Olympiad Begins with Grand Opening Ceremony
September 20, 2010
The US squad has safely arrived to the 2010 Olympiad (Khanty-Mansiysk, September 20-October 3), which began with a grand opening ceremony.

Pairings are also set. In round 1, the US Open team will face Faroe Islands while the women play the Dominican Republic.

Tony Rich of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis provided the following photo gallery from the ceremony and some pre-tourney prep in Prague.

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GMs Robert Hess and Hikaru Nakamura preparing in Prague

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Many members of the US squad met up in Prague to prepare and travel together

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GM Hikaru Nakamura preparing in Prague

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GM Yury Shulman on the flight from Prague to Khanty-Mansiysk

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GM Hikaru Nakamura

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IM John Donaldson and GMs Varuzhan Akobian, Melikset Khachiyan and Robert Hess

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GM Alexander Onischuk

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GM Hikaru Nakamura, US Women's Champ IM Irina Krush and US Champ GM Gata Kamsky

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GMs Melik Khachiyan and Varuzhan Akobian

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SM Tatev Abrahamyan and WGM Sabina Foisor
And finally, some images from the beautiful opening ceremony stage, which featured dance, a human chess game and video projections.

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Be sure to check in to CLO regularly for more exclusive material from the scene, including more photos from Tony Rich of the CCSSCL. Also see the official website and chessresults.com.