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ARMENIA WINS 2ND CONSECUTIVE CHESS OLYMPIAD GOLD
AP
2008-11-25 21:56:02 -
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) - Armenia won its second straight gold medal
at the Chess Olympiad Tuesday by defeating China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th
and final round.
Armenia's only win came on board four where Tigran L. Petrosian beat
Li Chao. Armenia finished the tournament alone in first place with
19 points.
Two points are awarded for each match win and one for a tie.
Israel took silver with 18 points after beating the Netherlands
2.5-1.5.
The United States took bronze on a tiebreaker after upsetting
second-seed Ukraine with a 3.5-0.5 drubbing, getting wins from Gata
Kamsky against Vassily Ivanchuk on board one, Alexander Onischuk
against Pavel Eljanov on board three, and Yuri Shulman against Zahar
Efimenko on board four. Hikaru Nakamura of the United States drew
Sergey Karjakin on board two.
The rout left the teams tied at 17 points but gave the medal to
the U.S.
"This result was without parallel, out of the blue, especially since
Ukraine had not lost a match yet in the tournament," said U.S. team
captain John Donaldson.
The results mirrored those at the 2006 Olympiad in Turin, Italy _
there, Armenia took the gold and the U.S. got bronze on a tiebreaker.
"Winning the gold already feels like something we're getting used to,"
Levon Aronian, first board for Armenia, said with a smile.
Aronian also paid tribute to Karen Asrian, a m ember of the 2008 team
who died suddenly in June at age 28.
"He was our good friend and we were trying to play well for his
memory," Aronian said.
For the second consecutive Olympiad, top-seed Russia failed to take
a medal.
>From 1952 to 2004, it (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) never
finished below second place.
In the women's tournament, Ukraine defeated Poland 2.5-1.5 and Georgia
beat Serbia 3-1. The U.S. beat France 2.5-1.5. Russia defeated the
Netherlands by the same score.
Those results leave Georgia and Ukraine tied for first and Poland,
Russia and the U.S. tied for third. According to the Olympiad Web
site, in case of a tie Georgia would take the gold over Ukraine,
the silver medal winner, and the U.S. would take bronze.
Americans Anna Zatonskih took the individual gold medal for second
board and Rusudan Goletiani the silver medal for third board.
During the tournament, the World Chess Federation, or FIDE, announced
that Kamsky and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov will play a match in
February in Sofia, Bulgaria for the right to challenge world champion
Viswanathan Anand of India. They will share $200,000 in prize money.
The Kamsky-Topalov match was previously scheduled to take place
almost immediately after the Olympiad in Lvov, Ukraine, for a purse
of $600,000.
In June, World Chess Federation President Kirsan Ilymzhinov personally
guaranteed the prize money for the Ukraine match. But the arrangements
fel l through after Ukrainian sponsors failed to produce the funds.
During a press conference Tuesday, Ilymzhinov defended himself and
blamed local organizers. "It's not FIDE's fault," he said.
But when pressed by reporters he acknowledged that he was wrong to
guarantee the prize money without insuring that Ukrainian sponsors
could deliver.
FIDE also announced that a prestigious Grand Prix tournament scheduled
to take place in Qatar next month has been moved to Elista, the
capital of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, of which Ilyumzhinov is
also president.
AP
2008-11-25 21:56:02 -
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) - Armenia won its second straight gold medal
at the Chess Olympiad Tuesday by defeating China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th
and final round.
Armenia's only win came on board four where Tigran L. Petrosian beat
Li Chao. Armenia finished the tournament alone in first place with
19 points.
Two points are awarded for each match win and one for a tie.
Israel took silver with 18 points after beating the Netherlands
2.5-1.5.
The United States took bronze on a tiebreaker after upsetting
second-seed Ukraine with a 3.5-0.5 drubbing, getting wins from Gata
Kamsky against Vassily Ivanchuk on board one, Alexander Onischuk
against Pavel Eljanov on board three, and Yuri Shulman against Zahar
Efimenko on board four. Hikaru Nakamura of the United States drew
Sergey Karjakin on board two.
The rout left the teams tied at 17 points but gave the medal to
the U.S.
"This result was without parallel, out of the blue, especially since
Ukraine had not lost a match yet in the tournament," said U.S. team
captain John Donaldson.
The results mirrored those at the 2006 Olympiad in Turin, Italy _
there, Armenia took the gold and the U.S. got bronze on a tiebreaker.
"Winning the gold already feels like something we're getting used to,"
Levon Aronian, first board for Armenia, said with a smile.
Aronian also paid tribute to Karen Asrian, a m ember of the 2008 team
who died suddenly in June at age 28.
"He was our good friend and we were trying to play well for his
memory," Aronian said.
For the second consecutive Olympiad, top-seed Russia failed to take
a medal.
>From 1952 to 2004, it (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) never
finished below second place.
In the women's tournament, Ukraine defeated Poland 2.5-1.5 and Georgia
beat Serbia 3-1. The U.S. beat France 2.5-1.5. Russia defeated the
Netherlands by the same score.
Those results leave Georgia and Ukraine tied for first and Poland,
Russia and the U.S. tied for third. According to the Olympiad Web
site, in case of a tie Georgia would take the gold over Ukraine,
the silver medal winner, and the U.S. would take bronze.
Americans Anna Zatonskih took the individual gold medal for second
board and Rusudan Goletiani the silver medal for third board.
During the tournament, the World Chess Federation, or FIDE, announced
that Kamsky and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov will play a match in
February in Sofia, Bulgaria for the right to challenge world champion
Viswanathan Anand of India. They will share $200,000 in prize money.
The Kamsky-Topalov match was previously scheduled to take place
almost immediately after the Olympiad in Lvov, Ukraine, for a purse
of $600,000.
In June, World Chess Federation President Kirsan Ilymzhinov personally
guaranteed the prize money for the Ukraine match. But the arrangements
fel l through after Ukrainian sponsors failed to produce the funds.
During a press conference Tuesday, Ilymzhinov defended himself and
blamed local organizers. "It's not FIDE's fault," he said.
But when pressed by reporters he acknowledged that he was wrong to
guarantee the prize money without insuring that Ukrainian sponsors
could deliver.
FIDE also announced that a prestigious Grand Prix tournament scheduled
to take place in Qatar next month has been moved to Elista, the
capital of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, of which Ilyumzhinov is
also president.