Dresden Olympiad - Round 1
The 38th Chess Olympiad has now started in earnest after yesterday's opening ceremony, which featured (in ascending order of weirdness) singing, drumming, ice skating, cheerleading and a Freddie Mercury impersonator! Quite what any of this had to do with chess is nobody's business, but since when have opening ceremonies made any sense? 
One person expected to be in attendance was the FIDE president Kirsan Ilymzhinov, but he was involved in a car accident. Reports state that he was hospitalised, but escaped serious injury and should make a full recovery.
The official website has finally started to spring into life (if you are a German speaker, the German version seems to be more up-to-date) with live games available at this page. Unfortunately PGN downloads of the games aren't working yet at the time of writing, but the games are available to play through online.
So what about the results? Russia managed to squeeze a 2.5-1.5 victory against the Swiss team thanks to a win by Alexander Morozevich on board three. Peter Svidler on top board was held to a draw by the veteran, Viktor Korchnoi (who has lived in Switzerland since 1978).
As hosts, Germany are allowed more than one team, and their first team has realistic chances of a medal. They comfortably won their first round game against Scotland 3.5-0.5.
Like Russia, the Ukraine only just managed to emerge winners in their first round game against Vietnam thanks to a win on board 4 by Zahar Efimenko. The top three boards for Vietnam did extremely well to hold Ivanchuk, Karjakin and Eljanov to draws.
China also opened with a victory against the Philippines, but their young star Wesley So (pictured) managed to upset his higher ranking opponent on board 2, limiting the losing score to 1.5-2.5.
Reigning champions Armenia opened with a crushing 4-0 victory against Italy, with Lev Aronian beating the young Italian prodigy Fabiano Caruana in the top board clash.
The USA team defeated Iceland 2.5-1.5, but Hungary were surprisingly held to a draw by unfancied Iran.
In the women's event, Russia lived up to their top seeding with an opening round 4-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan. The Chinese and US teams also had comfortable wins.
Thankfully, the rule requiring players to arrive exactly on time or be forfeited has been relaxed for the first 2 rounds. It remains to be seen if it will be enforced at all!
The results of the top 20 seeds in the Open event are beneath the game below.
| Team | Team | Result | ||||||
| Bo. | 1 | RUS Russia (RUS) | Rtg | - | 36 | SUI Switzerland (SUI) | Rtg | 2.5 : 1.5 |
| 1.1 | GM | Svidler Peter | 2727 | - | GM | Korchnoi Viktor | 2584 | ½ : ½ |
| 1.2 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2719 | - | GM | Pelletier Yannick | 2557 | ½ : ½ |
| 1.3 | GM | Morozevich Alexander | 2787 | - | GM | Jenni Florian | 2543 | 1 : 0 |
| 1.4 | GM | Jakovenko Dmitry | 2737 | - | GM | Gallagher Joseph G | 2480 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 11 | GER Germany 1 (GER) | Rtg | - | 46 | SCO Scotland (SCO) | Rtg | 3.5 : 0.5 |
| 2.1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2678 | - | GM | Rowson Jonathan | 2596 | 1 : 0 |
| 2.2 | GM | Khenkin Igor | 2647 | - | GM | Shaw John | 2469 | 1 : 0 |
| 2.3 | GM | Gustafsson Jan | 2634 | - | IM | Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan | 2448 | 1 : 0 |
| 2.4 | GM | Baramidze David | 2557 | - | GM | McNab Colin A | 2455 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 37 | VIE Vietnam (VIE) | Rtg | - | 2 | UKR Ukraine (UKR) | Rtg | 1.5 : 2.5 |
| 3.1 | GM | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | 2567 | - | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2786 | ½ : ½ |
| 3.2 | GM | Le Quang Liem | 2583 | - | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2730 | ½ : ½ |
| 3.3 | GM | Dao Thien Hai | 2510 | - | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2720 | ½ : ½ |
| 3.4 | CM | Nguyen Van Huy | 2422 | - | GM | Efimenko Zahar | 2680 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 3 | CHN China (CHN) | Rtg | - | 38 | PHI Philippines (PHI) | Rtg | 2.5 : 1.5 |
| 4.1 | GM | Wang Yue | 2736 | - | GM | Villamayor Buenaventura | 2468 | 1 : 0 |
| 4.2 | GM | Ni Hua | 2710 | - | GM | So Wesley | 2610 | 0 : 1 |
| 4.3 | GM | Wang Hao | 2696 | - | GM | Gonzales Jayson | 2469 | 1 : 0 |
| 4.4 | GM | Li Chao B | 2622 | - | IM | Gomez John Paul | 2519 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 39 | MKD Former Yug Rep (MKD) | Rtg | - | 4 | AZE Azerbaijan (AZE) | Rtg | 00:04 |
| 5.1 | GM | Georgiev Vladimir | 2517 | - | GM | Radjabov Teimour | 2752 | 0 : 1 |
| 5.2 | GM | Nedev Trajko | 2525 | - | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2731 | 0 : 1 |
| 5.3 | GM | Stanojoski Zvonko | 2502 | - | GM | Huseynov Gadir | 2650 | 0 : 1 |
| 5.4 | IM | Colovic Aleksandar | 2458 | - | GM | Mammadov Rauf | 2631 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 5 | HUN Hungary (HUN) | Rtg | - | 40 | IRI Iran (IRI) | Rtg | 02:02 |
| 6.1 | GM | Polgar Judit | 2711 | - | GM | Ghaem Maghami Ehsan | 2599 | ½ : ½ |
| 6.2 | GM | Almasi Zoltan | 2663 | - | GM | Moradiabadi Elshan | 2499 | ½ : ½ |
| 6.3 | GM | Balogh Csaba | 2616 | - | GM | Bagheri Amir | 2490 | ½ : ½ |
| 6.4 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | 2645 | - | GM | Mahjoob Morteza | 2507 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 41 | GER Germany 2 (GER) | Rtg | - | 6 | BUL Bulgaria (BUL) | Rtg | 2.5 : 1.5 |
| 7.1 | GM | Meier Georg | 2558 | - | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2696 | 1 : 0 |
| 7.2 | IM | Braun Arik | 2567 | - | GM | Georgiev Kiril | 2645 | 1 : 0 |
| 7.3 | GM | Bindrich Falko | 2517 | - | GM | Delchev Aleksander | 2632 | ½ : ½ |
| 7.4 | IM | Bogner Sebastian | 2448 | - | GM | Iotov Valentin | 2532 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 7 | FRA France (FRA) | Rtg | - | 42 | MNE Montenegro (MNE) | Rtg | 02:02 |
| 8.1 | GM | Bacrot Etienne | 2705 | - | GM | Djukic Nikola | 2519 | 1 : 0 |
| 8.2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2716 | - | GM | Drasko Milan | 2537 | ½ : ½ |
| 8.3 | GM | Tkachiev Vladislav | 2664 | - | GM | Kosic Dragan | 2511 | ½ : ½ |
| 8.4 | GM | Maze Sebastien | 2577 | - | GM | Blagojevic Dragisa | 2522 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 43 | LAT Latvia (LAT) | Rtg | - | 8 | ISR Israel (ISR) | Rtg | 02:02 |
| 9.1 | GM | Miezis Normunds | 2557 | - | GM | Roiz Michael | 2677 | ½ : ½ |
| 9.2 | GM | Sveshnikov Evgeny | 2525 | - | GM | Avrukh Boris | 2657 | 1 : 0 |
| 9.3 | GM | Meijers Viesturs | 2514 | - | GM | Postny Evgeny | 2674 | ½ : ½ |
| 9.4 | GM | Lanka Zigurds | 2491 | - | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2609 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 9 | ARM Armenia (ARM) | Rtg | - | 44 | ITA Italy (ITA) | Rtg | 04:00 |
| 10.1 | GM | Aronian Levon | 2757 | - | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2640 | 1 : 0 |
| 10.2 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2679 | - | GM | Godena Michele | 2517 | 1 : 0 |
| 10.3 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2642 | - | IM | Shytaj Luca | 2472 | 1 : 0 |
| 10.4 | GM | Petrosian Tigran L | 2629 | - | IM | Brunello Sabino | 2455 | 1 : 0 |
| Bo. | 45 | ISL Iceland (ISL) | Rtg | - | 10 | USA United States (USA) | Rtg | 1.5 : 2.5 |
| 11.1 | GM | Stefansson Hannes | 2575 | - | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2729 | ½ : ½ |
| 11.2 | GM | Steingrimsson Hedinn | 2540 | - | GM | Onischuk Alexander | 2644 | 0 : 1 |
| 11.3 | GM | Danielsen Henrik | 2492 | - | GM | Shulman Yuri | 2616 | 1 : 0 |
| 11.4 | IM | Kristjansson Stefan | 2474 | - | GM | Akobian Varuzhan | 2606 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 47 | GER Germany 3 (GER) | Rtg | - | 12 | ESP Spain (ESP) | Rtg | 0.5 : 3.5 |
| 12.1 | GM | Buhmann Rainer | 2541 | - | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2726 | 0 : 1 |
| 12.2 | GM | Prusikin Michael | 2538 | - | GM | Vallejo Pons Francisco | 2664 | 0 : 1 |
| 12.3 | GM | Naumann Alexander | 2518 | - | GM | Illescas Cordoba Miguel | 2604 | ½ : ½ |
| 12.4 | Heimann Andreas | 2428 | - | GM | Khamrakulov Ibragim S | 2580 | 0 : 1 | |
| Bo. | 13 | IND India (IND) | Rtg | - | 48 | CAN Canada (CAN) | Rtg | 2.5 : 1.5 |
| 13.1 | GM | Harikrishna P | 2659 | - | GM | Bluvshtein Mark | 2557 | ½ : ½ |
| 13.2 | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | 2603 | - | GM | Charbonneau Pascal | 2499 | 1 : 0 |
| 13.3 | GM | Geetha Narayanan Gopal | 2548 | - | IM | Zugic Igor | 2457 | ½ : ½ |
| 13.4 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | 2579 | - | IM | Noritsyn Nikolay | 2372 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 49 | EGY Egypt (EGY) | Rtg | - | 14 | ROU Romania (ROU) | Rtg | 0.5 : 3.5 |
| 14.1 | GM | Adly Ahmed | 2586 | - | GM | Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter | 2684 | ½ : ½ |
| 14.2 | GM | Amin Bassem | 2560 | - | GM | Istratescu Andrei | 2633 | 0 : 1 |
| 14.3 | IM | Ezat Mohamed | 2425 | - | GM | Parligras Mircea | 2611 | 0 : 1 |
| 14.4 | IM | Frhat Ali | 2418 | - | GM | Vajda Levente | 2582 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 15 | ENG England (ENG) | Rtg | - | 50 | TUR Turkey (TUR) | Rtg | 2.5 : 1.5 |
| 15.1 | GM | Adams Michael | 2734 | - | GM | Gurevich Mikhail | 2634 | 1 : 0 |
| 15.2 | GM | Howell David W L | 2593 | - | IM | Can Emre | 2464 | ½ : ½ |
| 15.3 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2548 | - | IM | Erdogdu Mert | 2449 | 1 : 0 |
| 15.4 | GM | Conquest Stuart C | 2526 | - | IM | Haznedaroglu Kivanc | 2436 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 51 | EST Estonia (EST) | Rtg | - | 16 | CUB Cuba (CUB) | Rtg | 01:03 |
| 16.1 | GM | Kulaots Kaido | 2556 | - | GM | Dominguez Perez Leinier | 2719 | ½ : ½ |
| 16.2 | GM | Kanep Meelis | 2524 | - | GM | Bruzon Batista Lazaro | 2623 | 0 : 1 |
| 16.3 | IM | Liiva Riho | 2460 | - | GM | Quezada Perez Yuniesky | 2580 | ½ : ½ |
| 16.4 | IM | Sepp Olav | 2440 | - | GM | Hernandez Carmenates Holden | 2580 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 17 | GEO Georgia (GEO) | Rtg | - | 52 | FIN Finland (FIN) | Rtg | 1.5 : 2.5 |
| 17.1 | GM | Izoria Zviad | 2610 | - | IM | Sammalvuo Tapani | 2463 | 1 : 0 |
| 17.2 | GM | Mchedlishvili Mikheil | 2615 | - | IM | Agopov Mikael | 2449 | ½ : ½ |
| 17.3 | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | 2580 | - | IM | Lehtinen Heikki | 2385 | 0 : 1 |
| 17.4 | GM | Arutinian David | 2584 | - | IM | Karttunen Mika | 2411 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 53 | AUS Australia (AUS) | Rtg | - | 18 | CZE Czech Republic (CZE) | Rtg | 0.5 : 3.5 |
| 18.1 | GM | Zhao Zong-Yuan | 2567 | - | GM | Navara David | 2633 | ½ : ½ |
| 18.2 | IM | Smerdon David | 2470 | - | GM | Hracek Zbynek | 2613 | 0 : 1 |
| 18.3 | IM | Solomon Stephen J | 2470 | - | GM | Laznicka Viktor | 2591 | 0 : 1 |
| 18.4 | IM | Xie George Wendi | 2403 | - | GM | Babula Vlastimil | 2608 | 0 : 1 |
| Bo. | 19 | NOR Norway (NOR) | Rtg | - | 54 | AUT Austria (AUT) | Rtg | 03:01 |
| 19.1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | 2786 | - | GM | Ragger Markus | 2518 | 1 : 0 |
| 19.2 | GM | Agdestein Simen | 2588 | - | GM | Kindermann Stefan | 2517 | ½ : ½ |
| 19.3 | GM | Lie Kjetil A | 2526 | - | IM | Atlas Valery | 2465 | 1 : 0 |
| 19.4 | GM | Johannessen Leif Erlend | 2545 | - | IM | Neubauer Martin | 2422 | ½ : ½ |
| Bo. | 55 | BAN Bangladesh (BAN) | Rtg | - | 20 | NED Netherlands (NED) | Rtg | 0.5 : 3.5 |
| 20.1 | GM | Rahman Ziaur | 2510 | - | GM | Van Wely Loek | 2618 | ½ : ½ |
| 20.2 | GM | Hossain Enamul | 2494 | - | GM | Smeets Jan | 2604 | 0 : 1 |
| 20.3 | FM | Abu Sufian Shakil | 2418 | - | GM | Stellwagen Daniel | 2605 | 0 : 1 |
| 20.4 | FM | Minhazuddin Ahmed | 2377 | - | GM | LAmi Erwin | 2610 | 0 : 1 |
