Chessdom.com Exciting results in Round 5 of the Chess Olympiad Georgia, Hungary, and Armenia with important victories
The battle for the first places of the Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk becomes more and more intensive. Only three teams remain with full points - Armenia, Georgia, and Hungary. Many of the favorites could not overcome round 5, including the host teams of Russia 1 and Russia 2, and the strong team of China.
The defending champions from Armenia proved one more time that their secret is the team work. Two rounds in a row they win 2,5:1,5, but that is enough to keep them among the three teams with perfect score - 5 match victories out of 5 possible. Today the hero of the team in the match with Russia 2 was the 2009 Armenian champion Arman Pashikian, who scored the full point against the winner of Moscow open Artyom Timofeev.
Georgia are flying high with the unstoppable Baadur Jobava on board 1. After defeating Magnus Carlsen in round 4, Jobava continued with a victory against Le Quang Liem which inpired the team for a convincing 3,5:0,5 win against Vietnam. The better Sonneborn-Berger, which is the second tiebreak criteria at the Olympiad, gives Georgia the first place in the standings.
One of the biggest surprises of the day was the defeat of the Russia 1 team to Hungary. On board 1 Grischuk did not dare to sacrifice a knight for two pawns with 17. ...Nxa2 and this gave permanent positional advantage to Leko. The Hungarian grandmaster conducted precisely the game and after 25 moves had a good advantage. Several imprecise moves later on could turn the game into a draw, but finally it turned out to be a good endgame lesson and Hungary got the full point on board 1 (replay the game here). Almasi, Polgar, and Berkes drew on the other boards to confirm the good performance of Hungary at the Olympiad and stir the bookmaker odds for the rest of the event.
It was a brutal round, and one both top Russian teams suffered in. After edging out China, the third highest rated team, Hungary put a solid claim to the gold by beating Russia 1 by 2.5-1.5, with Leko on board one beating... Grischuk. Indeed, it was a surprise to many to see Russia playing one of the top contenders without their top board Kramnik, and whatever the reason, there is no question he was missed.
Another clash of the giants brought Levon Aronian’s Armenia against Russia 2, spearheaded by Nepomniachtchi and the young wolves. The top boards were unable to break the deadlock, and Armenia’s fourth board, Pashikian (2639) was their hero of the day as he defeated Timofeev (2690).
Completing the trio of teams to remain on 100% after five rounds was Georgia, led by Baadur Jobava, fresh from his victory over Carlsen in the previous round. They faced the young guns from Vietnam, who had surpassed expectations with one gritty win after the other, but this time the Georgians came through with a spectacular 3.5-0.5 win. The Georgian players have been the heaviest scoring team thus far, and their performance ratings on all boards show.
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Chessdom.com
Exciting results in Round 5 of the Chess Olympiad
Georgia, Hungary, and Armenia with important victories
The battle for the first places of the Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk becomes more and more intensive. Only three teams remain with full points - Armenia, Georgia, and Hungary. Many of the favorites could not overcome round 5, including the host teams of Russia 1 and Russia 2, and the strong team of China.
The defending champions from Armenia proved one more time that their secret is the team work. Two rounds in a row they win 2,5:1,5, but that is enough to keep them among the three teams with perfect score - 5 match victories out of 5 possible. Today the hero of the team in the match with Russia 2 was the 2009 Armenian champion Arman Pashikian, who scored the full point against the winner of Moscow open Artyom Timofeev.
Georgia are flying high with the unstoppable Baadur Jobava on board 1. After defeating Magnus Carlsen in round 4, Jobava continued with a victory against Le Quang Liem which inpired the team for a convincing 3,5:0,5 win against Vietnam. The better Sonneborn-Berger, which is the second tiebreak criteria at the Olympiad, gives Georgia the first place in the standings.
One of the biggest surprises of the day was the defeat of the Russia 1 team to Hungary. On board 1 Grischuk did not dare to sacrifice a knight for two pawns with 17. ...Nxa2 and this gave permanent positional advantage to Leko. The Hungarian grandmaster conducted precisely the game and after 25 moves had a good advantage. Several imprecise moves later on could turn the game into a draw, but finally it turned out to be a good endgame lesson and Hungary got the full point on board 1 (replay the game here). Almasi, Polgar, and Berkes drew on the other boards to confirm the good performance of Hungary at the Olympiad and stir the bookmaker odds for the rest of the event.
ChessBase.com
Round 5
It was a brutal round, and one both top Russian teams suffered in. After edging out China, the third highest rated team, Hungary put a solid claim to the gold by beating Russia 1 by 2.5-1.5, with Leko on board one beating... Grischuk. Indeed, it was a surprise to many to see Russia playing one of the top contenders without their top board Kramnik, and whatever the reason, there is no question he was missed.
Another clash of the giants brought Levon Aronian’s Armenia against Russia 2, spearheaded by Nepomniachtchi and the young wolves. The top boards were unable to break the deadlock, and Armenia’s fourth board, Pashikian (2639) was their hero of the day as he defeated Timofeev (2690).
Completing the trio of teams to remain on 100% after five rounds was Georgia, led by Baadur Jobava, fresh from his victory over Carlsen in the previous round. They faced the young guns from Vietnam, who had surpassed expectations with one gritty win after the other, but this time the Georgians came through with a spectacular 3.5-0.5 win. The Georgian players have been the heaviest scoring team thus far, and their performance ratings on all boards show.
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