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Final Standings. Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 1 3 Armenia ARM 11 9 1 1 19 397.0 29.0 155.00 2 1 Russia RUS 11 9 1 1 19 388.5 28.5 157.00 3 2 Ukraine UKR 11 9 0 2 18 363.0 29.5 147.00 4 6 China CHN 11 8 1 2 17 390.5 29.5 157.00 5 5 United States Of America USA 11 7 3 1 17 361.0 30.0 142.00 6 9 Netherlands NED 11 8 0 3 16 329.0 29.0 133.00 7 27 Vietnam VIE 11 6 4 1 16 313.5 29.0 126.00 8 25 Romania ROU 11 8 0 3 16 310.0 29.0 128.00 9 4 Hungary HUN 11 7 1 3 15 368.0 28.0 151.00 10 7 Azerbaijan AZE 11 6 3 2 15 344.0 29.0 144.00 11 15 Cuba CUB 11 7 1 3 15 338.5 30.5 130.00 12 14 Germany GER 11 6 3 2 15 334.5 26.0 148.00 13 16 Poland POL 11 7 1 3 15 313.5 27.5 138.00 14 20 Serbia SRB 11 6 3 2 15 307.0 28.5 126.00 15 22 Italy ITA 11 7 1 3 15 306.0 28.0 134.00 16 34 Sweden SWE 11 7 1 3 15 303.5 28.0 125.00 17 11 England ENG 11 6 3 2 15 300.5 26.0 137.00 18 39 Denmark DEN 11 7 1 3 15 270.5 27.0 121.00 19 23 Moldova MDA 11 6 2 3 14 348.5 29.5 129.00 20 10 Bulgaria BUL 11 7 0 4 14 321.5 28.0 134.00 21 35 Philippines PHI 11 6 2 3 14 321.0 26.0 152.00 22 29 Argentina ARG 11 6 2 3 14 316.0 25.0 146.00 23 8 France FRA 11 6 2 3 14 305.0 26.5 141.00 24 33 Uzbekistan UZB 11 6 2 3 14 303.0 27.0 138.00 25 28 Slovenia SLO 11 6 2 3 14 297.0 24.0 138.00 26 12 Israel ISR 11 5 4 2 14 296.0 25.0 136.00 27 19 Croatia CRO 11 6 2 3 14 295.5 25.0 137.00 28 30 Latvia LAT 11 7 0 4 14 295.0 26.0 136.00 29 32 Belarus BLR 11 6 2 3 14 289.5 27.0 127.00 30 42 Slovakia SVK 11 6 2 3 14 264.5 27.0 122.00 31 57 Turkmenistan TKM 11 6 2 3 14 255.0 24.5 121.00 32 61 Australia AUS 11 5 4 2 14 252.5 24.5 119.00 33 48 Bangladesh BAN 11 6 2 3 14 227.5 26.0 120.00 34 17 Czech Republic CZE 11 5 3 3 13 315.0 26.5 139.00 35 13 India IND 11 3 7 1 13 309.5 25.5 145.00 36 26 Georgia GEO 11 5 3 3 13 306.0 26.5 140.00 37 18 Spain ESP 11 6 1 4 13 286.5 25.0 141.00 38 49 FYROM MKD 11 6 1 4 13 275.5 25.0 137.00 39 24 Brazil BRA 11 6 1 4 13 274.0 24.0 132.00 40 21 Greece GRE 11 5 3 3 13 269.0 28.0 124.00 41 36 Austria AUT 11 5 3 3 13 258.5 25.5 124.00 42 31 Turkey TUR 11 6 1 4 13 252.0 24.5 132.00 43 38 Mexico MEX 11 6 1 4 13 251.0 25.5 121.00 44 87 IBCA IBCA 11 5 3 3 13 249.0 26.0 111.00 45 54 Norway NOR 11 6 1 4 13 247.5 25.5 122.00 46 56 Mongolia MGL 11 6 1 4 13 244.0 26.0 121.00 47 51 Iceland ISL 11 6 1 4 13 241.0 26.0 116.00 48 72 Turkey 2016 TUR16 11 5 3 3 13 236.5 24.0 122.00 49 63 Paraguay PAR 11 6 1 4 13 234.0 25.0 120.00 50 40 Kazakhstan KAZ 11 5 3 3 13 234.0 24.0 119.00 51 58 Venezuela VEN 11 6 1 4 13 211.5 21.0 131.00 52 53 Canada CAN 11 5 2 4 12 261.0 25.0 131.00 53 37 Egypt EGY 11 5 2 4 12 255.5 26.0 123.00 54 50 Bosnia & Herzegovina BIH 11 4 4 3 12 254.0 23.0 138.00 55 71 Peru PER 11 5 2 4 12 253.5 23.5 135.00 56 46 Chile CHI 11 4 4 3 12 252.5 24.5 120.00 57 80 Bolivia BOL 11 5 2 4 12 235.5 25.5 116.00 58 60 Tajikistan TJK 11 4 4 3 12 234.0 25.0 120.00 59 55 Singapore SIN 11 6 0 5 12 233.5 25.5 113.00 60 64 Portugal POR 11 6 0 5 12 232.5 24.5 118.00 61 45 Iran IRI 11 5 2 4 12 229.0 22.5 131.00 62 73 South Africa RSA 11 5 2 4 12 223.5 22.0 122.00 63 83 Zambia ZAM 11 5 2 4 12 223.0 26.0 112.00 64 86 Malaysia MAS 11 5 2 4 12 222.5 24.0 110.00 65 81 Kyrgyzstan KGZ 11 5 2 4 12 220.5 22.5 119.00 66 62 Albania ALB 11 4 4 3 12 210.0 23.5 109.00 67 96 Puerto Rico PUR 11 5 2 4 12 200.0 24.5 104.00 68 74 Faroe Islands FAI 11 5 2 4 12 199.0 24.5 107.00 69 78 Dominican Republic DOM 11 5 2 4 12 198.0 20.5 122.00 70 43 Switzerland SUI 11 5 1 5 11 241.0 24.5 122.00 71 70 Uruguay URU 11 5 1 5 11 223.5 23.5 119.00 72 47 Colombia COL 11 4 3 4 11 222.5 24.0 119.00 73 68 Indonesia INA 11 5 1 5 11 222.0 22.0 122.00 74 52 Finland FIN 11 4 3 4 11 220.0 22.5 122.00 75 94 Tunisia TUN 11 4 3 4 11 219.0 22.5 123.00 76 65 Scotland SCO 11 5 1 5 11 211.0 22.5 117.00 77 75 ICSC ICSC 11 3 5 3 11 211.0 22.0 122.00 78 101 Algeria ALG 11 5 1 5 11 211.0 20.5 114.00 79 66 Qatar QAT 11 5 1 5 11 209.5 22.5 125.00 80 112 Estonia EST 11 5 1 5 11 209.0 21.5 119.00 81 77 Costa Rica CRC 11 5 1 5 11 205.5 21.5 118.00 82 67 Lithuania LTU 11 5 1 5 11 203.5 23.5 112.00 83 76 United Arab Emirates UAE 11 5 1 5 11 199.5 21.0 117.00 84 99 Guatemala GUA 11 5 1 5 11 178.5 22.0 110.00 85 107 Botswana BOT 11 5 1 5 11 169.5 22.0 104.00 86 88 Andorra AND 11 5 1 5 11 160.0 20.5 104.00 87 69 Ireland IRL 11 5 0 6 10 237.0 22.5 127.00 88 44 Montenegro MNE 11 4 2 5 10 228.5 22.0 129.00 89 41 Belgium BEL 11 4 2 5 10 206.5 21.0 125.00 90 108 Uganda UGA 11 4 2 5 10 204.0 22.5 114.00 91 95 Lebanon LIB 11 4 2 5 10 200.5 22.5 107.00 92 85 Zimbabwe ZIM 11 4 2 5 10 198.0 22.0 118.00 93 89 IPCA IPCA 11 4 2 5 10 197.5 23.0 110.00 94 97 Myanmar MYA 11 5 0 6 10 181.5 21.0 109.00 95 105 Jamaica JAM 11 4 2 5 10 180.5 21.5 102.00 96 146 Nigeria NGR 11 3 4 4 10 175.5 21.0 109.00 97 91 New Zealand NZL 11 4 2 5 10 174.5 20.0 116.00 98 82 Jordan JOR 11 4 2 5 10 170.0 21.0 112.00 99 93 Monaco MNC 11 5 0 6 10 161.0 21.0 105.00 100 103 Yemen YEM 11 4 2 5 10 159.5 18.0 108.00 101 109 Thailand THA 11 5 0 6 10 158.0 19.0 110.00 102 110 Panama PAN 11 4 2 5 10 155.0 20.0 103.00 103 100 Pakistan PAK 11 4 2 5 10 151.5 18.0 108.00 104 117 Sri Lanka SRI 11 4 2 5 10 149.0 18.5 112.00 105 114 Trinidad & Tobago TRI 11 4 2 5 10 143.0 20.0 105.00 106 90 Wales WLS 11 5 0 6 10 140.0 20.0 99.00 107 113 Libya LBA 11 5 0 6 10 137.5 19.5 99.00 108 147 Ethiopia ETH 11 4 2 5 10 134.0 20.0 91.00 109 59 Ecuador ECU 11 4 1 6 9 180.5 21.5 110.00 110 98 Barbados BAR 11 4 1 6 9 171.5 22.0 102.00 111 152 Sudan SUD 11 3 3 5 9 166.5 22.0 98.00 112 84 Luxembourg LUX 11 4 1 6 9 153.5 19.0 116.00 113 124 Nepal NEP 11 4 1 6 9 149.0 21.5 91.00 114 106 Angola ANG 9 4 1 4 9 147.5 20.5 98.00 115 102 Syria SYR 11 4 1 6 9 141.5 17.0 109.00 116 155 Afghanistan AFG 10 3 3 4 9 133.0 17.0 100.00 117 79 Iraq IRQ 11 4 1 6 9 131.5 18.5 115.00 118 119 Cyprus CYP 11 3 3 5 9 130.0 18.5 99.00 119 111 El Salvador ESA 11 4 1 6 9 128.0 19.5 95.00 120 104 Nicaragua NCA 11 4 1 6 9 122.0 15.5 112.00 121 139 Honduras HON 11 4 1 6 9 119.0 17.0 99.00 122 123 Liechtenstein LIE 11 4 1 6 9 117.0 17.5 99.00 123 92 Japan JPN 11 3 2 6 8 156.5 18.0 118.00 124 133 South Korea KOR 11 2 4 5 8 141.0 18.0 92.00 125 120 Suriname SUR 11 3 2 6 8 132.0 17.5 99.00 126 129 Hong Kong HKG 11 4 0 7 8 131.0 20.0 93.00 127 136 Maldives MDV 11 3 2 6 8 124.5 17.5 100.00 128 116 Netherlands Antilles AHO 11 3 2 6 8 120.5 16.0 97.00 129 122 Jersey JCI 11 2 4 5 8 119.5 18.0 85.00 130 149 Mozambique MOZ 11 3 2 6 8 116.5 17.5 97.00 131 127 Macau MAC 11 3 2 6 8 114.5 17.0 90.00 132 125 Malawi MAW 11 4 0 7 8 104.0 15.5 93.00 133 118 Palestine PLE 11 4 0 7 8 94.5 14.5 89.00 134 126 Papua New Guinea PNG 11 3 2 6 8 85.0 16.5 89.00 135 128 Guernsey GCI 11 3 2 6 8 83.5 14.5 86.00 136 131 Haiti HAI 11 2 3 6 7 147.5 19.0 87.00 137 135 Mauritius MRI 11 3 1 7 7 139.5 19.0 94.00 138 138 Namibia NAM 11 3 1 7 7 132.0 21.0 87.00 139 121 Kenya KEN 11 3 1 7 7 129.0 16.5 92.00 140 140 Chinese Taipei TPE 11 3 1 7 7 116.0 17.5 87.00 141 115 Malta MLT 11 2 3 6 7 113.0 17.0 94.00 142 130 Mauritania MTN 11 2 3 6 7 108.0 16.0 91.00 143 154 Kuwait KUW 11 3 1 7 7 104.0 16.0 85.00 144 142 Aruba ARU 11 2 3 6 7 104.0 15.5 90.00 145 144 US Virgin Islands ISV 11 3 1 7 7 102.0 18.5 75.00 146 143 Ghana GHA 11 3 1 7 7 101.5 17.5 83.00 147 134 Fiji FIJ 11 3 1 7 7 92.5 16.5 88.00 148 141 San Marino SMR 11 3 1 7 7 85.5 16.0 78.00 149 148 Sierra Leone SLE 11 3 1 7 7 57.5 13.0 74.00 150 137 Sao Tome And Principe STP 11 3 0 8 6 78.5 14.5 86.00

I guess it isn't very nice to start a story about the Chess Olympiad with a "critical accent", but one can only describe what is currently happening in Turkey as UNACCEPTABLE. Many hours after the finish of the first round, the chess games are still not available in a downloadable .pgn file. This is truly incomprehensible when you realize that those games can actually be seen on-line at the official site... ¡but only one at a time! This basically means that they have all the pgn code for all the games, but somehow, they can't find a single person who can put those games together into one downloadable file!! Thousands of chess fans, journalists, magazine editors, webmasters, etc. from all over the world are still waiting. What is going on? Few surprises in the first round. Bolivia managed to snatch a point from Armenia thanks to a nice victory by GM Zambrano on board one. Here's the game with my notes: [pgn] [Event "Chess Olympiad"] [site "Istanbul"] [Date "2012.08.29"] [Round "1"] [White "(E) Zambrana, O."] [black "Movsesian, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2471"] [blackElo "2698"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "101"] [sourceDate "2012.08.29"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Bb4 8. Bd3 e5 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. f5 {This move doesn't have a good reputation (at least not until this game!), but it's Zambrana's pet line and he's been playing it for a number of years. The critical line now is the capture on e4 with 10...Nxe4, but Movesesian chose a different idea.} h5 $6 {A "novelty", but it's unlikely to be repeated.} (10... Nxe4 11. Qg4 Nxc3 12. Qxb4 Nd5 13. Qe4 Bxf5 (13... Nxe3 {This seems like a simple alternative. Did Zambrana prepare some improvement here? who knows...}) 14. Qxe5+ Qe7 15. Qxe7+ Nxe7 16. Bxf5 Nxf5 17. Bb6 $1 { Despite being a P down, white's B is actually quite useful, and he's going to be able to use the central files.} h5 18. O-O Ne7 19. Rae1 Rh6 20. Rf5 Re6 21. Rxe6 fxe6 22. Rxh5 {And white was better in the game Zambrana,O (2458) - Kovalyov,A (2548), Benasque 2008. Eventually drawn in 51 moves.}) 11. Qf3 Ng4 12. Bd2 $1 {No black's position is beginning to look rather dubious, as he has some serious difficulties getting his pieces out, particularly that c8 B...} Bc5 13. h3 Nf2 14. Rf1 Nxd3+ 15. cxd3 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qe7 (16... Qxh3 $4 17. Rh1 $18 {And 17...Qg4 won't work because h5 is pinned.}) 17. O-O-O b5 18. Kb1 f6 19. Rc1 Bb7 20. Be3 Bd6 (20... Bxe3 21. Qxe3 c5 22. Ne2 Rc8 23. g4 $14) 21. g4 hxg4 22. Qxg4 O-O-O {Short castling was not a valid alternative, but black's Qside is rather weak also, particularly the b6 square.} (22... Bc7 {This looks safer.}) 23. Nd5 Qf7 24. Bb6 Rd7 25. Qg1 $1 Rxh3 (25... Kb8 26. Ba7+ Ka8 27. Nb6+ Kxa7 28. Nxd7+ Ka8 29. Nc5 Rxh3 30. Rfd1 $16) 26. Rxc6+ $5 {A flashy sacrifice, but probably not enough to gain the advantage...} Bxc6 27. Rc1 Qh5 $2 (27... Rxd3 {This was possible.} 28. Rxc6+ Kb7 29. Ba5 {Threatening Qb6.} Rd4 (29... Rd1+ $2 30. Qxd1 Kxc6 31. Qc1+ Kb7 32. Qg1 $1 {And white's Q finally makes it to b6.}) 30. Rb6+ Ka7 {And here, I don't think white has anything better than 31.Rc6, but black can repeat moves with ...Kb7.}) (27... Kb7 $2 28. Ba5 $1 $18 Bxd5 29. Qb6+ Ka8 30. Rc8+ Bb8 31. Rxb8#) 28. Rxc6+ Rc7 ( 28... Kb7 29. Rxd6 $3 Rh1 (29... Rxd6 30. Qxg7+ {With a quick mate.}) 30. Rxd7+ Kc8 31. Rc7+ Kd8 (31... Kb8 32. Ba7+ Ka8 33. Nb6#) 32. Rxg7+ Kc8 33. Rc7+ Kd8 34. Ra7+ Ke8 35. Nxf6+ Kf8 36. Bc5#) 29. Qc1 $2 (29. Bxc7 $1 {This move would have lead to a forced win.} Rh1 30. Bxd6+ Kd7 (30... Kb7 31. Rc7+ $18) (30... Kd8 31. Be7+ Ke8 32. Rc8+ Kd7 33. Rd8+ Kc6 34. Rd6+ Kb7 35. Rd7+ {And black's getting mated.}) 31. Qxh1 Qxh1+ 32. Rc1 Qf3 33. Bb4 Qxd3+ 34. Ka1 $18 Qxe4 35. Nb6+ Ke8 36. Rc8+ Kf7 37. Rf8#) 29... Rh1 30. Bg1 Rxg1 31. Rxc7+ Bxc7 32. Qxg1 Qe2 33. Qc1 Qxd3+ 34. Ka1 Qc4 35. Qxc4 bxc4 {Despite being a P down, the endgame seems to favour white thanks to his strong N, black's bad B and black's weak PP on the Kside. However, black's play left a lot to be desired, as we shall see...} 36. Kb1 Kd7 $4 {A blunder!} (36... Kb7 {This move was forced, to support ...Bb6.} 37. Kc2 (37. Ne3 $4 Kc6 38. Nxc4 Kc5 $1 {And I don't think white will be able to hold the ending, as black's K gains access to d4.}) 37... Bb6 $1 {And now if 38.Kc3 black has ...Bd4. Black shouldn't lose here.}) 37. Kc2 Ba5 38. Ne3 $1 {Now I think it's lost...} Ke7 39. Nxc4 Bc7 40. b4 Kf7 41. Kd3 g6 42. fxg6+ Kxg6 43. Ne3 Bb6 44. Nf5 Kg5 45. a4 Kf4 46. Ne7 Bd8 47. Nd5+ Kg5 (47... Kf3 48. a5 f5 49. exf5 e4+ 50. Kd4 Bg5 51. f6 e3 (51... Bxf6+ 52. Nxf6 e3 53. Ng4 e2 54. Ne5+ Kg2 55. Nd3 $18) 52. f7 Bh6 53. Nxe3 Bxe3+ 54. Kd5 Bh6 55. b5 axb5 56. a6 $18) 48. a5 $1 f5 49. b5 fxe4+ 50. Kxe4 axb5 51. a6 {And black resigned. A most interesting and one that makes you wonder if 2700 rated players are really as infallible as they tell us... } 1-0 [/pgn]