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Canada finished virtually right at its pretournament seeding in the Open section. We got off to a strong start, with three match wins and a draw in the first four rounds. :)
But then the fifth-round match against an elite Azerbaijan team brought Canada back to reality. A win over Kazakhstan late in the event was impressive. However, a very disappointing draw with a much weaker Albanian team in the final round must have made the long return journey home seem even longer.
On the bright side, Eric Hansen is now a Grandmaster after one of the best results ever by a Canadian at an Olympiad; he had a performance rating well over 2600. He lost only one game against very strong opposition on board four. I believe Eric is the first Grandmaster from Alberta. Eric certainly merits a boost to a higher board for next time. He continued his terrific form from the World Junior Championship, which was played just before the Olympiad.
Canadian champion GM Bator Sambuev, who scored a wonderful 8.5/9 in the Canadian Zonal, got off to a solid start in Istanbul, but lost repeatedly in the later rounds, while facing a string of GMs. Perhaps health concerns are the reason here. IM Leonid Gerzhoy performed adequately on board two. He had to be disappointed being unable to win with Q against R in the match with Belarus, playing with the Black pieces against a higher-rated player in one of the most interesting games I saw, although the endgame was complicated and difficult to convert. I'm looking forward to seeing this game annotated, hopefully by Leonid. IMs Nikolay Noritsyn and Edward Porper seemed a bit below their best on boards three and five respectively.
Thanks to all the players, and to captain Viktor Plotkin! :)
These fine Canadian representatives devoted two weeks of their lives, virtually unpaid, to travel nearly halfway around the world, in one of the most fulfilling experiences any sportsperson can have, playing for one's country. All will be stronger in the future because of this. :)
But then the fifth-round match against an elite Azerbaijan team brought Canada back to reality. A win over Kazakhstan late in the event was impressive. However, a very disappointing draw with a much weaker Albanian team in the final round must have made the long return journey home seem even longer.
On the bright side, Eric Hansen is now a Grandmaster after one of the best results ever by a Canadian at an Olympiad; he had a performance rating well over 2600. He lost only one game against very strong opposition on board four. I believe Eric is the first Grandmaster from Alberta. Eric certainly merits a boost to a higher board for next time. He continued his terrific form from the World Junior Championship, which was played just before the Olympiad.
Canadian champion GM Bator Sambuev, who scored a wonderful 8.5/9 in the Canadian Zonal, got off to a solid start in Istanbul, but lost repeatedly in the later rounds, while facing a string of GMs. Perhaps health concerns are the reason here. IM Leonid Gerzhoy performed adequately on board two. He had to be disappointed being unable to win with Q against R in the match with Belarus, playing with the Black pieces against a higher-rated player in one of the most interesting games I saw, although the endgame was complicated and difficult to convert. I'm looking forward to seeing this game annotated, hopefully by Leonid. IMs Nikolay Noritsyn and Edward Porper seemed a bit below their best on boards three and five respectively.
Thanks to all the players, and to captain Viktor Plotkin! :)
These fine Canadian representatives devoted two weeks of their lives, virtually unpaid, to travel nearly halfway around the world, in one of the most fulfilling experiences any sportsperson can have, playing for one's country. All will be stronger in the future because of this. :)
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