Magnus Carlsen turns 18 today

The Norwegian wunderkid turns eighteen today, November 29. In a poll conducted at chess.com Carlsen emerges not only as one of the most popular chess players today but also one of the most influential alongside the now retired Gary Kasparov, world champion Viswanathan Anand and FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

-Photo from wikipedia

Chinese star Wang Yue on course to make history

The making of the next great Asian champion

Do not blink. But according to recent reports from our friends over there at Chessdom, Chinese chess hero and current FIDE Grand Prix leader, Wang Yue is only less than a dozen games away from breaking former world champion Mikhail Tal's record of the longest streak without a lost game. He remains unbeaten since March 4 this year and never taste a single loss for the past 82 games he played! And that games were all top competitions. Chessdom also added that Wang's game streak: "...is equal to Vladimir Kramnik's series of 82 games in the period January 1999 - July 2000. Mikhail Tal signed the top two records: 86 games in the period July 1972 - April 1973 and 93(!) games between October 1973 - October 1974. It should be added that the great Jose Raul Capablanca was immune from February 1916 until March 1924, but "only" over the course of 63 games."

To many Filipino chess followers, he is still best remember as one time winner of Philippines International Open Chess Championship in Subic Bay Freeport Zone last April 2007. Wang Yue is currently world's 9th rank player with 2750,6 points, the highest ever ranking a Chinese player has achieved and the second highest rated Asian ever after Anand.

-Photo from Wikipedia

The Philippines is no. 1 (in Chess Olympiad reports)

The Philippines is no.1...in chess media

Here's a consolation: The Dresden Olympiad organizers reported that the Philippines leads other countries with most reports about the 2008 Olympiad even before the start of the actual competitions!

“In the home country of Eugenio Torre and Florencio Campomanes, more than twice as many Olympiad reports have been published. Most reports on the Dresden Olympiad have been written in the Philippines. Several articles have appeared in the country’s newspapers, websites and blogs almost every week.” the report said.

The other nations leading the publication rankings are India, United States, Nigeria and Argentina.

And ChessHeroes are proud to be part of these new global Pinoy force! Cheers!

Dresden Chess Olympiad round 11: Philippines beats Argentina, Armenia defends title

The RP men's team defeats Argentina in the final round of the 2008 Dresden Chess Olympiad, 1.5 : 2.5 and finished 46th while Armenia successfully defends their title for the second straight Olympiad.

Detailed stories to be followed...

Bo.	31	Argentina (ARG)	Rtg	-	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	1.5 : 2.5	PGN	>Game<
30.1	GM	Felgaer Ruben	2591	-	GM	So Wesley	2610	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
30.2	GM	Peralta Fernando	2557	-	GM	Gonzales Jayson	2469	0 : 1	PGN	>Game<
30.3	IM	Kovalyov Anton	2571	-	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
30.4	IM	Flores Diego	2568	-	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<

John Paul Gomez is the newest Filipino Grandmaster

Meet the Philippines 10th Grandmaster: GM John Paul Gomez

Add GM elect John Paul "the Pope" Gomez to the list of the Philippines chess heroes. Gomez, 22, had so far garnered a total of six points with four wins, four draws and a loss in the ongoing Dresden chess Olympiad. Gomez is also a three time national juniors champion and twice gold medalist of Palarong Pambansa (National Games of the Philippines). One important note to our newest chess heroes: that the Grandmaster title is only the first step towards improvement in chess these days.

ChessHeroes wish GM John Paul Gomez all the best in the world!

-Photo courtesy of DEUTS.Net

Dresden Chess Olympiad round 10: Philippines beats Tunisia

The Philippines beats the 89th seed Tunisia just hours ago, 3.5 : 0.5 in the penultimate round of the Olympiad. But it may be too late. The RP team is in the 53rd place. We're still beyond striking distance of landing into top 30 or even surpassing our 44th place finish in Turin. Not only that, we are also in serious danger of producing one of our worst showing at the Chess Olympiad. We will be facing next the 31st seed Argentina in the final round. Another team seeded higher than the Philippines.

Bo.	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	89	Tunisia (TUN)	Rtg	3.5 : 0.5	PGN	>Game<
35.1	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	2468	-	GM	Belkhodja Slim	2476	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
35.2	GM	So Wesley	2610	-		Njili Kamel	2350	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<
35.3	GM	Gonzales Jayson	2469	-		Bouaziz Mehdi	2203	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<
35.4	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	-		Meddeb Anis	2071	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<

Dresden Chess Olympiad round 9: Philippines lost to the Czech Republic

No alibi but could cold weather slightly affects one's performance?

The struggling RP men's team has yet to figure out on how to defeat their higher seeded counterparts as we lost anew this time at the hands of the 18th seed Czech Republic in Round 9, 1.5 : 2.5. As usual, GM Bong Villamayor, manning the board 1 for the RP, was being feasted upon by his opponents. Villamayor has yet to score a single victory in the Olympiad. We will be facing next the lowly team from Tunisia, seeded 88th, in round 10. We are currently rank 66th in the over all standings and we are in grave danger folks of not improving our previous Olympiad performance in Turin where we end up in a very disappointing 47th place finished. Our women's team on the other hand defeats Brazil 2.5 : 0.5 to occupy the 46th spot in the women's standing.

Bo.	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	18	Czech Republic (CZE)	Rtg	1.5 : 2.5	PGN	>Game<
27.1	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	2468	-	GM	Navara David	2633	0 : 1	PGN	>Game<
27.2	GM	So Wesley	2610	-	GM	Hracek Zbynek	2613	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
27.3	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	-	GM	Laznicka Viktor	2591	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
27.4	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	-	GM	Stocek Jiri	2578	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<

Photo courtesy of Susan Polgar blog

Wesley So press conference interview

Wesley So facing the cameraman and photographers before the start of the interview

Hi everyone. Here's the day six interview of GM Wesley So at Dresden Olympiad press conference. But be warn. The interview is quite a bit unclear perhaps Susan Polgar or Wesley hardly understand each other or Susan just simply miss interpret what Wesley is trying to explain during the course of the whole interview. When asked on how long chess have been popular in the Philippines, of which Wesley replied that it was only in 2006 when Prospero Pichay took office at the NCFP! Jose Rizal, Antonio Luna, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and the whole bunch of Katipuneros played chess regularly! Here's the rest of the interview I got from Dresden Olympiad webstie:

"I am very happy to be the youngest grandmaster in the world," said So, explaining that chess only became popular in 2006 with the election of chess-backers in his country's government. So is just entering the fold of top-level competition. Even though he has never played in an invitational tournament (his first will be the Corus "C" group next year), he is clearly not intimidated here. So has not lost a game, and in his first ever matches against 2700s, he beat Chinese GM Ni Hua and drew GM Alexei Shirov (against whom he played the Sicilian Rossolimo for the first time in his life).

GM Susan Polgar referenced So's countryman GM Eugenio Torre when she said, "I hope you follow in his footsteps." Torre's imprint is large – in 1976 he became Asia's first grandmaster and he has represented the Philippines in a staggering 19 consecutive Olympiads (though this is the first year he has been absent since he began his streak in 1970).

Chess correspondences in Dresden reports that the interview is nothing but "unclear" and "uneventful". Anyway it's good to see that So is slowly getting the hang now in facing the international chess media.

The video is still unavailable at the moment. Here's the link for more photos of the press conference http://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/6Day6PressConference#

Chess Olympiad 2008 round 8 results: Philippines lost to the Netherlands

After coming up with an impressive victory against Belgium, the RP men's team absorbed it's worst beating thus far at the Olympiad as we lost to the Dutch 0.5 : 3.5. With the result, the Philippines dropped out of the top fifty team in the standings, in 57th place. In round 9, we will be paired against the 18th seed Czech Republic. The Philippines has yet to beat teams that are higher seeded than us. Meanwhile, 37th seed Vietnam continue their impressive run as they hold their ground against power house China, the 3rd seed at the Olympiad, to remain in the top ten of the standings.

Bo.	20	Netherlands (NED)	Rtg	-	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	3.5 : 0.5	PGN	>Game<
14.1	GM	Van Wely Loek	2618	-	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	2468	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<
14.2	GM	Smeets Jan	2604	-	GM	So Wesley	2610	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
14.3	GM	Stellwagen Daniel	2605	-	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<
14.4	GM	Werle Jan	2582	-	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	1 : 0	PGN	>Game<

results round 8 open section

7 France (FRA) - 9 Armenia (ARM) ½ :3½

GM Bacrot Etienne 2705 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ - ½
GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2716 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 0 - 1
GM Fressinet Laurent 2676 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 0 - 1
GM Tkachiev Vladislav 2664 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 0 - 1
8 Israel (ISR) - 11 Germany 1 (GER1) 2½:1½

GM Gelfand Boris 2719 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 1 - 0
GM Roiz Michael 2677 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 ½ - ½
GM Avrukh Boris 2657 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 ½ - ½
GM Postny Evgeny 2674 - GM Baramidze David 2557 ½ - ½

10 United States of America (USA) - 1 Russia (RUS) 1½:2½

GM Kamsky Gata 2729 - GM Svidler Peter 2727 1 - 0
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2704 - GM Grischuk Alexander 2719 0 - 1
GM Onischuk Alexander 2644 - GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 ½ - ½
GM Akobian Varuzhan 2606 - GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 0 - 1

3 China (CHN) - 37 Vietnam (VIE) 2 : 2

GM Bu Xiangzhi 2714 - GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2567 ½ - ½
GM Ni Hua 2710 - GM Le Quang Liem 2583 ½ - ½
GM Wang Hao 2696 - GM Dao Thien Hai 2510 0 - 1
GM Li Chao B 2622 - GM Tu Hoang Thong 2496 1 - 0

2 Ukraine (UKR) - 71 New Zealand (NZL) 4 : 0

GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Chandler Murray G 2515 1 - 0
GM Eljanov Pavel 2720 - IM Dive Russell John 2357 1 - 0
GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - FM Smith Robert W 2316 1 - 0
GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 - FM Nokes Roger I 2293 1 - 0

4 Azerbaijan (AZE) - 24 Croatia (CRO) 2½:1½

GM Radjabov Teimour 2752 - GM Palac Mladen 2583 ½ - ½
GM Gashimov Vugar 2703 - GM Kozul Zdenko 2593 ½ - ½
GM Huseynov Gadir 2650 - GM Zelcic Robert 2589 1 - 0
GM Mammadov Rauf 2631 - GM Stevic Hrvoje 2588 ½ - ½

6 Bulgaria (BUL) - 23 Belarus (BLR) 2 : 2

GM Topalov Veselin 2791 - GM Zhigalko Sergei 2592 1 - 0
GM Cheparinov Ivan 2696 - GM Aleksandrov Aleksej 2617 0 - 1
GM Georgiev Kiril 2645 - GM Fedorov Alexei 2584 ½ - ½
GM Delchev Aleksander 2632 - GM Zhigalko Andrey 2568 ½ - ½

15 England (ENG) - 17 Georgia (GEO) 2½:1½

GM Adams Michael 2734 - GM Jobava Baadur 2664 ½ - ½
GM Short Nigel D 2642 - GM Izoria Zviad 2610 1 - 0
GM Howell David W L 2593 - GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2615 ½ - ½
GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 - GM Pantsulaia Levan 2580 ½ - ½

25 Slovakia (SVK) - 27 Greece (GRE) 3 : 1

GM Movsesian Sergei 2732 - GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2597 1 - 0
GM Ftacnik Lubomir 2571 - GM Kotronias Vasilios 2587 ½ - ½
GM Markos Jan 2557 - GM Halkias Stelios 2584 1 - 0
IM Vavrak Peter 2478 - GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2572 ½ - ½

50 Turkey (TUR) - 21 Poland (POL) 1½:2½

GM Gurevich Mikhail 2634 - GM Miton Kamil 2604 ½ - ½
IM Can Emre 2464 - GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2599 0 - 1
IM Erdogdu Mert 2449 - GM Gajewski Grzegorz 2577 1 - 0
FM Yilmaz Mustafa 2387 - GM Bartel Mateusz 2602 0 - 1

28 Slovenia (SLO) - 13 India (IND) 2 : 2

GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2619 - GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2694 ½ - ½
GM Pavasovic Dusko 2597 - GM Harikrishna P 2659 0 - 1
GM Lenic Luka 2569 - GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 2548 ½ - ½
IM Borisek Jure 2548 - GM Sandipan Chanda 2579 1 - 0

14 Romania (ROU) - 22 Serbia (SRB) 1½:2½

GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2684 - GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2658 0 - 1
GM Istratescu Andrei 2633 - GM Solak Dragan 2595 ½ - ½
GM Parligras Mircea 2611 - GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2581 1 - 0
GM Lupulescu Constantin 2594 - GM Perunovic Milos 2580 0 - 1

5 Hungary (HUN) - 44 Italy (ITA) 3 : 1

GM Leko Peter 2747 - GM Caruana Fabiano 2640 1 - 0
GM Polgar Judit 2711 - GM Godena Michele 2517 0 - 1
GM Almasi Zoltan 2663 - IM Brunello Sabino 2455 1 - 0
GM Berkes Ferenc 2645 - IM Rombaldoni Denis 2436 1 - 0

20 Netherlands (NED) - 38 Philippines (PHI) 3½: ½

GM Van Wely Loek 2618 - GM Villamayor Buenaventura 2468 1 - 0
GM Smeets Jan 2604 - GM So Wesley 2610 ½ - ½
GM Stellwagen Daniel 2605 - IM Gomez John Paul 2519 1 - 0
GM Werle Jan 2582 - GM Laylo Darwin 2507 1 - 0

19 Norway (NOR) - 18 Czech Republic (CZE) 3 : 1

GM Carlsen Magnus 2786 - GM Navara David 2633 1 - 0
GM Agdestein Simen 2588 - GM Hracek Zbynek 2613 ½ - ½
GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2545 - GM Laznicka Viktor 2591 ½ - ½
IM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2522 - GM Babula Vlastimil 2608 1 - 0

12 Spain (ESP) - 55 Bangladesh (BAN) 3 : 1

GM Shirov Alexei 2726 - GM Rahman Ziaur 2510 1 - 0
GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2664 - GM Hossain Enamul 2494 1 - 0
GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2604 - GM Abdulla Al-Rakib 2522 ½ - ½
GM San Segundo Carrillo Pablo 2564 - FM Minhazuddin Ahmed 2377 ½ - ½

30 Sweden (SWE) - 33 Uzbekistan (UZB) 2½:1½

GM Berg Emanuel 2623 - GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2672 ½ - ½
GM Hillarp Persson Tiger 2543 - GM Iuldachev Saidali 2511 1 - 0
GM Cicak Slavko 2564 - IM Khamrakulov Dzhurabek 2533 1 - 0
GM Carlsson Pontus 2515 - GM Safin Shukhrat 2510 0 - 1

51 Estonia (EST) - 34 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 1½:2½

GM Kulaots Kaido 2556 - GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2640 ½ - ½
GM Kanep Meelis 2524 - GM Kotsur Pavel 2563 ½ - ½
IM Liiva Riho 2460 - GM Ibrayev Nurlan 2448 ½ - ½
IM Volodin Aleksandr 2397 - IM Zhumabayev Rinat 2490 0 - 1

41 Germany 2 (GER2) - 16 Cuba (CUB) ½ :3½

GM Meier Georg 2558 - GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2719 ½ - ½
IM Braun Arik 2567 - GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro 2623 0 - 1
GM Bindrich Falko 2517 - GM Quezada Perez Yuniesky 2580 0 - 1
IM Bogner Sebastian 2448 - GM Hernandez Carmenates Holden 2580 0 - 1

29 Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH) - 53 Australia (AUS) 2½:1½

GM Predojevic Borki 2615 - GM Zhao Zong-Yuan 2567 ½ - ½
GM Saric Ibro 2559 - IM Smerdon David 2470 ½ - ½
IM Stojanovic Dalibor 2455 - IM Solomon Stephen J 2470 ½ - ½
IM Bogut Zeljko 2464 - GM Johansen Darryl K 2446 1 - 0

35 Lithuania (LTU) - 65 Ecuador (ECU) 3 : 1

GM Kveinys Aloyzas 2533 - GM Matamoros Franco Carlos S 2525 ½ - ½ GM Sulskis Sarunas 2572 - IM Pazos Gambarrotti Plinio 2327 ½ - ½ IM Zagorskis Darius 2509 - Aucay Pelaez Mauro 2335 1 - 0
IM Sarakauskas Gediminas 2429 - Macias Murillo Bryan 2333 1 - 0

72 Faroe Islands (FAI) - 59 Colombia (COL) ½ :3½

IM Ziska Helgi Dam 2416 - IM Cuartas Jaime Alexander 2489 0 - 1
IM Rodgaard John 2383 - IM Escobar Forero Alder 2482 ½ - ½
Poulsen Martin 2281 - IM Barrientos Sergio 2450 0 - 1
Andreasen Joan Hendrik 2179 - IM Clavijo Jorge Mario 2358 0 - 1

52 Finland (FIN) - 39 Former Yug Rep of Macedonia (MKD) 1½:2½

GM Nyback Tomi 2639 - GM Georgiev Vladimir 2517 ½ - ½
IM Sammalvuo Tapani 2463 - GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2502 0 - 1
IM Agopov Mikael 2449 - GM Mitkov Nikola 2556 ½ - ½
IM Lehtinen Heikki 2385 - IM Colovic Aleksandar 2458 ½ - ½

57 Ireland (IRL) - 36 Switzerland (SUI) 1 : 3

GM Baburin Alexander 2544 - GM Korchnoi Viktor 2584 ½ - ½
IM Kelly Brian 2488 - GM Pelletier Yannick 2557 ½ - ½
IM Collins Sam E 2412 - GM Jenni Florian 2543 0 - 1
IM Quinn Mark 2401 - IM Hug Werner 2448 0 - 1

46 Scotland (SCO) - 43 Latvia (LAT) 2 : 2

GM Rowson Jonathan 2596 - GM Miezis Normunds 2557 ½ - ½
GM Aagaard Jacob 2528 - GM Sveshnikov Evgeny 2525 ½ - ½
IM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan 2448 - GM Meijers Viesturs 2514 ½ - ½
GM McNab Colin A 2455 - Samolins Vitalijs 2444 ½ - ½

61 Portugal (POR) - 54 Austria (AUT) 1½:2½

GM Galego Luis 2484 - GM Ragger Markus 2518 ½ - ½
FM Dias Paulo 2406 - GM Kindermann Stefan 2517 0 - 1
IM Rocha Sergio 2417 - IM Neubauer Martin 2422 ½ - ½
FM Pereira Ruben 2437 - IM Baumegger Siegfried 2445 ½ - ½

42 Montenegro (MNE) - 67 Qatar (QAT) 2½:1½

GM Djukic Nikola 2519 - GM Al-Modiahki Mohamad 2559 0 - 1
GM Drasko Milan 2537 - IM Al Sayed Mohamad N 2477 ½ - ½
GM Blagojevic Dragisa 2522 - IM Nezad Husein Aziz 2401 1 - 0
IM Kalezic Blazo 2448 - Al-Hitmi Mohamad 2161 1 - 0

26 Moldova (MDA) - 77 Turkmenistan (TKM) 2½:1½

GM Bologan Viktor 2682 - IM Kakageldyev Amanmurad 2449 1 - 0
GM Iordachescu Viorel 2572 - FM Esenov Annaberdi 2319 ½ - ½
GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2588 - Atabaev Yusyup 2219 1 - 0
GM Sanduleac Vasile 2443 - IM Amanov Mesgen 2357 0 - 1

69 Indonesia (INA) - 70 Mongolia (MGL) 4 : 0

GM Megaranto Susanto 2536 - Gundavaa Bayarsaihan 2458 1 - 0
IM Irwanto Sadikin 2441 - GM Hatanbaatar Bazar 2375 1 - 0
Yohannes Simbolon 0 - Oyunbaatar Tumendemberel 2306 1 - 0
Farid Firmansyah 2154 - Battulga Namhai 2317 1 - 0

45 Iceland (ISL) - 81 United Arab Emirates (UAE) 1½:2½

GM Stefansson Hannes 2575 - IM Salem A R Saleh 2476 0 - 1
GM Danielsen Henrik 2492 - Ali Abdulkhaleq 2176 1 - 0
IM Kristjansson Stefan 2474 - IM Hassan Abdullah 2287 ½ - ½
GM Thorhallsson Throstur 2455 - FM AlHuwar Jasem 2230 0 - 1

49 Egypt (EGY) - 66 Costa Rica (CRC) 3 : 1

GM Adly Ahmed 2586 - GM Ramirez Alejandro 2533 ½ - ½
GM Amin Bassem 2560 - IM Gonzalez Bernal 2432 1 - 0
IM Frhat Ali 2418 - IM Hernandez Basante Francisco 2247 ½ - ½
FM Abdel Razik Khaled 2406 - Vargas Serano Pablo 1978 1 - 0

32 Denmark (DEN) - 105 Guatemala (GUA) 3½: ½

GM Nielsen Peter Heine 2662 - IM Juarez Flores Carlos A 2358 1 - 0
GM Schandorff Lars 2520 - FM Lorenzana Wilson Estuardo 2202 1 - 0
IM Rasmussen Allan Stig 2513 - Quinones Centeno Carlos 2127 ½ - ½
IM Glud Jakob Vang 2444 - Gudiel Carlos 0 1 - 0

40 Iran (IRI) - 94 Uruguay (URU) 4 : 0

GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2599 - IM Roselli Mailhe Bernardo 2368 1 - 0
GM Moradiabadi Elshan 2499 - Carvalho Guillermo 2249 1 - 0
GM Bagheri Amir 2490 - Lopez Falcon Jorge 2206 1 - 0
GM Ghane Shojaat 2408 - Rodriguez Santiago 2262 1 - 0

91 El Salvador (ESA) - 58 Brazil (BRA) 1 : 3

IM Leyva Hector 2399 - GM Lima Darcy 2488 1 - 0
IM Arias Lemmys A 2372 - GM Sunye Neto Jaime 2488 0 - 1
FM Chavez Ricardo Ernesto 2226 - FM El Debs Felipe De Cresce 2447 0 - 1
FM Martinez Nelson 2149 - IM Braga Cicero Nogueira 2415 0 - 1

31 Argentina (ARG) - 63 Mexico (MEX) 2½:1½

GM Felgaer Ruben 2591 - GM Hernandez Guerrero Gilberto 2549 0 - 1
GM Peralta Fernando 2557 - IM Espinosa Flores Rafael 2412 1 - 0
IM Kovalyov Anton 2571 - IM Gongora Montes Benjamin 2281 1 - 0
GM Campora Daniel H 2537 - IM Capo Vidal Uriel 2340 ½ - ½

130 Pakistan (PAK) - 93 Jordan (JOR) 3½: ½

Amir Karim 2265 - Samhouri Bilal 2205 1 - 0
Waqar Mohamed 2207 - FM Rimawi B T 2221 1 - 0
Butt Khalil Ur Rehman 0 - FM Mansour Sameer 2285 1 - 0
Ahmed Haseeb 2253 - FM Samhouri A 2378 ½ - ½

89 Palestine (PLE) - 74 Tajikistan (TJK) 1½:2½

GM Ermenkov Evgenij 2465 - IM Isaev Jamshed 2400 ½ - ½
IM Michel Yunis Christian D 2368 - FM Djuraev Sokhib 2339 1 - 0
CM Moussa Alaa-Eddine 2223 - IM Nazarov Anvar 2344 0 - 1
Ihsan Jawad 2166 - IM Khamdamov Suhrob 2219 0 - 1

Levon Aronian: Chess programs are our enemies,.. Women cannot play chess

He said so.

These were heavy words. Levon Aronian speaks about his thoughts on computer programs and the "fairer sex" involvement in chess. As most of the cases, great chess players are excellent speakers as well.

"Chess programs are our enemies, they destroy the romance of chess. They take away the beauty of the game. Everything can be calculated. But we still have twenty years, at least...They (chess computer programs) are becoming better, but not more human. Computers don’t have plans, they don’t have ideas, philosophy, aesthetic feelings. Unlike humans they don’t have an inkling of how rooks, knights and pawns should be moved around the board. You know, sometimes when I am playing my games I have the feeling that I am in a fairy tale, that I have been immersed into a world full of fantasy."

Well said Mr. Aronian, but how about this one folks? Also, for obvious reasons, I follows mainly the men's and open category at the Olympiad.

"Women cannot play chess...That is true, but women are generally much too emotional for chess. If they want to play really well they have to change their character and suppress their natural instincts. They have to take on male qualities. After all chess is a rough and hard game."

Miss Arianne Caoili are you hearing this one from Mr Aronian?

Interview conducted by Christian Schwager and Markus Lotter of Berliner Zeitung English translation from chessbase.com

-Photo from Wikipedia

Chess Olympiad 2008 round 7 results: Philippines defeats Belgium

The RP men's team had so far scored their "easiest" win at the Dresden Olympiad by crushing the Belgian team 3.5 : 0.5. Only GM Buenaventura Villamayor agreed to halve the points with IM Richard Polaczek. The rest of the team delivered a victory. Wesley So needed just 20 moves to subdue IM Ekrem Cekro while John Paul Gomez needed just 23 moves to finished off IM Bruno Laurent. A nice, quick and easy result for the RP team as we will be facing the 20th seed the Netherlands in round 8 who absorbed a devastating loss to Vietnam in round 7.

Bo.	68	Belgium (BEL)	Rtg	-	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	0.5 : 3.5	PGN	>Game<
24.1	IM	Polaczek Richard	2419	-	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	2468	½ : ½	PGN	>Game<
24.2	IM	Cekro Ekrem	2419	-	GM	So Wesley	2610	0 : 1	PGN	>Game<
24.3	IM	Saiboulatov Daniyal	2360	-	GM	Gonzales Jayson	2469	0 : 1	PGN	>Game<
24.4	IM	Laurent Bruno	2370	-	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	0 : 1	PGN	>Game<

Photos of Wesley So at today's Dresden Press Conference!

Now he looks very confident isn't he?

GM Wesley So had just appeared on press conference today in Dresden hosted by WGM Susan Polgar. Anyway, it's better than never for Wesley :) The moment the video of the interview is available, we will post it here on CH.

Here's the link for more photos http://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/6Day6PressConference#

Chess Olympiad 2008 round 6 results: Spain defeats the Philippines

Sorry for many Pinoy who are itching for sweet revenge against the conquistadores, but the Espanyol conquers us once again. RP team lost to 12th seed Spain in the 6th round 1.0-3.0. Let us vent all our frustrations against the 68th seed Belgians in the 7th round okay? :)

Round 6 Open on 2008/11/19 at 15.00
Bo.	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	12	Spain (ESP)	Rtg	1 : 3	>Games<
12.1	GM	So Wesley	2610	-	GM	Shirov Alexei	2726	½ : ½	>Game<
12.2	GM	Gonzales Jayson	2469	-	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2664	0 : 1	>Game<
12.3	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	-	GM	Illescas Cordoba Miguel	2604	½ : ½	>Game<
12.4	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	-	GM	San Segundo Carrillo Pablo	2564	0 : 1	>Game<

Wesley So a no show in press conference in Dresden

Filipino chess correspondence in Dresden reported that GM Wesley So was scheduled to appear in press conference yesterday hosted by Susan Polgar, but So failed to show up. This may be somewhat unacceptable but for me it's quite understandable. I guess Wesley has yet to come up with the facts that he's beginning to captured the attention of chess afficionados in the European soil. He still feel insecure after all and remains a camera shy as ever. I remember last March at the Battle of Grandmasters here in Manila, Wesley, then fourteen, would literally run away from TV reporters (ABS-CBN) toward his father as if seeking protection! Also Wesley shouldn't be concerned about the language barrier. With the exception of perhaps Magnus Carlsen, most chess prodigies these days are horrible in English. Hou Yifan, Karjakin, Nguyen Ngoc truong son, Bacrot and Radjabov are just some of the examples :) We will all love to see Wesley introduced himself in the big stage!

Chess Olympiad 2008 round 5 results: Philippines beats Iran

The Philippines had just defeated the Iranian team 2.5-1.5 in round 5. The RP team is currently occupying the 12th spot at the standings. Detailed stories to be followed...

Bo.	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	40	Iran (IRI)	Rtg	2.5 : 1.5	PGN	>Live<
23.1	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	2468	-	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan	2599	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
23.2	GM	So Wesley	2610	-	GM	Moradiabadi Elshan	2499	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
23.3	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	-	GM	Bagheri Amir	2490	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
23.4	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	-	GM	Mahjoob Morteza	2507	0 : 1	PGN	>Live<

- 2008 Dresden Olympiad Official website
- Live Games

Important Matches of Round 5

Bo.	11	Germany 1 (GER)	Rtg	-	1	Russia (RUS)	Rtg	2 : 2	PGN	>Live<
1.1	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2678	-	GM	Kramnik Vladimir	2772	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
1.2	GM	Khenkin Igor	2647	-	GM	Grischuk Alexander	2719	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
1.3	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2634	-	GM	Morozevich Alexander	2787	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
1.4	GM	Fridman Daniel	2630	-	GM	Jakovenko Dmitry	2737	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<

Bo.	9	Armenia (ARM)	Rtg	-	20	Netherlands (NED)	Rtg	2.5 : 1.5	PGN	>Live<
2.1	GM	Aronian Levon	2757	-	GM	Van Wely Loek	2618	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
2.2	GM	Akopian Vladimir	2679	-	GM	Smeets Jan	2604	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
2.3	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2642	-	GM	Stellwagen Daniel	2605	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
2.4	GM	Petrosian Tigran L	2629	-	GM	LAmi Erwin	2610	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<

Bo.	5	Hungary (HUN)	Rtg	-	2	Ukraine (UKR)	Rtg	1.5 : 2.5	PGN	>Live<
3.1	GM	Leko Peter	2747	-	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2786	0 : 1	PGN	>Live<
3.2	GM	Polgar Judit	2711	-	GM	Karjakin Sergey	2730	0 : 1	PGN	>Live<
3.3	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2663	-	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2720	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
3.4	GM	Balogh Csaba	2616	-	GM	Volokitin Andrei	2659	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<

Bo.	19	Norway (NOR)	Rtg	-	4	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	1 : 3	PGN	>Live<
4.1	GM	Carlsen Magnus	2786	-	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2731	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
4.2	GM	Agdestein Simen	2588	-	GM	Gashimov Vugar	2703	0 : 1	PGN	>Live<
4.3	GM	Lie Kjetil A	2526	-	GM	Huseynov Gadir	2650	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
4.4	IM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2522	-	GM	Mammadov Rauf	2631	0 : 1	PGN	>Live<

Bo.	13	India (IND)	Rtg	-	54	Austria (AUT)	Rtg	3 : 1	PGN	>Live<
6.1	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2694	-	GM	Ragger Markus	2518	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
6.2	GM	Harikrishna P	2659	-	GM	Kindermann Stefan	2517	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
6.3	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2603	-	IM	Atlas Valery	2465	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
6.4	GM	Geetha Narayanan Gopal	2548	-	IM	Neubauer Martin	2422	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<

Bo.	3	China (CHN)	Rtg	-	46	Scotland (SCO)	Rtg	2.5 : 1.5	PGN	>Live<
8.1	GM	Wang Yue	2736	-	GM	Rowson Jonathan	2596	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
8.2	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	2714	-	GM	Aagaard Jacob	2528	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<
8.3	GM	Wang Hao	2696	-	GM	Shaw John	2469	1 : 0	PGN	>Live<
8.4	GM	Li Chao B	2622	-	GM	McNab Colin A	2455	½ : ½	PGN	>Live<

Chess Olympiad 2008 round 4: Philippines drew with Greece

A sorry draw for the Philippine team. We had our chances. Although GM Darwin Laylo's d4 pawn was a heavy liability to him for most part of the game, Laylo had a very good chance of winning. Laylo throws everything he's got but the out-numbered, out-maneuvered Greek Grandmaster who was choking to death held his ground like a possessed Spartan hero of Thermopylae managed to forced a truce. I say it's just pure Spartan spirit, and a little bit of luck too for the Greek. Other games also saw GM Wesley So drew his match against GM Ioannis Papaioanou in just 20 moves of the Slav. GM Jayson Gonzales was completely outplayed by GM Vasilios Kotronias of the English/reversed Sicilian where Gonzales looks to be more content to end the match in a draw by shying away with the more promising 9.d3. I do not know if it was part of the strategy of the team to just hold Kotronias but we paid the price. John Paul Gomez meanwhile pulled off his second straight win of the Olympiad courtesy of GM Halkias after 51st moves of another English opening.

o.	27	Greece (GRE)	Rtg	-	38	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	2 : 2	PGN	>Replay<
18.1	GM	Papaioannou Ioannis	2597	-	GM	So Wesley	2610	½ : ½	PGN	>Replay<
18.2	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	2587	-	GM	Gonzales Jayson	2469	1 : 0	PGN	>Replay<
18.3	GM	Halkias Stelios	2584	-	IM	Gomez John Paul	2519	0 : 1	PGN	>Replay<
18.4	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	2572	-	GM	Laylo Darwin	2507	½ : ½	PGN	>Replay<

results open section

2 Ukraine (UKR) - 9 Armenia (ARM) 2 : 2

GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ - ½
GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 ½ - ½
GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 ½ - ½
GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 ½ - ½

12 Spain (ESP) - 11 Germany 1 (GER1) 1½:2½

GM Shirov Alexei 2726 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 0 - 1
GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2664 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 ½ - ½
GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2604 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 1 - 0
GM Khamrakulov Ibragim S 2580 - GM Baramidze David 2557 0 - 1

19 Norway (NOR) - 15 England (ENG) 2 : 2

GM Carlsen Magnus 2786 - GM Adams Michael 2734 1 - 0
GM Agdestein Simen 2588 - GM Short Nigel D 2642 ½ - ½
GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2545 - GM Howell David W L 2593 0 - 1
IM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2522 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 ½ - ½

1 Russia (RUS) - 13 India (IND) 2½:1½

GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772 - GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2694 ½ - ½
GM Svidler Peter 2727 - GM Harikrishna P 2659 0 - 1
GM Grischuk Alexander 2719 - GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2603 1 - 0
GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 - GM Sandipan Chanda 2579 1 - 0

14 Romania (ROU) - 5 Hungary (HUN) 1 : 3

GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2684 - GM Leko Peter 2747 ½ - ½
GM Istratescu Andrei 2633 - GM Polgar Judit 2711 ½ - ½
GM Parligras Mircea 2611 - GM Almasi Zoltan 2663 0 - 1
GM Lupulescu Constantin 2594 - GM Berkes Ferenc 2645 0 - 1

4 Azerbaijan (AZE) - 10 United States of America (USA) 3 : 1

GM Radjabov Teimour 2752 - GM Kamsky Gata 2729 1 - 0
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 - GM Nakamura Hikaru 2704 1 - 0
GM Gashimov Vugar 2703 - GM Onischuk Alexander 2644 ½ - ½
GM Huseynov Gadir 2650 - GM Shulman Yuri 2616 ½ - ½

72 Faroe Islands (FAI) - 20 Netherlands (NED) 1½:2½

IM Ziska Helgi Dam 2416 - GM Van Wely Loek 2618 1 - 0
FM Olsen Heini 2376 - GM Stellwagen Daniel 2605 0 - 1
IM Rodgaard John 2383 - GM L'Ami Erwin 2610 0 - 1
Andreasen Joan Hendrik 2179 - GM Werle Jan 2582 ½ - ½

109 Malta (MLT) - 21 Poland (POL) ½ :3½

Sorensen Torben 2383 - GM Socko Bartosz 2631 ½ - ½
CM Pace Colin 2148 - GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2599 0 - 1
Borg Andrew 2112 - GM Gajewski Grzegorz 2577 0 - 1
Zerafa Robert 1991 - GM Bartel Mateusz 2602 0 - 1

57 Ireland (IRL) - 29 Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH) ½ :3½

GM Baburin Alexander 2544 - GM Nikolic Predrag 2669 ½ - ½
IM Kelly Brian 2488 - GM Predojevic Borki 2615 0 - 1
IM Collins Sam E 2412 - GM Saric Ibro 2559 0 - 1
IM Heidenfeld Mark 2364 - IM Stojanovic Dalibor 2455 0 - 1

39 Former Yug Rep of Macedonia (MKD) - 3 China (CHN) 0 : 4

GM Georgiev Vladimir 2517 - GM Wang Yue 2736 0 - 1
GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2502 - GM Bu Xiangzhi 2714 0 - 1
GM Mitkov Nikola 2556 - GM Ni Hua 2710 0 - 1
IM Colovic Aleksandar 2458 - GM Wang Hao 2696 0 - 1

91 El Salvador (ESA) - 35 Lithuania (LTU) 0 : 4

IM Leyva Hector 2399 - GM Kveinys Aloyzas 2533 0 - 1
IM Arias Lemmys A 2372 - GM Rozentalis Eduardas 2577 0 - 1
FM Chavez Ricardo Ernesto 2226 - IM Zagorskis Darius 2509 0 - 1
FM Martinez Nelson 2149 - IM Sarakauskas Gediminas 2429 0 - 1

44 Italy (ITA) - 36 Switzerland (SUI) 2½:1½

GM Caruana Fabiano 2640 - GM Korchnoi Viktor 2584 1 - 0
GM Godena Michele 2517 - GM Pelletier Yannick 2557 ½ - ½
IM Shytaj Luca 2472 - GM Jenni Florian 2543 ½ - ½
IM Brunello Sabino 2455 - GM Gallagher Joseph G 2480 ½ - ½

65 Ecuador (ECU) - 22 Serbia (SRB) ½ :3½

GM Matamoros Franco Carlos S 2525 - GM Solak Dragan 2595 ½ - ½
IM Pazos Gambarrotti Plinio 2327 - GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2581 0 - 1
Aucay Pelaez Mauro 2335 - GM Perunovic Milos 2580 0 - 1
Macias Murillo Bryan 2333 - GM Vuckovic Bojan 2561 0 - 1

61 Portugal (POR) - 17 Georgia (GEO) ½ :3½

GM Galego Luis 2484 - GM Jobava Baadur 2664 0 - 1
IM Damaso Rui 2425 - GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2615 0 - 1
IM Rocha Sergio 2417 - GM Pantsulaia Levan 2580 ½ - ½
FM Pereira Ruben 2437 - GM Arutinian David 2584 0 - 1

73 Malaysia (MAS) - 25 Slovakia (SVK) ½ :3½

IM Mas Hafizulhelmi 2439 - GM Ftacnik Lubomir 2571 0 - 1
FM Lim Yee-Weng 2396 - GM Markos Jan 2557 ½ - ½
FM Mok Tze-Meng 2308 - GM Petrik Tomas 2487 0 - 1
Edward Lee Kim Han 0 - IM Vavrak Peter 2478 0 - 1

8 Israel (ISR) - 49 Egypt (EGY) 2½:1½

GM Gelfand Boris 2719 - GM Adly Ahmed 2586 1 - 0
GM Roiz Michael 2677 - GM Amin Bassem 2560 ½ - ½
GM Avrukh Boris 2657 - IM Ezat Mohamed 2425 1 - 0
GM Postny Evgeny 2674 - FM Abdel Razik Khaled 2406 0 - 1

32 Denmark (DEN) - 55 Bangladesh (BAN) 2½:1½

GM Hansen Lars Bo 2570 - GM Rahman Ziaur 2510 1 - 0
GM Nielsen Peter Heine 2662 - GM Hossain Enamul 2494 1 - 0
GM Schandorff Lars 2520 - GM Abdulla Al-Rakib 2522 ½ - ½
IM Glud Jakob Vang 2444 - FM Minhazuddin Ahmed 2377 0 - 1

27 Greece (GRE) - 38 Philippines (PHI) 2 : 2

GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2597 - GM So Wesley 2610 ½ - ½
GM Kotronias Vasilios 2587 - GM Gonzales Jayson 2469 1 - 0
GM Halkias Stelios 2584 - IM Gomez John Paul 2519 0 - 1
GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2572 - GM Laylo Darwin 2507 ½ - ½

6 Bulgaria (BUL) - 70 Mongolia (MGL) 3½: ½

GM Topalov Veselin 2791 - Gundavaa Bayarsaihan 2458 1 - 0
GM Cheparinov Ivan 2696 - GM Hatanbaatar Bazar 2375 ½ - ½
GM Delchev Aleksander 2632 - Oyunbaatar Tumendemberel 2306 1 - 0
GM Iotov Valentin 2532 - Bayarmandah Balgan 2339 1 - 0

68 Belgium (BEL) - 24 Croatia (CRO) 1½:2½

IM Polaczek Richard 2419 - GM Palac Mladen 2583 ½ - ½
IM Cekro Ekrem 2419 - GM Kozul Zdenko 2593 0 - 1
FM Gulbas Cemil 2371 - GM Stevic Hrvoje 2588 0 - 1
IM Saiboulatov Daniyal 2360 - GM Jovanovic Zoran 2564 1 - 0

37 Vietnam (VIE) - 106 Japan (JPN) 3½: ½

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2567 - Kojima Shinya 2272 ½ - ½
GM Le Quang Liem 2583 - Uesugi Shinsaku 2222 1 - 0
CM Nguyen Van Huy 2422 - Sano Tomu 2111 1 - 0
GM Tu Hoang Thong 2496 - Noguchi Koji 2018 1 - 0

48 Canada (CAN) - 46 Scotland (SCO) 1½:2½

GM Bluvshtein Mark 2557 - GM Rowson Jonathan 2596 0 - 1
GM Charbonneau Pascal 2499 - GM Aagaard Jacob 2528 1 - 0
IM Zugic Igor 2457 - GM Shaw John 2469 ½ - ½
IM Roussel-Roozmon Thomas 2486 - IM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan 2448 0 - 1

75 Dominican Republic (DOM) - 7 France (FRA) 0 : 4

GM Mateo Ramon 2487 - GM Bacrot Etienne 2705 0 - 1
IM Dominguez Jose M 2345 - GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2716 0 - 1
Jaquez Juan 2223 - GM Fressinet Laurent 2676 0 - 1
Subervi Jonathan 2238 - GM Maze Sebastien 2577 0 - 1

59 Colombia (COL) - 41 Germany 2 (GER2) 2 : 2

IM Cuartas Jaime Alexander 2489 - IM Braun Arik 2567 ½ - ½
IM Escobar Forero Alder 2482 - GM Bindrich Falko 2517 ½ - ½
IM Barrientos Sergio 2450 - IM Bogner Sebastian 2448 1 - 0
IM Clavijo Jorge Mario 2358 - IM Huschenbeth Niclas 2417 0 - 1

30 Sweden (SWE) - 76 IPCA (IPCA) 4 : 0

GM Agrest Evgenij 2574 - IM Obodchuk Andrei 2434 1 - 0
GM Hillarp Persson Tiger 2543 - IM Mikheev Stanislav 2329 1 - 0
GM Cicak Slavko 2564 - IM Yarmonov Igor 2322 1 - 0
GM Carlsson Pontus 2515 - IM Bondarets Vadim 2345 1 - 0

58 Brazil (BRA) - 33 Uzbekistan (UZB) 2 : 2

GM Sunye Neto Jaime 2488 - GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2672 0 - 1
FM El Debs Felipe De Cresce 2447 - GM Iuldachev Saidali 2511 1 - 0
IM Braga Cicero Nogueira 2415 - IM Khamrakulov Dzhurabek 2533 0 - 1
IM Diamant Andre 2412 - GM Barsov Alexei 2513 1 - 0

34 Kazakhstan (KAZ) - 50 Turkey (TUR) 2 : 2

GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2640 - GM Gurevich Mikhail 2634 1 - 0
GM Kotsur Pavel 2563 - IM Can Emre 2464 ½ - ½
GM Ibrayev Nurlan 2448 - IM Erdogdu Mert 2449 ½ - ½
IM Zhumabayev Rinat 2490 - IM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2436 0 - 1

23 Belarus (BLR) - 74 Tajikistan (TJK) 3 : 1

GM Azarov Sergei 2613 - Khuseinov Rashid 2348 1 - 0
GM Zhigalko Sergei 2592 - IM Isaev Jamshed 2400 ½ - ½
GM Aleksandrov Aleksej 2617 - FM Djuraev Sokhib 2339 ½ - ½
GM Fedorov Alexei 2584 - IM Khamdamov Suhrob 2219 1 - 0

26 Moldova (MDA) - 45 Iceland (ISL) 2 : 2

GM Bologan Viktor 2682 - GM Stefansson Hannes 2575 0 - 1
GM Iordachescu Viorel 2572 - GM Steingrimsson Hedinn 2540 ½ - ½
GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2588 - IM Kristjansson Stefan 2474 1 - 0
GM Sanduleac Vasile 2443 - GM Thorhallsson Throstur 2455 ½ - ½

16 Cuba (CUB) - 60 Venezuela (VEN) 4 : 0

GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2719 - GM Iturrizaga Eduardo 2538 1 - 0
GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro 2623 - IM Alvarez Marquez Johann 2430 1 - 0
GM Quezada Perez Yuniesky 2580 - IM Prasca Sosa Rafael 2410 1 - 0
GM Nogueiras Santiago Jesus 2574 - FM Soto Paez Oliver 2396 1 - 0

71 New Zealand (NZL) - 28 Slovenia (SLO) 0 : 4

GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - GM Pavasovic Dusko 2597 0 - 1
IM Dive Russell John 2357 - GM Lenic Luka 2569 0 - 1
FM Smith Robert W 2316 - IM Borisek Jure 2548 - - +
FM Lukey Stephen G 2271 - IM Skoberne Jure 2501 0 - 1

66 Costa Rica (CRC) - 69 Indonesia (INA) 3 : 1

GM Ramirez Alejandro 2533 - GM Megaranto Susanto 2536 1 - 0
IM Gonzalez Bernal 2432 - IM Irwanto Sadikin 2441 ½ - ½
IM Valdes Leonardo 2401 - Yohannes Simbolon 0 1 - 0
IM Hernandez Basante Francisco 2247 - Farid Firmansyah 2154 ½ - ½

54 Austria (AUT) - 77 Turkmenistan (TKM) 3 : 1

GM Ragger Markus 2518 - IM Kakageldyev Amanmurad 2449 1 - 0
GM Kindermann Stefan 2517 - FM Esenov Annaberdi 2319 1 - 0
IM Atlas Valery 2465 - Atabaev Yusyup 2219 1 - 0
IM Neubauer Martin 2422 - IM Amanov Mesgen 2357 0 - 1

52 Finland (FIN) - 31 Argentina (ARG) 2 : 2

GM Nyback Tomi 2639 - GM Felgaer Ruben 2591 ½ - ½
IM Agopov Mikael 2449 - IM Kovalyov Anton 2571 ½ - ½
IM Lehtinen Heikki 2385 - IM Flores Diego 2568 ½ - ½
IM Karttunen Mika 2411 - GM Campora Daniel H 2537 ½ - ½

40 Iran (IRI) - 101 Nicaragua (NCA) 4 : 0

GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2599 - IM Canda Danilo 2289 1 - 0
GM Moradiabadi Elshan 2499 - Picado Jorge 2219 1 - 0
GM Mahjoob Morteza 2507 - FM Bravo William 2157 1 - 0
GM Ghane Shojaat 2408 - Alfaro William 2200 1 - 0

130 Pakistan (PAK) - 84 South Africa (RSA) 2 : 2

Amir Karim 2265 - IM Solomon Kenny 2337 0 - 1
Waqar Mohamed 2207 - CM Steel Henry Robert 2280 ½ - ½
Butt Khalil Ur Rehman 0 - CM Cawdery Daniel 2265 1 - 0
Ahmed Haseeb 2253 - IM Mabusela Johanne Mayedi 2273 ½ - ½

18 Czech Republic (CZE) - 47 Germany 3 (GER3) 2½:1½

GM Hracek Zbynek 2613 - GM Buhmann Rainer 2541 ½ - ½
GM Laznicka Viktor 2591 - GM Prusikin Michael 2538 ½ - ½
GM Babula Vlastimil 2608 - GM Naumann Alexander 2518 ½ - ½
GM Stocek Jiri 2578 - FM Jorczik Julian 2382 1 - 0

51 Estonia (EST) - 42 Montenegro (MNE) 1½:2½

GM Kulaots Kaido 2556 - GM Drasko Milan 2537 ½ - ½
GM Kanep Meelis 2524 - GM Kosic Dragan 2511 ½ - ½