2024 Chess Olympiad: Round 1

2024 Chess Olympiad: Round 1
Wednesday, 11 September 2024

The 2024 Chess Olympiad has begun! Typically, Round 1 pairings are top teams against those from developing federations. The most common story is about upsets. Every Olympiad, there is usually a case of a player with a 300-400 rating handicap winning or drawing. Reddit was buzzing about the upsets and made some comments about GMs being outprepared by lower-rated players and that perhaps these players were fully motivated by their unsuspecting heavyweight.

Open

Wesley So was fortunate to get a half-point against Panama’s Roberto Sanchez Alvarez. In the same match, Levon Aronian lost a piece in his game and turned around to win.

Levon Aronian looks busted against a player he outrates by 607 points! https://t.co/xGInxuGtiY #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/yPEYalNoAJ

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 11, 2024

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was held by a 1900-rated player.
Photo by Maria Emelianova

Another shock was delivered by a class player as Nathaniel Mathurin, a 1900-rated player from St. Lucia beat GM Helge Dam Ziska! Perhaps there is something to say about players from developing countries being underrated. Mathurin just won the St. Lucia Invitational with 9/9 and perhaps is a rising star in the Caribbean.

Happiness is when when your 1900 player beats a Grandmaster #ChessOlympiad #proudpresident ???? pic.twitter.com/khuuzj1XI6

— Tris-Ann Richards (@3ssAnn) September 12, 2024

Women

In the women’s section, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial move on the Jamaica-India board, as Adani Clarke got a great opportunity to play GM Vashaili Rameshbabu. Clarke first played in 2018 in Georgia as a schoolgirl and now is one of the island’s leading players.

Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) vs. Adani Clarke (Jamaica)
Photo by Mark Livshitz

While India won the match 3.5-.5, Raehanna Brown took a half-point from IM Vantika Agrawal. It was an exciting game!

While there were a couple of rating upsets, most matches were 4-0. The women’s field is very top-heavy, and many of the teams in the lower half are competing for the very first time.

Olympiad Spotlight

Ethiopia!
Photo by Michal Walusza

Full Broadcast

Video by FIDE