NEW Baku Olympiad thread!

[andyburnett]

It's not even just about a high finish. When was the last time Scotland beat a higher ranked team?

Tomorrow!

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi,

I'm chatting to the Filipino lads on another forum.

I've agreed to cheer on Eugenio Torre (the for why is explained below - sorry Iain)

They in turn are cheering for Andrew to get his GM norm.
(A tough call that one with the Black pieces.)

Eugenio Torre must have played in more Olympiads than anyone and is chasing a board prize.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenio_Torre

He was born in 1951 (the 4th November! an honorary member of the Edinburgh Chess Club)
I too was born in 1915. A good year for chess players that.

Fellow 1951'ers:


Karpov, Ribli, Sax, Eugenio, Ulf Andersson, Timman, Vaganian...

...then the Creator realised that 1951 was also the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

...and here I am!

---

If Nakamura pulls a face like that watching a Carlsen move, wonder what his reaction
would be to some of my star moves.

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[Alan Tate]

Aren't the board prizes decided by TPR?

[Alan Tate]

When was the last time Scotland beat a higher ranked team?

The last time Scotland beat a higher ranked team was in 2000 in Istanbul.

[amuir]

When was the last time Scotland beat a higher ranked team?

The last time Scotland beat a higher ranked team was in 2000 at Istanbul.

We beat Ireland in round 7 in Tromso in 2014
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We have gone backwards v the Phillipines though. Today we lost 4-0. In 1992 in Manila we drew 2-2.

[Craig Pritchett]

Forget the Filipinos ... such scores sometimes happen. The key thing at this level is to bounce back quickly. Tomorrow's a great opportunity. Go for it ... both teams. Haven't checked women's opponents but men are definite favourites.

Eugenio Torre, by the way, was always a little bit special. I played him in his first Olympiad (draw, Siegen 1970). Roddy McKay got a win against him a year earlier in the world junior championship prelim group. Time flies!

Alexander Belyavsky (63 this year), top board for high-flying Slovenia, was and remains an even more special player (don't just take that from me; Garry Kasparov said so and was right in that) ... He has a frighteningly good record against Scots over the years ... I won't name (other) names, but they do include me ... and go well into the 21st century ... check the databases!

[Alan Tate]

Ah, missed the Ireland result (even though I was there). Well Istanbul 2000 was the last successful one. I wonder what was so different.

[Alastair White]

Currently awaiting completion of Eljanov - Belyavsky. the gold medal could be decided on tiebreak but it is so complicated the no-one seems to be sure what will happen if Eljanov wins giving Ukraine a 3.5-0.5 win.

One prediction - if Ukraine were to win on tiebreak, then the USA supporters will no doubt claim a fix by the East European ex-soviet states. Of course, if USA had beaten Canada by a better score, the result would not have been in doubt.

[Alastair White]

According to the Official website and Chess24, Belyavsky resigned. Not sure if I believe that. Did he lose on time? No official word yet on the tiebreak. Cue the conspiracy theories!?

[Alastair White]

In fact the USA came top on the tiebreak so no problem for them.