Report by Bram Klapwijk
On the second day of the Olympiad, two rounds were scheduled. For both rounds, reports on the top teams and other highlights in the field.
Round 2 In the morning, the 2nd round was on the schedule. Just outside the “top boards,” there were many draws. The respective seeded teams 6 (Uzbekistan), 7 (Azerbaijan), 8 (France), and 9 (Israel) drew against lower-rated teams Bulgaria, Kazakhstan 2, Greece, and Italy. The top team Turkey proved to be much stronger with a 4-0 win over the 3rd team of the Netherlands, and their opponent from round 1, Georgia, showed that their 2-2 draw against Turkey was not a one-time success. They won 3-1 against Slovakia.
Now back to the top boards. Kazakhstan 1 defeated India 3-1. It wasn’t easy, as only the black boards of Kazakhstan managed to win in the endgame. FM Sepenov relentlessly held onto a slight advantage in an endgame with heavy pieces: the exposed white king (CM Adireddy) turned out to be a significant problem. WIM Nurmanova scored her second point for the Kazakh team.
Alua Nurmanova. Photo: Lennart Ootes
China continued its dominance by winning again with a score of 3.5-0.5, this time against Switzerland. Except for the draw between WFM Manko (Switzerland) and Kong Xiangrui, the Chinese players demonstrated sharper play than their Swiss opponents.
The Dutch first team managed to win narrowly with a score of 2.5-1.5 against Latvia, and it could have been different. On the first board, Arsenijs Savicevs played a strong game against FM Yichen Han. In a Caro-Kann, the Advance Variation led to strong similarities with the French Advance. In this line, black should be cautious of the move dxc5 followed by b4. Han underestimated this continuation, leading to a worse position by move 7. Move 13.c4 exposed black’s weakness: white is developed and ready for action, while black’s king is stuck in the center. Although black seemed to limit the problems somewhat, Savicevs showed with 22.Nf6 that it was indeed white playing for a win. The advantage persisted for white deep into the endgame with queen and rook. However, winning was not straightforward. With 39…Rd7??, black blundered and allowed a beautiful skewer! White found the tactic and won the game. See the exciting battle in the game below:
On board 2, Arthur de Winter defeated Aleksejs Adamovics by handling the resulting late middlegame/endgame better from a Maroczy structure. On board 3, Mikelis Vingris and Prajit Kumar didn’t upset the balance, resulting in a 1.5-1.5 draw. Board 4 between the ladies Ter-Avetisjana and Verheij had to provide the outcome. Ter-Avetisjana played for a win but miscalculated a pawn sacrifice, giving Verheij a significant advantage that she capitalized on, securing the win for the Netherlands.
Hungary, seeded 5th, also won their second match. They defeated the 2nd team of the Netherlands with a score of 3.5-0.5, although it wasn’t effortless. Especially boards 1 (Kobe Smeets) and 2 (Roger Labruyere) played excellent games for the Dutch team. Nevertheless, WIM Gaal (board 1) and FM Palczert (board 2) from Hungary proved stronger in the endgame.
The 4th team of the Netherlands narrowly lost to Cyprus with a score of 2.5-1.5. Exciting games swung in different directions. Boyd Leenen was inspired after his game yesterday (a beautiful attacking game against his Chinese opponent). This time, Leenen initiated the attack and broke through his opponent’s position with a rook lift along the h-file. See the game:
Round 3 In the afternoon, the first top teams faced each other. Top-seeded Kazakhstan 1 played against Hungary, which was seeded 5th. It was an intense battle between these two teams, resulting in a 2-2 tie. On the first board, WIM Zsoka Gaal had significant chances to defeat IM Ansat, who had previously played two draws. Unfortunately for Zsoka, her advantage evaporated in a complex endgame. On board 2, Kazakhstan secured a full point, as FM Sapenov (Kazakhstan) ultimately capitalized on an earlier missed opportunity. An instructive game came from FM Kolimar, who scored the only full point for Hungary against FM Mamedov. On move 25, Mamedov allowed the white rook on c7, which then extended white’s control over the 7th rank with a second rook. The final position doesn’t feature two white rooks on the 7th rank, but two pawns! A beautiful win, see below. On the 4th board, there was a fierce battle with chances for advantage on both sides, but FM Giang and WIM Nurmanova ultimately agreed to a draw.
As a result, Kazakhstan stepped aside for other teams that also have 3 wins. For example, China. The Chinese delegation is performing exceptionally well. They defeated Romania 4-0! China has not suffered any losses yet and has the most board points of all teams, with only 2 draws. The matches were consistent; none of the games saw significant disadvantages for the Chinese players, who took the advantage and held on to it. However, on board 3, Xiangrui Kong was building a brilliant attack. Everything was going well until moves 33 and 34, where he slipped up. His opponent, FM Cnejev, missed the opportunity, and on move 36, Kong executed a decisive tactic to win material. Watch this game where, on move 22, the white player showed how few pieces were on the black king’s side and that the black queen was far from home. The pieces gathered in front of the black king’s door, and except for a small mistake, the attack was executed flawlessly.
Netherlands 1 is the only team joining China with 3 wins. They once again triumphed with a score of 2.5-1.5 against Canada 1. On board 1, FM Yichen Han is still finding his footing in the tournament. This time, he held a winning position for most of his game, but under severe time pressure, his advantageous endgame disintegrated into a theoretical rook and bishop versus rook (without pawns) draw. He tried to push for more, but FM Atanasov didn’t yield. On board 2, another FM Han, Johnathan Han from the Canadian team, faced FM Arthur de Winter. Han stood well in this Najdorf position. The advantage grew, but the position turned complex. After a misstep, FM de Winter patiently seized control and secured a point for the Netherlands. CM Max Chen for Canada might regret not capitalizing further in his game. Against Prajit Kumar, he gained a favorable position, even getting an excellent opportunity to win a piece (or more). However, it wasn’t straightforward. He later lost his advantage, and it was Kumar who played for the win. In severe time pressure, they settled for a draw. On the 4th board, Dana Verheij found a tactic that won her a piece. The white queen was awkwardly positioned as a defender in the center of the board. After winning the piece, Verheij converted her advantage, earning the Netherlands 2.5 points.
Dana Verheij. Photo: Lennart Ootes
One more beautiful addition, played between Greece and Israel on the first board. Greek FM Makridis possibly delivered the attacking masterpiece of the day against IM Milikow. From a Najdorf with …h5, black quickly neutralized all the danger in the position. After exchanging the dark-squared bishops, black begins its advance. With the rook on h8 and the white king on h1, themes along the h-file emerge rapidly. The black knights freely jump between the 5th and 3rd ranks, begging to be captured. When white has no choice but to capture, checkmate follows swiftly. Delightful!
Now for the Dutch teams. The 2nd team played a draw against Morocco after all white players secured victories. Kobe Smeets crowned a beautiful attack with checkmate, while Rhys Arnold earned the other point for the Netherlands. Unfortunately, Roger Labruyere encountered troubles early in the game, while Isafara Gerin was in a position of potential victory and draw for a long time. The 3rd team succumbed to Australia 2, while the 4th team secured their first victory against Chinese Taipei 1.
