India shocked China, 4-2, in the final round to win Top Division Pool A and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad being played at the chess.com server. India thus joins Russia, Azerbaijan and United States which won their respective pools and also advanced directly to quarterfinals.
We’re also beginning to understand the rules of this international competition. The second and third placers in each Top Division Pool will go straight to the preliminary knockout stage to fight for the remaining four quarterfinal slots. The knockout stage and quarterfinal pairings are interesting, too. India will face the winner of the Greece vs Armenia knockout; Azerbaijan will tangle with the Bulgaria vs Poland winner; Russia will face the Hungary vs Germany victor; and the US will be pitted against the China vs Ukraine winner.
India won its elimination match versus China in the lower boards after the top four boards were drawn.
Vidit, SG (2636)-Ding, L (2836) [A00]
chess.com (9.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Bxc4 c5 9.0-0 cxd4 10.Nb5 Qe7 11.Qxd4 0-0 12.Nxa7 Bc5 13.Nxc8 Rxc8 14.Qd3 Nc6 15.Bb3 Rd8 16.Qe2 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Rxd4 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Rxd4 Rxd4 20.Rd1 Qf6 21.g3 Qe5 22.Bc2 Rxd1+ 23.Bxd1 g6 24.Kg2 Kg7 25.a4 Qd4 26.b3 b6 27.Bc2 h5 28.h4 Qc3 29.Bd1 Qd4 30.Bc2 Qc3 31.Bd1 Qd4 32.Bc2 ½-½
Yu, Y (2738)-Harikrishna, P (2690) [A00]
chess.com (9.2) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 0-0 7.Nf3 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Bg5 Ba6 10.Qa4 Bb7 11.Rd1 h6 12.Bh4 Qd7 13.Qc2 Qc6 14.Qxc6 Nxc6 15.e3 Rac8 16.Rc1 Ne7 17.Bd3 c5 18.dxc5 Rxc5 19.Rxc5 bxc5 20.Ke2 Rb8 21.Nd2 Bd5 22.b3 Nc6 23.Rb1 Nd7 24.Bg3 Rb7 25.f3 e5 26.Bc4 Bxc4+ 27.Nxc4 Kf8 28.Be1 Ke7 29.Bc3 f6 30.g4 Nb6 31.Nd2 Nd5 32.Rc1 Nd8 33.Ba5 Ne6 34.Rc4 g6 35.b4 cxb4 36.axb4 f5 37.gxf5 gxf5 38.Rh4 Rb5 39.Rxh6 Nxb4 40.Rh7+ Kf6 41.Bxb4 Rxb4 42.Rxa7 Rh4 43.Nf1 f4 44.Ra6 Kf7 45.Ra5 Kf6 46.Kf2 fxe3+ 47.Kxe3 Nd4 48.Ra6+ Kg5 49.Ra8 Nf5+ 50.Kf2 e4 51.Rg8+ Kf6 52.Rf8+ Kg6 53.Rg8+ Kf7 54.Rg4 exf3 55.Rxh4 Nxh4 56.Nd2 Kg6 57.Kg3 Kh5 58.Nxf3 Nxf3 59.Kxf3 Kh6 60.h4 Kh7 61.h5 Kh8 62.h6 Kg8 63.h7+ Kxh7 ½-½
Koneru, H (2483)-Hou, Y (2621) [A00]
chess.com (9.3) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 Nd7 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 c6 11.Bd3 Re8 12.0-0 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Qxe5 Rxe5 16.cxd5 Rxd5 17.Bc4 Rd8 18.Rfd1 Bf5 19.f3 g5 20.e4 Bg6 21.Kf2 Kf8 22.b4 Ke7 23.Ke3 f5 24.exf5 Bxf5 25.g4 Bg6 26.f4 gxf4+ 27.Kxf4 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Rf8+ 29.Kg3 Rf6 30.h4 b6 31.Re1+ Kd7 32.g5 hxg5 33.hxg5 Rd6 34.a3 Rd4 35.Be6+ Kd6 36.Re3 c5 37.bxc5+ bxc5 38.Bg4 Kd5 39.Bf3+ Kd6 40.Bg4 Kd5 41.Bf3+ Kd6 42.Bg4 ½-½
Praggnanandhaa, R (1781)-Liu, Y (2427) [A00]
chess.com (9.5) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d5 5.Nbd2 Nxd2 6.Bxd2 Be7 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.0-0 Nd7 10.g4 Bg6 11.Bf5 c6 12.Bf4 Bxf5 13.gxf5 Qb6 14.Qe2 0-0-0 15.c4 dxc4 16.Qxc4 Qb4 17.Qxb4 Bxb4 18.Bg3 Be7 19.Rfe1 Nc5 20.Re2 Rd5 21.Rc1 f6 22.Bh4 Bd8 23.Rc4 fxe5 24.Rg4 Bf6 25.Ng5 h6 26.Nf7 Rf8 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Nxh6 Rd7 29.Rg6 Nd3 30.Rd2 Nf4 31.Rxd7 Kxd7 32.Rg7+ Kc8 33.Kh2 Nh5 34.Rh7 Nf4 35.h4 Rd8 36.Rf7 Nh5 37.Ng4 Rd4 38.Nxf6 Rxh4+ 39.Kg2 Nxf6 40.Rxf6 Rf4 41.Rf7 a5 42.Kg3 Kb8 43.f6 a4 44.Rf8+ Ka7 45.Re8 Rxf6 46.Rxe5 Kb6 47.f4 Rd6 48.Re2 Rd1 49.f5 Rg1+ 50.Kf4 Rf1+ 51.Kg5 Kc5 52.f6 Kd4 53.Kg6 Kd3 54.Rg2 b5 55.f7 b4 56.Rg5 Rxf7 57.Kxf7 Kc2 58.Rg2+ Kb1 59.a3 bxa3 60.bxa3 c5 61.Ke6 c4 62.Kd5 c3 63.Kc4 c2 64.Rg1+ c1Q+ 65.Rxc1+ Kxc1 66.Kb4 1-0
Zhu, J (2326)-Divya, D (1775) [A00]
chess.com (9.6) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0-0-0 a6 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nf3 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f5 Qb6 13.Qh6 0-0-0 14.Qh5 Rdf8 15.Kb1 Ne5 16.Bd3 Kb8 17.Ne2 Rhg8 18.Ng3 Ng4 19.Rd2 Bc6 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Qxh7 Bd8 22.Re1 Be8 23.Qh3 Bf7 24.Nh1 Ne3 25.Rde2 Rh8 26.Qg3 Rfg8 27.Qf2 Nxg2 28.Nd4 e5 29.Nf5 Nf4 30.Qxb6+ Bxb6 31.Rd2 d5 32.exd5 Bxd5 33.Ne7 Rg2 34.Rxg2 Bxg2 35.Ng3 Rxh2 36.Ne4 Bxe4 37.Bxe4 Bf2 38.Rf1 Kc7 39.a3 Kd7 40.Nf5 Bc5 41.Rd1+ Kc7 42.Re1 Re2 43.Rxe2 Nxe2 44.c3 Nf4 45.Kc2 Ne6 46.Kd3 Bf2 47.Ke2 Bb6 48.Kd3 Nc5+ 49.Ke3 Na4+ 50.Kf3 Nxb2 51.Ne7 Kd7 52.Nd5 Bd8 53.Nb4 a5 54.Nc2 Na4 55.Bf5+ Kd6 56.Ke4 Nxc3+ 57.Kd3 Nd5 58.Be4 Nf4+ 59.Kc3 Kc5 60.Bf5 Ne2+ 61.Kd2 Nd4 62.Nxd4 Kxd4 63.Bd7 b4 64.axb4 axb4 65.Bf5 e4 66.Bh7 Bb6 67.Bg6 Bc5 68.Bh7 Ke5 69.Kc2 f5 70.Kb3 f4 71.Kc4 f3 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rd3! Black’s futile options are: 1…Sf7/g6 2.S(x)g6#; 1…d4 2.Qxd4#; 1…Bb2/a3/e3, Rd2 2.R(x)e3#; 1…Bd2, Re1/f1/g1/h1 2.Rxd5#; 1…Bxf4 2.Qe7#; 1…Rxd3 2.Sxd3#./PN
