It wasn’t completely able to sidestep the problems of the world, but the fact that the 44th Chess Olympiad is underway with actual over-the-board competition in Chennai, India, is a heartening sign that things are finally returning to something resembling normalcy.
Scheduled originally for Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia in 2020, the open and women’s team event — one of the largest international sporting events outside of the Olympics — was first postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then hastily relocated to India earlier this year as punishment for Russia’s role in the current unpleasantness in Ukraine.
Still, even with powerhouses Russia and China (which declined to send a team citing its pandemic rules) not competing, a record 188 four-player national teams are competing in the Open section and over 150 countries sent women’s squads as well.
As in any Swiss-style competition, the favorites can only do themselves damage in the early rounds. The best strategy is to run up the score against lower-rated opponents to set up the big fights against top rivals in the final rounds.
The top-seeded American open team, along with host India one of the favorites for the gold medal, had a Round 2 hiccup by barely beating Paraguay 2½-1½ and then barely drew a solid Uzbekistan squad two rounds later after U.S. top board GM Fabiano Caruana lost to rising star GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. And the seventh-seeded U.S. women’s team chances were dinged by a Round 3 3-1 upset at the hands of 28th-seeded Mongolia, hurt by a pair of notoriously tricky knight-and-pawn endings that didn’t go the Americans’ way.
Especially painful was WGM Tatev Abrahamyan’s loss to Mongolian Candidate Master Bat-Erdene Mungunzul on Board 4, which we pick up from today’s diagram after Black has just played 46…Ke6-d6. White’s knight rushes to seize the “dominating” central d5-square, only to discover that the real action in this ending will play out on the far edges of the board.
A draw would be an honorable result here, but Abrahamyan presses for more with 47. Nd3 b6 48. Nb2 c5 49. Nd3 cxb4 50. Nxb4 a5, when 51. Nd3 g5 52. c4 is fine for White as the knight stands duty to stop the passed pawn after 52…h4 53. gxh4 gxh4 54. Kf3 h3?? 55. Kxg4 h2 56. Nf2.
Compare that with White’s natural but misbegotten 51. Nd5? b5! (getting ready to push on both flanks, with the Black knight actually in a far superior post compared to its White counterpart) 52. Kd3 g5 53. Ke2 h4 54. gxh4 gxh4 55. Kf3 h3!, and the knight is untouchable because the pawn will queen.
White’s prized centralized knight turns out to be the one in jeopardy in the finale: 56. Nb6 h2 57. Kg2 Ne3+!! (a neat trick showing the complexities of knight endings) 58. Kxh2 Kc7!, and suddenly White is lost. On 59. Nd5+ (also hopeless were 59. Na8+ Kb7 60. e5 fxe5 61. fxe5 Kxa8 62. e6 a4 63. e7 Ng4+ 64. Kg3 Nf6 and 59. Na4 bxa4 60. bxa4 Nd1 61. Kg3 Nxc3 62. Kf3 Nxa4) Nxd5 60. exd5 a4 61. bxa4 bxa4, the pawn must queen; Abrahamyan resigned.
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Underdog stories abound at the Olympiad, as lower-ranked teams from lesser chess powers routinely upset the pecking order. In Round 2, Zambia knocked off 27th-ranked Denmark, even though every member of the Danish team was rated higher than Zambia’s top board. The critical victory in the 21/2-11/2 Zambian win was scored by FM Nase Lungu in a well-played English against Danish IM Martin Haubro.
There’s no sign of intimidation here by White, despite the 200-point rating differential, as he seizes and holds a clear initiative with moves like 15. Bd6! and 17. d4!, pushing the Black army into increasingly inferior posts.
Lungu grabs a clear edge on 21. Bxe7 Rxe7 22. Ne3! (a fabulous post for the knight, covering the center, blocking up Black’s play on the e-file, and continually threatening to hop to the kingside for mating motifs) Re4 23. Rad1 (also good was 23. Nxd5!, winning material in lines like 23…Rfe8 [Rxd4?? 24. Ne7+] 24. Rxe4 Rxe4 25. Rd1 Rxe2? 26. Qf3 Qe6 27. Nf4) Rfe8 24. a5! (Rxd4?! Qxa4) Rxd4 25. Rxd4 bxa5 26. Rxd5 Nb7 27. Qd3, and though Black has maintained material equality, White dominates the center and has strong prospects on the kingside as well.
Haubro has to weaken the pawns in front of his king to keep out the White pieces, and Lungu’s queen and knight exploit the opening magnificently to bring home the point: 32. g5! (not fearing trades and cementing control of f6) Rxd5? (Qc1+ 33. Kh2 Qc7 34. Kg2 Qc6 35. f3 is still an uphill climb for Black, but may hold out longer) 33. Nxd5 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qc5 (a first knight fork pops up on 24…Qxg5? 35. Nf6+ Kf8 [Kg7 36. Ne4+] 36. Nh7+ and wins) 35. Nf6+ Kg7 (Kf8 36. Nd7+) 36. Qh4!, not only aiming for the Black king but guarding White’s g- and f-pawns to boot.
Black plays it out to the bitter end on 36…Qd6+ (more knight forks: 36…Qe5+ 37. Kg2 Kf8 38. Nd7+; or 36…Qc7+ 37. f4 Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Nd5+) 37. f4 Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Qe8 mate, with Haubro’s own queen blocking the last escape square.
Lungu-Haubro, Zambia vs. Denmark, Round 2, 44th Olympiad, Chennai, India, July 2022
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Nd7 5. Bg2 a6 6. Nc3 Ngf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Ne5 O-O 9. Nxc4 c5 10. Qb3 Rb8 11. a4 b6 12. d3 Bb7 13. Bxb7 Rxb7 14. Bf4 Qc8 15. Bd6 Qe8 16. Rfd1 Nd5 17. d4 cxd4 18. Rxd4 Nc5 19. Qa3 Qc6 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Bxe7 Rxe7 22. Ne3 Re4 23. Rad1 Rfe8 24. a5 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 bxa5 26. Rxd5 Nb7 27. Qd3 g6 28. Qd4 h5 29. h3 Re6 30. g4 hxg4 31. hxg4 Rd6 32. g5 Rxd5 33. Nxd5 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qc5 35. Nf6+ Kg7 36. Qh4 Qd6+ 37. f4 Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Qe8 mate.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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