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Ivanchuk Beats So As Ukraine Topples Olympiad Top-Seed United States
Vasyl Ivanchuk beat Wesley So as Ukraine pulled off a stunning victory over top-seed United States in round four. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Ivanchuk Beats So As Ukraine Topples Olympiad Top-Seed United States

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
| 56 | Chess Event Coverage

55-year-old GM Vasyl Ivanchuk beat GM Wesley So as Ukraine pulled off a sensational win against 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad top-seed United States in round four. It came 15 years after an emotional Ivanchuk announced and then backtracked on retirement after being knocked out of the 2009 World Cup by 16-year-old So. That wasn't all, as the defending champions from Uzbekistan, the only team to go unbeaten in the 2022 Olympiad, lost 3-1 to Vietnam.   

Seven teams remain on perfect scores in the Women's 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad, and China tops the standings by tiebreaks after scoring its third 4-0 sweep, against England. In notable upsets, Mongolia defeated Spain 2.5-1.5 and Uzbekistan scored its second consecutive upset victory, this time against Bulgaria 2.5-1.5.

Every team has its story. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE.

Round five of the 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad starts on Sunday, September 15 at 9 a.m. ET/15:00 CEST/6:30 p.m. IST.

Open Section: Ukraine And Vietnam Stun Favorites U.S. And Uzbekistan

India continued its fantastic Olympiad and China defeated the formidable Armenian team, but the United States and Uzbekistan suffered shocking defeats in round four, while a 113-move win for GM David Howell rescued a draw for England against Georgia. 

See full results here.

We can only start with the match of the day, the rollercoaster that was the United States vs. Ukraine. On paper, the American team should have cruised to victory against the 15th seed, but on the other hand, Ukraine—including former world number-two Ivanchuk—would be the number-three seeded team if all the players were at their career peak ratings. They're not, but they gave a glimpse of the quality that saw Ukraine win the 2004 and 2010 Olympiads as they took down the top seed. 

Although his game finished last, the first player to get a significant advantage was GM Anton Korobov, who took over when GM Ray Robson pushed his d-pawn instead of castling on move 13. At some points in the game Robson came close to stabilizing the situation, but in the end Korobov, up two exchanges, could give one back to clinch victory in both the game and match.

Korobov's win confirmed Ukraine's defeat of the top seed. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

That game didn't seem terminal for the U.S., however, since GM Fabiano Caruana stormed to 3/3 by pouncing on a mistake just when a nervy game against GM Andrei Volokitin seemed to be entering quieter waters. 

With GMs Leinier Dominguez and So seemingly doing well in their games, the U.S. looked odds-on to pick up a match win, but when GM Ruslan Ponomariov made a draw by repetition against Dominguez, the stakes in Ivanchuk-So skyrocketed.

Another chess legend, GM Alexander Beliavsky, watched behind Ivanchuk. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Ivanchuk is an emotional player, as witnessed by his announcement as a 40-year-old that he'd retire after losing to a teenage So, but his love and talent for chess meant that was never going to be permanent. 15 years later, Korobov gave a wonderful interview to FM Mike Klein where he talked about the evaluation bar he uses for Ivanchuk.

I’m not following his game much, but I’m feeling his mood during the game. Yesterday I felt the disaster was about to happen because he breathed heavily and then he was beating the clock. I realized that he’s about to blunder the queen. He blundered only the bishop, but that was enough.

That was referring to a painful moment from round three, which nevertheless didn't stop Ukraine from beating Australia.

This time, however, it was a different story, and when 44...Re2? gave him a chance, Ivanchuk seized it.

Korobov describes Ivanchuk playing 45.Rb7! as follows:

And today I always felt that he’s full of energy. After Rb7 he got maybe 25 years younger—the start of the new life! Ok, that was a big fight. We were lucky, of course, but without luck no serious result is possible unless you’re Magnus Carlsen! 

Without luck no serious result is possible unless you're Magnus Carlsen! 

—Anton Korobov

The finish was stylish.  

That's our Game of the Day, which has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

Can Ukraine maintain its current run despite being one of the oldest teams around? 39-year-old Korobov summed up:

No, no, no! I promise you not later than the eighth round, we will collapse altogether, that will be a physical disaster... Nothing can be done. Sometimes I think I’m full of power, but then I’m checking my passport and then the date of birth. 

The only good news for the U.S. is that they weren't the only pre-tournament favorite to suffer in round four. Uzbekistan, who won the 2022 Olympiad as the only team not to lose a match, and had racked up 22 Olympiad matches without a loss, were taken down by 21st-seed Vietnam.

Vietnam's victory was fully on merit, with GM Liem Le better or equal against world number-five (at the start of the day) GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov while the catalyst for victory was GM Tuan Minh Le, who suddenly whipped up a winning attack against 18-year-old talent GM Javokhir Sindarov. 30...Ne8?, played with four seconds on the clock, was a losing move. 

Vietnam was the team that was finally able to stop Uzbekistan. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

That soon left GM Nodirbek Yakubboev needing to win a drawish-to-worse position on demand to save his team, but his efforts were only crowned by a loss. Team captain GM Vladimir Kramnik was left to ponder as the final game dragged on.

The good thing about losing a match in the Olympiad (or drawing against much weaker opponents) is that you get weaker opposition in the next round. We saw round-three casualties GMs Anish Giri and Vincent Keymer bounce back with convincing wins, as the Netherlands beat North Macedonia 3-1 and Germany beat Mongolia 3.5-0.5. France also hit back to beat Bangladesh 3.5-0.5, while Norway continued their comeback after a stumble to beat Slovakia 3-1.

Giri checks out the Norway match. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

It helps to have GM Magnus Carlsen on board one, but while he cruised to a win, GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen was completely lost for a while before beating IM Filip Haring. GM Hikaru Nakamura takes a look at Carlsen's game, as well as the Ivanchuk win.

Norway are right in contention on 7/8 match points, just behind the eight teams who still have a perfect 8/8 (OSB is the Olympiad Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak, which is something we hopefully don't need to think too much about until the final round!).

Despite the group of teams on 8/8, the question, "Can anyone stop India?" is already looming large. The team looks incredibly impressive and has conceded just two draws in 16 individual games. In round four Serbia were dispatched 3.5-0.5, with GM Gukesh Dommaraju's 85-move grind against GM Alexandr Predke taking him to 3/3 and a place in the top-five on the live rating list for the first time.

Gukesh has been in no hurry, but he keeps getting the job done. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

World number-four GM Arjun Erigaisi, meanwhile, is one of just seven players in the open section on a perfect 4/4, fully justifying the decision to let him go on the rampage on board three.

This time he crashed through in what had seemed a closed position against GM Aleksandar Indjic.

Among the other players on 4/4 are two from Spain, GMs David Anton and Alan Pichot, with Spain also on 8/8 match points and now set to meet China, one of the top candidates to keep the pressure on India.

GM Ding Liren's draws on top board mean he's slowly leaking rating points, but many Olympiads have been won with a rock-solid leader. In round four it was GM Yu Yangyi who gave China victory over the 2022 silver medalists by defeating Armenia's hero of many Olympiads, GM Gabriel Sargissian. 

Yu Yangyi was the Chinese hero in round four, with Wei Yi and the other players making draws. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The other team with two players on 4/4 is Turkiye, and those players are the young stars 15-year-old GM Ediz Gurel and the even more phenomenal 13-year-old GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who is back above 2600 on the live rating list. If he stays above 2600 until the end of the tournament, he'll smash the record for the youngest player ever to officially be rated above 2600.

Turkiye face Carlsen's Norway in round five.

The last game of the round to finish was, it feels not for the first time in Olympiads, that of England's GM David Howell. It was a crucial game, as Howell had to beat Georgian GM Nikolozi Kacharava to cancel an earlier win for GM Baadur Jobava over GM Luke McShane.

Both players would make the same despairing gestures as the game dragged on and on. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Howell had great chances, but time trouble and his opponent's resistance led to an endgame that seemed destined to end in a draw, likely by the 50-move rule. Instead of waiting for 50 moves without a pawn push or capture, however, Kacharava pushed a pawn himself, and though it didn't change the evaluation, the game continued and the tension grew. Eventually he cracked, and Howell won in 113 moves!

The end of the day's play isn't always the end of the action, however. For instance, seven-time Argentinian Champion Diego Flores was selected for a fair-play check after a win in his team's 3.5-0.5 victory over Bolivia. An unused phone SIM card was found in his wallet, considered an electronic device, and his win was turned into a loss. An appeal by the federation and his captain GM Robert Hungaski succeeded, however, leading to an impromptu celebration! 

More such stories are always going on behind the scenes of as huge an event as the Olympiad.

We're already approaching the halfway point, with tough pairings at the top for round five, while Flores and team face the might of the wounded U.S. team! 

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 5 Team Pairings: Open (Top 15)

No. SNo FED Team Points : Points Team FED SNo
1 2 India 8 : 8 Azerbaijan 12
2 15 Ukraine 8 : 8 Hungary 9
3 13 Spain 8 : 8 China 3
4 21 Vietnam 8 : 8 Poland 11
5 22 Turkiye 7 : 7 Norway 6
6 10 Iran 7 : 7 Canada 50
7 33 Argentina 6 : 6 United States of America 1
8 4 Uzbekistan 6 : 6 Moldova 34
9 35 Cuba 6 : 6 Netherlands 5
10 36 Montenegro 6 : 6 Germany 7
11 8 England 6 : 6 Australia 37
12 14 France 6 : 6 Switzerland 38
13 39 Brazil 6 : 6 Serbia 16
14 17 Armenia 6 : 6 Sweden 40
15 18 Romania 6 : 6 Kazakhstan 41

Women's Section: China Sweeps Again, Uzbekistan And Mongolia Score Upsets

The leaderboard continues to thin out as unbeaten teams face one another. The seven remaining teams on 8/8 perfect scores are, in tiebreak order, China, India, the U.S., Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia.

There was just one 4-0 sweep on the top 20 boards, the match China won against England. 

See full results here

The next 4-0 sweep was 19 matches down, which Sweden won against Albania, and the third sweep was yet another 11 matches lower than that, the Philippines against El Salvador.

A powerhouse Chinese team, even without the country's best players. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE.

Representing China, WGM Lu Miaoyi won on board four with an initiative that transformed into a winning endgame, and on board three WGM Ni Shiqun trapped her opponent's queen on the last move. Board two was the most crushing in the match, as IM Yuxin Song made the most of an opening disaster against IM Jovanka Houska.

GM Zhu Jiner rounded out the sweep on board one by invading with her queen and rook on the first rank to deliver a mating attack. Besides a 3.5-0.5 score against Italy in round three, China have scored 4-0 sweeps in every other round, showing that they are serious contenders this Olympiad even without the participation of the top four Chinese players.

Top-seed India overcame France with a 3.5-0.5 score, while the U.S. put up the same result against the Netherlands to slink into third in the overall standings. On board three, GM Irina Krush found the winning 36.Rd5! to remind her opponent that checkmate is still a factor even in the endgame.

Both U.S. teams together. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE.

While Turkiye (16th seed) held Ukraine (fifth) to a draw, we saw two match upsets on the top-10 boards. The day after upsetting the home team of Hungary, Uzbekistan (34th) continued its winning ways by defeating 12th-seed Bulgaria. WIM Afruza Khamdamova (2313) converted a rook endgame on board one against GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2416), while the other three boards ended in draws. Khamdamova is now 4/4 and set to gain 29.8 rating points so far.

Mongolia (18th) also upset Spain (ninth). WCM Bat-Erdene Mungunzul ultimately trapped IM Ana Matnadze's queen on board four, while IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul's attack with opposite-color bishops crashed through against IM Marta Garcia on board two to score the second win. There was a draw on board one, but the most entertaining game was Spain's sole win where IM Sabrina Vega repeated GM Nigel Short's famous king walk. While it didn't save her team, it will surely be a memorable game for the Spanish player. 

10th-seed Germany also sank down to six points after drawing team Argentina (26th). Elsewhere, Vietnam (20th) came oh-so-close to tying the match against Armenia (11th), but in a wild game where both sides were winning at various points, WIM Phuong Hanh Luong froze in a position that the engine confirms is winning—and lost on time. Armenia won 3-1 to stay on a perfect 8/8 match score.

We are still not halfway through the tournament, however, and the next seven rounds are likely to hold many more twists and turns. In the next round, we will see India take on Kazakhstan, most likely led by IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (rated 2482) on board one, in the marquee matchup.

2024 Chess Olympiad Round 5 Team Pairings: Women (Top 15)

No. SNo FED Team : Team FED  SNo 
1 10 Kazakhstan : India 1
2 14 Hungary : Estonia 38
3 4 China : Armenia 11
4 18 Mongolia : United States of America 7
5 34 Uzbekistan : Georgia 2
6 3 Poland : Turkiye 16
7 6 Azerbaijan : Ukraine 5
8 8 Germany : Sweden 33
9 35 Norway : Spain 9
10 12 Bulgaria : Latvia 36
11 13 France : Iran 37
12 39 Peru : England 15
13 17 Netherlands : Croatia 40
14 19 Serbia : Czech Republic 41
15 42 Montenegro : Vietnam 20

NM Anthony Levin contributed reporting to this article.

How to watch?

You can watch our live broadcast on the chess24 YouTube and Twitch channels, while GM Hikaru Nakamura will also be streaming on his Twitch and Kick channels. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad events page. 

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Judit Polgar and John Sargent.

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad is a massive team event for national federations that takes place every two years. In 2024 it's being held in Budapest, Hungary, with 11 rounds that run September 11-22. In Open and Women's sections, teams of five players compete in a Swiss Open, with each match played over four boards. There are two match points for a win and one for a draw, with board points taken into account only if teams are tied. Players have 90 minutes per game, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move.

Previous Coverage:

Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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