2014 Chess Olympiad (Tromsø)

Aw crap, I knew I had to be forgetting a team.

They have Thunder_Penguin!

What about Liechtenstein, Malta and Andorra?

Bhutan has a more colorful flag.

This matters because:

Octopi like colorful flags, and swim towards them.

When an octopus swims near your flag, your country wins the World Cup, etc.

Ah of course, I forgot the octopus decides who becomes the world champions

China has left out Wang Hao for some reason and opted for the less active Ni Hua over the recently successful Li Chao, but still the team has good chances for a medal standing with the young interesting players they have. Hungary seems to be coming in full force with all their top players, although there are several cracks, Rapport is strong but sometimes unstable, Polgar's recent results have not been so good, this is understandable as she is also a mother, and Leko has also been stagnating recently, drawing most of his games. France seems to be the one to bet for besides the obvious guys, they have all their top players and they are also all young and have recent good results. Russia is nothing surprising, they as usual have a monstrous line up although this does not make things so clear, it seems like they have lost their way since Kasparov retired and left the team. Ukraine should be very interesting, they have all of their strongest players with the eccentric and unstable Ivanchuk heading the team, who is known to be a powerful force at Olympiads. It should also be noted that the philosophical Anton Korobov has also been included, who was never on the team before, it should be fun to watch him play. Armenia has the usual line up, with one exception, a new player, Tigran Kotanjian, whose rating is ridiculously low for such a team. I do not know why he is on the team, as Armenia has plenty of other stronger players, it must be some kind of strategic plan they have, although if not then he must have passed an elimination of sorts. USA is also quite typical with a few exceptions, the heavy hitters Nakamura and Kamsky are both there, and Onischuk and Akobian being regulars, although the really interesting add on is Sam Shankland, a new talent, who should be a blast to watch. I also look forward to seeing their lineup in the next few years, when Wesley So will be on the team and possibly Alejandro Ramirez, if only Caruana played for them! Azerbaijan has also managed to compile a strong team, although without the late Vugar Gashimov there chances of getting a medal standing have decreased significantly. I do not know what is up with India, Anand is missing, as usual, but the absence of Harikishna is quite a shock, maybe he didn't pass the elimination? I do not know. My predictions for the medal standings: Gold: France Silver:Ukraine Bronze:Russia

Very odd that Anand & Harikrishna aren't there. Maybe Anands absence has to do with the match coming up & he's resting? Is he even scheduled to play a tournament before the match?

"Very odd that Anand & Harikrishna aren't there"

Anand used to play the Olympiad in the beginning of his career, but after 1992 he has only played twice, the last time being eight years ago.

Pardon My Blunders_001

Do the games start on 1st of Aug or 2nd? I know there will be opening ceremonies but will that cause the 1st round to be on Saturday instead of Friday?

Hoping for some surprising results from Brazil, and from Canada, maybe not the Charbonneau beating Anand kind, but some good results against the A-list nations.

The Russian team still looks ridiculously strong despite current form; Svidler on potential 4th board is crazy.

I see they're ranked #30 (2592 avg) & #37 (2560 avg) so they will be tough for even the top teams. There are 177 teams this year so they're in the top 17-21 percentile.

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China left out Bu also who just won the Politikin Cup by a full point. He was 9-1, while Gawain Jones finished 2nd at 8-2. Rapport finished at 7.5-2.5. With Hao & Bu playing they could be ranked 3rd or 4th. As it stands they're the 7th best team.

Any predictions on how the U.S. will finish? They're ranked #5.

Thanx pfren.

Well, looking at some of the lists found at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr140380.aspx?lan=1&art=8&flag=30&wi=821, it seems that the ordering of players within the teams is being (or has been) finalised!

Going by http://www.chess-results.com/tnr140380.aspx?lan=1&art=3&rd=1&flag=30&wi=821, it seems that many strong players (including Kramnik) won't be playing during the first round.

In the end Russia placed Karjakin on fourth board, kind of tough opposition for the fourth boarders of the other teams to face the guy who won Norway Chess ahead of Carlsen two years in a row. Hungary placed Polgar as reserve and the much lower rated Balogh on second board.

Technical issue:

Is it possible to get a live feed in lower than HD resolution? This current bandwidth eats up my monthly internet package in a matter of hours.