40th Olympiad Set For Close Finish
The 40th Chess Olympiad is set for a close finish in the final round on Sunday, with three teams sharing the lead with 17 match points - China, Armenia and Russia.
In the penultimate round on Friday, China just managed to beat the USA 2½-1½ thanks to Ding Liren winning a theoretically drawn ending with Alexander Onischuk.
Russia only just managed to beat Argentina by the same 2½-1½ scoreline after Sergey Karjakin won his game with Diego Flores.
Armenia were slightly more convincing against the Netherlands, winning by 3-1 including a victory by Lev Aronian against Anish Giri on top board.
Ukraine put paid to Azerbaijani medal hopes with a 2½-1½ victory thanks to a win by Ruslan Ponomariov, while Hungary's 4-0 thumping of Denmark keeps their own hopes alive.
The crucial last round pairings in the fight for medals are: China v Ukraine, Armenia v Hungary, Russia v Germany, USA v Poland.
The final round starts 4 hours earlier at 11:00 local time (08:00 UTC).
The top standings after 10 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 343.5 | 28.5 |
| 2 | Armenia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 336.5 | 26.5 |
| 3 | Russia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 321.5 | 25.5 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 292.5 | 26.5 |
| 5 | Hungary | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 311.5 | 26.5 |
| 6 | USA | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 307.0 | 27.5 |
| 7 | Germany | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 282.0 | 25.0 |
| 8 | Poland | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 259.0 | 26.0 |
| 9 | Argentina | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 270.0 | 24.0 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 269.0 | 26.0 |
| 11 | Philippines | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 268.0 | 25.0 |
| 12 | Romania | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 257.5 | 26.0 |
| 13 | Netherlands | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 252.0 | 26.0 |
| 14 | Slovenia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 249.5 | 22.5 |
| 15 | Vietnam | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 246.5 | 26.0 |
| 16 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 289.0 | 26.5 |
| 17 | Czech Republic | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 284.0 | 25.0 |
| 18 | Cuba | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 281.0 | 28.0 |
| 19 | Belarus | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 270.5 | 25.0 |
| 20 | India | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 266.0 | 24.0 |
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China won their crucial encouter with the USA when Onischuk lost a drawn ending
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Nakamura tweeted: "The cruel and harsh reality of playing in a team chess event is that you are only as good as your teammates"
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Russia had a narrow victory over Argentina...
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...thanks to Sergey Karjakin.
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Armenia defeated the Netherlands 3-1
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Ruslan Ponomariov (centre) won for Ukraine
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Hungary thrashed Denmark 4-0
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In the women's competition China seemed to have the Gold medal all sewn up, but a shock draw against Kazakhstan allowed Russia to draw level on match points going into the final round.
The top women's standings:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 357.0 | 29.0 |
| 2 | Russia | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 348.0 | 29.0 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 6 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 325.0 | 27.0 |
| 4 | France | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 294.0 | 27.5 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 281.0 | 27.0 |
| 6 | Germany | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 277.5 | 26.5 |
| 7 | India | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 277.5 | 25.5 |
| 8 | Poland | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 282.0 | 26.0 |
| 9 | Bulgaria | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 260.0 | 26.0 |
| 10 | Armenia | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 259.5 | 24.0 |
| 11 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 259.0 | 24.0 |
| 12 | Romania | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 253.5 | 26.0 |
| 13 | Peru | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 229.5 | 24.5 |
| 14 | Georgia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 280.5 | 26.0 |
| 15 | Israel | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 264.0 | 25.5 |
| 16 | Iran | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 261.0 | 27.5 |
| 17 | USA | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 260.5 | 26.5 |
| 18 | Azerbaijan | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 258.5 | 24.5 |
| 19 | Spain | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 251.0 | 24.0 |
| 20 | Belarus | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 245.5 | 26.0 |
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China were held to a suprise draw by Kazakhstan
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Chess.com will have live coverage of the final round at www.chess.com/tv.
Official website here. Full results and standings here. Photos from the official website. Games from the official website. All the games can be replayed at the live games page.
