Ireland at the 41st World Chess Olympiad Tromsø 2014

L1m1tless

Looking forward to watching some of this.

We have a pretty strong team.

Full Schedule

Live Commentary

prey

lineups and board order per chess-results site

62. IRL (RtgAvg:2448, Captain:O’CONNOR Jonathan)
Bo. Name Rtg FED
1 GM BABURIN Alexander 2502 IRL
2 IM COLLINS Sam E. 2488 IRL
3 IM HEIDENFELD Mark 2382 IRL
4 IM ASTANEH LOPEZ Alex 2419 IRL
5 FM DALY Colm 2333 IRL

89. IRL (RtgAvg:1840, Captain:O GRADY Gary P.)
Bo. Name Rtg FED
1 MIRZA Diana 1799 IRL
2 WCM UI LAIGHLEIS Gearoidin 1848 IRL
3 WFM MENON JAYADEV Poornima 1918 IRL
4 WFM LOWRY-O`REILLY Hannah 1731 IRL
5 WCM KRUK Karina 1795 IRL

cdeb

When does the round 1 draw go up? Or has it been made already?

I see Colm doing his best for team spirit by having yet another huge rant on his blog, about team captain this time.

Also, Sam really is tantalisingly close to that GM title. Could he do it here?

reunion

cdeb wrote: »

When does the round 1 draw go up? Or has it been made already?

I see Colm doing his best for team spirit by having yet another huge rant on his blog, about team captain this time.

Also, Sam really is tantalisingly close to that GM title. Could he do it here?

If he gets a GM norm here, his rating should also go above 2500 which would give him the title

Or so I am told

cdeb

Yeah, I'd be fairly sure that'd be the case alright. (I know it's theoretically possible; I was more wondering if he actually will be a GM in a fortnight's time)

Even going above the 2500 mark at any stage in the tournament would be a huge boost. So a good start would be very nice; tick off the 2500 requirement for once and for all.

Ciaran

cdeb wrote: »

When does the round 1 draw go up? Or has it been made already?

If it's just done on the seedings here, we get Chinese Taipei I think. They're pretty weak so maybe Sam would be rested for that one?

cdeb

I guess Sam should probably get rested for the first round anyway, as it's going to be someone around that level. A 1900/2000 wouldn't be a great start when average rating is a factor for the norm alright.

prey

board order now amended
62. IRL (RtgAvg:2450, Captain:O'CONNOR Jonathan)
Bo. Name Rtg FED
1 GM Baburin Alexander 2502 IRL
2 IM Collins Sam E. 2495 IRL
3 IM Astaneh Lopez Alex 2419 IRL
4 IM Heidenfeld Mark 2382 IRL
5 FM Daly Colm 2323 IRL
89. IRL (RtgAvg:1824, Captain:O'GRADY Gary)
Bo. Name Rtg FED
1 WFM MENON JAYADEV Poornima 1935 IRL
2 MIRZA Diana 1734 IRL
3 WFM LOWRY-O`REILLY Hannah 1731 IRL
4 WCM UI LAIGHLEIS Gearoidin 1830 IRL
5 WCM KRUK Karina 1795 IRL

Sparks

Opening ceremony about to start...

eclipsechaser

1st Round in the Open is Ireland versus Chinese Taipei. Alex Baburin has been rested so Sam Collins has white against a 1920.

Sparks

Videos from Tromso are going up on youtube as well...

Sparks

Live feeds (with live stockfish analysis) for the Irish games here. That's one nice web interface. Puts the default DGT stuff to shame.

cdeb

Ireland's women's team up against Azerbaijan. Unseeded, so really anything other than a whitewash would be a good result.

Interesting to see Sam playing. Up against a 1920 - what does that mean for his GM chances? Isn't there some quirk around games against players significantly lower than you?

Games start at 2pm Irish time.

cdeb

Here's the women's team games.

Hannah rested for the opener.

I know women's titles are almost two a penny, but is this the most number of titled players we've ever sent in the delegation? (Nine of the ten)

checknraise

You can round up 1 opponents rating for norm purposes.

IM - can round up to 2050
GM - can round up to 2200

I would guess the Chinese Tapei team could be very young and as a result underrated but you would expect 4 -0. For the rest of tournament tho should Ireland try and give Sam the best chance possible of getting over 2500 and a GM norm by giving him as many whites as possible?

I am guessing Diana is board 2 to make it easier to pick up a title as she is surely the strongest player on the team!?

EnPassant

It's quite surprising Taiwan are so weak given that China are so strong now (8th seeds). I wonder why that is?

Magnus Carlsen is taking a rest this round too.

Sparks

EnPassant wrote: »

It's quite surprising Taiwan are so weak given that China are so strong

Feck, don't say that where anyone from either of those two countries can hear you, you'll start a riot

cdeb

checknraise wrote: »

I am guessing Diana is board 2 to make it easier to pick up a title as she is surely the strongest player on the team!?

Is there an equivalent of the LCU's 150 point rule at all?

Poormina's FIDE rating is 201 points higher than Diana's. That might explain board order.

I'm presuming there has to be some regulation around the order you can select.

Sparks

Livetream coverage up here now...

Sparks

Everyone's been told to take their seats apparently, so it's about to get underway.

cdeb

That video is running in the top corner of the main site as well.

Not entirely sure why things aren't underway yet? Bit strange!

cdeb

1. h4 on board 4 against Colm Daly FM. Can't imagine he was prepared for that!

Edit - board has changed now; it seems a normal Sicilian was played instead. Gremlins in the works.

Don't think there's a single opening I play among the eight games.

eclipsechaser

Sam's rating is listed as 2495 - wow! It must put a lot of pressure on these games. He might go up a point if he wins (+0.8) but losing would drop him (-9.2) right back down. That 2500 mark isn't an easy task. Let's hope he brings his form from the Irish Championships.

cdeb

Two curious sacs have us in big trouble on both the white boards in the women's match against Azerbaijan. Not sure what Diana in particular saw. Gearóidín also a fair bit worse; only Poormina level.

cdeb

First result in - Diana loses. Looking like Gearóidín, Karina and Colm's opponent could follow shortly.

Sam's opponent has finally blundered on move 24, dropping a pawn to a tactic. Hopefully Sam can take the point home from here; looks like quite a frustrating start to the tournament. Can't imagine it's nice to be thinking about a GM norm and then a 1900 puts up a good fight against you.

Ciaran

cdeb wrote: »

Colm's opponent could follow shortly.

Computer's first recommendation for white is to give up a knight for nothing, second choice is to give up a queen for nothing! I think that game is over.

Edit: mate in 2 now.

cdeb

Nice little smothered mate on Gearóidín's board; 2-0 down there now. Almost certain to end 4-0.

Colm missed the mate in 2, surprisingly, but his move was mate in 15 - involving giving up stupid amounts of material - and his opponent resigned anyway.

eclipsechaser

How is the scoring done? Is it team points or sum of individual scores?

cdeb

Match win = 2 points
Match draw = 1 points
Match loss = 0 points

Doesn't matter if you win 4-0 or 2½-1½; you get two points.

Really daft system. Though I think the leagues here are one of the few remaining to use game points.

Ciaran

Alex Lopez a pawn up with a strong attack.

cdeb

Azerbaijan 4-0 Ireland is a result.

Mark Heidenfeld the only game stopping a 4-0 win against Chinese Taipei, it seems.

checknraise

I dont think Sam's game is a clearly winning and against GM I would say it would probably be a draw.

Ireland will want to win 4-0 as I believe the pairings are dont on game points so they would need a big score to give them a chance of playing 1 of the top teams

Ciaran

checknraise wrote: »

I dont think Sam's game is a clearly winning and against GM I would say it would probably be a draw.

I was about to post something similar. The top Stockfish line on the site doesn't look to me like it's winning at the end.

cdeb

Fairy nuff; I guess in the computer age, it's easy to be lazy and trust to a computer number instead of doing your own analysis!

Mark has won a piece for two pawns; computer says "White is much better", but again, not straightforward.

What's the time control for this? Started with 100 minutes, and 30 second increments being added. But they don't seem to get extra time at 40 moves? It can't be 100+30s, can it?

Edit - website gives an extra 30 minutes after move 40, but the website doesn't seem to be adding that?

cdeb

Stockfish analysis now giving Mark as clearly winning, but while it shows Sam +1.5, its line involved some farting about with rooks on both sides with zero progress being made. Looks like Sam's g3 pawn is the problem. The king can't move or the pawn either hangs or is pinned, so the whole kingside can't really get rolling.

Edit - 3-0; Mark wins. Just Sam left now.

checknraise

To have any chance of winning Sam is going to have to give up his A pawn and try and create some mating threats...

cdeb

Which is what he's done. Looks quite risky though.

checknraise

I don't think so black has zero winning chances so long as Sam doesn't drop a rook.

cdeb

Guess you're right actually. Sam's kingside pawns moving now; king infiltrating to g5. Come on Sam!

cdeb

Tablebase draw now.

checknraise

f5 on move 63 was my first thought but unfortunately it looks like it should be easy for black to draw now.

eclipsechaser

cdeb wrote: »

Tablebase draw now.

Sam seems to be holding out for a fatal cardiac incident from his opponent...

cdeb

Kind of like 2012 in reverse. Sam on board 1 as Alex wasn't playing; couple of hundred points in the rating difference, but the lower rated player holds on to draw with black.

Or maybe he's hoping for something along the lines of Australia v American Samoa on board 1. Anyone explain that to me? White is +18 per the analysis, up a piece and queen for two pawns, but then resigned (to a 1900-rated FM?). Surely nobody brought a mobile phone into the playing area? Or is the result just the wrong way around? Sounds almost as bad a glitch as having your phone on you tbh

Sparks

Site's listing it as a draw now...

Sparks

cdeb wrote: »

Colm missed the mate in 2

I guess it's not so far from the Bodley to Tromso

Sparks

Lots of photos up on Susan Polgar's site from today.

EnPassant

Ireland men playing Iceland today. Based on ratings the result should be a win for Iceland by 2.5 - 1.5 so a draw would be a good result. Colm not playing today.

The women's team are playing Pakistan who are all unrated.

cdeb

Random stat - we've played Iceland seven times in the Olympiad and never beaten them. We've picked up only 4½ points off them in those seven games, including just game win (and seven draws)

Of course, current ratings are all that matters, so maybe we do have a better-than-usual chance of breaking our duck today.

The women have never met Pakistan.

Sam on 2, so looks like he'll be going all whites for this tournament. Does that mean Alex will miss out half the games? Or will Sam drop to board 3 on occasion?

eclipsechaser

cdeb wrote: »

Sam on 2, so looks like he'll be going all whites for this tournament. Does that mean Alex will miss out half the games? Or will Sam drop to board 3 on occasion?

I doubt they're making the teams to give Sam white. With Alex and Colm taking a break, that's just the way it has fallen. Unless it happens again, I'd just presume it's coincidence. Next round should tell us anyway.

Sparks

Today's games going up on Chess24 here...

Sparks

eclipsechaser wrote: »

I doubt they're making the teams to give Sam white.

Why not? We were seeded 62nd, we're now 75th, so there never was any realistic chance of bringing home a medal. However, if the team could bring home Ireland's first Irish-born GM, that'd do more good for Irish Chess than any finish place we're realistically likely to achieve and in the long run that does more good for everyone and would be a far better use of any funding sent the team's way from the ICU. So it'd make sense to give Sam white for every game and give him the best opportunity to get his GM norm and maybe the title (though that first draw may have scuppered that).