IBCA Chess Olympiad: Gold for Russia, Silver for Ukraine, Bronze for Spain!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Top seeds Russia emerged winners after the ninth and final round of the TATA 14th IBCA Chess Olympiad for the Blind 2012 on Sunday. Russia finished the tournament with 15 match points for the gold. Ukraine got the silver and Spain earned the bronze.

Germany, with 14 match points, tied for second spot with Ukraine and Spain, but finished fourth on tie-breaks. India 'A' went down 1.5-2.5 to Germany in a close match. India 'A' took the fifth spot.

Top seeds Russia came up with a powerful performance with 3-1 win over United Kingdom. Victories in boards two, three and four clinched the issue in their favour. IM Colin Crouch reduced the margin for UK, defeating IM Meshkov Yuri in a hard fought game. The win helped Crouch clinch the top board silver medal.

Final Placings: 1: Russia 15 match points; 2-4: Ukraine, Spain, Germany 14; 5: India 11; 6-9: Poland, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Croatia 10; 10-15: Kazakhastan, Serbia, Bulgaria, Columbia, Romania, Slovenia 9; 16-19: Sweden, Iran, India 'B', Turkey 8; 20-21: Slovakia, Italy 7; 22: South Africa 6; 23: France 5; 24: Denmark 4; 25: The Netherlands 1.

Board Prize Winners

Board 1: Gold - IM Pulvett Daniel (Venezuela) Silver - IM Crouch Colin S (UK) Bronze - FM Desanjose Candalija Eduardo (Spain) 

Board 2: Gold - Shepelev Igor (Ukraine) Silver - Ross Chris N (UK) Bronze - Otero Harlen (Venezuela) 

Board 3: Gold - Kishan Gangolli (India "A") Silver - FM Gunajew Rafal (Poland) Bronze - Smirnov Sergei (Russia) 

Board 4: Gold - Yatsishin Ivan (Ukraine) Silver - Alimkhanov Abdurashid (Kazakhstan) Bronze - IM Krylov Sergey (Russia)

Board 5: Gold - FM Babarykin Stanislav (Russia) Silver - Clemente Llamero Roberto (Spain) Bronze - Pohlers Juergen (Germany) 

Results (Round 9): United Kingdom(10) lost to Russia (15); Germany (14) bt India "A" (11); Spain (14) bt Poland (10); Ukraine (14) bt Serbia (9); Venezuela (10) drew with Columbia (9); Slovenia (9) drew with Romania (9); Croatia (10) bt Iran (8); Sweden (8) drew with Kazakhastan (9); India "B" (8) drew with Turkey (8); Bulgaria (9) bt Denmark (4); France (5) drew with South Africa (6); Italy (7) bt The Netherlands (1).

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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IBCA Chess Olympiad R7: Russia Beats India to Take Sole Lead

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Top seeds Russia beat hosts India “A” in the seventh round of the TATA 14th IBCA Chess Olympiad for the Blind 2012 at Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Chennai on Saturday. Russia now leads the table with 12 match points. Ukraine, with 11 match points, inched to second spot defeating tournament leaders Spain narrowly. With its second successive defeat Spain slid to third position along with Germany at 10 match points. India “A” and Venezuela remained a further point adrift at 9 match points.

India vs Russia

At the top table, Darpan Inani helped India “A” take off the mark with a quick draw in the third board against Russian Sergei Smirnov. Makwana, the hero of yesterday’s win over Spain, found himself in a minus position in a minor piece ending, after three hours of play. International Master Krylov Sergey rolled his king-side pawns to clinch the issue in favor of Russia.

On the top board, Swapnil Shah found himself in a difficult pawn down opposite colored bishop ending. Russian International Master Meshkov Yuri converted the end with skill and gave Russia the crucial point, that took them to the top of the table.

At the third table, Germany overcame United Kingdom 2.5 – 1.5, taking the last board through Pohlers Juergen’s efforts. Earlier, the first three boards ended in hard fought draws.

The second Indian team, India “B” went down to Bulgaria as Darshan Patel suffered an early loss to Todorov Alexander, putting the hosts behind 0-1. Further losses by Atul Kakade and Shirish Patel sealed the match in favor of Bulgaria, according to a detailed press release.

Results (Round 7)
India “A” (9) lost to Russia (12), Spain (10) lost to Ukraine (11), United Kingdom (8) lost to Germany (10), Serbia (9) drew with Slovenia (8), Sweden (7) lost to Venezuela (9), Poland (8) beat Columbia (6), Croatia (6) lost to Kazakhastan (8), Romania (6) drew with Iran (6), India “B” (5) lost to Bulgaria (7), Slovakia (6) beat Denmark (4), Turkey (3) playing Italy (4), The Netherlands (1) lost to South Africa (5).

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Blind Chess Olympiad Begins in India Today

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

It is for the first time that the Chess Olympiad for the Blind is going to be held in Asia - India to be precise. Titled 'IBCA Chess Olympiad for the Blind 2012', the event is being organised by the All-India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB), under the aegis of International Braille Chess Association (affiliated to FIDE) & All India Chess Federation at Chennai's Hotel Le Royal Meridien, from August 9-19 August. The event is sponsored by TATA group. India is the first Asian country to host this event, in the history of blind chess.

A total of 205 delegates from 26 countries have confirmed their participation, which includes 19 International Masters and more than 90 FIDE Rated players. There are several firsts in this Olympiad, the first time in the history of Blind chess the games are shown LIVE on the web http://www.aicfb.in, the next one being the introduction of speech enabled chess clocks are to be used during the event.

Further, the AICFB is launching the online chess playing portal, the first of its kind, is a brainchild of Charudatta Jadhav, which also is speech enabled. The daily bulletins are distributed of all the completed games to the participants in the DAISY format (audio with navigation). Together these compose the uniqueness of this event.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com