Armenia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine Enter Friday's Online Olympiad Quarterfinals
Armenia, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine won their matches in Thursday's preliminary round of the FIDE Online Olympiad's playoff. The biggest upset was the elimination of China by Ukraine.
The games of the FIDE Online Olympiad can be found here as part of our live events platform. The playoffs are played August 27-30 with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV starting at 1 a.m. Pacific / 10:00 a.m. Central Europe.
India-Armenia
Round 1, 11:00 UTC = 4 a.m. Pacific / 13:00 Central Europe
Round 2, 12:00 UTC = 5 a.m. Pacific / 14:00 Central Europe
Round 1, 14:00 UTC = 7 a.m. Pacific / 16:00 Central Europe
Round 2, 15:00 UTC = 8 a.m. Pacific / 17:00 Central Europe
Round 1, 16:00 UTC = 9 a.m. Pacific / 18:00 Central Europe
Round 2, 17:00 UTC = 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe
Round 1, 16:00 UTC = 9 a.m. Pacific / 18:00 Central Europe
Round 2, 17:00 UTC = 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe
China-Ukraine: 1-1 (6-7)
| Bo. | China | Rtg | 3 : 3 | Ukraine | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Ding, Liren | 2836 | 1 - 0 | GM | Ivanchuk, Vasyl | 2686 |
| 1.2 | GM | Wei, Yi | 2752 | ½ - ½ | GM | Korobov, Anton | 2794 |
| 1.3 | GM | Hou, Yifan | 2621 | 1 - 0 | IM | Gaponenko, Inna | 2375 |
| 1.4 | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2610 | ½ - ½ | GM | Zhukova, Natalia | 2312 |
| 1.5 | GM | Liu, Yan | 2427 | 0 - 1 | GM | Shevchenko, Kirill | 2425 |
| 1.6 | WIM | Ning, Kaiyu | 1884 | 0 - 1 | FM | Berdnyk, Mariia | 2169 |
| Bo. | Ukraine | Rtg | 3 : 3 | China | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Ivanchuk, Vasyl | 2686 | ½ - ½ | GM | Ding, Liren | 2836 |
| 1.2 | GM | Korobov, Anton | 2794 | ½ - ½ | GM | Yu, Yangyi | 2738 |
| 1.3 | IM | Osmak, Iulija | 2356 | 1 - 0 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 2501 |
| 1.4 | IM | Gaponenko, Inna | 2375 | ½ - ½ | GM | Lei, Tingjie | 2527 |
| 1.5 | GM | Shevchenko, Kirill | 2425 | ½ - ½ | GM | Liu, Yan | 2427 |
| 1.6 | FM | Berdnyk, Mariia | 2169 | 0 - 1 | WGM | Zhu, Jiner | 2326 |
As the reigning champions of the official Olympiad (in both the open and women sections) and the Online Nations Cup, China seemed to be the clear favorite for the Online Olympiad as well. Their elimination just before the quarterfinals definitely came as a surprise.
The teams played 3-3 in both of their matches with China doing better on the top boards and Ukraine winning on the U20 junior and girls boards. At the same time, it was surprising that both GMs Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun, who played in the first match, were left out in the second.
That wouldn't have matted if GM Tan Zhongyi had seen the tactic in the opening in her game against IM Iulija Osmak in round two (although Ukraine missed chances as well):
With 3-3 in both matches, one single armageddon (five vs. four minutes, no increment) had to be played as a tiebreaker. But who would play?
The regulations state that a drawing of lots determines which one of the four categories the armageddon game is to be played: open, women, U20 or girls U20. The captain of each team then nominates a player from the respective category.
In this case, the game was played on the U20 board between GMs Kirill Shevchenko and Liu Yan. The final phase of the game was unfortunate because White didn't seem to be doing much for many moves and could have given the impression that he was mostly trying to flag his opponent.
However, all this is part of online play and at the very end, Shevchenko did make some progress (and even could have taken a full piece) just before Liu flagged.
From the moment the tournament was announced, it has been debated whether the U20 and girls U20 boards are good ideas. GM Peter Heine Nielsen prefers countries to come with their strongest players. GM Ivan Sokolov pointed out that in this particular case, when looking at all games, Ukraine won deservedly.
Just went through the games.
— Sokolov Ivan (@GMSokolovIvan) August 28, 2020
Fully deserved win by Ukraine!
China should have lost the 1st match, Gaponenko lost (to Hou) from better position, Zhukova gave draw (to Ju) in totally won position.
Well done Ukraine, fully deserved https://t.co/FY2h54KTVC
Germany-Hungary: 1-1 (6-7)
| Bo. | Hungary | Rtg | 3½:2½ | Germany | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Erdos, Viktor | 2580 | ½ - ½ | GM | Wagner, Dennis | 2454 |
| 1.2 | GM | Banusz, Tamas | 2614 | ½ - ½ | GM | Fridman, Daniel | 2610 |
| 1.3 | WGM | Papp, Petra | 2297 | 0 - 1 | IM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | 2369 |
| 1.4 | WGM | Gara, Ticia | 2274 | 1 - 0 | FM | Schulze, Lara | 2125 |
| 1.5 | GM | Kozak, Adam | 2438 | 1 - 0 | IM | Vogel, Roven | 2506 |
| 1.6 | WFM | Demeter, Dorina | 1885 | ½ - ½ | WIM | Muetsch, Annmarie | 2188 |
| Bo. | Germany | Rtg | 3½:2½ | Hungary | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Wagner, Dennis | 2454 | 1 - 0 | GM | Erdos, Viktor | 2580 |
| 1.2 | GM | Fridman, Daniel | 2610 | ½ - ½ | GM | Banusz, Tamas | 2614 |
| 1.3 | IM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | 2369 | 1 - 0 | GM | Hoang, Thanh Trang | 2338 |
| 1.4 | FM | Schulze, Lara | 2125 | 0 - 1 | WGM | Papp, Petra | 2297 |
| 1.5 | IM | Vogel, Roven | 2506 | 0 - 1 | GM | Kozak, Adam | 2438 |
| 1.6 | WIM | Muetsch, Annmarie | 2188 | 1 - 0 | WFM | Gaal, Zsoka | 1816 |
Another armageddon was seen in the clash between Germany and Hungary. Here, Hungary started with a 3.5-2.5 win, but then Germany leveled the score with the same figures.
This time, the armageddon game was played in the open category between GMs Tamas Banusz and Dennis Wagner. As both players got into huge time trouble, the game saw a dramatic finish:
The drama! Hungary beat Germany in the armageddon game as GM Tamas Banusz beat GM Dennis Wagner by 0.3 of a second!#OnlineOlympiad https://t.co/2psh9VgMkv pic.twitter.com/Uk8vZ4ulSN
— ChesscomNews (@ChesscomNews) August 27, 2020
Armenia-Greece: 2-0 (8-4)
| Bo. | Greece | Rtg | 1½:4½ | Armenia | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios | 2534 | 0 - 1 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2778 |
| 1.2 | GM | Halkias, Stelios | 2576 | 0 - 1 | GM | Sargissian, Gabriel | 2693 |
| 1.3 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | 2302 | 1 - 0 | GM | Danielian, Elina | 2358 |
| 1.4 | WGM | Botsari, Anna-Maria | 2222 | 0 - 1 | IM | Mkrtchian, Lilit | 2306 |
| 1.5 | IM | Theodorou, Nikolas | 2559 | ½ - ½ | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | 2278 |
| 1.6 | FM | Avramidou, Anastasia | 2052 | 0 - 1 | WGM | Sargsyan, Anna M. | 2304 |
| Bo. | Armenia | Rtg | 3½:2½ | Greece | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2778 | 1 - 0 | GM | Banikas, Hristos | 2615 |
| 1.2 | GM | Sargissian, Gabriel | 2693 | ½ - ½ | GM | Halkias, Stelios | 2576 |
| 1.3 | GM | Danielian, Elina | 2358 | 0 - 1 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | 2302 |
| 1.4 | IM | Mkrtchian, Lilit | 2306 | ½ - ½ | WGM | Botsari, Anna-Maria | 2222 |
| 1.5 | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | 2278 | ½ - ½ | IM | Theodorou, Nikolas | 2559 |
| 1.6 | WGM | Sargsyan, Anna M. | 2304 | 1 - 0 | FM | Avramidou, Anastasia | 2052 |
No armageddons were in the other two matches. Armenia defeated Greece twice, first by 4.5-1.5 and then by 3.5-2.5. Their top board, GM Levon Aronian, scored two wins; the first one is the following.
Bulgaria-Poland: 0-2 (4.5-7.5)
| Bo. | Bulgaria | Rtg | 2½:3½ | Poland | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Delchev, Aleksander | 2630 | 0 - 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 2774 |
| 1.2 | GM | Enchev, Ivajlo | 2484 | 0 - 1 | GM | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | 2662 |
| 1.3 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2461 | 1 - 0 | GM | Socko, Monika | 2321 |
| 1.4 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | 2085 | 1 - 0 | IM | Cyfka, Karina | 2330 |
| 1.5 | IM | Petrov, Martin | 2393 | 0 - 1 | IM | Gumularz, Szymon | 2277 |
| 1.6 | WIM | Radeva, Viktoria | 2052 | ½ - ½ | WIM | Sliwicka, Alicja | 2059 |
| Bo. | Poland | Rtg | 4 : 2 | Bulgaria | Rtg | ||
| 1.1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 2774 | 1 - 0 | GM | Delchev, Aleksander | 2630 |
| 1.2 | GM | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | 2662 | 1 - 0 | GM | Enchev, Ivajlo | 2484 |
| 1.3 | GM | Socko, Monika | 2321 | 1 - 0 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2461 |
| 1.4 | IM | Cyfka, Karina | 2330 | 0 - 1 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | 2085 |
| 1.5 | IM | Gumularz, Szymon | 2277 | 1 - 0 | IM | Petrov, Martin | 2393 |
| 1.6 | WIM | Sliwicka, Alicja | 2059 | 0 - 1 | WIM | Radeva, Viktoria | 2052 |
Poland also won both matches. beating Bulgaria 3.5-2.5 and 4-2. Top boards GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radoslaw Wojtaszek both scored 2-0. Here's Duda's second win:
Preliminary round | All games
The FIDE Online Olympiad is a major online chess event for national teams that runs July 25-August 30 on the Chess.com server. More than 1,500 participants and 163 teams from all over the world are playing.
Each team consists of six players, including at least two women, at least one player who is 20 or younger, and at least one female player who is 20 or younger. The time control for all matches is 15 minutes for the game and a five-second increment per move, starting from move one.
Related articles:
- FIDE Online Chess Olympiad (info article)
- FIDE Online Olympiad Launches July 25 On Chess.com
- FIDE Online Olympiad: Base Division's Results
- Hong Kong, Angola Perfect, Eid Brilliant In Olympiad Division 4
- GM Zaibi Plays Brilliant Checkmate In Olympiad Division 3
- Shirov On Fire As Online Olympiad Gets Set For Top Division
- Azerbaijan, India, Russia, U.S. Pool Leaders At Online Olympiad
- Crunch Time For Online Olympiad's Top Division
- FIDE Online Olympiad: Who Made It To The Playoffs?
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
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