Editorial
by Miles Patterson
Welcome to a special Budapest Olympiad Edition, bringing you the rest of the Olympiad news, reported by Paul Power.
45th CHESS OLYMPIAD - Budapest
By Paul Power, Australian Chess Federation, from Budapest
For Rounds one and two, see Newsletter 634.
Round Three
The Australian Open team met #15 seed Ukraine in Round 3. The Ukranian team features legendary players Andrei Volokitin, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Anton Korobov, and Volodymyr Onyshchuk. The contest began with Ukraine higher ranked on all four boards.
Kuybokarov (White)
on board 1 faced a Sicilian Najdorf Defence from Volokitin, with Kuybokarov varying from round 2 with 6. Bg5, instead of 6. h3, arriving at the "Poisoned Pawn" position, famously featured in the Fischer-Spassky World Championship, 1972, Game 11.
where Spassky continued 9. Nb3; Volokitin chose 9. Rb1
Arriving at the same position, after 13... Be7 as Kuybokarov-Brkic, June 2024,
where Kuybokarov chose 14. Bc4; today 14. Bd3
There followed the exchange of Queens on 16. Qxc5
An exchange of Rooks on 21. Rxb8+
all the while maintaining an equal balance. There followed further exchanges
21... Rxb8 22. Kd2 Rd8 23. Ke3 Be7 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. exd5 Rxd5 27. Bxc4
entering an opposite coloured Bishops ending with a pair of Rooks. Precise play by both sides ensured a draw.
Cheng defeated Ivanchuk, Ponomariov defeated Zhao and Korobov defeated Smerdon - (1.5-2.5)
Australia's Women's team was paired with Nicaragua's. Ryjanova defeated Ortiz, Nguyen defeated Cabezas Calero, Zhiyuan Shen defeated Munoz Cortez and Vincent defeated Alvarez Gutierrez - (4-0)
Round Four
In round 4, the Australian Open team played our neighbours across the Tasman.
Australian Champion, Rishi Sardana, played New Zealand's Nicholas Croad on board 3.
Sardana chose a Nimzo-Indian Defence, reaching the same position after 7. O-O as Grischuk-Artemiev, 02-2024
where Artemiev continued 7... Bf8; Sardana chose 7... b6. There followed 8. a3 Bd6 9. e4 setting off a series of exchanges in Black's favour. After 9... dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bxh2+
and already Sardana has seized the advantage. There followed 12. Kxh2 Qh4+ 13. Kg1 Qxe4.
A critical position occurred at 21... Nf5
where White should look to the Centre with 22 Ng3 followed by d5. But, instead, misplaced the Rook: 22. Rh1. Sardana immediately struck the Centre with 22... c5. White compounded the misplacement 23. Rh3. Black captured the d-pawn
There followed 24. g4 Ne3 25. Rxd4 (less bad was 25. Bxe3 dxe3+ 26. Kxe3 e5). And now 25... e5
And it's game over. There followed 26. Bxe3 exd4 27. Nxd4 Qd3 28. f4 Rxe3. White resigns.
Kuybokarov lost to Xie, Cheng won over Renjith and Smerdon secured a draw and a match win for Australia, 2.5-1.5
Australian Women's team played Singapore. Jilin Zhang (White), on board 3, played a delayed Alapin (3. c3) to Eden Kay Yan's Sicilian Paulsen, arriving at the same position after 5... Nge7
as Karjakin-Rapport, Wijk aan Zee, rd 8, Jan-23, where Karjakin continued 6. h4; Zhang chose 6. a3
Zhang built on White's opening advantage, by 16. cxd4
establishing the strategic advantage of directing White's pieces against Black's Castled King, with no counter-advantage for Black.
And by 20. Qd3,
an x-ray Checkmating threat against h7, impelling 20... g6 weakening Black's h6-pawn. There followed 21. g4 Nh4 22. Bxh6
And by 25. h4
had a strategically won game.
Zhang attacked, invading the seventh rank 29. Rc7
On 34. h5
Black's house was ready for collapse. On 34... Kh7 35. hxg6+ Qxg6 36. Qxg6+ Kxg6
White had a won endgame, which Zhang prosecuted accurately.
Julia Ryjanova lost to Qianyun Gong, Giang Thu Nguyen won over Gladys Wei Le Koh and Alaina Vincent lost to Kun Fang, resulting in a tied match.
Round Five
In Round 5, Australia faced #8 seeds England. England brought an all star team of Nikita Vitiugov, David Howell, Mikey Adams, and Gawain Jones to face Australia's Temur Kuybokarov, Bobby Cheng, Rishi Sardana and Zong-Yuan Zhao.
Bobby Cheng (White)
played an Anti-Nimzo-Indian Queen's Gambit Declined against David Howell, reaching the same position after 10. Rc1 as Ding Liren vs Vladislav Artemiev, Goldmoney Asian Rapid, 2021
where Artemiev continued 10... c5; Howell played 10... Re8. There followed 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. Rfd1 c5 setting off a cascade of exchanges 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 cxd4 15. Qd2 Rxc1 16. Qxc1 Bxd5 17. Nxd4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2
A critical position occurred after 25... Qe7
where White has the opportunity to advance 26. Qc7, but, instead, retreated 26. Qa4. And again, after 26... Qb7+, played 27. Kg1, where 27. Qc6 Qe7 28. Qc7 gives White an advantage.
There followed 27... Re7 28. Qc4 Ne5 29. Qc8+ Kf7 30. Qxb7 Rxb7
where neither side has an edge. Spectators would have expected a draw with the Knight, Rook and pawn ending.
A critical position occurred at 53. Kd3,
where 53... Rd4+ 54. Ke3 Rh4 55. Kd3 Rd4+ 56. Kc3 Re4 57. Kd2 draws
But, instead, Black played 53... Kd5 and after 54. e4+, White's Queen side pawn majority comes into play. There followed 54... Kc6 55. a4 Rh1 56. Rg6+ Kc7 57. Kc4 Re1 58. Kb5 Rxe4 59. Rc6+ Kb7 60. Rxb6+
With a tablebase win.
On board 1, Temur Kuybokarov (Black) scored a solid draw with the highly ranked Nikita Vitiugov. On board 3, Mikey Adams triumphed over Rishi Sardana.On board 4, Gawain Jones over-powered Zong-Yuan Zhao. (1.5-2.5)
The Australian Women's team played Costa Rica. Jilin Zhang, Giang Thu Nguyen and Zhiyuan Shen all drew in rook and pawns endings. So the result of the match hinged on board 4's Alaina Vincent versus Victoria Canales Chinchilla.
Vincent played the Black side of a Sicilian Defence. At move 57... Qxh3
But, instead, White played the retrograde 58. Rd1, evidently fearful of Black's ... Rc1.
There followed 58... Rc3 and White must lose pawns. Forced on the defensive, White continued 59. Ra1 Qf5 and cracked under pressure playing 60. f4 and White's Ra1 is out of play leaving King and Queen to the mercy of Black's Rook and Queen.
There followed 60... Qd3 61. g4 Rc2 62. Qe1 Qf3
White resigned as Checkmate follows.
Round Six
The Australian Open team met Kyrgyzstan for round 6. Temur Kuybokarov (White), on board 1, played a Spanish Game with Erzhan Zhakshylykov opting for the Breyer Defence 9... Nb8, arriving at the same position, after 14... Re8, as Hikaru Nakamura vs Magnus Carlsen, Bazna King's Tournament, Medias, Romania, 2011
A critical position occurred after 32. g3
where both players expected 32... Nh5 33. Bxg5, as played. (But, instead, 32... Nxh3 33. Kxh3 f4 and Black has parity.) There followed 33. Bxg5 Qg7 34. Bh4 e4 35. Qe2 Qh6 36. Ra6
with a pawn plus and aggressive setup against Black's d-pawn.
Here, f3 would be an appealing square for a Black Knight to occupy. But 36... Ng5, which Black now played, blunders the d-pawn 37. Bxg5 Qxg5 38. Rxd6. The loss of the second pawn, gifting White a protected passed d-pawn, merely challenges White's technique to win a won game. On 48... Rd4, Black cracked and descended further into a lost ending
White's advancing passed pawns could not be stopped.
Bobby Cheng, Rishi Sardana and David Smerdon all scored strong wins over Nikita Khoroshev, Eldiyar Orozbaev and Asylbek Abdyzhapar. 4-0
The Australian Women's team met Israel. On board 1, Ryjanova (White) and Efroimski played out a non-combative 13 move draw. On board 2, Zhang secured a draw with Black against Klinova. On board 4, Shen got into difficulty against Levitan.
So, interest turned to board 3 to see whether Giang Thu Nguyen (White)
could build on a slight advantage and save the match for Australia, but Noga Orian managed to hold on for a draw by triple recurrence.
But Shen (Black) managed to turn the tables on 50... Qf4
where White played 55. Ra3 (instead of the correct 55. Rd1 pinning Black's Knight on d6). There followed 51... Qh2+ 52. Kf1 Nf5 53. Rd3 Rxd3 54. Qxd3 Qh1+ 55. Ke2 Qxc1 winning
2.5-1.5
Round Seven
Australia Women's team faced China in round 7 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest Hungary.
Australia's Julia Ryjanova, on board 1, faced Ju Jiner, World #14 in the Women's rankings. Alaina Vincent, on board 4, faced World #31, Lu Miaoyi. Australia's other opponents were also top 100 players.
So, it was unsurprising that Lu Miaoyi was victorious over Alaina Vincent, Song Yuxin over Giang Thu Nguyen and Guo Qi over Shen Zhiyuan of Australia.
What was surprising for those following the Ju Jiner - Julia Ryjanova game on-line was that the final position shown on the chessolympiad2024 site and initially on chess.com was 45. Kf3
recording a win for Ju Jiner (White). But the position is winning for Black after 45... Bd1+ 46. Kf4 Qe4+ 47. Kg3 Qxg4+ 48. Kh2 Qxh5+. Chess.com later displayed 45. Kh2. 0-4
Australia's Open team faced Andorra.
On board 4 David Smerdon (Black) took an early draw by triple recurrence. On board 3, Zong-Yuan Zhao took a fighting draw by triple recurrence.
Current Australian Champion Rishi Sardana, elevated to board 2, faced Jordi Fluvia Poyatos. Sardana (Black) played a Sicilian Najdorf, arriving at the same position after 10... Nbd7 as Caruana-Topolov, Your Next Move (Blitz), Leuven, Belgium, 2016
where Caruana continued 11. Be3; Poyatos 11. a3. Material and positional balance was maintained through to Queen, Rook and Opposite Coloured Bishops Ending 46. Qd5
Further exchanges preserved the balance and the game was duly drawn.
On board 1, Kuybokarov (White) played Lance Henderson de La Fuente. A critical position occurred at 28... Be7
where 29. b3 holds the balance. But, instead, White played the retrograde 29. Nf2. There followed 29... bxa4 30. Ra1 (The more assertive 30. c4 is better) 30... a3 31. bxa3 c5
and White is in trouble, as the e-pawn will soon fall. There followed 32. Be3 Nxe5 33. Rab1 Kd7 34. Rb5 c4 35. Rd1 Kc6 36. Rdxd5 exd5 37. Rxa5 Rb8 38. Bd4 Nd3 39. Ng4 Rb1+
the invasion of the Rook, combined with Knight spelt doom. 0-1. So 1.5-2.5
Round Eight
Round 8 of the World Chess Olympiad in Budapest Hungary saw Bobby Cheng, former World U12 Champion return to board 1 for Australia against Ireland.
Cheng (Black)
(L-R David Smerdon, Yuan Zhao, Rishi Sardana, Bobby Cheng, Back L-R: Team Captain, Jack Rodgers, Australian Arbiter, Peter Tsai)
played a Sicilian Defence against Conor Murphy, who played the Rossolimo 3. Bb5+.
Position at 40... Qc6
Black's plan can be to keep the Rook on d7 with an eye to attacking White's d-pawn with ... Nb4, should White play c4. There followed 41. Qf3 but, Black's 41st move 41... Ra7 allowed 42. c4. There followed 42... Nf6 43. cxb5 Qb7
and Black's advantage had dissipated. There followed 43... Qb7 44. Nd6 (Better was 44. Be3) 44... Qxf3 45. Rxf3 Rd8 (Better was 45... Rb8 46. Be3 Rd7 47. Nc4 Rxb5) 46. Nc4 and the game was headed for an equal Rook and pawn ending, after Black gangs up on White's b-pawn, which eventuated.
Meanwhile Sardana v Kanyamarala was evenly contested leading to a drawn Rook and Pawn ending. Zhao (Black) missed a win against Ireland's O'Gorman
32... Qxf5 33. exf5 (33. Qxf5+ Rxf5) 33... Bxf3, instead playing 32... Qh6 and the game was ultimately drawn. Smerdon and Ireland's Fitzsimons also ended in a drawn Rook and pawn finale. 2-2
Australian Women's team faced Canada. On board 2, Australia's Jilin Zhang (Black)
encountered a Zukertort Nimzo-Larsen Opening from Li Yunshan. By 23... e4 Zhang had achieved a space advantage and aggressive setup.
Though the position does not offer a clear exploitative advantage (for example 24... Na5 25. dxe4 Rxd2 26. Rxd2 Rxd2 27. Qxd2 Qxe4 is only slightly better for Black).
Exchanges down the d-file 24... exd3 25. Rxd3 Rxd3 26. Rxd3 Rxd3 27. Qxd3
led eventually to an equal Knight and pawn ending, when was duly drawn.
Ryjanova lost a Bishop and pawn ending to Canada's Ouellet. Shen's Knight was ensnared by Canada's Demchenko.
Alaina Vincent (Black) v Oksana Golubeva resulted in a draw by agreement. 1-3
Round Nine
The Australian Open team scored 2.5-1.5 against Angola and the Australian Women's team won 3-1 over Jamaica in round 9.
Bobby Fischer remarked in "My 60 Memorable Games" "A mistake is usually much more serious in these open games." Witness Australia's David Smerdon's encounter with Angola's Catarino Domingos.
Smerdon (White)
met a Philidor Defence from Domingos.
arriving at the most common position of the Hanham Variation (3... Nd7), where about 20% of players, according to lichess, now play 4... Be7. But 4... Be7 is a mistake, which Smerdon proceeds to demonstrate. (Correct is 4... exd4). Smerdon replies 5. dxe5 Nxe5 6. Nxe5 dxe5 7. Qh5
Note the similarity in position to Fischer-Celle, Game 50 of "My 60 Memorable Games", about which Fischer made the above remark.
Smerdon now proceeds to dismantle Black's position in Fischer-esque fashion. There followed 7... Qd7 8. Qxf7+ Kd8 9. O-O Bf6 10. Qh5 Qe8 11. Rd1+ Ke7 12. Qf3 Qg6 13. Qa3+ Ke8 14. Nc3 c6 15. Rd3 Be7 16. Qa5 Qh5 17. Bf4 b5
There is no let up as Smerdon prosecutes the attack. 18... cxb5 19. Qxb5+ Kf8 20. Bxe5 Nf6. White no longer needs the Queen for the attack. 21. Bxf6 Qxb5
Or the dark squared Bishop and mops up with two Rooks and light squared Bishop against the hapless King. Black resigned after 30. Rc7+
On Board 1, Temur Kuybokarov (Black), now would wish Black's King had captured the pawn on f7
as after 16... Kxf7 17. Raxd1 Bxb2, there is no imminent danger to Black's King.
In the game, White thus far netted material a Rook, Bishop and two pawns for the Queen. But White has the Two Bishops and the White pawn on f7 posed vexing questions until the end of the game.
On Board 2, Bobby Cheng's (White) attack yielded the win of Exchange of Rook for Knight by move 26,
plus aggressive setup against Gabriel Sapalo's King. And resignation on 37. Ne5
Zhao secured a match win in an even contest, leading to a drawn Rook and pawn ending. 2.5-1.5
Australia's Women's team also scored a match win, 3-1 over Jamaica.
Alaina Vincent (White)
board 4, against Arielle McKoy scored with a tactical shot 25. Nxd6
Broke through Black's lines with 54. Rxg5
Rounded up e- and h-pawns and forced a winning ending.
Jilin Zhang (Black) outplayed Rachel Miller in a King and pawn ending
After 43... f4 White played 44. g4. There followed 44... hxg4 45. fxg4 f3. (On 44. gxf4+ Kxf4 45. Kb4 Kxf3 46. Kb5 Kg3 47. Kxb6 f5 48. c5 f4 49. c6 f3 50. c7 f2 51. c8=Q White Queens first). And Black's f-pawn Queened one move ahead of White's h-pawn.
49... f1=Q 50. h8=Q Qxc4. With a tablebase win, which was made easier after 54... Qg6+
Board 3 produced a fascinating Queen and pawn ending between Gabriella Watson and Australia's Zhiyuan Shen (Black). After 64. Kxh4
with 65. Qxh7+ is a tablebase draw.
After 79... Qe3
80. Qb4+ or 80. Qc2 draw. But, instead, White played 80. Qh2+. There followed 80... g3 81. Qh4+ Kf3 82. Qh3 (Better was 82. Qh5+) Qg5+. And, with the Queen behind the g-pawn, Black won. 3-1
Round Ten
In Round 10, Australia faced the Faroe Islands.
Australia's Bobby Cheng (Black) on board 2, played the Sicilian Defence, facing a Rossolimo Attack from Nielsen, as in round 8 against Conor Murphy of Ireland.
By 12... a5
Black had established an advanced Queen side pawn phalanx. There followed 13. Qe2 (Better is 13. Bd2 13. Bd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Rfc8 15. Rc1 Qb6 16. a3) 13... Rfc8 14. Bd3 b4 15. e5 dxe5 16. dxe5 c4
with a Queen side space advantage. There followed 17. Bc2 Nd5 18. Bd2 Ba6 (More assertive is continuing the advance 18... a4 19. a3 (19. cxb4 Nxb4 20. Bxb4 Bxb4 21. Red1 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 Nxe5) 19... b3 20. Bb1). There followed 19. Qe4 g6 20. Bg5 Bf8 21. Rad1 bxc3 22. Qh4 cxb2
with the threat of a protected passed pawn, if Black can counter White's threats against the Black King. But White has burned a lot of time trying to pursue the King side attack - down to 3 minutes plus 30 second increments, before the time control at 40 moves.
Here White, failing to find the best continuation, simply plays 23. Bh6, which would allow 23... c3
with a winning bind.
In order to survive, White needed to aggressively prosecute the attack against the Black King, beginning with the Exchange sacrifice 23. Rxd5. Then 23... exd5 24. Bf4 Qb7 25. Ng5 h6 26. e6 fxe6 27. Bxg6 Qb4 28. Rf1 c3 29. Bf7+ Kh8 30. Bxe6 (If now 30... b1=Q 31. Nf7+ Kh7 32. Ng5+ (32... Kg7 33. Nh5+) with a perpetual.)
But, instead, Black played 23... Qd8. There followed 24. Bg5 (Better was 24. Ng5) 24... Qe8 25. Ne4 Rab8 26. Bh6 Bxh6 27. Qxh6 Qf8 28. Qh4. White's attack has come to nought and Black finally gets in 28... c3
A last desperate 29. Nfg5 h6 30. Nf3 and Black simply has to win a won game.
On 38... c2
Black wins a Bishop.
and would be winning after 46. Rb8
But now Cheng has used up almost all the 30 minutes additional time given at 40 moves, and plays 46... g5 (Better is 46... Nd3). There follows 47. Qf3 Bd3 (47... Bb7 and Black is still ahead) 48. Qa8. And now Black is fearful of 48... Rh8+ so, down to 47 seconds on the clock, plays 48... Kg6 and a draw is agreed.
Post match analysis will show that 49. Nc6 paralyses Black and White should have won the drawn game.
Meanwhile, a closely contested accurate game between Australia's Temur Kuybokarov on board 1 and Helgi Dam Ziska entered an even Rook, minor piece and pawn ending, which was ultimately drawn.
Similarly for Rishi Sardana and Rogvi Egilstoft on board 3.
Zhao's uncastled King contributed to the loss on board 4. 1.5-2.5
Australian Women's team met Cuba.
Jilin Zhang (White) faced a French Defence from Maritza Arribas Robaina, initiated the Exchange Variation. By 14. Ne5
White had achieved superior piece placement. There followed 14... Nb6 15. Ng6 fxg6 (Better is 15... Bg4 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Qxg4 fxg6) 16. Rxe6 with an advance post for the Rook on the e-file, eyeing e7.
A critical position occurred at 19. Qe1
where Black played 19... Ne4 (The alternative 19... a6 20. Rxb6 axb5 21. Qe2 b4 22. Rxb4 is still good for White). There followed 20. Re7 Qf5 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Re5 Qf6 23. Rxe4 winning Black's d-pawn.
White invaded the 7th rank 29. Re7
Captured Black's b-pawn for White's d-pawn, giving White a comfortable Queen side pawn majority, while enjoying much greater King safety.
Finally, on 35... Re4
36. Qf8+ Kh7 37. Bc2 won the Exchange of Rook for Knight
Black resigned at 41. Qc8+
Meanwhile Australia’s Shen (White) pins and wins on Board 4.
On board 1, Australia's Ryjanova (Black) fought a closely contested game with Linares Napoles, leading to a theoretically drawn Bishops, Rooks and one pawn ending. Which was duly drawn on 61... Re1
Australia's Giang Thu Nguyen fell victim to Yerisbel Miranda Llanes' passed h- and d-pawns. 2.5-1.5
Final Round - Eleven
Australia's Open team faced Kosovo and the Women's Slovenia. Australia's Zong-Yuan Zhao gave Australia an early lead with a strong performance against Endrit Uruci.
Zhao (White)
faced a Sicilian Defence from Uruci, Löwenthal Variation. Zhao Castled long and advanced, occupying the d5 square 14. Nd5
and advanced on Black's King side 16. f4
There followed 16... Nd7 17. Bd3 e4 18. Rhe1 f5 9. g4 Qh4 20. Be2
with a strong initiative. Here, Black played 20... fxg4 (Better was 20... Qe7 although Black is still in trouble). Then 21. Bxg4 21... Nf6 (Not 21... Qxg4 22. Rg1) 22. Be6+ Kh8 23. Qd4 Bc8 24. Rxe4
and Black is already overwhelmed. Zhao piled on the pressure down the g-file
And on 31... Qh5, Zhao unleashed the combination 32. Rxg7 Rxg7 33. Qxf6 Rxf6 34. Bxf6 Bxe6 35. Rxg7 Qf5 36. Bb2
There is no safe haven for Black's Queen from the discovered Rook check. 36... h5 37. dxe6. A tour de force by Zhao.
Meanwhile Australia's Rishi Sardana (Black) fought an evenly contested game with Murtez Ondozi to a drawn Rook and Pawn ending.
David Smerdon (Black) won the Exchange of Rook for Knight over Muhamet Asllani
Exchanged down to a Rook versus Knight with pawns ending
and duly won.
Bobby Cheng (White) converted a superior Opening against Nderim Saraci into an advantageous Rook, Bishop and pawns ending with aggressive setup
Won Black's c-pawn and a-pawn
And finally Black cracked 40... g5
and Cheng pounced 41. exf6 and it was effectively game over. 3.5-0.5
Australia's Julia Ryjanova (White)
had a close contest with Slovenia's Laura Unuk. Although Unuk, by move 22, established control of the a-file and win of the a-pawn
preserving the pawn majority into the Rook, minor piece and pawn ending at 36... Ne3
Ryjanova held sufficient control of the position to reach a theoretically drawn Rook and Pawn ending which Ryjanova successfully held after 67... Kg4 as 68. Rb4 was a draw by triple recurrence.
The game between Australia's Jilin Zhang (Black) and Zala Urh entered an intriguing Queen, Rook and Pawn ending, which, although equal, held dynamic possibilities for both sides, on 51... Qxb4
After 55. Qd4, 55... Qc7+ began a King hunt
On 65... Qb8
pinning White's Rook and burdening King and Queen with its defence. Black's King is safe, White's is not. So, it will not surprise post-match analysis reveals that Black has a win from the position.
However, after 68. Qd5
68... Rxd6+ released all tension and the game was drawn.
Shen (White) won Black's c-pawn
Established dominant Rooks
And Queen side connected passed pawns
1-0
On board 4, the Game between Australia's Vincent (Black) and Mihelic looked headed for a clear win for White
But, on 55. b6 axb6 56. cxb6 Ba6 57. Kc3
Black needs to defend. 57... Kc8 works, as the Black King cannot be dislodged from a6-b7 and the White King cannot capture Black's d-pawn without losing both a- and b-pawns to Black's King.
But, instead Black played 57... Ke7 and lost after 65. a6
2-2
The Open team finished on 13 match points, 45th on tie break. The Women finished on 14 points, 36th on tie break.
Overall champions were India, with gold in both events.
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