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Getting paired up in the first round is the lot of all Canadian teams, but to me the pairing versus India was one of the more favourable matchups possible as Canada has some experience with some members of their Olympiad squad. Of course one could argue that that knife cuts both ways...
The Noritsyn-Sandipan encounter was the first to finish, and one of the first in the entire round. This game underscores one of the differences between the new match point scoring system versus the old game point scoring system. Since a 2.5-1.5 win counts the same as a 4-0 rout, my expectation is that favoured teams are going to, in poker terms, decrease their variance in exchange for a greater likelihood of winning matches. So you will see fewer players with Black trying hard to win if they are convinced that their team-mates with White can do so with little or no risk. The "game" itself had been played in my database over 20 times already. A way to get around the 30-move rule against draws, and a rating upset of 200 points, but also a missed chance to try and score with White as well as a missed chance for Nikolay to get a GM scalp.
Harikrishna-Bluvshtein was a fantastic clash. Mark played the Benoni, which I think was a good choice as it forced White to mix it up to try for an advantage. Black geared up for the typical ...b5 queenside play while White tried to make e4-e5 work. Black got there first, then played the thematic but risky 18...Bxc3, exchanging off his kingside dark-square guardian for a knight, an extra pawn and bunch of active pieces. White made use of the aforementioned dark squares and soon Black had to trade off his other bishop for a knight. They eventually settled into a repetition, but in this case neither player can be faulted as it was unbalanced but roughly equal then anyway. A real treat.
Charbonneau-Ganguly was a disaster for Pascal. I just don't think these blocked French Winawer positions are his cup of tea. Ganguly's 8...c4 was a particularly inspired choice as it seems to minimize the tactical shootout aspects, which I think is Pascal's greatest strength. Ganguly had tried this idea at least once before, versus Shabalov, but in that game it became tactical when Black tried to play ...f6 too early, and lost. Rybka liked Pascal's position in the early middlegame but I don't think I am exhibiting any confirmation bias when I say I don't think it is right. It seems to me that as long as Black is careful he will eventually be able to make some play while I just don't see how White is going to break in on the queenside. Although the opening and the pawn structure is quite different, this game strongly reminded me in texture to Zugic-Adams from Khanty-Mansiysk. My one suggestion for White's defense is move 36. I think after the f-file is open, White is lost. So he has to try 36.Be2 with the idea of recapturing on g4 with the bishop then trying to plug all the files with f3. Rybka liked 39...Qh7 better than what was played, and that does indeed look crushing, but even what Black played was more than enough. I like how he never took any risks in the later stages of the game, and eliminated all possible counterplay.
The last game to finish was Geetha-Zugic. I have to admit that I thought out of the opening that Igor was going to experience a the sort of dour defensive suffering in one of those isolated d-pawn position where only two results are possible. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. White allowed Black to generate some play with ...N/c6-a5xb3 and I think Black's problems (if he ever had any) were over. I liked Black even better after the exchange of rooks on e4 and the unbalanced pawn structure, with Black having the bishop. Looks like from that point on the play was roughly balanced. White sacrificed a pawn to gain time to escort his passer, but he didn't get even close to promoting it. There was almost no play or material left when the draw was agreed. Gritty performance by Igor.
Well 1.5-2.5 in the match system is the same as 0-4, but I bet that the players don't think so! Expect a much easier pairing next round, and probably a match win as well.
In other games, check out: Aronian-Caruana (board one Armenia v Italy), Mamedyarov-Nenev (board two Azerbaijan v FYROM) and Buhmann-Shirov (board one Germany 3 v Spain). Some wild, brutal stuff.
The Noritsyn-Sandipan encounter was the first to finish, and one of the first in the entire round. This game underscores one of the differences between the new match point scoring system versus the old game point scoring system. Since a 2.5-1.5 win counts the same as a 4-0 rout, my expectation is that favoured teams are going to, in poker terms, decrease their variance in exchange for a greater likelihood of winning matches. So you will see fewer players with Black trying hard to win if they are convinced that their team-mates with White can do so with little or no risk. The "game" itself had been played in my database over 20 times already. A way to get around the 30-move rule against draws, and a rating upset of 200 points, but also a missed chance to try and score with White as well as a missed chance for Nikolay to get a GM scalp.
Harikrishna-Bluvshtein was a fantastic clash. Mark played the Benoni, which I think was a good choice as it forced White to mix it up to try for an advantage. Black geared up for the typical ...b5 queenside play while White tried to make e4-e5 work. Black got there first, then played the thematic but risky 18...Bxc3, exchanging off his kingside dark-square guardian for a knight, an extra pawn and bunch of active pieces. White made use of the aforementioned dark squares and soon Black had to trade off his other bishop for a knight. They eventually settled into a repetition, but in this case neither player can be faulted as it was unbalanced but roughly equal then anyway. A real treat.
Charbonneau-Ganguly was a disaster for Pascal. I just don't think these blocked French Winawer positions are his cup of tea. Ganguly's 8...c4 was a particularly inspired choice as it seems to minimize the tactical shootout aspects, which I think is Pascal's greatest strength. Ganguly had tried this idea at least once before, versus Shabalov, but in that game it became tactical when Black tried to play ...f6 too early, and lost. Rybka liked Pascal's position in the early middlegame but I don't think I am exhibiting any confirmation bias when I say I don't think it is right. It seems to me that as long as Black is careful he will eventually be able to make some play while I just don't see how White is going to break in on the queenside. Although the opening and the pawn structure is quite different, this game strongly reminded me in texture to Zugic-Adams from Khanty-Mansiysk. My one suggestion for White's defense is move 36. I think after the f-file is open, White is lost. So he has to try 36.Be2 with the idea of recapturing on g4 with the bishop then trying to plug all the files with f3. Rybka liked 39...Qh7 better than what was played, and that does indeed look crushing, but even what Black played was more than enough. I like how he never took any risks in the later stages of the game, and eliminated all possible counterplay.
The last game to finish was Geetha-Zugic. I have to admit that I thought out of the opening that Igor was going to experience a the sort of dour defensive suffering in one of those isolated d-pawn position where only two results are possible. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. White allowed Black to generate some play with ...N/c6-a5xb3 and I think Black's problems (if he ever had any) were over. I liked Black even better after the exchange of rooks on e4 and the unbalanced pawn structure, with Black having the bishop. Looks like from that point on the play was roughly balanced. White sacrificed a pawn to gain time to escort his passer, but he didn't get even close to promoting it. There was almost no play or material left when the draw was agreed. Gritty performance by Igor.
Well 1.5-2.5 in the match system is the same as 0-4, but I bet that the players don't think so! Expect a much easier pairing next round, and probably a match win as well.
In other games, check out: Aronian-Caruana (board one Armenia v Italy), Mamedyarov-Nenev (board two Azerbaijan v FYROM) and Buhmann-Shirov (board one Germany 3 v Spain). Some wild, brutal stuff.
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