Not a Shot Fired!

Round #13 of the Olympiad may have raised a few eyebrows when the top two matches (Russia-Israel and Hungary-Armenia) agreed to draws on all boards in less than 30 minutes. The official Olympiad site stated,

"Hungary and Armenia agreed to a draw on all four boards, and then Russia and Israel did the same after around 15 minutes. This preserved the status quo on the top two boards, and gave Russia and Hungary extra cushion to keep the 1-2 spot when the final round of the Olympiad is played on Sunday. Garry Kasparov offered the draw to Boris Gelfand, and consultations were made quickly with the Israeli team, which agreed."

That leaves some "killer" matches tomorrow. China-Hungary is perhaps the most interesting match as both have high-octane line-ups filled with tough fighters. After a needed day of rest, look for the well-prepared Chinese (Ye Jiangchaun, Xu Jun, Zhang Zhong, and Bu Xiangzhi) to take each game to the limit as they did in their 3-1 triumph over Croatia.

In other contests, Georgia and Canada had a tough match… all games being hard fought. Merab Gagunashvili won against IM Mark Bluvshtein in a game ending in a nice zugzwang. The 3½-½ score was not indicative of how close the match was.

India lost to Swizterland with GM Krishnan Saskiran succumbing to the surgical precision of GM Viktor Korchnoi and a two-rook mating attack. India faded in the second half of the tournament after battling in the top ten positions. If GM Viswanathan Anand plays in Olympiads, it would take a lot of pressure off of young GMs Saskiran and Harikrishna.

The USA was beaten by yet another Central Asian nation, Uzbekistan. GM Yasser Seirawan, who has played superbly, lost on board #1 and GM Joel Benjamin continued his Olympiad woes with another loss. GM Larry Christiansen scored the lone win in a 3-1 loss.

The Zambezi Shark on the prowl!

IM Amon Simutowe of Zambia beat Slovenia's Jure Borisek to carry his country to a 2½-1½ victory. With this win he is a 7-4 with one loss and a boatload of draws. After a long layoff from chess, Amon hopes to bring a new perspective on chess. 

Simutowe's compatriot NM Stanley Chumfwa has had a great tournament having scored 2-2 against GMs and wins over other titled players. Against FM Ales Lazar he entered a tactical battle and deftly exploited his opponent's bank rank weakness (see diagram).

Good things are ahead for Zambia. Zambia has already bettered the Olympiad 2000 mark of 24½ points (26½ points). In due time, they will also produce Africa's next Chess Grandmaster!

In Lazar-Chumfwa, Black played: 28...Qc6!? 29.Bxb8 Qxc4 30.Re1?! (30.Qe3) Qxe6 31.f3?? Qxe1+ netting a piece.

Nigeria was another team tasting victory in the 13th round. NM Bunmi Olape scored a comeback victory after being outplayed for the first 30 moves. In the end, it appears as if his opponent from Kyrgyzstan left a  piece hanging in time pressure and Olape carried Nigeria to victory on board #1. IM Odion Aikhoje also won on board #4. Besides missing the 1st round, Nigeria has played well and it is a matter of time before this nation of 120 million asserts itself in the chess world.

Caribbean Sunshine  in Slovenia

While African and Caribbean nations were primarily on the losing end of battles, Jamaica found a way to bring sunshine to chilling Slovenia weather. NM Jomo Pitterson scored a lightening quick victory in a Lasker-Pelikan Sicilian. In fact, Black was poised to deliver mate on the next move (with a knight) when the Japanese player resigned.

Despite missing the first three rounds, Shane Matthews has quietly become the high scorer for the "Reggae Boyz" of chess. The ultimate professional and well-respected in Jamaica, the current National Champion recently overcame a tragic loss, traveled to Bled and is giving his best on the 64-square battle… The Chess Drum salutes you Shane!

Barbadian Askari Elson is taking a leave from his studies in the U.S. to represent his country for the second time in the Chess Olympiad. Askari has scored 4½-2½ in this tournament, an improvement over his  5½-6½ score in Olympiad 2000 (Istanbul, Turkey).

In this round, he smashed his Sri Lankan opponent with a devastating sacrifice to blast open the kingside to make way for the heavy pieces. In the final position, there was absolutely nothing around the Black monarch… the other Black pieces watched meekly from a distance while White's heavy pieces were brandishing their swords for the final côup de graçe!  A great effort by the young lad!

Other scores of note: Algeria 4-0 Netherland Antilles;  Paraguay 3-1 Angola;  Sri Lanka 3-1 Barbados;  Yemen 4-0 Botswana;  Malaysia 3-1 Ethiopia;  Jamaica 3-1 Japan;  Kenya 3½-½ Rwanda;  Libya 3-1 Nicaragua;  Mauritius 2½-1½ Panama;     Liechtenstein 3-1 Namibia;  Nigeria 3-1 Krygyzstan;  Bahrain 3-1 Somalia;  Chile 3-1 South Africa; IBCA 2½-1½ Tunisia;  Monaco 3-1 Trinidad;  ICSC 3-1 Uganda; Uruguay 3½-½ Zimbabwe;  Brunei 4-0 U.S. Virgin Islands; Jersey 2½-1½ Bermuda.