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Armenia and China lead the Open and Women's section of the Chess Olympiad 2008. Rank after Round 7 Open Section Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 Rp 1 Armenia ARM 2677 20,5 13 0 2 Germany 1 GER1 2647 19,0 12 0 3 Israel ISR 2682 19,0 12 0 4 France FRA 2690 19,0 12 0 5 Russia RUS 2756 17,5 11 0 Women Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 Rp 1 China CHN 2486 20,5 13 0 2 Ukraine UKR 2486 20,5 12 0 3 Russia RUS 2495 20,0 11 0 4 United States of America USA 2396 20,5 11 0 5 Hungary HUN 2389 20,0 11 0

Round 7 on 2008/11/20 at 15:00 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 7 United States of America (USA) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 - IM Krush Irina 2452 1 - 0 1.2 GM Zhao Xue 2518 - IM Zatonskih Anna 2440 ½ - ½ 1.3 WGM Shen Yang 2450 - WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2359 ½ - ½ 1.4 Tan Zhongyi 2395 - WGM Rohonyan Katerina 2334 0 - 1 Bo. 12 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg - 33 Italy (ITA) Rtg 2 : 2 2.1 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471 - IM Sedina Elena 2365 0 - 1 2.2 IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2371 - WGM Zimina Olga 2368 ½ - ½ 2.3 WGM Michna Marta 2399 - WFM Ambrosi Eleonora 2128 1 - 0 2.4 WFM Hoolt Sarah 2274 - WFM Brunello Marina 2117 ½ - ½ Bo. 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg - 9 Poland (POL) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2525 - IM Socko Monika 2434 ½ - ½ 3.2 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2513 - IM Rajlich Iweta 2404 0 - 1 3.3 IM Korbut Ekaterina 2459 - WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2378 1 - 0 3.4 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2474 - WIM Majdan Joanna 2284 ½ - ½ Bo. 17 Netherlands (NED) Rtg - 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg ½ :3½ 4.1 GM Peng Zha

Results of Top Teams - Round 7 Round 7 on 2008/11/20 at 15:00 Bo. 9 Armenia (ARM) Rtg - 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg 2½:1½ 1.1 GM Aronian Levon 2757 - GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772 ½ - ½ 1.2 GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 - GM Svidler Peter 2727 ½ - ½ 1.3 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 - GM Grischuk Alexander 2719 1 - 0 1.4 GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 - GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 ½ - ½ Bo. 11 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg - 14 Romania (ROU) Rtg 2½:1½ 2.1 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 - GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2684 0 - 1 2.2 GM Gustafsson Jan 2634 - GM Istratescu Andrei 2633 1 - 0 2.3 GM Fridman Daniel 2630 - GM Parligras Mircea 2611 ½ - ½ 2.4 GM Baramidze David 2557 - GM Vajda Levente 2582 1 - 0 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Wang Yue 2736 - GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 ½ - ½ 3.2 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2714 - GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 ½ - ½ 3.3 GM Ni Hua 2710 - GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 ½ - ½ 3.4 GM Wang Hao 2696 - GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 ½ - ½ Bo. 13 India (IND) Rtg - 7 France (FRA) Rtg 1½:2½ 4

Leading Results of Round 6 Round 6 on 2008/11/19 at 15:00 Bo. 1 RUS Russia (RUS) Rtg - 15 ENG England (ENG) Rtg 3 : 1 1.1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772 - GM Short Nigel D 2642 1 - 0 1.2 GM Svidler Peter 2727 - GM Howell David W L 2593 ½ - ½ 1.3 GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 ½ - ½ 1.4 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 - GM Conquest Stuart C 2526 1 - 0 Bo. 2 UKR Ukraine (UKR) Rtg - 11 GER Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg 2 : 2 2.1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 ½ - ½ 2.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 1 - 0 2.3 GM Eljanov Pavel 2720 - GM Gustafsson Jan 2634 ½ - ½ 2.4 GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 0 - 1 Bo. 4 AZE Azerbaijan (AZE) Rtg - 9 ARM Armenia (ARM) Rtg 1½:2½ 3.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2752 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ - ½ 3.2 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 0 - 1 3.3 GM Gashimov Vugar 2703 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 ½ - ½ 3.4 GM Mammadov Rauf 2631 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 ½ - ½ Bo. 7 FRA France

The two important games of Round 5. Ivanchuk and Caruana beat Leko and Adams with black pieces. Enjoy the games Leko vs Ivanchuk 0-1 Adams vs Caruana 0-1

Leading Standings after Round 5 Open section (Mostly men) SNo/Seed/Country/CountryShort/Matches/Wins/0/0/MatchPoints/x/y/Game Points 1 9 ARM Armenia 13 7 2½ : 1½ 7 11 Netherlands NED 20 2 11 GER1 Germany 1 12½ 8 2 : 2 8 11 Russia RUS 1 3 5 HUN Hungary 11½ 7 1½ : 2½ 7 9½ Ukraine UKR 2 4 19 NOR Norway 10½ 7 1 : 3 7 12 Azerbaijan AZE 4 5 15 ENG England 11½ 7 2½ : 1½ 6 9 Italy ITA 44 6 13 IND India 10½ 6 3 : 1 6 10½ Austria AUT 54 7 21 POL Poland 12 6 3½ : ½ 6 11 Costa Rica CRC 66 8 3 CHN China 11 6 2½ : 1½ 6 10½ Scotland SCO 46 9 37 VIE Vietnam 12½ 6 2 : 2 6 10 Cuba CUB 16 10 32 DEN Denmark 10 6 ½ : 3½ 6 10 Israel ISR 8 11 12 ESP Spain 10½ 6 2 : 2 6 10 Belarus BLR 23 12 28 SLO Slovenia 11 6 ½ : 3½ 6 12 Bulgaria BUL 6 13 35 LTU Lithuania 11 6 ½ : 3½ 6 10 Romania ROU 14 14 22 SRB Serbia 10½ 6 1½ : 2½ 6 11 France FRA 7 15 24 CRO Croatia 10 6 1 : 3 6 10½ Sweden SWE 30

Leading Standings after Round 5 SNo/Seed/Country/CountryShort/Matches/Wins/0/0/MatchPoints/x/y/Game Points 1 3 China CHN 5 5 0 0 10 97,0 30,0 16,0 2 8 Hungary HUN 5 4 1 0 9 75,5 27,0 15,5 3 1 Russia RUS 5 3 2 0 8 79,0 29,0 15,0 4 16 Romania ROU 5 4 0 1 8 75,0 28,0 15,0 5 4 Georgia GEO 5 3 2 0 8 74,0 33,0 12,0 6 17 Netherlands NED 5 4 0 1 8 69,0 28,0 13,0 7 6 Armenia ARM 5 4 0 1 8 68,5 29,0 13,0 8 2 Ukraine UKR 5 3 2 0 8 68,5 24,0 13,5 9 9 Poland POL 5 4 0 1 8 67,5 32,0 13,0 10 31 England ENG 5 4 0 1 8 63,0 24,0 15,0 11 7 United States of America USA 5 4 0 1 8 62,5 23,0 14,5 12 43 Uzbekistan UZB 5 4 0 1 8 62,0 26,0 13,5 13 36 Austria AUT 5 4 0 1 8 58,0 24,0 13,5 14 11 India IND 5 3 1 1 7 68,0 31,0 12,0 15 10 Serbia SRB 5 3 1 1 7 65,0 27,0 12,5

Leading Women's Pairings after Round 6 SNo/Seeding/Team Short/Team/Game Points/MatchPoints/Match Points/Game Points/Team/ShortTeam/Seeding 1 8 HUN Hungary 15½ 9 : 10 16 China CHN 3 2 10 SRB Serbia 12½ 7 : 7 11 Germany 1 GER1 12 3 36 AUT Austria 13½ 8 : 8 15 Russia RUS 1 4 16 ROU Romania 15 8 : 8 14½ United States of America USA 7 5 4 GEO Georgia 12 8 : 8 13 Poland POL 9 6 43 UZB Uzbekistan 13½ 8 : 8 13 Netherlands NED 17 7 6 ARM Armenia 13 8 : 8 13½ Ukraine UKR 2 8 31 ENG England 15 8 : 7 13½ Bulgaria BUL 13 9 33 ITA Italy 13½ 7 : 7 12 India IND 11 10 47 MGL Mongolia 11 7 : 7 12 Israel ISR 21 11 14 SLO Slovenia 14 7 : 7 11½ Azerbaijan AZE 28 12 24 VIE Vietnam 13 7 : 7 13 Switzerland SUI 38 13 52 ICSC ICSC 9 6 : 6 14½ Cuba CUB 25 14 58 DEN Denmark 9 6 : 6 13½ France FRA 5 15 88 PAR Paraguay 11½ 6 : 6 12½ Czech Republic CZE 18

Leading Round 6 Pairings at the Chess Olympiad, Dresden 2008 SNo/Seeding/Team Short/Team/Game Points/MatchPoints/Match Points/Game Points/Team/ShortTeam/Seeding 1 1 RUS Russia 13 9 : 9 14 England ENG 15 2 2 UKR Ukraine 12 9 : 9 14½ Germany 1 GER1 11 3 4 AZE Azerbaijan 15 9 : 9 15½ Armenia ARM 9 4 7 FRA France 13½ 8 : 8 15½ Poland POL 21 5 29 BIH Bosnia & Herzegovina 13½ 8 : 8 13½ India IND 13 6 30 SWE Sweden 13½ 8 : 8 13½ Israel ISR 8 7 17 GEO Georgia 12½ 8 : 8 13½ China CHN 3 8 14 ROU Romania 13½ 8 : 8 15½ Bulgaria BUL 6 9 59 COL Colombia 13 7 : 7 13 Hungary HUN 5 10 20 NED Netherlands 12½ 7 : 7 12 Moldova MDA 26 11 52 FIN Finland 14 7 : 7 11½ Norway NOR 19 12 38 PHI Philippines 11 7 : 7 12½ Spain ESP 12 13 45 ISL Iceland 13½ 7 : 7 14½ Vietnam VIE 37 14 41 GER2 Germany 2 12 7 : 7 13 Greece GRE 27 15 16 CUB Cuba 12 7 : 7 13 United States of America USA 10

Top Women's Event Results Sl No/Seeding/Team/Team Short/Score/Score 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 2 : 2 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 1.5 : 1.5 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 1 : 3 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 3 : 1 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 3.5 : 0.5 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 2 : 2 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 2 : 2 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 1.5 : 2.5 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 1 : 3 0 SWE Sweden 30

Top Table Results of the Chess Olympiad, Dresden 2008 Please note: Some games are still in progress. Sl No/Seeding/Team/Team Short/Score/Score 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 2 : 2 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 1.5 : 1.5 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 1 : 3 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 3 : 1 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 3.5 : 0.5 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 2 : 2 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 2 : 2 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 1.5 : 2.5 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 1 : 3 0 SWE Sweden 30

Top Women's Event Pairings 1 9 Poland POL 0 0 : 0 0 CHN China 3 2 12 Germany 1 GER1 0 0 : 0 0 GRE Greece 19 3 1 Russia RUS 0 0 : 0 0 GEO Georgia 4 4 11 India IND 0 0 : 0 0 HUN Hungary 8 5 22 Spain ESP 0 0 : 0 0 ROU Romania 16 6 28 Azerbaijan AZE 0 0 : 0 0 SRB Serbia 10 7 37 Ecuador ECU 0 0 : 0 0 NED Netherlands 17 8 25 Cuba CUB 0 0 : 0 0 UZB Uzbekistan 43 9 18 Czech Republic CZE 0 0 : 0 0 AUT Austria 36 10 2 Ukraine UKR 0 0 : 0 0 SVK Slovakia 15 11 23 Lithuania LTU 0 0 : 0 0 ENG England 31 12 13 Bulgaria BUL 0 0 : 0 0 SLO Slovenia 14 13 7 United States of America USA 0 0 : 0 0 NOR Norway 40 14 5 France FRA 0 0 : 0 0 ARM Armenia 6 15 21 Israel ISR 0 0 : 0 0 VIE Vietnam 24

Top Open Event Pairings 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 0 : 0 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 0 : 0 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 0 : 0 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 0 : 0 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 0 : 0 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 0 : 0 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 0 : 0 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 0 : 0 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 0 : 0 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0 : 0 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 0 : 0 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0 : 0 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0 : 0 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 0 : 0 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 0 : 0 0 SWE Sweden 30

Sl. No. Name Rating Country Rating Perf Points /Max. Points 1 IM Vajda Szidonia 2380 Hungary 2974 3,0 3 2 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2548 Bulgaria 2956 3,0 3 3 Tan Zhongyi 2395 China 2911 3,0 3 4 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2468 Russia 2909 4,0 4 5 WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2359 United States of America 2899 4,0 4 6 WIM Daulyte Deimante 2278 Lithuania 2886 4,0 4 7 IM Ciuksyte Dagne 2339 England 2855 4,0 4 8 WIM Majdan Joanna 2284 Poland 2839 4,0 4 9 WGM Igla Bella 2254 Israel 2839 3,0 3 10 WIM Linares Napoles Oleiny 2261 Cuba 2800 4,0 4 11 WIM Paulet Iozefina 2307 Romania 2794 3,0 3 12 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 China 2746 3,5 4 13 IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2361 Ecuador 2742 4,0 4 14 WGM Zdebskaja Natalia 2419 Ukraine 2732 3,0 3 15 WFM Bjerke Silje 2204 Norway 2720 3,0 3 16 GM Peng Zhaoqin 2455 Netherlands 2720 2,5 3 17 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2525 Russia 2713 2,5 3 18 IM Moser Eva 2376 Austria 2708 3,0 3 19 WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2410 Mongolia 2696 3,5 4 20 IM Tania Sachdev 2425 Ind

Open Section after Round 4 Sl. No. Name Rating Country Rating Perf Points /Max. Points 1 GM Lie Kjetil A 2526 Norway 3242 3,0 3 2 FM Abdel Razik Khaled 2406 Egypt 3102 3,0 3 3 IM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2436 Turkey 3037 4,0 4 4 GM Vuckovic Bojan 2561 Serbia 3036 3,0 3 5 GM Franco Ocampos Zenon 2501 Paraguay 3033 3,0 3 6 GM Iotov Valentin 2532 Bulgaria 2980 4,0 4 7 FM El Debs Felipe De Cresce 2447 Brazil 2955 3,0 3 8 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 Azerbaijan 2937 3,5 4 9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 Germany 1 2931 3,5 4 10 GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 Russia 2906 3,5 4 11 GM Leko Peter 2747 Hungary 2898 2,5 3 12 GM Carlsson Pontus 2515 Sweden 2879 3,0 3 13 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2694 India 2871 2,5 3 14 GM Onischuk Alexander 2644 United States of America 2863 3,5 4 15 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2640 Kazakhstan 2861 2,5 3 16 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2672 Uzbekistan 2860 3,5 4 17 GM Khenkin Igor 2647 Germany 1 2850 2,5 3 18 GM Predojevic Borki 2615 Bosnia & Herzegovina 2843 3,5 4 1

Leading Women's results Bo. 8 Hungary (HUN) Rtg - 4 Georgia (GEO) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2483 - GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2489 ½ : ½ 1.2 IM Vajda Szidonia 2380 - IM Dzagnidze Nana 2503 1 : 0 1.3 IM Madl Ildiko 2376 - IM Javakhishvili Lela 2473 ½ : ½ 1.4 WGM Rudolf Anna 2318 - IM Lomineishvili Maia 2437 0 : 1 Bo. 11 India (IND) Rtg - 12 Germany 1 (GER) Rtg 3 : 1 2.1 IM Harika Dronavalli 2462 - IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471 ½ : ½ 2.2 IM Tania Sachdev 2425 - IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2371 1 : 0 2.3 WGM Swathi Ghate 2320 - WGM Michna Marta 2399 ½ : ½ 2.4 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2298 - WFM Hoolt Sarah 2274 1 : 0 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 6 Armenia (ARM) Rtg 3.5 : 0.5 3.1 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 - IM Danielian Elina 2513 1 : 0 3.2 GM Zhao Xue 2518 - IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2443 ½ : ½ 3.3 WGM Shen Yang 2450 - WGM Aginian Nelly 2325 1 : 0 3.4 Tan Zhongyi 2395 - WIM Galojan Lilit 2305 1 : 0 Bo. 10 Serbia (SRB) Rtg - 9 Poland (POL)

Round 4 Open on 2008/11/16 at 15.00 Bo. 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg - 9 Armenia (ARM) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ : ½ 1.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 ½ : ½ 1.3 GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 ½ : ½ 1.4 GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 ½ : ½ Bo. 12 Spain (ESP) Rtg - 11 Germany 1 (GER) Rtg 1.5 : 2.5 2.1 GM Shirov Alexei 2726 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 0 : 1 2.2 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2664 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 ½ : ½ 2.3 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2604 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 1 : 0 2.4 GM Khamrakulov S 2580 - GM Baramidze David 2557 0 : 1 Bo. 19 Norway (NOR) Rtg - 15 England (ENG) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2786 - GM Adams Michael 2734 1 : 0 3.2 GM Agdestein Simen 2588 - GM Short Nigel D 2642 ½ : ½ 3.3 GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2545 - GM Howell David W L 2593 0 : 1 3.4 IM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2522 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 ½ : ½ Bo. 1 R

Carlsen played the strongman beating the very dependable Adams, thus helping Norway to draw with England.

Most of the 4th round games have been played out. The high profile match between Ukraine and Armenia ended in a draw at 2-2. Germany 1 edged past Spain, England was held to a draw by Norway even though Carlsen beat the bankable Adams. Kramnik escaped a lethal attack from Sasikiran Krishnan of India. Russia won 2.5-1.5 Hungary finally had a good result beating Romania. The bad news for them was the form of Judit Polgar, who is still struggling. Azerbaijan beat USA 3-1 with wins by Radjabov and Mamedyarov over Kamsky and Nakamura respectively. In the women's section, India beat Germany 1, China thrashed Armenia, Russia whitewashed Indonesia. Georgia - Hungary and Ukraine - Lithuania were draws. Leading Results Open Section Ukraine - Armenia 2-2 Spain - Germany 1 1.5-2.5 Norway - England 2-2 Russsia - India 2.5-1.5 Romania - Hungary 1-3 Azerbaijan - USA 3-1 Women's Section Hungary - Georgia 2-2 India - Germany 1 3-1 China - Armenia 3.5-0.5 Serbia - Poland 1.5-1.5 (one game still o

Russia beat India 2.5-1.5 in the 4th round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, but young Harikrishna beat the experienced Svidler with the black pieces. Watch the game here.

The in-form Leinier Perez Dominguez held Vladimir Kramnik to a draw in the 3rd round of the Chess Olympiad 2008 at Dresden

Leading pairings for Round 4 Open section Ukraine - Armenia Spain - Germany 1 Norway - England Russia - India Romania - Hungary Azerbaijan - USA Women's section Hungary - Georgia India - Germany 1 China - Armenia Serbia - Poland Indonesia - Russia

Highlights of Round 2 and 3 Round 2 The main upset result was the draw between Greece and the much higher rated US. Russia managed to win with the slightest of margins against a determined Poland. Even the great Kramnik was held to a draw by Kamil. On the women's side, Israel beat the USA. Round 3 The big news was that the 19th seeds Norway beat the 3rd seeds China. Kjetil Lie beat Bu Xiangzhi. Carlsen was held to a tough draw by the resurgent Wang Yue. In the women's section, mighty Russia had to be content with a draw after a determined India won two games. Kosintseva lost to Sachdev and Ghate beat Korbut.

Many of the top seed teams struggled against the lower rated but determined teams. Some of the surprises in the first round. Russia beat Switzerland 2.5-1.5 But not before the cunning Korchnoi held the mighty Svidler to a draw. Only Morozevhich could score! Ukraine beat Vietnam Ivanchuk held to a draw by Ngoc Truong Son. Only Efimenko scored. China beat The Philippines 2.5-1.5 Wesley So beat the much higher rated Ni Hua. But the other Chinese prevailed over their opponents. Hungary drew Iran 2-2 Even Judit Polgar could not score. All the lower rated players of Iran drew their games against the Hungarian players. Germany 2 beat Bulgaria 2.5-1.5 Probably the upset of the day. Cheparinov and Georgiev were beaten by Meier and Braun respectively. France drew Montenegro 2-2 Another upset despite being a draw. Bacrot won but Maze lost. USA beat Iceland 2.5-1.5 The almost bankcrupt nation is still going strong at least in Chess. USA squeaked through the narrowest of margins. Shulman lost, but

While we wait for the first games of the Chess Olympiad 2008 to be beamed, here's a game from the past. Kasparov was in his peak form and Topalov was a pesky challenger at best, over 150 ELO below the giant. Yet, Topalov outfoxed the genius with some provocative play. Key Moments: * Kasparov keeps an edge in the middle game until he makes a mistake on move 25 with ...Rh3. Kd8 was required. Topalov missed the winning line - 26 Rfe7+ Kd8 27 Nd4 Kc8 28 Nc6 or 26 Ra7 Rh1+ 27 Kf2 Nb6 28 Rae7+ * Kasparov blundered on move 26 with ... Re3+. After 27 Kf1 Kasparov has nothing and the attack is all Topalov's from here on. With Bg3 he had a fighting chance to survive. Watch the game here: Topalov - Kasparov 1-0

The field for Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2009 Group A has been announced. The first Grand Slam event boasts an impressive list but will miss the presence of Anand, Topalov, and Kramnik. Topalov could use the absense at Wijk Aan Zee to prepare for a possible postponed match against Kamsky. Ironically, Kamsky has signed up for the event. The players to watch are Wang Yue of China, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, and Leinier Dominguez of Cuba. Also under the scanner are the dutch newcomers Smeets and Stellwagen. Wang Yue shocked everyone with his Grand Prix performances and is at the cusp of the top ten in the world rankings. The chess world is curious to see how he performs in a world class event like Corus. Movsesian had an equally impressive climb, although he did not have any major achievement in terms of tournament wins. Leinier Dominguez won the world blitz championship, but this is a completely kettle of fish, but Dominguez is a fighter and his games will be worth watching. Alexander Moroze

GM Alexey Dreev of Russia won the Magistral Casino De Barcelona tournament 2008. He finished just half a point ahead of GM Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria. Dreev finished the tournament unbeaten and with a +5 score by scoring 7/9. Veteran Gulko played well in patches to finish with a plus score. Top Women's player Stefanova finished on an even score. Here's some juicy vintage stuff from Gulko. Mind you, he has a plus score against none other then the great Kasparov. In this game, although he makes some minor errors in the opening (normal for veterans since they usually don't keep up with opening theory), he more than makes up for it with an accurate end game. Final Standings: GM Dreev 7 GM Georgiev 6.5 GM Jobava 5.5 GM Gulko 5 GM Stefanova, IM Corrales 4.5 GM Lopez 4 GM Narciso, GM Kogan 2.5

The 2008 Chess Olympiad starts at Dresden on 12th November. The first rounds will be played on the 13th. A record number of Federations and players have signed up for participation. This edition of the Olympiad promises to be a spectacular one with 152 nations participating in the Open team event and 119 in the Women's team event. The fresh World Champion Vishwanathan Anand will be missed. He will not be playing for India in this edition. In some of the previous Olympiads, Anand lost valuable rating points. Also, there is also a lot of pressure to perform in a team that does not have a world class second player. Topalov may also opt out of the Olympiad. Kramnik is expected to play for Russia. He will be joined by Morozevich, Svidler, Grischuk, and Jakovenko.

The fast rising Leinier Perez Dominguez of Cuba won the World Blitz Chess Championship held at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine won the second prize while Peter Svidler took the third place. Dominguez Perez proved that the classical ratings are not all that critical by finishing ahead of Morozevich (2787) and Ivanchuk (2786). Judit Polgar of Hungary finished a shocking 16th and last with a performance that even a player rated 2428 should be able to manage. Check out this lucky win on time when the position was roughly equal. Both the players made mistakes during the time scramble. Final Standings Dominguez Perez 11.5 Ivanchuk 11 Sviler, Grishchuk 10 Mamedyarov, Radjabov 9.5 Kazhgaleyev 8 Morozevich 7.5 Kamsky, Gelfand 7 Tkachiev, Rublevsky 6.5 Vaganian 5.5 Bassem 4.5 Sasikiran 3.5 Polgar 2.5

When we just thought all World class matches can be held smoothly, like the Anand-Kramnik one, FIDE once again is finding it difficult to pull off the same trick with the Topalov - Kamsky match. The match is uncertain yet again. After a direct attack from Bill Goichberg (US Chess Federation), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has come out with another confusing announcement. The ball is now in the Bulgarian Federation's court and the match may be postponed until February or March 2009, if all things don't get sorted out. There is now a deadline of November 14 for the players and Bulgaria to accept the offer to hold the match. The previous ball holder was Alexander Chernenko.

Karpov recently made a controversial statement that Anand was playing like a computer and he was not as strong as he was a decade ago! You can read about it here here , here and here . Nine Reasons why Fritz is my Friend, Trainer, and Guide. Karpov, can you please stand up? 1) The Botvinnik School was too far away and inaccessible. 2) As a rule, I pay my respects to anyone who's stronger than me. My Engine is, and I believe at least around 400 ELO stronger than the legend. 3) I can even place a bet and my comp takes me seriously (and not consider me a sissy) 4) Even when I lose in 22 moves, Fritz patiently tells me where I went wrong and suggests alternatives. 5) It does not charge $ 80 per hour to teach me. All you want free lessons! 6) I can set up a Rated Game and make my coffee and Fritzie's ego is not hurt.(Try doing that even to an FM!, let alone Karpov). I can even wink, reset the time to make up for the coffee making. 7) When I'm Kibitzing, I can try out thousands

The spectacular finals of the Cap D'Agde tournament takes place today between the classical favorite Ivanchuk and the maverick Nakamura. Update: Hiraku Nakamura of the USA won the Cap D'Agde 2008 tournament by clearly outplaying Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine 1.5-0.5 Watch the live coverage here. We will post the moves regularly. Finals Game 2 - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) - Hikaru Nakamura (2704) : 1/2 Game 1 - Hikaru Nakamura (2704) - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) : 1-0 Ivanchuk started to go astray around move 32 and was thoroughly outplayed after that. Game 2 1-0