Top Seeds Shine At The Olympiad
When the going gets tough, the tough get going! After four rounds of the 40th Chess Olympiad, the top four seeds are the only teams to maintain 100% match records.
Top seeds Russia took a crucial 3-1 victory against their dangerous Chinese opponents thanks to wins from Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Jakovenko.
Defending champions and second seeds Ukraine beat Poland 3-1 with wins from Vassily Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov and Andrei Volokitin.
Third seeds Armenia had a real struggle against the Philippines, with Welsey So holding Lev Aronian to a draw on top board. But a win from Gabriel Sargissian on board 4 was enough to edge the match 2½-1½.
Fourth seeds Hungary beat Slovakia 3-1 to keep their own 100% record. Although Peter Leko and Judit Polgar were held to draws, Zoltan Almasi and Ferenc Berkes won their games.
The top seeds will now clash in round 5, with Armenia facing Ukraine, and Hungary playing Russia!
The US team drew 2-2 with India, with Hikaru Nakamura's win over Krishnan Sasikiran being cancelled out by Gata Kamsky's loss to Pentala Harikrishna.
The matches between Azerbaijan and Germany, and England and France, also ended level at 2-2.
The top standings after 4 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | Ukraine | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 51.0 | 12.5 |
| 2 | Hungary | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 48.0 | 11.5 |
| 3 | Armenia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 46.0 | 12.0 |
| 4 | Russia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 40.0 | 12.0 |
| 5 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 53.0 | 12.0 |
| 6 | France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 50.0 | 12.0 |
| 7 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 50.0 | 12.0 |
| 8 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 47.5 | 13.0 |
| 9 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 44.5 | 10.5 |
| 10 | USA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 44.0 | 13.0 |
| 11 | India | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 44.0 | 12.0 |
| 12 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 41.5 | 11.5 |
| 13 | England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 41.0 | 11.0 |
| 14 | Croatia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 36.5 | 10.5 |
| 15 | Montenegro | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 34.5 | 11.0 |
| 16 | China | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 46.5 | 11.0 |
| 17 | Spain | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 42.0 | 11.5 |
| 18 | Bulgaria | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 42.0 | 11.0 |
| 19 | Israel | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 42.0 | 10.0 |
| 20 | Philippines | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 40.5 | 12.0 |
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Wang Hao drew his game with Vladimir Kramnik, but Russia won the match 3-1
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Vassily Ivanchuk took a full point on top board as Ukraine defeated Poland 3-1
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Wesley So drew with Lev Aronian, but Armenia squeezed past the Philippines 2½-1½
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Peter Leko drew, but Hungary beat Slokavia 3-1
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Kamsky's prayers went unanswered as he lost his 4th round game
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In the women's competition, Russia are the leaders after wins by Nadezhda Kosintseva and Natalia Pogonina gave them a 3-1 victory against the Czech Republic. France are the only other team with a 100% match record after beating Argentina 3½-½ to lie in second place.
The top standings in the women's competition after four rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | Russia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 55.0 | 14.0 |
| 2 | France | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 53.0 | 14.5 |
| 3 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 51.0 | 13.5 |
| 4 | Poland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 48.0 | 13.0 |
| 5 | Greece | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 47.5 | 11.0 |
| 6 | Georgia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 46.0 | 14.0 |
| 7 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 46.0 | 12.5 |
| 8 | China | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 45.0 | 13.0 |
| 9 | India | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 44.0 | 12.0 |
| 10 | Ukraine | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 43.0 | 12.0 |
| 11 | Slovakia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 43.0 | 10.5 |
| 12 | Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 38.0 | 12.0 |
| 13 | Hungary | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 45.5 | 11.5 |
| 14 | USA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 43.0 | 11.5 |
| 15 | Israel | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 38.5 | 12.5 |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 38.0 | 11.0 |
| 17 | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 37.0 | 10.5 |
| 18 | Moldova | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 36.0 | 10.5 |
| 19 | Spain | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 35.0 | 10.5 |
| 20 | Mongolia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 34.0 | 10.5 |
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Natalia Pogonina helped Russia to a 3-1 win against the Czech Republic
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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. Games via TWIC. All the Games can be replayed at the live games page.
