USA Stun Russia In Olympiad Round 9
Just when it seemed that Russia might be walking away with the 40th Chess Olympiad, they were brought back down to earth by a shock 2½-1½ defeat to the USA!
Wins by Hikaru Nakamura over Vladimir Kramnik, and Gata Kamsky against Alexander Grischuk earned the US team a sensational victory which throws the contest for the Gold medal wide open again with two rounds remaining.
To add insult to injury, Nakamura's win against Kramnik means he overtakes the Russian on the live rating list to be rated #4 in the world!
China made the most of Russia's slip by beating the plucky Philippines team 3½-½, and Armenia just managed to overcome Germany 2½-1½ to stay in the medal hunt.
Ukraine achieved a 3-1 victory over France, with Vassily Ivanchuk beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a fine game on top board, but Azerbaijan could only draw their match with Poland after Teimour Radjabov lost his game against Radoslaw Wojtaszek.
The top standings after 9 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 272.0 | 26.0 |
| 2 | Russia | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 268.5 | 23.0 |
| 3 | Armenia | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 258.5 | 23.5 |
| 4 | USA | 6 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 252.0 | 26.0 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 240.0 | 24.0 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 218.0 | 25.0 |
| 7 | Argentina | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 216.5 | 22.5 |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 247.0 | 24.0 |
| 9 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 246.5 | 25.0 |
| 10 | Hungary | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 233.5 | 22.5 |
| 11 | Germany | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 228.5 | 22.5 |
| 12 | Philippines | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 209.5 | 23.0 |
| 13 | Denmark | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 204.5 | 24.0 |
| 14 | Belarus | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 203.0 | 23.5 |
| 15 | Poland | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 202.0 | 23.0 |
| 16 | Vietnam | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 193.0 | 24.0 |
| 17 | Cuba | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 228.5 | 26.0 |
| 18 | Georgia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 218.0 | 23.5 |
| 19 | India | 3 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 216.0 | 22.0 |
| 20 | Bulgaria | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 214.5 | 23.0 |
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40 years after Fischer v Spassky, the USA can celebrate another great victory!
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Gata Kamsky beat an in-form Alexander Grischuk with the black pieces
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Reinforcements? The retired Garry Kasparov is only a spectator in Istanbul
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Wang Hao drew with Wesley So, but China beat the Philippines 3½-½
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Armenia defeated European Champions Germany 2½-1½
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Vassily Ivanchuk shone as Ukraine beat France 3-1
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In the women's competition, China and Russia both won their 9th round games by the score of 3-1 against France and India respectively, so China still lead with two rounds left to play.
The top women's standings after 9 rounds:
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | S-B | BP |
| 1 | China | 7 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 287.0 | 27.0 |
| 2 | Russia | 6 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 266.5 | 25.5 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 5 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 266.0 | 24.5 |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 236.0 | 25.0 |
| 5 | Poland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 236.0 | 24.5 |
| 6 | Armenia | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 231.0 | 23.5 |
| 7 | France | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 242.5 | 25.0 |
| 8 | Israel | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 223.5 | 25.0 |
| 9 | Azerbaijan | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 221.0 | 23.0 |
| 10 | Spain | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 213.5 | 23.0 |
| 11 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 213.5 | 22.0 |
| 12 | India | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 208.5 | 22.0 |
| 13 | Germany | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 202.5 | 23.5 |
| 14 | USA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 212.5 | 24.5 |
| 15 | Slovenia | 3 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 210.0 | 21.5 |
| 16 | Hungary | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 204.0 | 23.0 |
| 17 | Netherlands | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 202.5 | 23.5 |
| 18 | Romania | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 199.5 | 22.5 |
| 19 | Mongolia | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 199.0 | 23.0 |
| 20 | Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 198.5 | 23.0 |
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Hou Yifan helped China to a 3-1 win today
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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.
