After Israel (who took Bronze on tiebreak from Hungary) drew 2-2 with Ukraine, host nation and favorites Russia I automatically picked up Silver no matter what, though they may have been disappointed in their finish by only drawing 2-2 with Spain in the final round. Despite Vladimir Kramnik's powerhouse performance to beat Alexei Shirov, the top seeds suffered yet another setback as Olympiad veteran Peter Svidler was comprehensively defeated by the young Spaniard Ivan Salagado.
This though was the best finish for Russia since 2004; but their days of being perennial winner's look to be over now, and the last time they won the title was back in 2002. Two year's later in Calvia, Spain, Ukraine surprised everyone by clinching the first of their two Olympiad golds, with Armenia winning the title in 2006 and 2008.
Meanwhile in the Women's Olympiad, there was success for the host nation as Russia I - with the formidable line-up of the Kostintseva sisters, Kosteniuk, Galliamova and Gunina - captured Gold (and with a round to spare) with a perfect score of 22/22. China took Silver and Georgia took Bronze on tiebreaks.
World #1, Magnus Carlsen was arguably the biggest loser of the biennial team event with three horrific loses that saw the Norwegian teenager's rating plummet 15 points. But Norway had better things to cheer about off the board, with the announcement that the Arctic gateway city of Tromsø was successful in their bid to stage the 2014 Chess Olympiad!
For all the games, reports and standings go to the official site at: http://www.ugra-chess.com/
GM Alex Yermolinsky
| Round: 11 |
| Run time: 42:39 |
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39th Chess Olympiad -- Ukraine Strike Gold!
