Reform Olympiad At Dresden

By Arvind Aaron

Many already call it the reform Olympiad. Draws are forbidden within move 30 without permission of the arbiter. A team which wins by 2.5-1.5 and another which wins by 4-0 get the same two points. Importantly, teams which lose 2.5-1.5 and 4-0 get the same zero. There is stress on winning. It will be a different event. There are five men and five women for the first time. More women will be present.

After a mediocre performance at Turin, India will be expected to play well. It was held early in 2006 and both Anand and Sasikiran came tired after competing in other events. This time, we have a well rested and prepared combine which is ready to attack. We finished 30th in men and twelfth in women at Turin. We are likely to better that figure in men and finish around that number in women.

On the organisation side, the Dresden Olympiad is claiming to make records for number of teams. A total of 152 teams are competing. Here are some records for you: India first participated in the Chess Olympiad in 1956 at Moscow. Our women team made their debut at Buenos Aires in 1978.

Medals came in 1980 when Mohd Rafique Khan won a medal at Malta 1980. Our first gold came in Novi Sad 1990 when Dibyendu Barua won it for best performance in board two. In women, S. Vijayalakshmi who made her debut in 1998 at Elista won silver medals in the next two events at Istanbul 2000 and Bled 2002.

Talking of champions, Russia did not win the last two Olympiads. Ukraine and Armenia won the last two Olympiads at Calvia 2004 and Turin 2006. China's supremacy is checked in women's chess. Alexandra Kosteniuk wrested the title from Xu Yuhua at Nalchik in 2008 and Ukraine won the Olympiad title in 2006 at Turin. Expect Russia in men and women this time.

The men's Chess Olympiad is played for the Hamilton Russell Trophy and the Women's Olympiad is played for the Vera Menchik Cup. Vera Menchik is the first world women's chess champion who died in the second world war during the German air strike over London city.

Training and camps should help the Indians. Lev Psakhis trained the men at Chennai and Elizbar Ubilava trained our women at Delhi. Last time at Turin the accommodation was not to the standard of our players. This time with the cooler winter in Germany, Dresden, should help our players.

India is without Anand in men and Humpy in women. Clearly a big blow for us already. They can fight for individual medals and a good placing. At Istanbul 2000 and Bled 2002 our players put up good performances when we did not have Anand and Humpy.

The new format will be a learning curve for our players in men and women. Can Sasikiran and his team repeat what they did in Doha 2006 in the Asian Games? The answer will be known from Nov 12-25 at Dresden. Tune your PC to http://dresden2008.de

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Home                                                 Published on 12^th November,  2008