



USA Stumbles in Round Two |
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By FM Mike Klein | |
November 15, 2008 | |
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Hikaru Nakamura, in his round two Dresden Olympic debut
Neither the men nor the women could sustain their early success Friday at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. The women’s team fell 2.5-1.5 to a determined Israeli quartet while the men split their games against the closely-grouped grandmasters from Greece.
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Position after 19. Bb1
After 19…Bxh2+, she decided not to recapture, as after 20. Kxh2 Qh5+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf2 fxe4+ 23. Ke1 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Rf8+ 25. Ke1 (or 25. Bf2 Ng3+ and 26…Qh1+) 25…Qh1+ 26. Kxe2 Qf1#. Unfortunately, her counter 20. Kh1 Qh5 21. g4 did not work either after 21…Qh3.
Next to finish was WGM Katerina Rohonyan, whose Benko Gambit led to a worse endgame. Her opponent’s rook landed on the 7th rank and cramped her position. ![]()
Black to Move
According to Team Coach GM Gregory Kaidanov, Rh8 followed by g2 on either move 49 (in the position above) or 51 would have been the first winning variation for Krush, as after 49...Rh8 50. Rg7 Ra8 wins. ![]()
The Greek men, all rated between 2570 and 2590, formed a similarly big challenge for the U.S. The star performer for the men’s team remained GM Alexander Onischuk, who had another convincing win and has used his two Whites to score 2-0.
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The South African team in their third round match against the American men.
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The Turkmenistan women's team in their round three match against USA.
Mike Klein is reporting for CLO and Chess Life Magazine from Dresden. He's also using his sabbatical from his Charlotte chess coaching business to travel the world-and blog about it. |