Hong Kong, Angola Perfect; Eid Brilliant In Olympiad Division 4
Only two federations, Hong Kong and Angola, achieved perfect scores in division four of the Online Chess Olympiad. Along with 13 other triumphant federations, they secured advancement to division three that takes place August 7-9 on Chess.com.
Two teams, Mauritania and Lebanon (both in Pool C), qualified for division four last week AND secured advancement to division three this week.
The games of the FIDE Online Olympiad can be found here as part of our live events platform. On playing days, expert commentary is provided on Chess.com/TV starting from midnight Pacific / 9:00 a.m. Central Europe.
After the base division competed last week (July 24-26) with thirty teams in three pools, this week saw the first "full" divisional week with a complete cadre of 50 teams split into five "pools" of 10 teams each. The top three teams in each division advance to division four this weekend (August 7-9).
This week saw many fine games, brilliant tactics, and cliffhanger finishes as these 50 teams and 300 players competed for national honor and advancement.
Live coverage of day three. Watch all of the live coverage at youtube.com/chess.
Pool A
Hong Kong was the clear victor in Pool A, winning all nine of its matches in convincing fashion.
Finishing second in the division was Thailand who lost their match against Hong Kong and drew Chinese Taipei (who finished third) but still managed to score the most points of any team in the division, winning four matches with a perfect 6/6.
Impressing was FM Kulpruethanon, who scored a critical point against neighboring Myanmar.
And Thailand wins the match - 3.5:2.5. FM Thanadon Kulpruethanon - on the photo - played a perfect game on Board 1 against IM Wynn Zaw Htun from Myanmar (who won all his games in Base Division!) and scored a decisive point. Exciting start of FIDE Online #ChessOlympiad Pool A. pic.twitter.com/3kqKrOCzEq
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 31, 2020
Kenya missed out on qualifying for division three, finishing in the middle of the pool, but they demonstrated admirable solidarity and team spirit.
📷: Woman Fide Master (WFM) Krishi Shah in action at Clarion Hotel in Nairobi on July 31 during day one of Division 4 matches of the ongoing Online #ChessOlympiad@dailynation Kenya reports: https://t.co/jK2x69cRUt
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 31, 2020
Team Kenya did not qualify from Division 4, but showed a great team spirit - the squad gathered in Clarion Hotel in Nairobi to play in the FIDE Online #ChessOlympiad.
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 2, 2020
📷 by Benard Wanjala #chess #Kenya pic.twitter.com/ORoN2o8xqj
Pool B
Syria came slightly ahead of Malta and Mozambique, losing only one match in the pool. In fact, Syria benefited from a bit of luck against Mozambique when the clearly winning Efentakis blundered mate in two against Manar. Still, Mozambique stayed ahead in that match, winning with a solid 4-2.
Pool C
In the most spectacular game of the day, IM Fadi Eid scored an important point for Lebanon against Nigeria's veteran IM Oladapo Ado. Eid perfectly used Nigel Short's brilliant king march idea from Short vs. Timman, Tilburg, 1991. The final sequence was every bit as beautiful as the original and makes a striking impression. Eid's victory also aided his team to match victory and second place in the division.
Lebanon was one of two teams that qualified for division four through victory in the base division last week AND qualified this week for division three. The second team to accomplish this feat was Mauritania, which won the pool. Mauritania's only draw came against Nigeria. They could have won the match as well had their excellent scorer, Hemam Rahilou, found a beautiful queen sacrifice to force checkmate.
Pool D
Angola was the second team to score a perfect nine match victories in the week. They were even able to afford the luxury of being swindled brilliantly by Diego Zilleruelo Irizarry of Puerto Rico in a tight match.
Once again, the African teams displayed solidarity and seriousness in their matches. Ghana gathered together to compete from the beautiful Accra Sports Stadium Center; they were slightly short of qualification, but they performed admirably.
Online #ChessOlympiad does not necessarily mean that everyone plays from their homes. Some teams, like Ghana, gather in one place to bond together and lift the team spirit. They play from the Accra Sports Stadium Media center, which also ensures a reliable Internet connection! pic.twitter.com/QkZIoCcG1g
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 1, 2020
The Netherlands Antilles too competed from a single team location and performed well, despite their small size (just 300,000 residents), but not quite well enough to advance.
Team Netherlands Antilles in action!
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 3, 2020
Unfortunately, on the last day of competition, things did not go their way and they did not qualify for the next stage. But we should surely mention WFM Mena Ailen Oriana who scored 7/9 on the third board. #ChessOlympiad #WomenInChess pic.twitter.com/3EXaJ5frQJ
Pool E
Nicaragua won Pool E undefeated with an eight match wins and one draw. They also won three matches with a perfect 6/6 score.
Nicaragua allowed just one draw, to Honduras, en route to their triumphant qualification. Pool E proved to be the most seriously contested in division four. The difference between Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago qualifying was a fine f7-tactic played by Marlon Eduardo Miller Matute, who scored the decisive victory against Isaiah McIntosh, who had won many fine games for Trinidad and Tobago.
Although Trinidad and Tobago missed qualification only by tiebreakers, they did win many fine games, including the following, though it was possible to finish in even finer style with a beautiful queen sacrifice.
The final Pool E victors were Jamaica, for whom CM Rachel Miller was a true star.
In this picture, CM Rachel Miller plays for Jamaica at the Batumi Olympiad in 2018. That was her third Olympiad, she entered the national team being just 14.
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 2, 2020
Playing on board 6 in the Online #ChessOlympiad, she won 8 out of 8 games in Division 4 as her team qualified to Div 3. pic.twitter.com/1xGh016oaU
Watch these 15 qualifying teams and 35 new teams next weekend in division three on August 7-9! All rounds will be live on chess.com/tv.
The FIDE Online Olympiad is a major online chess event for national teams that runs July 25-August 30 on the Chess.com server. More than 1,500 participants and 163 teams from all over the world are playing.
Each team consists of six 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. The time control for all matches is 15 minutes for the game and five seconds increment per move, starting from move one.
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