Istanbul Olympic Report

Late Friday. November 10

The good news is that this result is a little better than what we would have normally scored. The bad news is that we should have won 3.5-0.5 !

Alex's opponent (almost 2700 rated) played a very fishy variation which has a concrete refutation. Unfortunately Alex missed it! One of the most complex games of the olympiad. Even though Alex is tired and has lost his last two games, he is the only player to have played all of his games! On top of this, Alex's games are intensely interesting and complex.

I won a truly great game (if I may be so immodest) against my opponent's Najdorf opening. Probably the line I played will catch on after this victory.

Igor agreed to a draw in a slightly better position. Considering he was black this must be considered satisfactory.

Pascal just had to show up to get his norm: however, he quickly achieved a winning position. He had two ways to win and chose the 'third' way.

So, actually we should have won by a big score! Why didn't we? I will analyze our team's results here on this web site after the Olympiad is over. The most likely explanation why we are letting slip so many big wins is lack of experience. Two years from now, Pascal and Igor should both be GMs and will be 'seasoned' veterans. Then our team will have chances to get within the top ten!