The Online Chess Olympiad has ended, with the knockout stage which saw the last 8 remaining teams compete for the Olympic Champion title. After last year’s controversial and controversial final, with the joint title awarded to Russia and India after Russia’s chess win and India’s plea for secession issues on the chess.com platform, In this version, the direction of the finals was more linear with the final victory of Russia continuing.
The finals began on September 13 with the quarter-finals. The first match saw Kazakhstan and the United States face off: the Kazakhs continued their impressive journey by winning the first leg 4-2, while the second leg saw the United States win 3.5-2.5, leading the match to the play-offs. . Unlike the rules of the last version, the playoff consisted of the third blitzkrieg challenge on the six panels and not the much discussed Armageddon playoff on one panel. In a playoff match, the United States won 4-2 during the semi-finals. But in the second half, he had an expected success, but only in the play-offs for India against Ukraine who won 5-1 in the blitz. The victories in the last two quarters were clearest with Russia beating Hungary (3.5-2.5, 3.5-2.5) and China over Poland (4.5-1.5, 4-2).
September 14 was the day of the semi-finals. The former saw Russia and China compete against each other in a challenge with a predictable final flavor, while on the other side of the board, India and the United States faced each other. The Russian team beat the Chinese team in the home and away match, respectively, with a score of 3.5-2.5 and 4-2: double victories in the fourth and fifth chess of the tournament. Alexandra Kostenyuk NS Andrey Espenko. In the second match came the biggest surprise: the United States was actually able to turn expectations and the whole match against India in the qualifiers. After losing the first leg clearly (1-5), they affected in the second leg with a score of 4-2 and won the lightning playoffs by 4.5-1.5 and thus prevented the replay of the final match from the last edition.
The final match between Russia and the United States was held on September 15, a symbolic challenge that in the past was something more than a simple rivalry, even in the field of chess. In the first leg, Russia won 3.5-2.5 thanks to victories Vladislav Artemyev NS Alexandra GoryachkinaTo which 3 charters have been added. The same scenario was repeated in the second leg, where the United States was forced to win to reach the final in the lightning playoffs. Instead, Russia’s second victory came for 3.5-2.5, this time thanks to victories Alexandra Kostenyuk NS Leah Grivolina And 3 more deals.
So Russia confirms the Olympic title of online chess, dominated a version where he never lost a challenge, making a perfect path from the sets to the final. Also of note is the impressive performance of the US national team who, even without some big names, unexpectedly took second place. A double bronze medal for India, who scored only the semi-finals, and for China, who, having failed to take first place in the group, ended up on the Russian side. Good overall performance by ItalyWhich, after reaching the first division, missed the finals, asserting itself as a young team with good growth prospects, directly behind the top 10 players in the world.
by Andrea Marlita
Photo: Daina Varpina / Shutterstock.com
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