qf3 g6 37. Re3 Kg7 38. Qh3 Qf2 39. Rd3 Qg1+
40. Kc2 Qh2+ 41. Qxh2 Bxh2 42. Rh3 Be5 43. Kd3 a5 44. Ke4 Kf7 45. Kf3 Rh8 46.
Kg2 g5 47. Ne3 Ke6 48. Kf1 f5 0-1[/pgn]

The rest day will allow the players a much needed breather, and some time to explore what Batumi really has to offer. Although a few will certainly be recovering from a long night! 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.