What makes the Chess Olympiad a special experience for players?
A must-win situation and a must-draw situation in Olympiad and other chess events are dramatically different. In other chess tournaments, the must-win and must-draw situation generally don’t occur until the last round is played. But in the biennial team festival of 64-square sport, it may occur in every round.And an individual player can face a lot of stress due to that.
The team result is calculated by adding up the scores on four boards for each round. By looking at how the other three boards are progressing, a player can see his own task in three different ways. One, it’s okay even if he loses because the other three team members are scoring (or have scored) 2.5 points. Two, he must at least draw because other team members have scored two points. And three, he has to win because others have scored either one or 1.5 points only.
The third possibility becomes that much more difficult, not just because the fate of your team and team-mates is in your hands, but also because your own game has panned out towards a highly drawish ending and then you have to take undue risks to squeeze a win out of it.
The earlier you know about the other results may calm your nerves and help you decide the risk-level and strategy regarding your own game. The longer the games of your team-mates last, the longer the uncertainty about your own task at hand. Fluidity and flexibility are hence vital.
India men’s team captain N Srinath‘s statement to Chessbase India, “Arjun (Erigaisi) keeps winning these games within three hours which gives us a boost”, should be seen from that perspective.
India No. 1 Arjun, playing on the third board, has won his first five games inside 45 moves in the ongoing Olympiad. Since India have won their five rounds convincingly — with either 4-0 or 3.5-0.5 scoreline — the importance of quick wins is not apparent. But Srinath knows its value going ahead in the tournament, since others can play their games with more clarity.
The 2018 Women’s Olympiad had witnessed the extreme thrill of this situation. China were playing Russia in the last round. The two boards ended quickly with one draw and Russian Alexandra Goryachkina beating Yang Shen. The third game lasted about 60 moves before ending in a draw. It meant China trailed 1-2 and Ju Wenjun needed to win on the top board against Alexandra Kostenuik to tie the match score and tie the tournament top spot (with Ukraine who beat USA in the last round).
Wenjun won after a marathon battle of 95 moves and China edged out Ukraine on numeric tiebreak to clinch the gold. The 33-year-old has been the women’s world champion since 2018 and it’s a pity that she and the other three top Chinese players have decided to skip the Olympiad.
A must-win situation and a must-draw situation in Olympiad and other chess events are dramatically different. In other chess tournaments, the must-win and must-draw situation generally don’t occur until the last round is played. But in the biennial team festival of 64-square sport, it may occur in every round.And an individual player can face a lot of stress due to that.
The team result is calculated by adding up the scores on four boards for each round. By looking at how the other three boards are progressing, a player can see his own task in three different ways. One, it’s okay even if he loses because the other three team members are scoring (or have scored) 2.5 points. Two, he must at least draw because other team members have scored two points. And three, he has to win because others have scored either one or 1.5 points only.
The third possibility becomes that much more difficult, not just because the fate of your team and team-mates is in your hands, but also because your own game has panned out towards a highly drawish ending and then you have to take undue risks to squeeze a win out of it.
The earlier you know about the other results may calm your nerves and help you decide the risk-level and strategy regarding your own game. The longer the games of your team-mates last, the longer the uncertainty about your own task at hand. Fluidity and flexibility are hence vital.
India men’s team captain N Srinath‘s statement to Chessbase India, “Arjun (Erigaisi) keeps winning these games within three hours which gives us a boost”, should be seen from that perspective.
India No. 1 Arjun, playing on the third board, has won his first five games inside 45 moves in the ongoing Olympiad. Since India have won their five rounds convincingly — with either 4-0 or 3.5-0.5 scoreline — the importance of quick wins is not apparent. But Srinath knows its value going ahead in the tournament, since others can play their games with more clarity.
The 2018 Women’s Olympiad had witnessed the extreme thrill of this situation. China were playing Russia in the last round. The two boards ended quickly with one draw and Russian Alexandra Goryachkina beating Yang Shen. The third game lasted about 60 moves before ending in a draw. It meant China trailed 1-2 and Ju Wenjun needed to win on the top board against Alexandra Kostenuik to tie the match score and tie the tournament top spot (with Ukraine who beat USA in the last round).
Wenjun won after a marathon battle of 95 moves and China edged out Ukraine on numeric tiebreak to clinch the gold. The 33-year-old has been the women’s world champion since 2018 and it’s a pity that she and the other three top Chinese players have decided to skip the Olympiad.
