Peaceful end to Division 3 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad
Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – The Division 3 stage of the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad finished today. After nine rounds in each of the 10-team Round Robin pools, fifteen countries have qualified for the next stage of the tournament. Pending the fair play report, these fifteen qualifiers will join 35 new seeded teams in Division 2 – including powerhouses such Cuba, Italy, Israel, Shenzhen, Slovenia and Sweden, all rated +2300 – which will run next weekend, September 2nd-4th. The five winners of the division 3 pools are: Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, Bolivia and Venezuela. This cool graphic illustrates all the countries that advance stage. Lebanon and Angola are the only two countries that will play in Division Two after starting in Division Four. Division 3 – Pool A Although suffering an unexpected loss against the IPCA team in round eight, Malaysia sealed the win in Pool A thanks to an exciting 3.5-2.5 victory against South Korea in the last round of the day. Combined with the excellent later round results by Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka, South Korea lost its second-place status and dropped down to fifth. Therefore, Malaysia (16/18), Chinese Taipei (14/18) and Sri Lanka (13/18) will advance to Division Two. The International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA) team also scored 13/18 but were edged out on tiebreak. The top scorers in this group were WCM Chua Jia-Tien (8/8) and WFM Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada (8/9) both from Malaysia. A common mating pattern appeared on board two of the match between Nepal and Fiji. White to play in the next diagram. FM Manish Hamal used the Arabian mate pattern with 47.Nf6! followed by 48.Rh7 mate. Black can only delay checkmate a couple of moves by sacrificing his pieces with check. Division 3 – Pool B Pool B was dominated from start to finish by Ireland, who scored 17/18 match points, conceding only one draw against Jordan. They advance as Pool B winners to the next stage. With 14/18 points, Lebanon and Iraq shared second and third place and will also progress to Division Two. Having scored quite a few more board victories, the Lebanese team finished second on tiebreak. Jordan had a chance to finish third and secure the qualification, but they needed to win their last three matches. However, Kenya stopped them with a minimum 3½-2½ win and shattered their hopes of playing next week. The top scorers in this pool were WIM Mouradian Knarik from Lebanon (8/9) and especially Cape Verde’s board one, IM Mariano Ortega Amarelle (originally from Italy), who won all his games (9/9) and actually scored more points than the rest of his team together! Division 3 – Pool C As expected, Scotland (16/18) and Angola (15/18) qualified with ease as first and second in this group and will advance to Division Two. In their last-round showdown, Angola defeated Scotland by 4-2, but it must be said that the Scots had already won the group and fielded a slightly weaker team. Wales (12/18), Zambia (11/18) and Botswana (11/18) went neck and neck in the last three rounds. The Welsh team’s very close win over Angola by 3½-2½ in round eight allowed them to go the extra mile and secure the third qualifying spot by an inch. Several players scored six points in this pool (the highest individual score) but GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant from Scotland and Paulo Jemima from Angola were the only players to win all of their games (6/6). Division 3 – Pool D Although Bolivia lost to Paraguay by 4-2 in the first round of the day, they were still able to finish first with 16/18, edging out Uruguay on tiebreak. A more than reasonable classification taking into account that Bolivia did defeat Uruguay in their match. Paraguay (14/16) took the third and final qualifying spot in this group, defeating Trinidad & Tobago (also 14/16) by five board points in the tiebreak. However, if any of the Division 2 teams can’t make it, Trinidad would likely take the spot as best 4th place finisher of the five pools. The best player in this pool was WIM Gabriela Vargas from Paraguay, with an outstanding 8/8 score! In the next diagram, White is asphyxiating his opponent. Nonetheless, he spotted a nice tactic to finish off the game quickly. Dominican Republic’s board two played 48.Nxc7! Nxc7 49.Bb6! and Black resigned. He will lose a lot of material (50.Ba6+ is the reply to any knight retreat). Division 3 – Pool E The best team in the third division is Venezuela. With an outstanding 18/18 100% match point score, they have dominated Pool E and will be a force to reckon with in the next stage. A total of 46½ out of 54 board points gives an idea of the team’s strength on all boards. El Salvador (15/18) and Jamaica (14/18) will join Venezuela in the next stage. Jamaica was defeated by El Salvador in round eight by 3½-2½ and was, therefore, overtook in the standings. However, both teams scored important seventh and ninth round wins, leaving Puerto Rico’s last-minute qualifying effort useless. The top scorers in this Pool were CM Rachel Miller from Jamaica with 8/9, followed by her teammate FM Joshua Christie with 7½/9. Division 3: final standings Pairings of the rounds, live games, PGN files and other useful information can be found on the FIDE Online Olympiad website. Please note that all results and standings remain provisional until the fair play panel submit its daily report. The games can be followed online on www.chess.com (Events), presented by Wouter Bik, with expert analysis by WFM Alessia Santeramo, GM Roeland Pruijssers, WGM Jen Shahade, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and other invited guests. Commentary can also be followed on FIDE’s own Youtube channel. Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer Email: press@fide.com About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from August 20th to September 15th, the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Team’s consist of six players with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on Chess.com, the event features two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move time control. The full schedule can be consulted here. Organisers: International Chess Federation (FIDE)
Venezuela dominates in Division 3
Saturday, August 28th, 2021 – Day two of Division 3 was played today, with the contest of rounds 4-6 in each of the five pools. Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, Bolivia and Venezuela all seem to have their groups controlled and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should advance to Division 2 after tomorrow’s final three rounds. However, the rest of the qualifying spots – the first three teams of each group will advance to the next stage of the Olympiad – are still very much in the air, and there are quite a few direct pairings that will decide the lucky teams. Division 3 – Pool A Having played six of the nine rounds, Malaysia is the clear favourite to win Pool A and advance to Division 2. They have won all of their matches (12/12) and most of their players are in great shape, especially the female contenders. WFM Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada has won all six of her games and WCM Chua Jia-Tien is on 5/5. Even the two top boards, FM Lim Zhuo Ren and FM Subramaniam Sumant are playing around 50% and holding their own against tougher opposition. The dangers of leaving your king too long in the centre can be observed clearly in the following diagram from the match between Nepal and Chinese Taipei. Black is pinned on the e-file, and therefore her pieces lack mobility. White cashed in with 31.Rg8+ Kd7 32.Ne5! checkmate! South Korea still occupies second place in the standings, although not with 100% anymore. Currently, on 9/12 points, they have dropped three points against Chinese Taipei by a very close 3½-2½ and a 3-3 draw against third-place contender Sri Lanka, also on 9/12. However, there are still three rounds left, and although Malaysia seems to be a lock, the other two qualifying spots are still up for grabs. The seventh-round clash between Sri Lanka and Chinese Tapei will probably de decisive for one of the spots, and the last round bout between Malaysia and South Korea might even decide the winner of the group! Division 3 – Pool B Ireland had an unbelievable day today, winning their three matches and overtaking Lebanon and Iraq on the scoreboard. Their direct encounters with these teams ended in clear 4½-1½ wins for the Irish. It would be a big surprise for them not to qualify tomorrow – however, other essential schedule challenges might be around the corner for them (more to come on that topic!). Iraq still preserves second place, as they only lost to Ireland, but Lebanon had an awful day, losing to Ireland and only finishing even with Syria and Jordan. They have dropped to third place but are under serious pressure from Jordan, with the same points and better pairings for the last rounds. The seventh-round match between Iraq and Lebanon will be a huge test for the Lebanese team: a loss could easily cost them the qualification. The top scorer in this pool at the moment is Cape Verde’s board one, IM Mariano Ortega Amarelle (originally from Italy). He has won all of his games, contributing six of his team’s nine board points! Division 3 – Pool C Both Scotland (12/12) and Angola (11/12) played excellently today, and nothing short of a miracle can impede their advancing to Division 2. Fate has it that they will face-off in the last round, possibly deciding the winner of the group. In the first round of the day, Scotland landed a crushing 5½-½ win over Botswana and then scored another 5½-½ victory, this time over Wales, leaving no doubt on their superiority in the group. Angola also defeated the ICCD by 5½-½ and then Palestine by 5-1, but they were stopped in their tracks by Zambia, who managed to tie 3-3. The third spot is up for grabs: Botswana (7/12), Wales (6/12) and Zambia (5/12) could all make the scoop, although it’s actually Zambia who by far has the better pairings for tomorrow. With regard to individual performances, ICCD’s second board WCM Annegret von Erichsen is having a great event, scoring 4,5/5 at the moment. Unfortunately, the rest of the team is not doing so well. Division 3 – Pool D With their three wins today, Bolivia has made a huge step towards qualification for Division 2. The key match was the victory over Trinidad & Tobago by 5½-½ in the sixth round, demoting them to fourth place. Meanwhile, both Paraguay – who still have to play against Bolivia – and Uruguay had a perfect chess day, winning two of their three matches. They both share 2nd-3rd place and are well-positioned to accompany Bolivia to the second division. In fact, the seventh round match between Bolivia and Paraguay will immediately clarify the probable winner of the group. This is definitely one of the most unbalanced pools, with many 5-1 to 6-0 scores. However, the best board of the pool, for now, is Etienne Angelo from eighth-placed Haiti: with 5½ out of 6, he is the firm anchor for the rest of his team. Division 3 – Pool E Panama was the big loser today. They just weren’t able to recover from the 5-1 defeat to Venezuela in the first round of the afternoon, and two very close defeats against direct rivals El Salvador and Puerto Rico – both by 3½-2½ – left them in a tie for 4th place with 6/12 and basically no chance to qualify tomorrow. The big winner of the day was Venezuela (12/12), who increased their lead by two points, essentially winning the group. Their victory over second-placed Jamaica (10/12), by 5½-½ starkly, illustrates which team is the best. With a total of 32½ out of 36 points, they have only lost one game, an incredible statistic. WFM Patino Garcia Corals is their top scorer with 6/6, and three of their other players are on 5/5. The following position is from the Venezuela-Panama match. Black has just played 10…c5 (10…0-0 would have been safer), and Corals Patino notched up one of her six points with the nice tactic 11.Bxg6! The point is that after 11…fxg6 12.Qxg6+ Kf8 13.Ng5! threatens mate on f7 and after the forced 13…Qe8 14.Ne6+! Kg8 15.Qxg7 is checkmate. Jamaica should qualify tomorrow, but they do have direct pairings with El Salvador (in third place with 9/12) and Panama, so it’s not a lock yet. Division 3: