Olympiad preview
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Some comments by the Armenian team, surprise winners of the last two men olympiads.
Levitov:“The spirit of the Armenian Grandmasters is developed”
Sunday,September 19, 2010
Ilya Levitov speaking about the forthcoming chess Olympiad has stressed that the Armenians are usually very strong in team tournaments. “It is true that the spirit of the Armenian grandmasters team is developed in particular,” sport express has cited Levitov, “But I have never shared the opinion that the Russian team has no team spirit and consists of individuals only. Simply for winning in that kind of tournament when the competition is too high we should approach the by systemic work process.”
Source: http://www.aysor.am
Avetik Grigoryan about the atmosphere in the Armenian team
Avetik Grigoryan, the Armenian chess champion for 2010, spoke to national journalists, confirming that Armenia is ready for the Olympiad. "Among the chess players of Armenia there is a friendly aamosphere, which will definitely give positive results." Avetik Grigoryan added, "We had two camps, one in April and one in September in Jermuk, where we practiced, analysed chess problems, and played some rapid chess, now we are ready for the Olympiad."
Armenian Chess Federation announced the rosters for the Chess Olympiad immediately after the national championship finished on 31st January. The men's team, winner of the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, saw only one change as GM Avetik Grigoryan is replacing GM Tigran L.Petrosian. Grigoryan convincingly won the Armenian chess championship, finishing two points superior ahead of Petrosian.
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Re: Olympiad preview
I always look forward to this event. It sounds like the organization can be a bit of a gong show, but you see a ton of games between top players, with the added incentive of some strong nationalism that isn't seen as much since the end of the Cold War.
The team lineups are here
http://reports.chessdom.com/news-201...-olympiad-2010
I noticed that Russia has two teams, with the second team being led by Ian Nepomniatchi, and all the players rated over 2690... They could conceivably win the tournament. The first Russian which is always phenomenal is even more so now with the addition of Karjakin. Even their 5th board Malakhov has a history of demolishing his opponents in team tournaments.
I actually just noticed that Russia has a third team, lead by Jakovenko... Crazy. Hopefully the Russia vs. Russia matches that come up don't end with 4 quick draws.
Anyways, my pick to win the tournament is Russia #1 or China. Conservative, I know.
In terms of darkhorses, I think that Vietnam, Argentina (Kovalyov on board 5), and Cuba will do better then their pre-tournament rankings.
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The Canadian team was flying out of Toronto 9.50 pm Saturday. The flights were Toronto-Madrid-Munich-Khanty-Mansiysk.
One of the PNG team is blogging, it looks as though the travel arrangements were okay.
It is not even day 0 at the Olympiad yet, and despite issues with transportation, it has got off to a good start.
Originally the PNG team members travelling through Dubai were shifted (along with an entire plane load of passengers) to a flight leaving a day after we had planned to travel. However, with the assistance of Australian Womens Team Captain Leonid Sandler, we simply asked to be put on the flight we wanted to catch, and due to a couple of no shows, were able to get to Khanty-Mansiysk at the time and date we always wanted.
Upon arrival we discovered that each team has a dedicated guide assigned to them for the duration of the tournament, making it very easy to find our hotel and check in. The double rooms are very spacious (as opposed to the shoe-box accommodation in 2008) and the hotel (Olympic) is up and running, despite only being opened a few weeks ago.
After trying to sort out a few niggling issues with my room (a beeping smoke detector!) a trip down to the restaurant revealed my favourite kind of Olympiad feed, the seafood heavy buffet. Having had to survive the soup-kitchen style of delivery at the last two Olympiads this makes a pleasent change, and brings back memories of the 2004 Olympiad in Majorca.
At the moment free internet is restricted to the 24 hour bar in the hotel, but having to sit in a bar to type this blog is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. So all in all the event has got off to a good start re conditions, and hopefully the rest of the fortnight will be just as good.
Posted by Shaun Press at 3:16 AM
http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/Last edited by John Coleman; Sunday, 19th September, 2010, 05:43 PM.
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Re: Olympiad preview
Originally posted by Nic Haynes View PostI actually just noticed that Russia has a third team, lead by Jakovenko... Crazy.
hyuk hyuk hyuk ^_____________^everytime it hurts, it hurts just like the first (and then you cry till there's no more tears)
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Re: Olympiad preview
Originally posted by ben daswani View Postactually russia has a fourth team. it's listed as "canada"
hyuk hyuk hyuk ^_____________^Last edited by Eric Hansen; Monday, 20th September, 2010, 01:45 AM.
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Re: Olympiad preview
Originally posted by John Coleman View Post
Quite logical, however:
Ukraine will suffer from the loss of Karjakin (playing for Russia)
Azerbaijan has gotten rid Gashimov
Russia, Armenia and China are among the strongest and appear to be the better prepared and most motivated. To me it would be quite an achievement for another country to win a medal.
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Can someone tell me the address and the phone number of the Hotel Olympic? On the official website is the only hotel without these details.
Thanks in advance
Originally posted by John Coleman View PostThe Canadian team was flying out of Toronto 9.50 pm Saturday. The flights were Toronto-Madrid-Munich-Khanty-Mansiysk.
One of the PNG team is blogging, it looks as though the travel arrangements were okay.
It is not even day 0 at the Olympiad yet, and despite issues with transportation, it has got off to a good start.
Originally the PNG team members travelling through Dubai were shifted (along with an entire plane load of passengers) to a flight leaving a day after we had planned to travel. However, with the assistance of Australian Womens Team Captain Leonid Sandler, we simply asked to be put on the flight we wanted to catch, and due to a couple of no shows, were able to get to Khanty-Mansiysk at the time and date we always wanted.
Upon arrival we discovered that each team has a dedicated guide assigned to them for the duration of the tournament, making it very easy to find our hotel and check in. The double rooms are very spacious (as opposed to the shoe-box accommodation in 2008) and the hotel (Olympic) is up and running, despite only being opened a few weeks ago.
After trying to sort out a few niggling issues with my room (a beeping smoke detector!) a trip down to the restaurant revealed my favourite kind of Olympiad feed, the seafood heavy buffet. Having had to survive the soup-kitchen style of delivery at the last two Olympiads this makes a pleasent change, and brings back memories of the 2004 Olympiad in Majorca.
At the moment free internet is restricted to the 24 hour bar in the hotel, but having to sit in a bar to type this blog is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. So all in all the event has got off to a good start re conditions, and hopefully the rest of the fortnight will be just as good.
Posted by Shaun Press at 3:16 AM
http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/
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