Hundreds of teams and thousands of storylines at 45th Chess Olympiad

With some 357 open and women’s teams and more than 7,700 games played, let’s just concede right at the top that it’s impossible to keep up with even a fraction of the storylines from the recent 45th Chess Olympiad hosted by Budapest, which drew the largest turnout in the event’s history.

There was the dominance of the Indian teams — gold medals in both sections. There was the disappointing silver for the U.S. top-seeded Open team, despite the individual brilliance of GM Levon Aronian on Board 3. There were the continuing struggles of Chinese world champ GM Ding Liren on Board 1 as he prepares for his first title defense next month against a very much in-form Indian GM Donnemaru Gukesh.

There were the upstarts — Slovenia, ranked 26th on the ratings list, was playing on the very top board in the final round against India and finished a hugely respectable ninth. Turkey’s very young Open team also exceeded expectations with a 12th place finish. Kazakhstan’s women took home that country’s first-ever Olympiad hardware, edging out the higher-rated U.S. team for the silver medal.

And though the vast majority of countries came to Hungary with no realistic expectation of a team medal, there was no end of spirited play and reasons to celebrate throughout the biennial event.

North Macedonia, with a 6-5 record, played pretty much to form in Budapest — it was seeded 62nd going in the 188-team Open section and finished 61st.

But the team and the country had much to cheer about in the performance of IM Toni Lazov, who notched seven wins and a draw in his eight games and took home the Board 2 individual silver medal behind Czech Republic GM Nguyen Thai Dan Van. Despite a significant ratings handicap, Lazov scored 2½-½ in his games against strong grandmasters, none more impressive than his upset win over veteran GM Yannick Pelletier in North Macedonia’s Round 7 upset of Switzerland.

White’s unusual 3. Bd3!? in this French Defense soon transposes into a relatively normal Exchange Variation. Black’s early 7. Nf3 g6!? is a bid to pressure on the d4-pawn with the fianchettoed bishop, but the kingside holes this creates will come back to haunt Pelletier later in the game. After 15. Rb3 Qd6 (Qe7?!, trying to hold the pawn, runs into the double pin of 16. Nxd5) 16. Rxb7 Na5 17. Bf4 Qa6 18. Re7 Nc4 19. Qc1, 19…Qa5! 20. Bd3 Rac8 would have given Black a pleasant initiative with pressure on White’s queenside.

Lazov manages to keep the game balanced just as his higher-rated opponent may have started to feel the pressure to secure a full point. After 28. Ne5 Nxe5 (dicey is 28…Bxe5?! 29. dxe5 h5 30. Qb4! Bd5 31. Bh6 Qc8 32. e6!, when Black is reeling after 32…Kh7 [Bxe6 33. Qc3; or 32…fxe6 33. Bxc4 Bxc4 34. Qe7] 33. e7! Kxh6 [Qe6 34. Bxc4 Bxc4 35. Qxc4!] 34. Ba4) 29. dxe5 Qc6 30. Qe3, an unusual queens-and-bishop-pair ending arises in which both sides are seeking to free their underperforming dark-squared bishops.

Lazov breaks on top with some provocative play against the grandmaster: 31. Qd2!? (voluntarily giving up the blockade and allowing Black to open a dangerous diagonal) e3!? 32. fxe3 Qe4 33. Bd1! (preparing to contest the control of said diagonal) Qd5 34, Qc2! — a brave move when a queen trade would make a draw far more likely.

Still pressing for the point, Black goes wrong with 34…Qc6? (Qa5! 35. Kh2 Bxe5 36. Qb1 Qc7 looks equal) 36. Bb3 Be4 37. Qd4!, when a queen trade now would only rehabilitate White’s ugly center and leave Lazov a clear pawn up. One more Black inaccuracy decides the game: 37…Qb7? (Bf5 38. Qc5 a6 39. Qd6 Qc8 is also good for White, but there’s still a fight to be had) 38. Qd8+ Kh7 (Bf8 39. e6! Qe7 40. exf7+ Kh7 41. Qxe7 Bxe7 42. Be5, dominating) 39. e6! — and White’s line-clearing pawn sacrifice proves far more potent than Black’s.

The finale: 39…fxe6 (no better was 39…Qb4 40. exf7 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Bf8 42. Be6! [and not 42. Qxf8?? Qxh4+ 43. Kg1 Qe1+ with a perpetual] Qb4 43. Be5, winning) 40. Bxe6 Qa8 41. Bb8! — a neat little interference idea that revives the threat of 42. Qf8+ and forces Black’s resignation. There’s no escaping the mating net after 41…Kh6 42. g4 hxg4 (g5 43. hxg5+ Kg6 44. Qe8+ Kxg5 45. Bf4+ Kh4 46. Qxh5 mate) 43. Bg8 Be5 44. Qf8+ Kh5 45. Qe7 Kh6 46. Qh7 mate.

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Inspired play and tactical gems can often be found far from the top boards where the heavy hitters battle it out. Kosovo vs. Eswatini (the former Swaziland) was never a match that was going to affect the medal race, but Kosovo IM Nderim Saraci fashioned a good old-fashioned brilliancy in defeating Eswatini top board Sikhanyiso Sihlongonyane in the event’s very first round. Black fails to appreciate White’s mounting kingside threats in this London System, and as a result his king goes down in a blaze of sacrifices.

After 5. Nbd2 Bxf4 6. exf4, White’s doubled pawns may not be pretty but they exert a powerful clamp on the center. Black’s hopes of a queenside push — leaving just the f6-knight home to guard the king — prove badly misplaced after 15. Rfe1 Na5? (definitely the wrong direction — the knight will get a fine post on c4 but exercise no influence over the course of the play; better was just 15…Rfd8 or 15… Rad8) 16. Nbd4 Nc4 17. Ne5 Rfe8 18. h4 Rac8 (Ne4 19. Nxc4 bxc4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Nc2 leaves Black with several weaknesses to defend) 19. f3!, not only preparing the kingside pawn storm but clearing the way for the White queen to shift to the h-file. Saraci’s plan is simple but deadly: Drive away the Black knight and mate the king.

Black’s 21. Re2 g6? is — as in the first game — an unforced error that weakens the squares around the Black king, and White casually ignores Black’s queenside play as he hunts down the enemy monarch: 24. h5 b4 25. hxg6 hxg6 26. axb4 axb4 27. Bxc4 dxc4 28. Qh4 Nd5 (mission accomplished — the Black king is now on his own; on 28…Qe7, White plays 29. Rh2 Kf8 30. Nxe6+! fxe6 31. Nxg6+)  29. Rh2 Kf8 (see diagram).

Black’s king heads for the exits, but it’s already too late. White invests a knight and then a rook in the manhunt that follows: 30. Nd7+! Rxd7 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Rxe6+! fxe6 33. Rh7+, and Sihlongonyane resigned not needing to play out 33…Kd6 34. Qe5 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Lazov-Pelletier, North Macedonia vs. Switzerland, 45th Chess Olympiad, Budapest, Hungary, September 2024

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. c3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nc6 7. Nf3 g6 8. Bg5 Nf6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Re1+ Be6 11. Qd2 O-O 12. Nc3 Qb6 13. Bc2 Qxb2 14. Rab1 Qa3 15. Rb3 Qd6 16. Rxb7 Na5 17. Bf4 Qa6 18. Re7 Nc4 19. Qc1 Rae8 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. Ng5 Bd7 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. Bb3 Bc6 24. Qe1 h6 25. Nf3 Ne4 26. h4 Bb7 27. Nxe4 dxe4 28. Ne5 Nxe5 29. dxe5 Qc6 30. Qe3 h5 31. Qd2 e3 32. fxe3 Qe4 33. Bd1 Qd5 34. Qc2 Qc6 35. Qb2 Qd7 36. Bb3 Be4 37. Qd4 Qb7 38. Qd8+ Kh7 39. e6 fxe6 40. Bxe6 Qa8 41. Bb8 Black resigns.

Saraci-Sihlongonyane, Kosovo vs. Eswatini, 45th Chess Olympiad, Budapest, Hungary, September 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 Bxf4 6. exf4 O-O 7. c3 Qd6 8. g3 c5 9. dxc5 Qxc5 10. Bd3 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. O-O Nc6 13. Nb3 Qb6 14. Qe2 a6 15. Rfe1 Na5 16. Nbd4 Nc4 17. Ne5 Rfe8 18. h4 Rac8 19. f3 Rc7 20. Qf2 Qc5 21. Re2 g6 22. Rae1 Rec8 23. g4 a5 24. h5 b4 25. hxg6 hxg6 26. axb4 axb4 27. Bxc4 dxc4 28. Qh4 Nd5 29. Rh2 Kf8 30. Nd7+ Rxd7 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Rxe6+ fxe6 33. Rh7+ Kd6 34. Qe5 mate.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.