2012 Chess Olympiad
Hello everyone and welcome to the live countdown to the Chess Olympiad 2012 on Chessdom.com! We continue our daily minute by minute updates and six days before the official start of the event we will refresh the latest news regarding the Olympiad in Istanbul, interviews with top players, polls, photos, videos, and more.
This the the live countdown to Chess Olympiad 2012 (day 4), to see the previous countdowns follow the links below
Review: 7 days to the Chess Olympiad / 6 days to the Chess Olympiad / 5 days to Chess Olympiad 2012
Chess Olympiad news / Participants men / Participants women / Chess Olympiad 2012 video preview
17:00 CET
With this we are wrapping up yet another day of live updates on Chessdom.com. Tomorrow we will have more exclusive statements about the Olympiad and will bring you more details from Istanbul itself.
Our first major report from Istanbul is scheduled August 25th, when a part of the Chessdom team will already be in the city.
16:45 CET
It is one of the first Olympiads that is not met with attention in the United States. Usually there are a certain number of reports in the major US newspapers months before the event, this time it is not the case. This is in high contrast to Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe, where the event is well previewed. But having so little reports on the team of USA, which is one of the strongest ever and with high chances for medals, is rather surprising.
The only update comes from GM Hikaru Nakamura himself, stating in his Twitter account, “Time to go for double gold in Istanbul at the Chess Olympics!”
See more on the US 2012 Chess Olympiad teams here
16:25 CET
Myanmar is making the headlines in Asia and China. The Xinhua agency has the news among the major sports announcement of the week. “Myanmar chess players will take part in the upcoming 2012 World Chess Olympiad to be held in Istanbul of Turkey this month. The team is preparing in Bangkok, Thailand. The four members delegation is going to Istanbul after their first participation in the year 2000.
16:15 CET
The Russian / Armenia / Azerbaijan teams, as well as all ex Soviet republic teams will have local updates at the Russian version of Chessdom where the Botvinnik Memorial will also have high presence these days.
16:00 CET
For the Spanish and Latin American visitors of Chessdom i.e. “estimados hispanohablantes” :) – there is a Spanish rolling version of the article at this link, while all details regarding local teams and participation will have high density updates at the Spanish version of Chessdom in the next days.
15:45 CET
The live games from the Olympiad will be the major event broadcasted on Chessdom during starting next week. It will begin right after the end of the French Chess Campionship (live here at this moment) and will be parallel to the Botvinnik Memorial in St. Petersburg.
15:25 CET
There will be a parallel live games transmission at the Olympiad Games 2012 page, just like Kramnik – Aronian and Anand – Gelfand matches had.
15:15 CET
Now within just several days of the start of the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, we present you the Chess Olympiad 2012 live games section. It will be active during the whole Olympiad, with the games being analyzed by Houdini 2.0, and some of the key games will also have GM commentary.
14:45 CET
As it has become tradition during the past days, at this time we announce the start of the round at the European Youth Chess Championship. Now the event is entering in the key phase, with round 7 of 9 to be played today. The games start in 15 minutes, with computer analysis on Chessdom.com.
Live games U18, U16 sections / Live games U8, U10, U12, U14 sections
14:25 CET
GM Memedyarov spoke to the renowned journalist Tima Tushiev in Azerbaijan. He said, “There was not much time for preparation for the Olympiad in Istanbul, so the Turkish team championship was useful practice. Before that we also played a friendly match with Georgia. As the match was unrated I played relaxed and showed good games.”
Mamedyarov also backed the bid of Azerbaijan for the Chess Olympiad 2016, “We have quite good experience in organizing top level competitions. In addition we have a strong state program signed by the President of the country. Of course I would like to play at the Chess Olympiad 2016. I hope by 2016 both our male and female teams have made a good progress, and to be able to fight for gold in both sections.”
14:05 CET
GM Alexander Ipatov, World Junior Champion U20 from the championship in Athens, commented for Chessdom, “In a few days the World Chess Olympiad will start in Istanbul. The Turkish Chess Federation has made an amazing job, I think it’s already clear for everybody that it will be the best organized Chess Olympiad ever. For me, as a player of the Turkish National Chess Team, it will be a big honor and pleasure to participate in it. Our team comes highly motivated to this event and will be aiming for the TOP-15. We will prove that we deserve the trust of the Turkish government, the Turkish Chess Federation, our people and Iş Bankası. Türkiye’ye teşekkürler!”
13:45 CET
The President of the Dominican Republic Chess Federation Pedro Domínguez Brito explained that this year the players selection process has been very carefully conducted through the national championships. The team is led by the national champion IM José Lisandro Muñoz.
All the details about the men and women teams of the Dominican Republic at this article and at the players presentation here.
13:25 CET
El Salvador is one of the lower rated teams at the Olympiad, but they certainly will come with great enthusiasm. Headed by IMs Carlos Burgos and Lorena Zepeda the team is already on their long journey to Istanbul. It has been four years since their last participation, and the one in Istanbul will be the 14th time El Salvador is present at the most important team chess event.
Read the interesting story of the El Salvador chess players here
12:55 CET
Of course it will be interesting also to make an analysis of whether this is the strongest Olympiad by ELO rating. However, this is a difficult task, as FIDE now published the rating lists monthly. This means that all chess players will start the Olympiad with the August rating list, and will finish it with the September rating list.
12:45 CET
We already know that the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul will be record breaking regarding the number of countries participating. However, how does it compare regarding strength to the Khanty Mansiysk Olympiad? Last Olympiad had 254 GMs, 159 IMs, and 65 WGMs, 88 WIMs.
Chess Olympiad 2012 participants details state (before final confirmation):
The men section has 237 GMs,126 IMs, and a total of 517 titled players.
In the women section there are 17 GMs, 22 IMs, 86 WGMs, 90 WIMs, 90 WFMs, and a total of 370 titled players.
It is clear that while the GM and IM levels remain stable, the women section continues growing in strength. At the Istanbul Chess Olympiad women section we will have 5 more GMs and 21 more WGM.
The statistics are based on the participants lists below, which may have minor changes to the start of the Olympiad. We will bring you the exact details on Chessdom.com after August 25th.
Full lists: Participants men / Participants women
12:19 CET
The Dutch Grandmaster Robin Van Kampen, currently participating in the 2nd Isthmia Open, commented for Chessdom.com the team of Netherlands for the Chess Olympiad 2012. “All the Dutch players have been in good shape recently. Loek Van Wely won a strong rapid event in France, Ivan Sokolov won the World Open and took 2nd place in Politiken Cup, and Smeets won the Dutch Open.” After the experienced players, Robin Van Kampen added about the young stars, “Anish Giri was convincing in the Dutch Championship, regaining his form after the weaker performances in Tata Steel and European Championship. Daniel Stellwagen is not working on chess that much because he has a regular job. He might need a couple of initial games to enter his rhythm, just like it happened last year at the European Team Championship.”
Asked who the favorite is, GM Robin Van Kampen did not hesitate, “Russia is always top favorite to take the gold medal, but I would also mention Armenia because they do so well in the team competitions. The Dutch composition is one of the strongest in the recent years and maybe they can fight for the medals.”
Robin van Kampen
12:05 CET
India is coming without the World Champion Viswanathan Anand and his second Ganguly. No official reason has been stated about their decision. However, India men team is still strong with GM Gopal, GM Gupta, GM Harikrishna, GM Sasikiran, and GM Negi.
IM Debashis Das from India, winner of the GM norm from the recent World Junior Championships, evaluates as interesting the chances of his countrymen, an commented about the Indian team, “GM Ganguly is not playing, for the reasons unknown to me, and will be replaced by GM Parimarjan Negi, who actually might be our key player because he had excellent results recently.” IM Debashis Das also added, “We also have GM Abhijeet Gupta, who is amazing with white pieces, and I think if Negi and Gupta play in good shape then India will rock the Olympiad.”
11:45 CET
In yesterday’s Chess Olympiad 2012 countdown at the 16:25 update, we brought you the story of WIM Sue Maroroa, wife of GM Gawain Jones. Today we have an update from WIM Maroroa herself, “Things have been hectic after the British as I had sent my passport (as well as Gawain’s) of to the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) to apply for my spousal visa, luckily I’ve gotten confirmation that Gawain’s passport has been dispatched today and so will be with us in the next day or so. Unfortunately for me, my application is still being looked at and I had to pull out of the New Zealand’s Women’s team. This will be the first Olympiad I have missed since 2002 (Bled) and I’m very sad not to be representing New Zealand. I hope that I’ll be able to sort out my biometrics and fly out to the tournament at a later date but I’m doubtful that will happen.”
All problems for WIM Sue Maroroa turn out to be based on just a technical mistake, “The UKBA have not been very helpful and even spelt my name wrong on the biometrics letter which I need to do for them to proceed with my application. Due to this mistake, my application is further delay as they need to post me another letter.”
This would have been the last Olympiad for WIM Maroroa for New Zealand, as she is switching federations and will play for England under the same flag as her husband GM Gawain Jones.
Here is a photo from Sue and Gawain’s official website gawainjones.co.uk with her playing on top boards for New Zealand during the Dresden Chess Olympiad 2008.
WIM Sue Maroroa
11:20 CET
Vladimir Kramnik has an interesting method of preparation. He played a game with Vitali Klitschko, the current WBC heavyweight boxing champion. After getting a good position in the opening, Kramnik realized what can be the “consequences” of a decisive game and quickly offered a draw. Klitschko smartly accepted and both players shook hands.
11:15 CET
Our first update comes directly from Istanbul. The team of Georgia has already arrived in Istanbul. They are in the city since August 20th, preparing for the Olympiad. Their hope is for high positions in both sections, but as history suggests the main expectations fall on the women team (see yesterday’s live updates for reference).
Another player that will arrive early is Levon Aronian, who shared in an interview he “wants to dive into the atmosphere of the city”.
Most teams have their arrivals according to schedule on August 27th, with the captains meeting and the opening ceremony later this day. The Chessdom team will be in Istanbul from August 25th, reporting daily live from the venue.
11:00 CET
Hello everyone, here we are with yet another edition of the live countdown for the Olympiad. For the next six hours we will be together following the latest news from Istanbul, having a historical look at the best chess players ever to compete at the team event, and reporting on multiple updates regarding the participants.
