More ridiculous news from Elista

World Championship Chess Dead?

Game 5 was not played today.

The start of the game was delayed to settle the controversy between the two sides. The game was started at 15:22. Topalov is sitting at the board, Kramnik's clock is running. Kramnik is in his restroom and is waiting for his toilet to be opened. It seems the game is not going to start unless the toilet is opened. Kramnik lost game five on time after 1 hour. Chief Arbiter Geurt Gijssen confirmed that Kramnik has forfeited the 5th game.

Here's the sequence of events that led up to this ridiculous scene...

Appeal of the Head of the Bulgarian Delegation (Danailov)

Apparently Danailov feels that Kramnik (get ready for this) has been going to the bathroom too many times during games. He claims 50 times a day, which is an exaggeration, but nonetheless it probably is "too many" times. But so what? My guess is that it's related to Kramnik's recent illness, and Kramnik feels under no obligation to explain. But Topalov implies cheating.

The bathroom is the only place without video surveillance. [...] We would like to once again remind you that the bathroom is the only place without video or audio surveillance.

Danailov's proposed solution?

To stop the use of the rest rooms and the adjacent bathrooms for both players. If a player needs to go to the bathroom, he can use the public bathroom, but only with permission from the Arbiter and accompanied by an assistant arbiter.

Decision of the Appeals Committee to the appeal of Danailov

The Appeals Committee decided: (a) To close both the toilets in the players’ rest rooms and to open another toilet that will be available only to the two players and (b) Not to accept the request of Danailov, to stop the use of the rest rooms by the players.

Apparently this turned out to be unacceptable to both Topalov's camp and Kramnik.

Open Letter of Kramnik to FIDE President Ilyumzhinov

The WCC Committee is clearly violating both the rules and regulations of the WCC match and the rights of Kramnik. [...] Therefore Kramnik requests to exchange the mentioned persons [Makropolous, Azmaiparashivili] immediately. [...] Our team does not trust the objectivity of the Appeals Committee anymore. [...] Kramnik will stop playing this match as long as FIDE is not ready to respect Kramnik’s rights.

Answer of the Head of the Bulgarian Delegation on the Decision of the Appeal Committee

The ruling in its present form is not satisfactory to us. [...] Topalov is outraged by the suspicious behavior of his opponent. [...] Topalov is willing to continue his participation in the match provided that measures to guarantee fair play are taken. If the match were to continue, the World Champion would refrain from shaking hands with Kramnik before the games.

Topalov will play "provided that blah blah blah" = Topalov will not play.

Not shaking hands? Wow! Time travel back to Karpov-Korchnoi 1981 ... except that back then Korchnoi's family was being held in Karpov's USSR. Hell, even Fischer and Spassky shook hands.

Open Letter of Ilyumzhinov to Kramnik

Open Letter #2 of Kramnik

FIDE President decision to postpone Game of 30 September

There will be no game tomorrow. The next game is rescheduled for October 1. No word on whether that would be game 5 or game 6.

Ilyumzhinov Interview

Now of course, the players and organizer have an actual match-related problem on their hands, Kramnik's technical loss. So before the two sides can negotiate toilets or anything else, they have to work out whether the score of the match is 3-1 or 3-2. I don't see them getting them over this stumbling block. I think the match is dead.

I continue to be appalled at the state of professional chess. Not even Fischer about his most petulant never behaved like this. This match has been 4 years in the planning, and it's going to be cancelled ... over Kramnik's use of the toilet!? Add to this the fiasco over the 2007 candidates cycle, and I don't think world championship will ever recover.

Once again chess has shot itself in the foot; who will want to sponsor a top-level chess match if the whole thing can grind to a halt over a dispute about a toilet? - GM Nunn

What a freakin' joke

I am of course speaking about FIDE. It was announced back in January that the 16 candidates were to meet in two rounds of matches. I was skeptical even back then. Sure enough. Less than a month before these matches were supposed to have started, FIDE tells us that "there were difficulties in organising the Candidate matches" and that the challenger will instead be determined by a round robin tournament including all the candidates. One more punch line: in April 2007.

How can there be professional chess players if they can't plan for even the most basic components of world championship competition?

(In related news, the Masters Golf Tournament will take place in Seattle in December and Wimbledon will be played in France this year.)

Game 4 Drawn

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 {9.0-0 is considered to be the main line, 9.e4 is also popular} b4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 bxa3 12. O-O Bd6 13. b3 Nf6 14. Nd2 {New. Pogorelov-Vera, Spain 2006, went 14.Bd3} Qc7 15. Bf3!? Bxh2+ 16. Kh1 Bd6 17. Nc4 Be7 18. Bxa3 O-O 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Ra5 Rfd8 21. Kg1 c5 22. Rxc5 Ne4 23. Bxe4 Bxe4 24. Qg4 Bd3 25. Ra1 {It's unclear why Veselin declines the natural 25.Rc1} Rac8 26. Raa5 Rb8 27. Qd1 {27.Ne5 gives nothing) Be4 28. Qa1 Rb7 29. Nd2 Bg6 30. Qc3 h6 {White has very picturesque position, but Kramnik has no weakness} 31. Ra6 Kh7 32. Nc4 Be4 33. f3 Bd5 34. Nd2 Rdb8 35. Qd3+ f5 36. Rc3 Qh4 37. Ra1 Qg3 38. Qc2 Rf7 39. Rf1 Qg6 40. Qd3 Qg3 41. Rfc1 Rfb7 42. Qc2 Qg5 43. Ra1 Qf6 44. Qd3 Rd7 45. Ra4 Rbd8 46. Rc5 Kg8 47. Nc4 Bxc4 48. Raxc4 f4 49. Rc6 fxe3 50. Qxe3 Rxd4 51. Rxe6 Qh4 52. Rxd4 Qxd4 53. Re8+ Kh7 54. Qxd4 1/2-1/2

Analysis by GM Marin
Analysis by GM Inarkiev

Game 3 Drawn

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bd7 7. Qxc4 Na5 8. Qd3 c5 9. O-O Bc6 10. Nc3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bc5 12. Rd1 Bxg2 {Risky move} 13.Qb5+ Nd7 14. Kxg2 a6 15. Qd3 Rc8 {New. Seems to be invented at the board. Tkachev-Solezhenkin, France 2000, continued 15....Qd3. 15...Nf6!? is worth mentioning.} 16. Bg5 Be7 {16…Qg5? 17.Ne6! Qe7 18.Ng7 Kd8 19.Nd5 Qd6 20.b4} 17. Bxe7 {17.Ne4!? Bg5? 18.Nd6 Kf8 (18…Ke7? 19.Nc8 Qc8 20.Qa3! Qc5 21.Qc5 Nc5 22.b4) 19.Nc8 Qc8 20.Nf3 or 17....0-0? 18.Ne6 fe 19.Be7 Qe7 20.Qd7} Qxe7 18. Rac1 Nc4 {18…0-0? 19.Ne6!} 19. Na4 b5 20. b3 O-O 21. bxc4 bxa4 22. Nc6 Rxc6 23. Qxd7 Qc5 24.Rc3 g6 25. Rb1 h5 26. Rb7 e5 27. e4 Rf6 28. Rc2 Qa3 29. Qd1 Rd6 30.Rd2 Rfd8 31. Rd5 Rxd5 32. cxd5 Qxa2 33. Qf3 Rf8 34. Qd3 a3 {35.Rb3? f5!} 35. Rb3 f5 36. Qxa6 Qxb3 37. Qxg6+ Kh8 38. Qh6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Analysis by GM Mihail Marin
Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev

Kramnik 2, Topalov 0

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. e4 O-O 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Qe3 Bg6 15. Ng5 {Petrosian - Smyslov, Bar 1980, continued 15.Bg6} Re8 16. f4 Bxd3 {Pelletier-Deviatkin, Moscow 2003, continued 16...Rc8} 17. Qxd3 f5 18. Be3 Nf8 19. Kh1 Rc8 20. g4 Qd7 21. Rg1 Be7 22. Nf3 Rc4 23. Rg2 fxg4 24. Rxg4 Rxa4 25. Rag1 g6 26. h4 Rb4 27. h5 Qb5 28. Qc2 Rxb2 29. hxg6 h5 30. g7 hxg4 31. gxf8Q+ Bxf8 32. Qg6+ {What a mistake! White misses 33.Rg4! Bg7 34.Qc7!, cause on 34...Qf1 there is 35.Ng1.} Bg7 33. f5 Re7 34. f6 Qe2 35. Qxg4 Rf7 36. Rc1 Rc2 37. Rxc2 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 Qxc2+ 39. Kg3 Qe4 40. Bf4 Qf5 41. Qxf5 exf5 42. Bg5 a5 43. Kf4 a4 44. Kxf5 a3 45. Bc1 Bf8 46. e6 Rc7 47. Bxa3 Bxa3 48. Ke5 Rc1 49. Ng5 Rf1 50. e7 Re1+ 51. Kxd5 Bxe7 52. fxe7 Rxe7 53. Kd6

53....Re1? {53...Re3! wins because after 54.d5 Kf8 55.Kd7 b5 56.Ne6+ Kg8 57.d6 b4 58.Nc5 the rook controls b3 and is therefore ready to support the b-pawn without wasting a tempo. Then the continuation 58...Kf7 59.Kc6 Rc3 60.Kb5 b3 61.Na4 Rc2 62.d7 Ke7 leads to a clear win. - Nunn} 54. d5 Kf8 55. Ne6+ Ke8? {55....Kd7! still draws} 56. Nc7+ Kd8 57. Ne6+ Kc8 58. Ke7 Rh1 59. Ng5 b5 60. d6 Rd1 61. Ne6 b4 62. Nc5 Re1+ 63. Kf6 Re3 0-1

Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev
Analysis by GM Mihail Marin

Kramnik 1, Topalov 0

I am not surprised.

Kramnik (2743) - Topalov (2813) [E04]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2!? c6 9.a4 b5 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Qg5 0-0 12.Qxb5 Ba6 13.Qa4 Qb6 14.0-0 Qxb2 15.Nbd2 Bb5 16.Nxc4 Bxa4 17.Nxb2 Bb5 18.Ne5 Ra7 19.Bf3 Nbd7 20.Nec4 Rb8 21.Rfb1 g5 22.e3 g4 23.Bd1 Bc6 24.Rc1 Be4 25.Na4 Rb4 26.Nd6 Bf3!? 27.Bxf3 gxf3 28.Nc8 Ra8 29.Ne7+ Kg7 30.Nc6 Rb3 31.Nc5 Rb5 32.h3 Nxc5 33.Rxc5 Rb2 34.Rg5+ Kh6 35.Rgxa5 Rxa5 36.Nxa5 Ne4 37.Rf1 Nd2 38.Rc1 Ne4 39.Rf1 f6 40.Nc6 Nd2 41.Rd1 Ne4 42.Rf1 Kg6 [With such a perfect coordination of pieces (R + N + P), Topalov correctly assumes that he can play for a win without too much risk. He might have also thought that even if White would hold a draw, it would useful to take the psychological initiative from the very first game of the match. However, he might have underestimated the strength of the enemy knight, which, in spite of being cut off his colleagues, is able to restrict Black's activity by attacking the enemy pawns from behind.]

43.Nd8 Rb6 44.Rc1 h5 45.Ra1 h4 46.gxh4 Kh5 47.Ra2 Kxh4 48.Kh2 Kh5 49.Rc2 Kh6 50.Ra2 Kg6 51.Rc2 Kf5 52.Ra2 Rb5 53.Nc6 Rb7 54.Ra5+ Kg6 55.Ra2 Kh5.

56.d5! e5 57.Ra4 f5? [Probably surprised by the unexpected course of events, Topalov fails to find his last saving possibility, consisting of 57...Nxf2 58.Kg3 e4 and if 59.Kxf2 then 59...Rb2+ with perpetual.] 58.Nxe5 Rb2 59.Nd3 The rest is easy. 59...Rb7 60.Rd4 Rb6 61.d6 Nxd6 62.Kg3 Ne4+ 63.Kxf3 Kg5 64.h4+ Kf6 65.Rd5 Nc3 66.Rd8 Rb1 67.Rf8+ Ke6 68.Nf4+ Ke5 69.Re8+ Kf6 70.Nh5+ Kg6 71.Ng3 Rb2 72.h5+ Kf7 73.Re5 Nd1 74.Ne2 Kf6 75.Rd5 1-0

Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev
Analysis by GM Mihail Marin

ChessTheatre

ChessTheatre is a free program to view and publish PGN chess databases. You can use it to view your chess games on your own PC, but also share them with others on the internet by using the integrated publishing function. (I have not used it so cannot provide a review.)

http://www.dgtprojects.com/chesstheatre.htm

Kramnik and Svidler win Dortmund

SB K S A L G N A J Perf
------------------------------------------------
1: Kramnik 2743 4.5 14.50 X = = 1 = = = 1 2818
2: Svidler 2742 4.5 13.50 = X = = = = 1 1 2818
3: Adams 2732 4.0 14.00 = = X = 1 = = = 2768
4: Leko 2738 4.0 12.50 0 = = X = 1 1 = 2767
5: Gelfand 2729 4.0 11.75 = = 0 = X = 1 1 2768
6: Naiditsch 2664 3.5 11.00 = = = 0 = X = 1 2728
7: Aronian 2761 2.0 = 0 = 0 0 = X = 2556
8: Jobava 2651 1.5 0 0 = = 0 0 = X 2499

July 1 FIDE Rating List

1 Topalov, Veselin 2813 (broadened the gap with Anand from 1 point to 34 points)
2 Anand, Viswanathan 2779
3 Aronian, Levon 2761
4 Kramnik, Vladimir 2743
5 Svidler, Peter 2742
6 Leko, Peter 2738
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2734
8 Adams, Michael 2732
9 Morozevich, Alexander 2731
10 Gelfand, Boris 2729
11 Radjabov, Teimour 2728
12 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2722 (added 23 points and climbed 7 slots)
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2721
14 Navara, David 2719 (new 2700 club member, added 61 rating points and climbed 36 slots)
15 Shirov, Alexei 2716
16 Akopian, Vladimir 2713
17 Polgar, Judit 2710
18 Grischuk, Alexander 2709
19 Bacrot, Etienne 2707

Ratings of World Championship Players

An interesting observation from the FIDE rating lists immediately prior to each world championship match since ratings were started in 1970.

July 1972 Rating List
1 Fischer Robert 2785
2 Spassky Boris 2660

May 1974 Rating List
1 Fischer Robert 2780
2 Karpov Anatoly 2700
3 Kortchnoi Viktor 2670

January 1978 Rating List
1 Karpov Anatoly 2725
2 Kortchnoi Viktor 2665

July 1981 Rating List
1 Karpov Anatoly 2690
2 Kortchnoi Viktor 2650 (tied with Portisch)

July 1984 Rating List
1 Kasparov Gary 2715
2 Karpov Anatoly 2705

July 1985 Rating List
1 Karpov Anatoly 2720
2 Kasparov Gary 2700

July 1986 Rating List
1 Kasparov Gary 2740
2 Karpov Anatoly 2705

July 1987 Rating List
1 Kasparov Gary 2740
2 Karpov Anatoly 2700

July 1990 Rating List
1 Kasparov Gary 2800
2 Karpov Anatoly 2730

All seems right with the world. Every championship match from 1972 to 1990 was played between the #1 and #2 rated players in the world, and the Candidates Final in 1974 was between the #2 and #3 players. Now things seem to get somewhat confused starting with the 1993 match.

July 1993 Rating List
1 Kasparov, Gary 2815
2 Karpov Anatoly 2760
10 Short Nigel 2665

July 1995 Rating List
1 Kasparov Gary 2795
2 Karpov Anatoly 2775
6 Anand Viswanathan 2725

Not offering this as being of any value, just something to think about.

USCF Website Not Up Yet

The live date for the new website was moved back to June 30th. Not an encouraging sign for the quality of the site.

Player Plaza

www.PlayerPlaza.com is a new online gaming marketplace where individuals can challenge each other in head-to-head competition for fun or money. Check it out.

Changes in Chess Life

Just got this month's Chess Life magazine. There are a lot of changes; I'm still trying to absorb some of them and decide how I feel about them. First of all, the graphic layout of the magazine was completely revamped. I'm not sure if it's better or not; I tend to be rather conservative and have not adjusted to the change yet, but I think it actually might look better now.

On a more substantive note, there were a number of content changes. Daniel Lucas's editor's note states that the goal was to reduce the number of columns in order to make space for more feature articles.

The biggest change is that the Larry Evans Q&A column is gone. I didn't think it was great, but it was one of the first things I turned to in the magazine because it did not require me to break out the board in order to read it. (And I once got an opening question published in his column.) I'm sorry to see it go. It will been replaced (starting June 15) with an online Q&A discussion thread on www.uschess.org led by Joel Benjamin.

The key crackers column (which I haven't glanced at more than once or twice in twenty years of getting Chess Life) is gone. No loss there. The correspondence chess column "Check is in the Mail" is gone. I occasionally read those games, but there was nothing particularly fascinating about those games that I can't get by reading games elsewhere in the magazine.

Michael Rohde's "Game of the Month" column is gone, but now there's "Polgar's Pick", so that's a net wash. Susan Polgar's analysis of Onishuk-Shulman was good, but I'm not sure why the change in name. I have fond memories of Gligoric's "Game of the Month" column in the 1970s, but I guess they were trying to stress that it's Susan's column. There seems to be some interest in pushing the women in chess theme; next month's issue "will be a celebration of women's chess in America."

The columns by Soltis (Chess to Enjoy), Benko (Endgame Lab) and Alburt (Back to Basics) are all still there. Pandolfini's Solitaire Chess has been substantially reformatted; I read that column and I definitely think the new format is easier to use.

Overall, the changes in the magazine seem to be neutral to slightly positive, but if they are expecting great things from the new format they will probably be sadly disappointed. Possibly of more importance to the USCF will be the changes they are rolling out on www.uschess.org on June 15th. Hopefully, those are the solid improvements that the website desperately needs rather than a mixed bag of tweaks like the changes to the magazine.

Olympiad Final Round

Men:

Results this round:

• Armenia (which went into this round 2.5 points ahead), made four quick draws against Hungary, securing Gold less than an hour after the start of round.
• China beat the Netherlands 2.5:1.5 to take Silver
• Russia lost to Israel 1:3 causing them to drop out of the top three slots
• The USA beat Norway 3.5:0.5, to draw even with Israel

Standings:
Armenia - Gold
China - Silver
USA - Bronze (on tiebreak over Israel)

Interesting facts:

• Armenia was the only undefeated team +10 =3
• #1 seed Russia ended up in 6th place, losing four matches (to France, the USA, Israel and the Netherlands)
• #2 seed India ended up in 30th place with a record of +6 -4 =3
• Sierra Leone and Somalia ended up not fielding teams
• Israel was fourth (losing on tiebreak to the USA), and Hungary was fifth

Women:

Results this round:
The results in this round did not change any of the standings.

• Ukraine (which went into this round 2 points ahead), made three quick draws against Armenia
• Russia beat India 2:1
• China beat Belarus 2.5:0.5

Standings:
Ukraine - Gold
Russia - Silver
China - Bronze

Interesting facts:

• Ukraine was the only undefeated team +12 =1
• #1 seed Russia ended up in second place due to their loss to Ukraine. Had they won that match, they would have taken the gold by a half point
• The USA, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Georgia tied for fourth place, but they were 3 points behind China
• Afghanistan, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan ended up not playing

Olympiad Round 12

Men:

Results this round:
Armenia drew France 2:2
China defeated the Czech Republic 3:1
Russia defeated Cuba 3:1
Israel defeated the USA 2.5:1.5

Standings:
Armenia - 34
China - 31.5
Russia - 31

Women:

Results this round:
Ukraine defeated India 2.5:0.5
Russia drew France 1.5:1.5
China drew the USA 1.5:1.5

Standings:
Ukraine - 28
Russia - 26
China - 25

USA-Russia Match

Kamsky (USA) - Kramnik (Russia)
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 Qb6 5. Qc1 Bf5 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3Nbd7 8. c5 Qd8 9. Be2 Be7 10. h3 Ne4 11. O-O g5 12. Be5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5Bf6 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Qc3 Bg7 16. b4 O-O 17. b5 cxb5 18. Bxb5 Qc7 19.Rac1 f6 20. Nd7 Rfd8 21. c6 bxc6 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Rac8 24. Bb5Bg6 25. Nc5 Rd6 26. a4 Bf8 27. Na6 Rc2 28. Rxc2 Bxc2 29. Nc5 e5 30.Rc1 Bf5 31. g4 Bg6 32. Nd7 Be8 33. Nxf8 Bxb5 34. axb5 Kxf8 35. dxe5fxe5 36. Rc7 d4 37. exd4 exd4 38. Kf1 d3 39. Ke1 Rd5 40. Rxa7 Rxb5 41.Rxh7 Rb1+ 42. Kd2 Rf1 43. Kxd3 Rxf2 44. Ke4 Rf4+ 45. Ke5 Rf3 46. Ke6Kg8 47. Rh5 Kf8 48. Rxg5 Rxh3 49. Kf6 Ra3 50. Kg6 Kg8 1/2-1/2

Svidler (Russia) - Onischuk (USA)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. Nc3 h6 11. a3 Bc5 12. Ba2 Nd4 13. Be3 d614. b4 Bb6 15. Bxd4 exd4 16. Ne2 d5 17. e5 Nd7 18. Nf4 Nf8 19. c3 dxc320. d4 a5 21. Qc2 Ne6 22. Nxe6 Rxe6 23. Qxc3 g6 24. Bb1 axb4 25. axb4Rxa1 26. Qxa1 Qf8 27. Qb2 Bc8 28. Re3 Re8 29. h4 Kh8 30. h5 g5 31. Nd2Bg4 32. Nf1 Bxh5 33. Ng3 Bg6 34. Nf5 Re6 35. Rf3 Bh7 36. Bd3 Qe8 37.g4 Qc6 38. Qd2 Kg8 39. Kg2 Kf8 40. Ng3 Be4 41. Bxe4 dxe4 42. Re3 Qd543. Nf5 Rxe5 44. Kg1 Rxf5 45. gxf5 Qxf5 46. Qc2 Bxd4 47. Rxe4 Bxf2+48. Kg2 Kg7 49. Qc3+ Kg6 50. Re5 Qf4 51. Qd3+ Kf6 52. Re4 Qf5 53. Qc3+Kg6 54. Re5 Qf4 55. Qd3+ Kf6 56. Re4 Qf5 57. Qc3+ Kg6 1/2-1/2

Nakamura (USA) - Grischuk (Russia)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 h68. h3 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Bg2 Nbd7 11. Qe2 Rc8 12. O-O Nc5 13. Bd2 e5 14.Nb3 Be7 15. f4 Ne6 16. f5 Nd4 17. Qd3 O-O 18. Rfe1 Nd7 19. Be3 Nc5 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21. Nd5 Bh4 22. Rf1 c4 23. Qd1 Bxd5 24. exd5 Bg5 25. Bf2 c326. b3 Bd2 27. Be4 Re8 28. f6 gxf6 29. Bh4 Bg5 30. Bg3 Rc5 31. h4 Be3+32. Kh2 Bd2 33. g5 f5 34. Qh5 Qd6 35. Bxf5 Nxf5 36. Rxf5 Qg6 37. Qg4h5 38. Qe4 Rxd5 39. Raf1 Rd4 40. Qb7 Bf4 41. Rf6 Qxc2+ 42. Kh3 Rf8 43.g6 fxg6?? (43....Bxg3!-+) 44. Bxf4 exf4 45. Rxf8+ Kxf8 46. Qb8+ Ke7 47. Qe5+ Kf7 48.Qxd4 Qf5+ 49. Kh2 1-0

Bareev (Russia) - Kaidanov (USA)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 Ne4 6. Qd3 Qa5 7. Qxe4Bxc3+ 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Nxd2 O-O 10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. Bg2 Nc6 12. O-O b613. Qf4 Ba6 14. Rac1 Rab8 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. Ne4 f5 17. Nd6 e5 18. Qe3Rf6 19. Nb5 Rc8 20. Qd2 e4 21. Nd6 Rb8 22. b4 Nd8 23. Qd5+ Qe6 24. g4g6 25. gxf5 gxf5 26. f3 exf3 27. Qxf3 Nf7 28. Qf4 Rg6 29. Nxf7 Kxf730. Qxb8 Rxg2+ 31. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 32. Kg1 Qe3+ 33. Kf1 Qf3+ 34. Kg1 Qe3+ 35. Kf1 1/2-1/2

Olympiad Round 11

Men:

Results this round:
Armenia defeated the Czech Republic 3:1
France defeated China 2.5:1.5
USA defeated Russia 2.5:1.5

Standings:
Armenia - 32
China, France - 28.5
Russia, USA - 28

Women:

Results this round:
Ukraine defeated Bulgaria 2.5:0.5
Russia defeated Georgia 2:1
China defeated Greece 3:0

Standings:
Ukraine - 25.5
Russia - 24.5
China - 23.5

Olympiad Round 10

Men:

Results this round:
Armenia beat China 2½:1½.
France and USA tied 2-2.
Russia beat Ukraine 3-1.
Czech Republic beat Slovenia 3½:½.

Standings:
Armenia - 29
China - 27
Russia, Czech Republic - 26.5

It has no impact on the standings, but it is worth noting that there are four undefeated teams so far:
Armenia (+9 =1)
USA (+7 =3)
Czech Republic, France (+6 =4)

Women:

Results this round:
Ukraine beat Georgia 2-1.
Russia beat Bulgaria 2-1.
China beat Armenia 2-1, avenging the men's team.

Standings:
Ukraine - 23 (Has won all ten of its matches.)
Russia - 22.5
China - 20.5

Olympiad Round 9

Men:

Results this round:
Armenia beat Ukraine 2½:1½.
France beat Russia 2½:1½.
China beat Georgia 4-0.
USA and the Czech Republic tied 2-2.

Standings:
Armenia - 26.5
China - 25.5
France - 24

Women:

Results this round:
Ukraine beat USA 2½-½.
Russia and China tied 1½:1½.
Georgia beat Hungary 2½:½.

Standings:
Ukraine - 21
Russia - 20.5
Georgia - 19

Olympiad Round 9

Men:

Results this round:
Armenia beat Ukraine 2½:1½.
France beat Russia 2½:1½.
China beat Georgia 4-0.
USA and the Czech Republic tied 2-2.

Standings:
Armenia - 26.5
China - 25.5
France - 24

Women:

Results this round:
Ukraine beat USA 2½-½.
Russia and China tied 1½:1½.
Georgia beat Hungary 2½:½.

Standings:
Ukraine - 21
Russia - 20.5
Georgia - 19