Russia In The Olympiad Driving Seat
The Russians strengthened their position at the top of the Olympiad standings thanks to a narrow win over Azerbaijan in round seven.
Alexander Grischuk earned a vital win over Eltaj Safarli on board two, and with the other games ending drawn Russia took the match 2½-1½.
China were underdogs against Armenia, but Wang Yue's win over Sergey Movsesian on board two was enough to clinch victory 2½-1½, and second place in the standings. China will play Azerbaijan in round eight.
Vassily Ivanchuk won his game on top board for Ukraine against Paco Vallejo of Spain, giving them a 2½-1½ victory and third spot in the standings. Defending champions Ukraine will face Russia in round eight.
The legendary Eugenio Torre was the hero for the Philippines, winning against his much higher rated opponent Ferenc Berkes to earn a draw in the match against Hungary.
The US finally broke their string of drawn matches against lower rated opposition with a convincing win against 3½-½ win against the hosts Turkey, which lifted them into fifth place. They will face the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in round eight, after they shocked Italy with a 2½-1½ victory.
The standings after 7 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | Russia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 165.0 | 19.0 |
| 2 | China | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 165.0 | 20.5 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 144.5 | 19.5 |
| 4 | Armenia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 154.5 | 18.0 |
| 5 | USA | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 147.5 | 20.5 |
| 6 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 147.0 | 18.0 |
| 7 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 141.5 | 21.0 |
| 8 | Germany | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 141.0 | 18.5 |
| 9 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 137.0 | 20.0 |
| 10 | Philippines | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 134.0 | 19.5 |
| 11 | England | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 133.0 | 17.5 |
| 12 | FYROM | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 123.0 | 18.5 |
| 13 | Cuba | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 144.5 | 21.0 |
| 14 | India | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 141.0 | 18.0 |
| 15 | Spain | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 131.5 | 19.0 |
| 16 | Latvia | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 125.0 | 18.0 |
| 17 | France | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 125.0 | 18.0 |
| 18 | Romania | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 123.0 | 19.5 |
| 19 | Serbia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 123.0 | 19.5 |
| 20 | Croatia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 123.0 | 16.0 |
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Alexander Grischuk is playing well in Istanbul
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China won a close match with Armenia thanks to a win by Wang Yue
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Paco Vallejo was unable to answer Vassily Ivanchuk's play
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Eugenio Torre helped the Philippines draw their match (photo: round six)
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Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura both won for the US in round seven
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In the women's Olympiad, the leading Russian team survived a possible upset at the hands of Poland, eventually escaping with a draw thanks in part to a win on board 4 by Natalia Pogonina.
China defeated Georgia 2½-1½ and now claim first place in the standings on a stronger S-B tie-break score.
The women's standings:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 168.5 | 21.0 |
| 2 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 165.5 | 20.5 |
| 3 | Poland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 160.5 | 21.0 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 160.5 | 19.5 |
| 5 | France | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 146.0 | 21.0 |
| 6 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 144.0 | 19.5 |
| 7 | Vietnam | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 133.5 | 18.5 |
| 8 | India | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 133.0 | 18.5 |
| 9 | Spain | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 130.0 | 18.5 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 124.5 | 18.0 |
| 11 | Georgia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 144.5 | 20.0 |
| 12 | USA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 142.5 | 20.0 |
| 13 | Serbia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 137.5 | 18.5 |
| 14 | Romania | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 130.0 | 19.0 |
| 15 | Armenia | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 129.0 | 17.5 |
| 16 | Bulgaria | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 128.5 | 19.0 |
| 17 | Iran | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 124.5 | 21.0 |
| 18 | Czech Republic | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 124.0 | 18.0 |
| 19 | Kazakhstan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 119.5 | 19.5 |
| 20 | Philippines | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 114.5 | 18.5 |
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Natalia Pogonina earned a vital win to help draw the match for Russia
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China just overcame Georgia 2½-1½ in another exciting match
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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 and games from the official website. All the games can be replayed at the live games page.
