Russia Extend Their Olympiad Lead
There are still three rounds remaining at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, but Russia are well placed to take the Gold medal for the first time in a decade.
Russia faced defending champions Ukraine in the eighth round, and a win by Sergey Karjakin on board three was enough to take the match 2½-1½.
China and Azerbaijan are still in the hunt for medals, but neither side could win their encounter despite two decisive games. Meanwhile Armenia recovered from their loss to China yesterday by beating Uzbekistan 3-1.
The USA continued their progress up the standings, with a 3-1 victory against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Philippines continued their dream tournament by beating a higher-rated England team 3-1.
A Peter Leko's blunder on top board for Hungary cost them dearly, handing Germany a 2½-1½ victory in their encounter.
The American team's reward for their victory today is to face Russia in round nine tomorrow! The Philippines will take on China, and Armenia face Germany.
The top standings after eight rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | Russia | 7 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 207.5 | 21.5 |
| 2 | China | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 206.5 | 22.5 |
| 3 | Armenia | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 206.0 | 21.0 |
| 4 | USA | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 201.5 | 23.5 |
| 5 | Germany | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 183.5 | 21.0 |
| 6 | Philippines | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 179.0 | 22.5 |
| 7 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 192.0 | 23.0 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 187.0 | 21.0 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 168.5 | 22.0 |
| 10 | France | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 165.0 | 20.5 |
| 11 | Israel | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 163.5 | 20.0 |
| 12 | Argentina | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 158.5 | 20.0 |
| 13 | Poland | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 153.0 | 21.0 |
| 14 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 185.5 | 19.5 |
| 15 | India | 3 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 178.0 | 20.0 |
| 16 | Georgia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 171.5 | 21.5 |
| 17 | England | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 166.0 | 18.5 |
| 18 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 163.0 | 21.0 |
| 19 | Czech Republic | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 163.0 | 20.0 |
| 20 | Serbia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 160.5 | 21.5 |
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Andrew Paulsen, responsible for the commercial development of chess, gave an interview in Istanbul.
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Vladimir Kramnik asks for 1.Nf3 as his ceremonial first move
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Lev Aronian only drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov, but Armenia beat Uzbekistan 3-1
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Gata Kamsky helped the US team to a 3-1 victory against the FYROM
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The Philippines defeated England by a score of 3-1
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Peter Leko's slip cost Hungary the match against Germany 2½-1½
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In the women's competition, China took a big step towards winning the Gold medal with a 3-1 victory against Poland, while Russia let Ukraine slip off the hook for a draw.
The top women's standings after 8 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 228.0 | 24.0 |
| 2 | Russia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 209.5 | 22.5 |
| 3 | France | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 199.5 | 24.0 |
| 4 | India | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 174.5 | 21.0 |
| 5 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 171.5 | 20.5 |
| 6 | Ukraine | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 209.0 | 21.5 |
| 7 | USA | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 193.5 | 23.5 |
| 8 | Poland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 182.0 | 22.0 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 177.5 | 22.5 |
| 10 | Armenia | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 176.0 | 20.5 |
| 11 | Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 172.0 | 21.5 |
| 12 | Georgia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 182.0 | 22.0 |
| 13 | Israel | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 177.5 | 22.0 |
| 14 | Serbia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 176.5 | 20.5 |
| 15 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 174.0 | 21.0 |
| 16 | Vietnam | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 170.0 | 20.0 |
| 17 | Iran | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 169.5 | 23.0 |
| 18 | Slovenia | 3 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 168.0 | 19.5 |
| 19 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 166.5 | 20.5 |
| 20 | Germany | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 159.0 | 21.0 |
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Kateryna Lahno escaped with an amazing draw
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Tatiana Kosintseva tried in vain to rescue the win with K+R v K+B (screenshot from the live coverage)
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Look out for live coverage on www.chess.com/tv (scroll down on that page to check the schedule for times).
Official website here. Full results and standings here. Photos from the official website. Open games from TWIC, women's games from the official website. All the games can be replayed at the live games page.
