Japan's Performance in the FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 - Summary
Division 3
Here are the results from the division in which Japan competed, Division 3 (Pool A) with all games played from Aug 7-9, 2020:
Japan
Japan's team placed 8th out of 10 teams in their Pool, which meant they did not move on past their first stage of competition, but there were some notable games which will be reviewed later in this post.
Team Compositions and Format
Each team consisted of six main players, including at least two women, at least one player who is 20 or younger, and at least one girl who is 20 or younger. Each team was allowed up to six reserves: two players in each of the first two categories and one player in each of the latter categories. Each team had a team captain as well.
The time control for all matches was 15 minutes for the game and five seconds increment per move, starting from move one.
Here you can see the list of players representing Japan, and their scores in the Division 3 match (Pool A):
CM Tran Thanh Tu
Born in 1990. Achieved a Candidate Master title at ASEAN Boys U16 Championship in 2006. This was his first event playing under a Japanese flag since his FIDE transfer from Vietnam in February 2020.
CM Tran Thanh Tu (Chess.com profile) acted as top board and Captain of the Japan team, and earned the most individual points scored for the team along with WFM Hoshino Karen (Chess.com profile). Let's review one game from each players' performances.
In this game, CM Tran Thanh Tu, ranked #3 in the Japanese chess federation among active players, played against New Zealand's (#4) Scott Wastney. CM Tran Thanh Tu played with the White pieces (analysis by JapaneseTutor).
All nine of CM Tran Thanh Tu's games can be seen here.
WFM Karen Hoshino
Born in 2001. Achieved a Women’s FIDE Master title at Baku Chess Olympiad in 2016.
One of the youngest female players who leads women’s chess in Japan. She currently lives in Brazil with her family.
In this game, WFM Hoshino Karen, ranked #34 in the Japanese chess federation among active players, played against Malaysia's WFM Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar, ranked #40. WFM Hoshino Karen played with the Black pieces (analysis by JapaneseTutor).
All nine of WFM Hoshino Karen's games can be seen here.
Additional Coverage
The National Chess Society of Japan has also covered the event on their website, which you can check out here.
Live Commentary
Live commentary was also streamed in Japanese, and was posted on the National Chess Society of Japan's Youtube channel.
Pre-tournament coverage: https://youtu.be/AbTMCbsprx0
Day 1: https://youtu.be/MAMsvcamVpg
Day 2: https://youtu.be/zKBPtpaICw0
Day 3: https://youtu.be/BKUHXcbvo08
Also, the Japanese federation now has an official club on Chess.com! https://www.chess.com/club/national-chess-society-of-japan?ref_id=8020888
