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Any macaws in Macau (spelled Macao when it was a Portuguese colony) are imported. I met the members of the Macao team when it first entered the Olympiads. They were a happy-go-lucky crowd of B-players, enjoying the ambience. They're Experts now. Who knows, in 12 years ...?
There must be rejoicing in the streets of Yerevan as Sargissian spearheaded an Armenia victory over Russia. And Berlin, Paris, Tel Aviv and Washington. Bittersweet in London, as Short took out Mamedyarov, but Howell futsed around in a position with a pawn up (for no compensation that I could see) against Gashimov and ended up losing, so the match was tied 2-2.
Sargissian was not quite strong enough to play on the Armenia 2 (junior) team at the Yerevan 1996 Olympiad. The younger spots on that team were taken by the 14-year-old Aronian and the 15-year-old (now late) Asrian.
Dina didn't win. My technique isn't exactly flawless, to put it mildly, so I guess criticism shouldn't come from me. But well, since I'm here, after she gave up her passed pawn (as Vlad pointed out, giving up the passed pawn did not seem necessary), I would have moved Nd5-e3 in a heartbeat rather than Kf3-e4. The knight needed to find a better square before pawns were committed. It's easy to criticize, but were I a betting man, I'd probably have to allow 10:1 odds that this moment was not where a win turned into a draw. A failure in technique is a tragedy. I'm sure Dina feels worse about it than any of us do.
In Calvia I was in the same hotel as the Georgian squad, which did its post-game de-briefings in a public area. After one match they were dissecting a loss by Lomineishvili. It was not a stellar performance (especially considering she was about 2400 strength). Nona Gaprindashvili was harshly criticizing (I don't speak Georgian, but there's not the slightest possibility that this was a gentle rebuke). Some words I did recognize were "Karpov" and "Capablanca", indicating that the beautiful loser (who was unsuccessfully trying to explain why she played the way she did) had come off the rails of positional chess play. Meanwhile, the gallery consisted of Georgian grandmasters looking on grimly. Nobody could describe that as "supportive". Yet she's back in 2008, and doing OK on a Georgia team that is underperforming (though they made up some of that in round 7), ratings-wise.
Some inside information on the women's side. Hazel has what might be a head cold today which directly interfered with her game yesterday ( she thought the sac won two pawns, but was having trouble thinking clearly at that point ). Otherwise Irina might have sat today because she was open to a day off. Who plays tommorrow depends on how Hazel is feeling tonight. Irina has been a great team player, almost an ideal reserve.
Hazel also let me know the tournament hall has a lot of distractions, notably a ton of flash photography ( 15 minutes legally then people openly ignore the rules later ). Depending on your table position you get more traffic; against Mexico they had the worst spot to play. This explains some time pressures and an increased chance of blundering due to concentration. I noticed it's pretty busy on the video. Dina has soldiered through and had a really nice tournament, but my source says these issues make it harder even for her. Sure it's the same for everyone and I've given Hazel some tips how to deal with it. I believe she may still put up some strong games later on, but it depends on health right now.
On the topic of captain, the women have an unusual situation with one player's father the official captain and another playing captain making all the roster decisions ( after consulting her team ).
Overall, the team has done very well and to me shows a lot of potential. With the right program they can get better. You have to get close to know how to make the next step. If they make another run they will get more very valuable experience.
Edit - They got paired to Belarus so more great experience.
Last edited by Duncan Smith; Friday, 21st November, 2008, 02:21 AM.
Another Canadian (or soon to be) in the Olympiad is Anton Kovalyov - playing second board for Argentina. He has 2 wins, 2 draws, and a loss so far. One of his draws was against Tunisia's Mehdi Bouaziz (any relation to "Slim"? (I love that name - almost as good as "Snyezana" as a first name, or "Bonk" as a family name))
Apparently - the missing Peru team registered - but never showed.
Germans with flash cameras. Yes, I regret I've seen that before. We had the flash problem mostly under control in Calvia. Only occasionally would there be a "hit and run" flash from the spectator area, which was 20 feet from the middle boards and farther from the top boards. With the 0-minute forfeit rule in Dresden especially, I don't see why photos are allowed after the normal 5 minutes.
Hugh,
The stacked first board of Philippines is GM Buenaventura Villamayor (which in English means something like "good time in the big town" har). His nickname is "Bong". In German that might be pronounced "Bonk". Maybe. In British slang, of course, "bonk" means the same as that four-letter word that could not be spoken on TV for so many decades.
Reminds me of getting a penalty in intramural soccer for calling out to one of my teammates. His name: Benjamin Fok. I should have called him Ben, but the whistle blew after I used the more formal appelation.
Among my favourite names is the Finnish player: Tapani Sammalvuo.
When she takes a break during play, I wonder what Ms. Smokina does.
Last I heard, the Kovalyov-playing-as-a-Canadian deal was in limbo. It's going to be expensive now if it goes ahead. Do you have recent news on that, Hugh? (or anybody?).
Gary you are always welcome to commence your own chess program with the target of playing on Canada's Olympiad team. Until then you should try to understand there is no harder event then a live event involving fairly rapid time controls against the best players each country can send.
Every one of this year's Canadian teams has a strong international playing record, only Irina Barron is fairly new and she is doing well. No excuses are needed.
Gary you are always welcome to commence your own chess program with the target of playing on Canada's Olympiad team. Until then you should try to understand there is no harder event then a live event involving fairly rapid time controls against the best players each country can send.
Every one of this year's Canadian teams has a strong international playing record, only Irina Barron is fairly new and she is doing well. No excuses are needed.
Duncan, you wrote the following earlier in the thread:
DS: "Some inside information on the women's side. Hazel has what might be a head cold today which directly interfered with her game yesterday ( she thought the sac won two pawns, but was having trouble thinking clearly at that point )."
It sure sounds like an excuse for me. Was it serious enough to visit a physician?
Also, it doesn't matter how new a person might be. What matters is the performance. It sure isn't the worst performance on the team.
I remember at this point in 2006 Hazel had the best performance on her team and kept them in the running while others struggled to find form. If not for a couple of close calls that went against her she'd be fine this year as well. Almost everyone following the event knows this, we can't help it if you aren't a supportive fan of Canadian chess.
We got a $500 cheque of support from the CFC today which is much appreciated.
This year has been very good people are rallying behind the players and there is good hope now that Hazel will continue with her chess interests beyond the Olympiad.
Last edited by Duncan Smith; Thursday, 20th November, 2008, 07:23 PM.
Illness is a fact of life at Olympiads. The playing hall is an incubator of illness. At the start of the 1984 Olympiad in Thessaloniki, I put a tape recorder on a chair in the middle of the playing hall. The odd cough. Repeated the test in the final round. Almost constant coughing. At the time I associated the change with smoking (which then was allowed in the hall, and also by staff), but in retrospect, microbes probably played the larger role.
Maybe the sought-after "experience" in international chess tournaments is simply having your body's immune system exposed to the microbes that typically inhabit tournaments. Next time, you can't succumb.
That said, there were some Canadian players (I'm thinking Angela Day, for example) who played better when they were ill. At the time, I credited the effect to attenuating their physical nervous energy. Years later: maybe it was the cold remedies!
2008: Careful of the drug tests! But basically it is unlikely you'll get tested unless you're in line to win a medal.
If not for a couple of close calls that went against her she'd be fine this year as well. Almost everyone following the event knows this, we can't help it if you aren't a supportive fan of Canadian chess.
What "close calls" would that be which went against her? I'm watching the event and you'll have to explain the "close calls" to me. I missed the spots where that happened.
I'm a fan. If you want I'll provide notes for the games in question.
As a fan, with only 4 rounds remaining, I hope the team captains will use their best 4 players the rest of the way. Win as many of the remaining matches as they possibly can.
Certainly this is part of the challenge you attend enough events you are going to have good moments and bad moments for many reasons. I look at the women's team this year and they might not all have their best event but the potential to build on this is huge.
Obviously Yuanling is super young for a second board and trains much like a professional would. Dina is having a great event, obviously she responds well to this event in particular. With experience and regular tournament activity the next two years there is no reason why Canada might not have 4 maybe 5 strong players all capable of knocking off 2200+ titled players with regularity. This is what you need to finish top 10 or at least filter up to play a medalist sometime during the event.
The women's team ( # 53 ) beat Mexico ( # 57 ), a peer team.
The other three wins were expected , but the scores are high : Costa Rica ( # 80 - 3.5 - .5 ); Fiji ( # 98 - 4 - 0 ); Nigeria ( # 111 - 4 - 0 ).
The losses were against strong teams : Cuba ( # 25 ); England ( # 31 ); Slovania ( # 12 ). The score against England is not bad - 2.5 - 1.5.
So I think the opinion that they are doing well ( perhaps not " very " well ) is justified. They are certainly playing their # 53 ranking. They currently stand in # 47th place.
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