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Chennai Olympiad

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  • Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Joedryan


    best off to not ask questions but follow the rule book, also for players work out the points yourself and dont rely on others



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,727 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    https://youtu.be/H9RSc3pHons?t=1812

    Conor gets a spot on today's Gotham recap.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    So Conor plays today - white on 1 v 2578. Means his norm is confirmed.


    Tarun has white on 3, but only against an IM.


    Alex and Diana sit out today



  • Registered Users Posts: 76 ✭✭corkcitychess


    Tarun getting a GM norm on board 4 was always going to be a very long shot. Greece only fielded 2 GMs so that is probably that. With reference to some poster yesterday suggesting that Carl contact the Greek captain and ask that they field their 3 GMs to facilitate Taruns norm chance...well that WOULD be considered cheating and if Tarun won...match fixing even....totally unacceptable. I know England and Russia cheated many years ago by prearranging 4 draws ...Nigel Short apparently did it behind his captains back (Adam Raoof had no knowledge whatsoever).

    I would like to think that kind of cheating has been stamped out and if it happened today would result in disqualification for both teams.


    Anyway good chance Tarun will be on a higher board in 2024...He has already pre-qualified for the team by winning the Irish ch this year.



  • Registered Users Posts: 285 ✭✭checknraise


    Good chance Tarun will be a GM before the next olympiad. The team will have to get a result against the Swiss to have a chance of playing a GM on 3/4 in the final game.



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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb



    There's a huge difference between pre-agreeing four draws and asking if it's possible to arrange a player to be up against a GM for norm purposes (given the GM is entirely at liberty to beat said player)



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Quite, and that is what I meant. Such feelers to opposing captains are nothing to do with pre-arranging results.

    It is not cheating and has happened in reality in past olympiads.



  • Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Joedryan


    Tarun playing the good ol London system



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Alice avoided a scare there - 13. Re4 and 14. Re4 both seem to just win a piece.

    Edit - and instead, white goes wrong; Alice is winning a queen and that should be resignful now. Trisha is material up and Lara is about to win material, so that'll be a match win.



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Yes the women are heading for a 4-0 win but Alice (who has won already) did not need to play such a risky attack. Just 11...Bxe5 12 Re1 Ng4.

    EDIT: BTW, the Dvorkovich/Anand ticket won the FIDE Presidential election by a landslide yesterday. The opposition basically melted away. Has ICU consulted the membership at all or revealed how they decided to vote?

    Presumably Ireland voted for Dvorkovich. If so they should tell the Russian ambassador Filatov to give him something friendly about Ireland to report back to the Kremlin.



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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    With the norm for Conor confirmed, we may as well keep an eye on the gold medal too - the Greek GM looks like he has quite a difficult position to get a win out of against Iceland - Q, R, B+5 each, with the pawns all on the same side of the board. Sarin v Yakubboev is still level too, but there's only a queen, knight and pawn each off the board, so there's more play left in that one anyway.



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Trisha just won.

    Conor has, for the first time in this event, failed to get an opening advantage with White and seems to stand a bit worse. Of course there is a long way to go but let's hope he can draw at least and then sit out tomorrow. He is probably quite tired.

    (EDIT: after 22 a4 Conor is losing according to Stockfish14. If one can believe the chess24 assessment bar, Tom and Mark stand a bit worse and Tarun no longer has an edge.)


    In the top matches, India2 seem to have some advantage in the White games v Uzbekistan and the crazy board 4 game will probably be drawn now Adhiban's opponent has found the only move, 23 Re1. (Last-minute edit: White has not played the drawing line 28 Ne4 Rxe4 29 Qc8+ so all results are possible.)

    There has been a draw in board 3 of the India1 v Iran match.

    In match-2, the grudge encounter between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Mamedyarov seems to have forgotten his preparation, blitzing out 17 Qc2? instead of the critical 17 Rc1. So Armenia are favourites to win that match and the USA (resting Aronian) seem to have good chances to win.

    Hungary won board 1 v Ukraine in 19 moves and there have been a few draws elsewhere,



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Lara wins too - 3-0 there. Eibhia has a probably drawn ending but also has a very inexperienced opponent, so hopefully 4-0 still an option



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Conor loses - an unfortunate end to a great tournament. I know he gets the norm which is fantastic, but wouldn't it have been great to get both norm and medal?

    The other two relevant games are both level still, so I don't think even a bronze is out of the question, but I would expect his performance to drop 120 or so points after today, which might still leave him in bronze position.

    Of course, he could always come back for more tomorrow!



  • Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Joedryan


    I think Armenia and India 2 will be joint leaders after today, all set up for a great finale

    Congrats to Conor Murphy on his GM norm, an absolutely fantastic performance.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Some back-of-the-envelope calculations on the medal chances (while again acknowledging the norm, lest that not be forgotten 😀 )

    This is how I think it stands now, with the players from France, Cuba, Armenia, Holland and India 3 still playing but I've included their likely results (the games are all scored either level or a clear advantage).

    So you can see the fluctuation still caused by a decisive result, or even by a draw (as the top three players - the two tallies are the performance after round 9 and after round 10).

    So Conor could sit out tomorrow and hope results go his way, but I don't think it'd work out. He could give it another go and a win could well put him back into the top three. Or it may be best to just have a few drinks tonight and enjoy himself!





  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Eibhia won her K and P ending to complete a welcome 4-0 sweep for the women.

    Tarun is our last player in action after four hours, having an ending with R+4P each. He has the outside passed pawn but probably it will be a draw and a disappointing 0.5-3.5 loss to Switzerland who are far from being the strongest team we met.

    I think tiredness and maybe a bit of over-optimism played a role but we will find out when the guys get home and tell us.

    Nevertheless there is a chance to end on a high tomorrow and whatever happens Conor and Tarun have had great results.

    Commentators are pointing out that the final round top match (5.30am start remember!) could be India-1 v India-2.



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Gukesh's streak has ended in disaster against Abdusatturov. He missed wins, then rejected repetitions and ultimately blundered his knight to a fork. So India-2 v Uzbekistan ended 2-2 after the Indians had been winning the match for hours.



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,727 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    So it's going into round 11:

    Uzbekistan - 17

    Armenia - 17

    India 2 - 16

    USA - 16

    India 1 - 16

    I am missing anyone, it is hard to find the results!!! Are the Dutch still in touch?



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,727 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    Found it.

    India 2 v India 1 is a bit dodgy really, will FIDE do something about that you wonder!



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  • Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Joedryan


    Let his team down badly in the end, Prag was winning and Gukesh rejected a repetition.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Worth noting David Howell's performance for England - 7½/8 and a 2898 performance. Hasn't actually beaten anyone above 2550 or indeed played anyone higher than himself, but has been bloody consistent.


    He of course has the GM title, so it looks like he's sitting out the rest of the tournament and will take his gold medal home. It's the best performance in the entire tournament after Gukesh's amazing blunder today.


    My calculations above don't quite tie in with chess-results (which I presume is official); Conor is now fifth in the medal rankings and would probably need to play and win tomorrow to get back into the top three. I guess it's a chat that can be had when the draw comes out - presume the focus is to see if Tarun has any norm hopes now.


    At the moment, Tarun's average opponent (2350, after adjusting round 1 up to 2200) isn't high enough to allow any norms. I think a win against any GM above 2336 tomorrow would allow him drop round 1 entirely from the calculations, round up his third round opponent instead, and take a norm on 6½/9. In theory (though this will hardly happen) a draw against 2705 would also do the trick.


    The reality of course is that after today's result, it might be hard to find any opponent who'd have a GM on board 3.


    (Disclaimer - these calculations not to be used in India!)



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    The official rankings show India-1 above USA; see

    https://chess-results.com/tnr653631.aspx?lan=1&art=63&flag=30

    The pairings team will be double- and treble-checking the correct pairings for the top matches.

    Uzbekistan and Armenia have both played all the teams in the top five and must be downfloated to countries in the 15MP group (listed below) which indeed includes the Dutch.

    India-2 have played the USA but India-1 have not. So it's not certain that the two Indian teams play each other and there could be criticism if they are paired. (If Gukesh had not lost then India-2 would have been paired first and would have had to meet IND-1 I think.)

    The countries on 15MP in current ranking order are: Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Serbia and Moldova. Presumably the latter will be downfloated to the 14MP group.

    Ireland will probably get a lower-ranked team tomorrow as we are fourth in the large 11MP group.

    Conor is now down to 5th in the board 2 rankings and currently stands to gain 36 FIDE points.



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,727 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    Pairings 1



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,727 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    Pairings 2

    Our pair




  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    So no norm for Tarun, and even a win for Conor wouldn't increase his performance much.


    Uruguay for the Women, which is a winnable tie on paper, but beware the Honduras/El Salvador affect...



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Let's chalk up the positives and prospects.

    Conor: second GM norm and outside shot at a board meal if he wins tomorrow. Also significant rating gain towards the 2500 target (if he wins tomorrow or sits out). The third GM norm and rating target can be accomplished in the next 12 months, depending on his other commitments (student?).

    Tarun: unbeaten performance and rating gain (barring accidents tomorrow) probably passing 2400 for the first time. He played with a lot of resourcefulness as he did have some bad to lost positions. Took a perpetual in one winning position but it was far from obvious.

    His IM title based on past results should have been confirmed by now at Chennai, but if there were any queries about a previous norm, this result can replace it in his claim. In November he's due to play the European Under-18s in Turkey, for which he would be one of the favourites (he wasn't far off last year) but I suspect he will pass on that now and look for GM norm opportunities.


    Tom will have gained experience and do better next time. The lost rating points are due mainly to his having a big majority of games with Black and he will probably regain them soon. Alex has a more or less par Rp (depending on tomorrow's result) and anchored the team in the big matches. I think his experience will be needed for another olympiad or three though perhaps on a lower board. Mark finishes on 50% (assuming he won't play tomorrow) after contributing wins against the three lowest teams we met, enabling others to rest.

    Women's team:

    Trisha will undoubtedly be very disappointed but she's going to bounce back quickly. She is due to play the European Under-18s in November (she was runner-up in the under-16s last year). Maybe she will look elsewhere if Tarun doesn't go, but it would be a nice title to win.

    Alice: Rp of 2035 more or less the same as her current rating 2043. Turned round several dodgy positions. Score 6/9 means she gets WFM if she wins tomorrow or doesn't play (the requirement is 65% in minimum 9 games). Rating requirement for WFM is 1900. Next step: improve her opening repertoire, work towards a higher rating and eventually WIM.

    Lara: may have dropped a few rating points but this was her first olympiad. Has scored 5/9 with one game to come so she satisfies the requirement for the WCM title once her rating reaches ***. She came third in the recent Irish Women's Championship which was a step up already. Lara will be going to the Under-U16 at the World Youth Championships in September (where her brother Leon will be in the U18) and could do well; she won't meet many opponents who have played in Chennai.

    Diana: 3/7 with one game to come, losing a few rating points. Already a WFM but a bit out of practice I suspect, though she did play a couple of tournaments in late June/early July. We know she can do better but may be too busy to work towards WIM at present.

    Eibhia: First olympiad, scoring 4.5/7 but mostly against lower-rated opponents. Can claim the WCM title when her rating improves to the required level. Only 1638 at present and loses a few points here so she needs to play some events against opponents in the 1800-2000 range and start to win some games at that level.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,116 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    The *** for Lara I assume is one you meant to come back to, but she's over 1800 so can claim the WCM now.



  • Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭RooksPawn


    Thanks; I did a couple of edits and missed that one. It's only Eibhia who has to reach a rating requirement. All three untitled women have enough games and points so long as Alice wins or doesn't play tomorrow.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 285 ✭✭checknraise


    It's not over yet but both teams have done exceptionally and its first time in years following Ireland at an Olympiad that I have been optimistic and excited watching the teams. The ICU really need to look at making sure we have our strongest teams playing European championships regularly by subsidising the cost for the players. The next 10 - 15 years will be the highest standard Irish chess has ever had and we should make sure both teams compete regularly. Don't be surprised to see Sam and Alex Lopez being interested in being part of a young and ambitious team.

    Lara should be aiming much higher than the WCM title along with all the women. They have had a tough time of it rating wise but have had to play lots of underrated teams. Diana re injured her leg from a sporting accident so has been playing through pain killers which has no doubt had an impact on her play. The women are even younger and will have gained a huge amount of experience through playing.

    Tarun was over 2400 in April and is currently 2420 live.



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