“Fortune beckoned… then melted into thin air”
Russian Captain Evgeny Bareev comments on the first team failing to beat Ukraine and move into the lead at the World Chess Olympiad. The only (but perhaps sufficient) success story continues to be Sergey Karjakin, who revealed how a little female assistance gave him an easy victory against Pavel Eljanov.
Russia beats Russia
The key encounter in round 7 of the Olympiad was between the top two Russian men’s teams, with the “veterans” prevailing thanks, once again, to Sergey Karjakin. Meanwhile, the emotional roller-coaster of Radek Wojtaszek’s win against Hikaru Nakamura was captured in live commentary by Mateusz Bartel, the fifth member of the Polish team.
Bareev: “Today Ian played like a genius!”
The Russian men’s teams got back on track in round 6, with Evgeny Bareev again on hand to comment on the victories over the Czech Republic (2.5-1.5) and the Netherlands (3-1). Meanwhile, the women’s first team almost ensured themselves gold with a “hair-raising” victory against Ukraine.
Bareev takes the blame for defeat (updated)
Evgeny Bareev’s much-anticipated assessment of Russia’s defeat against Hungary again pulled no punches, though the punching bag this time was himself. He admitted it was a mistake not to include Vladimir Kramnik for the match against one of this year’s dark horses for the World Chess Olympiad.
Russia-USA in the Russian press
Russia’s 3:1 victory over the USA in round 4 saw some of the best Olympiad coverage yet. Bareev’s traditional commentary (read on for what Malakhov could learn from a cleaning lady!) was joined by Karjakin’s overview of the round, two photo reports and live and post-game insight on Kramnik-Nakamura.
“If it comes to an endgame the trainers need Validol”
That comment on the endgame prowess of female chess players was one of the highlights of Evgeny Bareev’s assessment of the Russian performance in round 2 of the Olympiad. He also describes the non-chess factors behind Kramnik’s win, and how Svidler was permitted to offer a draw before things went from bad to worse.
“Svidler is Svidler” – Bareev on the Russian team’s start
Russian first team captain Evgeny Bareev, not a man to mince his words, gave a refreshingly blunt assessment of the first day’s play at the Olympiad. The Russian press also included some excellent photo reports, with Vladimir Barsky’s description of his “chess flight” particularly memorable.
“The weak-willed don’t become top chess players”
Mark Glukovsky, editor of 64, the Russian equivalent of New in Chess, responded in a controversial but compulsively readable style to the questions of Crestbook readers.
Svidler on Kramnik’s opening preparation, and Shirov’s top 5
Peter Svidler describes how Kramnik’s approach to opening preparation is not his thing, while Alexei Shirov sums up the top 5 players.
