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Online Olympiad 2021
September 9, 2021
Top Division Day One
From
https://onlineolympiad.fide.com/tpos...on-china-and-r
The Online Olympiad Top Division began today. For three days, forty of the best teams in the world will battle it out on the Chess.com servers, to decide who will succeed last year’s co-winners India and Russia as the 2021 Online Olympiad winner.
The teams are split into four pools which will play an all-play-all format for three days. The two top teams will advance to the KO quarter-finals.
Most of the players connect from their own homes spread around their countries. However, some of the best teams such as India, China and Russia have enjoyed a specific training stage and play from a club or federation premises, with strong Internet connectivity and added team spirit.
Top Division - Pool A
China is definitely the big favourite in this group. Averaging 2592, the team captained by Ni Hua is headed by GM Ding Liren and GM Wei Yi as main top boards, with the current Women’s world Champion GM Ju Wenjun on board three. Reserve boards include GM Yu Yangyi and GM Bu Xiangzhi.
With such a team it seems highly unlikely that they will fall short of the two qualifying spots, but anything can happen here as we have seen each weak. Nonetheless, they have started the event very strongly and are leading the group with undisputed wins over Indonesia, Mongolia and Australia.
Tied with China for first place are Kazakhstan, also on 6/6. Three wins over Romania, Indonesia and Georgia has left the team headed by GM Rinat Jumabaev in an excellent position going into day two.
There rating average is 2446, lower than some of the other teams but very well spread over all of their boards. Their main female boards three and four are GM Zhansaya Abdumalik and IM Dinara Saduakassova and their junior female is Bibisara Assaubayeva: all three of them very strong players.
In third place, with 5/6 stands Iran, who dropped one match point against Romania. First board GM Parham Maghsoodloo didn’t have his day, losing both of his games, but second board GM Pouya Idani made up for him by winning all three.
A fun stat is the “low” 2381 rapid rating of junior board five, GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, a very strong +2600 GM! He also won his three games!
The other main contender in this group is Armenia, currently fifth in the standings. They didn’t get off to a good start but their team is very strong and could easily make a comeback in future rounds.
Tomorrow’s round four will be very exciting, as China and Kazakstan face-off in the first match of the day.
Top Division - Pool B
Hungary (6/6) took the early lead in group B thanks to wins over Shenzhen China, Slovenia and Azerbaijan, one of the group favourites. They have a very solid team, combining strength and youth, headed by seasoned GM’s Viktor Erdos and Tamas Banusz, with top GM Benjamin Gledura as first reserve.
Nevertheless, the main favourite of the group is team India (5/6) who have also started off very strong although they did drop one match point against third placed France. India is one of the teams that are playing all together: their venue if the luxury Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai and they are sponsored by Microsense, which among other things guarantees great Internet connectivity.
Top board is former World Champion and chess legend GM Anand Viswanathan but GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on board two is by no means any weaker! Top female players GM Koneru Humpy and GM Harika Dronavalli are boards three and four while GM Nihal Sarin occupied the main junior board. All the reserve boards are also world-class players: India have come to win!
Tied for third and fourth are France and Moldova, one of the teams qualified from the previous stage. For now, France has only played with six of their twelve players, including GM’s Etienne Bacrot and Marie Sebag and it stands to be seen if they will field the rest of the players tomorrow.
Their junior player is IM Marc Andria Maurizzi: his 2186 rapid rating shouldn’t be taken lightly: He is a GM-elect, with a standard 2488 rating!
This is a tough group with many players yet to get into action: teams such as Azerbaijan, Slovenia and quite a few other can easily win a couple of rounds and get back into the mix.
Top Division - Pool C
Group C has a clear favourite right off the bat: Russia (6/6). Co-winner (with India) of last years’ edition of the Online Olympiad, the Russian team is also playing in full from the Central Chess Club in Moscow. In the first three rounds they have already defeated Czech Republic, Ukraine and Germany (by a 6-0! score), and they lead the group undisputedly.
Their main team is made up of world-class GM’s Alexander Grischuk, Daniil Dubov as top two boards, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk on boards three and four and Andrey Esipenko (3/3 this afternoon) and Polina Shuvalova as junior boards. Already a team that inspires fear and awe!
However, their “reserve” boards are Artemiev, Fedoseev, Lagno, Gunina…. And on it goes. A very tough squad captained by GM Alexander Motylev.
Nonetheless, the second qualifying spot is up for grabs. Both Argentina (5/6) and Spain (4/6) are currently second and third in the standings: both of them obviously strong teams but powerhouses Italy, Ukraine and specially Israel are just behind them, also on 4/6.
All these team’s cross swords on day 2: group standings will be better defined by round six.
Finally, Germany didn’t start of well today. They depended heavily on their reserve boards for the first three matches but that didn’t go as well as they were probably expecting. With only 2/6 they are not totally out of it yet, but they will need to make a strong comeback tomorrow to have a chance at qualification
Top Division - Pool D
The teams of United Stated of America and Peru lead group four with 6/6 after the first three rounds. They will play against each other tomorrow in round six. Right behind them, Poland stands in third position on 5/6, having dropped one match point against the Netherlands. USA defeated neighbours Canada, Netherlands and Brazil quite comfortably, while Peru took down Colombia, England and Turkey by closer scores.
This is probably the most level group. Team rating mediums are quite close and on a good day any of these teams could bring down one of the favourites. All of the matches are very hardly fought, many of them finishing with a 3.5-2.5 score.
USA have only fielded nine of their twelve players. However, none of the first five rated players will make an appearance in this event (Caruana, So, Dominguez, Nakamura or Shankland).
Nonetheless, first board for this event is 2730 rated GM Jeffrey Xiong with GM Ray Robson defending board two. Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih are defending the female boards while the junior board is GM Awonder Liang. A very strong team with good reserves to back them up.
The Peruvian players have always been considered specialists in rapid play. Their top two boards still have to make their debut but for now the reserve players have performed on mark.
Further down in the standings, England is very well represented on the top boards with Howell, Jones, Adams and McShane but they are lacking depth on the female and youth boards.
September 9, 2021
Top Division Day One
From
https://onlineolympiad.fide.com/tpos...on-china-and-r
The Online Olympiad Top Division began today. For three days, forty of the best teams in the world will battle it out on the Chess.com servers, to decide who will succeed last year’s co-winners India and Russia as the 2021 Online Olympiad winner.
The teams are split into four pools which will play an all-play-all format for three days. The two top teams will advance to the KO quarter-finals.
Most of the players connect from their own homes spread around their countries. However, some of the best teams such as India, China and Russia have enjoyed a specific training stage and play from a club or federation premises, with strong Internet connectivity and added team spirit.
Top Division - Pool A
China is definitely the big favourite in this group. Averaging 2592, the team captained by Ni Hua is headed by GM Ding Liren and GM Wei Yi as main top boards, with the current Women’s world Champion GM Ju Wenjun on board three. Reserve boards include GM Yu Yangyi and GM Bu Xiangzhi.
With such a team it seems highly unlikely that they will fall short of the two qualifying spots, but anything can happen here as we have seen each weak. Nonetheless, they have started the event very strongly and are leading the group with undisputed wins over Indonesia, Mongolia and Australia.
Tied with China for first place are Kazakhstan, also on 6/6. Three wins over Romania, Indonesia and Georgia has left the team headed by GM Rinat Jumabaev in an excellent position going into day two.
There rating average is 2446, lower than some of the other teams but very well spread over all of their boards. Their main female boards three and four are GM Zhansaya Abdumalik and IM Dinara Saduakassova and their junior female is Bibisara Assaubayeva: all three of them very strong players.
In third place, with 5/6 stands Iran, who dropped one match point against Romania. First board GM Parham Maghsoodloo didn’t have his day, losing both of his games, but second board GM Pouya Idani made up for him by winning all three.
A fun stat is the “low” 2381 rapid rating of junior board five, GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, a very strong +2600 GM! He also won his three games!
The other main contender in this group is Armenia, currently fifth in the standings. They didn’t get off to a good start but their team is very strong and could easily make a comeback in future rounds.
Tomorrow’s round four will be very exciting, as China and Kazakstan face-off in the first match of the day.
Top Division - Pool B
Hungary (6/6) took the early lead in group B thanks to wins over Shenzhen China, Slovenia and Azerbaijan, one of the group favourites. They have a very solid team, combining strength and youth, headed by seasoned GM’s Viktor Erdos and Tamas Banusz, with top GM Benjamin Gledura as first reserve.
Nevertheless, the main favourite of the group is team India (5/6) who have also started off very strong although they did drop one match point against third placed France. India is one of the teams that are playing all together: their venue if the luxury Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai and they are sponsored by Microsense, which among other things guarantees great Internet connectivity.
Top board is former World Champion and chess legend GM Anand Viswanathan but GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on board two is by no means any weaker! Top female players GM Koneru Humpy and GM Harika Dronavalli are boards three and four while GM Nihal Sarin occupied the main junior board. All the reserve boards are also world-class players: India have come to win!
Tied for third and fourth are France and Moldova, one of the teams qualified from the previous stage. For now, France has only played with six of their twelve players, including GM’s Etienne Bacrot and Marie Sebag and it stands to be seen if they will field the rest of the players tomorrow.
Their junior player is IM Marc Andria Maurizzi: his 2186 rapid rating shouldn’t be taken lightly: He is a GM-elect, with a standard 2488 rating!
This is a tough group with many players yet to get into action: teams such as Azerbaijan, Slovenia and quite a few other can easily win a couple of rounds and get back into the mix.
Top Division - Pool C
Group C has a clear favourite right off the bat: Russia (6/6). Co-winner (with India) of last years’ edition of the Online Olympiad, the Russian team is also playing in full from the Central Chess Club in Moscow. In the first three rounds they have already defeated Czech Republic, Ukraine and Germany (by a 6-0! score), and they lead the group undisputedly.
Their main team is made up of world-class GM’s Alexander Grischuk, Daniil Dubov as top two boards, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk on boards three and four and Andrey Esipenko (3/3 this afternoon) and Polina Shuvalova as junior boards. Already a team that inspires fear and awe!
However, their “reserve” boards are Artemiev, Fedoseev, Lagno, Gunina…. And on it goes. A very tough squad captained by GM Alexander Motylev.
Nonetheless, the second qualifying spot is up for grabs. Both Argentina (5/6) and Spain (4/6) are currently second and third in the standings: both of them obviously strong teams but powerhouses Italy, Ukraine and specially Israel are just behind them, also on 4/6.
All these team’s cross swords on day 2: group standings will be better defined by round six.
Finally, Germany didn’t start of well today. They depended heavily on their reserve boards for the first three matches but that didn’t go as well as they were probably expecting. With only 2/6 they are not totally out of it yet, but they will need to make a strong comeback tomorrow to have a chance at qualification
Top Division - Pool D
The teams of United Stated of America and Peru lead group four with 6/6 after the first three rounds. They will play against each other tomorrow in round six. Right behind them, Poland stands in third position on 5/6, having dropped one match point against the Netherlands. USA defeated neighbours Canada, Netherlands and Brazil quite comfortably, while Peru took down Colombia, England and Turkey by closer scores.
This is probably the most level group. Team rating mediums are quite close and on a good day any of these teams could bring down one of the favourites. All of the matches are very hardly fought, many of them finishing with a 3.5-2.5 score.
USA have only fielded nine of their twelve players. However, none of the first five rated players will make an appearance in this event (Caruana, So, Dominguez, Nakamura or Shankland).
Nonetheless, first board for this event is 2730 rated GM Jeffrey Xiong with GM Ray Robson defending board two. Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih are defending the female boards while the junior board is GM Awonder Liang. A very strong team with good reserves to back them up.
The Peruvian players have always been considered specialists in rapid play. Their top two boards still have to make their debut but for now the reserve players have performed on mark.
Further down in the standings, England is very well represented on the top boards with Howell, Jones, Adams and McShane but they are lacking depth on the female and youth boards.
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