The experienced chess swashbuckler Ivanchuk and five kids proved superior to the rest of the world. The exciting games of the 36th Chess Olympiad are over leaving shocked world in a suspense. The Ukrainians ran over the whole event undefeated and the world held their breath waiting how long would that bonanza last. Sorry for the rest -- the Olympiad finished prior to Ukraine's streak.
Here's concise summary of the top teams of the memorable (and already historical, would you believe?) Calvia Olympiad:
1. Ukraine - everything what could be said had already been said about the Ukrainian dream team. Not only Ivanchuk and superb Kariakin overperformed but also Volokitin and Elianov did excellent job. Apart from Ponomariov maybe they had no blind spots inside the team. No one but Ukraine deserved gold.
2. Russia - a silver would be a dream place for everyone but the Russians, who won six consecutive Olympic championships before. Many believe with Kasparov and Kramnik in the pool they would stay unstoppable but still without K's duo their average ELO was several notches above Ukraine - and not enough for gold. They played as they were expected to, so just a bad luck for them!
3. Armenia - the veteran Vaganian was their star earning 25 ELO points and providing his team with 7 wins and 6 draws (no loss!). Another notable performances were produced by Aronian and Lputian. Akopian came late (he was Leko's second) and didn't score exceptionally well. Although this is not major surprise still a huge success for tiny Armenia to enjoy their third ever Olympic bronze.
4. USA - the veteran team of Soviet expatriates were condemned to a calamity by many. But they surprised all with their vivid chess. Kaidanov played as if he was in his prime. Other weren't much behind. Hadn't only Armenia hammered Georgia in the very last round in dubious circumstances it could have been even better for US!
5. Israel - they aimed at first ever Olympic medal but unexpected round 6-7 crash threw them far away of medal zone. Avrukh attained most noticeable score. Gelfand was too defensive heading towards draw all the time. 5th is not bad, but perhaps a little disappointing for 3rd seeds.
6. India - that's by far their best ever performance but still with Madras tiger Vishy Anand at board 1 they were hoping for more. Anand did what he was expected to do but the rest of the pack proved too weak to pave way into top 3. Ganguly and Sasikirian did well and Harikrishna's spirits sagged after halfway gong.
7. Cuba - they are definitely the discovery of the event. Seeded down in 20th they weren't expected to do as good as they did. Not only their final position is excellent, but also it is fully deserved success achieved after series of matches vs top teams. The team was firmly lead by reliable duo Dominguez & Bruzon with support coming most frequently from Arenciba's side. Their 4-0 vs Slovenia was the biggest upset of the event according to ELO table!
8. Netherlands - final position is decent, but not the play. They were very lucky to get that high, only thanks to ultimate round win. Van Wely lost as much as 3 games and Sokolov came late, although he scored 4/5 with a terrific ELO performed of 2790. Tiviakov was a disappointment.
9. Bulgaria - another minnow among giants. They quickly recovered from round 4 debacle making it top 10 without much problems. They relied on Georgiev and Delchev mainly. Who knows what if Topalov was in?
10. Spain - the host nation simply deserved a top 10 place. The first half of the Olympiad proved successful, but then a nightmare came. With one round to come they quickened the pace to sneak into top 10. Shirov was exceptionally badly shaped but Paco Valleco's play compensated that with interest. Illescas' performance was also notable.
Apart from those the following have to be noted:
* Poland down in disappointing 12th,
* FIDE WCh Kasimdzhanov scoring an impressive 2799 to boost Uzbekistan's final ranking up to 14th,
* Germany's 16th, remember Istanbul's silver medal!
* The Philippines up in 19th (40th seed!),
* Romania down in 20th, their top star Nisipeanu scored =10-1 (no comments out of pity for him),
* Georgia in 21st after awful ½-3½ in the last round vs Armenia; some claim the match hadn't been fair. Jobava won two individual gold medals,
* Azerbaijan teens down in 22nd -- perhaps too tiring for them to keep concentration for 14 rounds,
* France lying only in 23th -- but no Bacrot,
* China in 24th, still hunting for first ever medal for Asia,
* England and Hungary in 30th and 31st respectively. R.I.P.
Some Olympic trivia:
* Most points scored: Ermenkov (PLE) - 10½
* Most games won: Ermenkov and Anya Corke (HKG - a woman!) - 9
* Most games drawn: Sasikirian (IND) and Morovic (CHI) - 11
* 100% score: Forster (SUI) - 2 games; Lyong (FIJ) - 1 game
* Most matches won: Russia - 11; matches drawn: Iceland - 7; matches lost: Seychelles - 12.
* Most games won: Ukraine - 27; then Morocco (!), Bangladesh (!!) and Armenia - 23; most draws: France - 37; least losses: Russia & Ukraine - 4.
* Overall ELO performed: Ukraine 2755, Russia 2700, Armenia 2680, Israel 2664, USA 2659, India 2653.
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