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Current Newsedited by Knut Neven Knut Neven - November 11, 12:19 ETThe final round games are now available for online replay at Daily Games, as well as the usual PGN game download at Game Downloads. The event is now over, with the final Canadian team standings noted at Team Standings. Knut Neven - November 10, 12:29 ETMarc's report of today's fourteenth and final round action has arrived at Daily Reports. Unfortunately the official Olympiad website seems to be experiencing some technical problems, and I have not yet been able to retrieve the actual game scores. These will be posted at Daily Games as soon as they are available, plus of course the usual PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 9, 11:43 ETMarc has added his report of yesterday's round thirteen action to Daily Reports, while Valery Lavergne provides us with several photos from the Olympiad below. Many more, of course, will appear in the February issue of En Passant magazine!
Knut Neven - November 8, 13:46 ETOnline replay of today's thirteenth round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 7, 13:24 ETOnline replay of today's twelfth round action is now available at Daily Games, together with Marc's report at Daily Reports, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 6, 20:25 ETThe official Olympiad website has finally caught up with PGN downloads for the first two rounds of the event, and I have made these available at Game Downloads. Note, however, that the moves from at least one game (Grosar-Bluvshtein from round two) are incorrect - due, apparently, to technical difficulties in Bled?! In addition, readers should take another look at the report from day one at Round 1, as I have had to make a change to the initially incorrect pairings of the women's match against Georgia. Best of luck to the teams tomorrow! Both are facing tough opposition, with the men currently sitting in 10th place and up against 12th ranked Poland... Knut Neven - November 6, 14:33 ETCanada wins big! Online replay of today's eleventh round action is now available at Daily Games, together with Marc's report at Daily Reports, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Note also that Marc has now added his report of yesterday's round ten match at Round 10! Knut Neven - November 5, 14:59 ETOnline replay of today's tenth round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 4, 14:42 ETOnline replay of today's ninth round action is now available at Daily Games, together with Marc's report at Daily Reports, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 2, 15:52 ETOnline replay of today's eighth round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Knut Neven - November 1, 13:46 ETOnline replay of today's seventh round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. The official Olympiad website does not yet report an official result for Amanda Benggawan's game, which I take to be a draw unless someone lost on time!? I will make the necessary correction if this turns out to be incorrect. Knut Neven - October 31, 15:32 ETOnline replay of today's sixth round action is now available at Daily Games, together with Marc's report at Daily Reports, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. The National Team page has been updated with a profile photo of Dina Kagramanov, and player biographies for all team members! Knut Neven - October 30, 17:02 ETOnline replay of today's fifth round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Marc's report at Daily Reports has arrived, and readers can also view his updated fourth round report from yesterday's action at Round 4. Knut Neven - October 29, 20:22 ETOnline replay of today's fourth round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. Conflicting reports posted earlier today at the official Olympiad website as to the result of the Canadian men's match against Singapore now seem to be resolved - unfortunately this means Jean lost his game, and the match was tied 2-2. Knut Neven - October 28, 14:29 ETOnline replay of today's third round action is now available at Daily Games, as well as the matching PGN game download at Game Downloads. As soon as the games from the first two rounds are available I will post these as well. Knut Neven - October 27, 23:46 ETMarc Ghannoum let us know earlier today that his busy work schedule as team Co-Captain & Analyst is not leaving him with a great deal of time to send the anticipated daily reports and game scores. He will try to keep up as best he can, and I hope that our readers will join me in being patient in case additional material does not always arrive immediately after a given round is finished. So far both teams are doing wonderfully, and they surely deserve our understanding and support. Go Canada! Marc Ghannoum - October 25, 11:20 ETI have never been involved in live journalism, and this is my first experience as a national team captain. Clearly, however, this didn't deter the CFC from approaching me back in August to play the challenging role of event correspondent for you, and so I hope to be able to send reports every day. For me travelling to Bled provided added motivation, since it was here that Mikhail Tal demolished all opposition in 1959 on his way to a historical confrontation against iron man Mikhail Botvinnik. The Chess Olympiad has always had a great appeal to me as a fan of the game. My first chess book was about the 1974 Nice Olympiad, and even then I became fascinated with the epic battles of nations through the microcosm of the chessboard. Where else is it possible to meet so many exceptional players, all while following fledgling chess countries like Singapore take on the mighty Russians!? Preparations for the Olympiad went pretty much according to plan, although my inexperience did produce several small hiccups along the way. In the end, however, the team is all smiles and all business.
The long flight was a little grueling, but our fatigue was short-lived after arriving in Bled. This quaint town of a few thousand people is surrounded by hills and mountains, interlaced with forests and green spaces, and an absolutely beautiful lake with a castle on a small island at its center. Slovenia, fortunately, did not participate in the Bosnian war of the last decade, and retains the stylish and romantic look of its architecture everywhere. Furthermore, Bled simply breathes chess, and there is an excitement everywhere among its citizens about hosting this huge event. GM Ljubojevic, although not Slovenian, is hugely popular here, and was one of the first great players to cross our path in the press room. Once again the Russians are the overwhelming favorites, with GMs Gary Kasparov, Alexander Grischuk, Evgeny Bareev and Alexander Morozevich on the top four boards, while former FIDE World Champion GM Alexander Khalifman holds down board five! Ukraine might pose a threat, but will need amazing performances from GMs Ruslan Ponomariov and Vassily Ivanchuk to stay in contention. Look for Hungary as a solid third, while Israel, England and Holland are strong outside threats as well. So what about our chances? Canada's best result ever at an Olympiad came in 1980 with a 9th place finish. Today roughly twice as many teams participate, and the geographical division of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia has given birth to an additional 20 or so countries that each boast formidable teams much stronger than ours. Among the countries who have benefit the most from immigration are the United States, Germany and Israel, with the latter coming into the event ranked 4th! According to my primitive calculations we are ranked 41/150 at the outset. GM Alexandre Lesiege is an exceptional leader on first board, and we are counting on him to be fired up after a lackluster year. GM Kevin Spraggett on second board is also a sound investment, and he has the most experience on the team in events like this. IM Pascal Charbonneau will play board three, although he is also capable of a respectable performance on top board if needed. Our new Canadian Champion is a renowned killer of 2400 players, and won't be facing the added pressure of leading the team. IM Yan Teplitsky comes off a self-imposed hiatus, and should provide the team with a solid performance on board four after spending a lot of time recently working with several world class calibre chess friends. Young IM Mark Bluvshtein hardly needs an introduction, as his results during the last 18 months speak for themselves. His talents will be in demand, especially if one of the top boards slows down. And finally, IM Jean Hebert should be able to provide strong support on board six. When he is in form, Jean can beat almost anyone in the world. On the women's side, veteran Olympian WIM Nava Starr on top board is backed by three young talents on boards two through four. In order, they are Dina Kagramanov, WFM Amanda Benggawan, and Dinara Khaziyeva. Most of the team arrived yesterday, and we are now only waiting for Kevin to arrive from Portugal, as well as Pascal from Montreal. Alexandre is wittier than usual, which is often a sign of his form and desire. Thanks to the generosity of Belzberg Technologies and our other sponsors we are enjoying superior conditions on this outing when compared to other Olympiads, and this could very well provide us with an edge over other teams, especially towards the end of the event when fatigue begins to assert itself as an important factor in the matches. If things go well, Canada might finish just inside of 30th place... Marc Ghannoum - October 24, 12:15 ETFM Marc Ghannoum, Co-Captain & Analyst, sends a quick note that the team has just arrived in Bled after a long and exhausting flight. His first report from the event will follow tomorrow at Daily Reports. Word from CFC President Peter StockhausenOn behalf of all of us chess fans and players we like to wish our Olympic Teams a very successful tournament. Hopefully all of you are in top form and will stay in good health during the competition. Best of luck to all of you. We also like to thank all of our team sponsors, Belzberg Technologies, the CMA, the FQE and the countless individuals who so generously support our teams. Your support makes it all possible. Peter Stockhausen |
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