Argentina No Match for Team USA

The late soccer great Diego Maradona also promoted the royal game.

One day after falling against Chile, the Americans crossed the Andes to defeat Argentina, a country mourning the passing of its soccer hero Diego Maradona. First, Pranav Shankar unleashed his inner f-pawn, advancing f5-f4-f3 to checkmate the white monarch on g1. Meanwhile on top board, Michael Aigner resisted playing his favorite pawn until move 43 and instead nursed a positional advantage into an endgame victory. Even the magician on board 2 came through, somehow escaping checkmate to seal a 3-1 result. 

Round 6: #25 Argentina vs #39 USA == 1-3

1. Leonel Amato (2100) vs Michael == 0-1
2. Griffin vs Luis Sanz (2186) == 1-0
3. Valeria Simone (1453) vs Pranav == 0-1
4. Jessica vs Raul Grosso (1746) == 1-0

Team USA improved to a tie for 16th place with 7 match points, clinching a minimum 50% final score despite difficult opposition rated more than 200 points higher in every round.

Valeria Simone vs Pranav Shankar (0-1) 

Leonel Amato vs Michael Aigner (0-1) 

Round 7 tomorrow concludes the swiss stage of this Online Olympiad and four top teams advance to a knockout semifinal. After a tie today, Russia-1 leads with 11 match points while four countries lurk one point behind (Poland-2, Germany, Philippines-1, Ukraine-3) and three more trail by another point (Poland-1, Russia-2, India-1). Since as many as six teams may reach the 11 point plateau, tiebreaks (most game points) become decisive. An interesting quirk is the pairing of the two Polish squads in essentially an elimination match. Stay tuned for some wild scrambling!

Round 7 Pairings:

1. Russia-1 (11) vs Philippines-1 (10)
2. Ukraine-3 (10) vs Germany (10)
3. Poland-1 (9) vs Poland-2 (10)
4. Russia-2 (9) vs India-1 (9)

Standings After Round 6:

• 11 MP = Russia-1
• 10 MP = Poland-2, Germany, Philippines-1, Ukraine-3
• 9 MP = Poland-1, Russia-2, India-1
• 8 MP = Israel, Poland-3, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Philippines-2, Ukraine-1, Croatia
• 7 MP = Romania-1, Canada, India-2, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, Ukraine-2, USA, North Macedonia, Turkey-1
• Total of 58 teams remaining

Team USA concludes its tour of South America with a match against #25 seed Brazil on Friday at 6:00 AM PST. Once again the Americans enter as underdogs, but past success brings cautious optimism. Check out all of the games at Chess24 or FollowChess.

Chile Wins in Round 5

Michael Aigner (left) playing blitz against the late GM Walter Browne.

The two match winning streak by Team USA abruptly ended this morning as Chile dominated the lower boards. An admittedly lucky win against Romania-2 followed by a convincing result versus highly ranked North Macedonia left the Americans feeling optimistic, but Chile iced those aspirations with a 3-1 victory. This reporter, playing on top board, earned his first win of the Olympiad in full Capablanca style, confidently trading into an endgame up a pawn.

Michael Aigner vs Cristian Gonzalez Astete (1-0)

The defeat dropped the USA to an even record and a tie for 25th place, 32nd on tiebreaks.

Round 5: #39 USA vs #18 Chile == 1-3

1. Michael vs Cristian Gonzalez Astete (2130) == 1-0
2. Tomas Figueroa Morales (2093) vs Griffin == 1-0
3. Pranav vs Andres Saul Tapia Loncon (1890) == 0-1
4. Valeska Rozas Lazcano (1435) vs Jessica == 1-0

Russia-1 emerged from the showdown against Germany to move into sole first place with 10 match points. However, the results on tables 2 and 3 surprised many. Poland seized clear second place, but it was Poland-2 which upset India-1 with the lopsided margin of 3.5-0.5. The top rated Poland-1 team, led by 2018 World Champion for the Disabled GM Marcin Tazbir, lost to #3 seed Philippines-1. The Filipinos currently share third place with a quintet of squads, including Germany and two from Ukraine. After round 7, the top four teams (if necessary by tiebreaks) advance to the knockout phase of the championship.

Standings after Round 5: 

• 10 MP = Russia-1
• 9 MP = Poland-2
• 8 MP = Germany, Philippines-1, Israel, Ukraine-1, Ukraine-3, Croatia
• 7 MP = Poland-1, Russia-2, Ecuador, Romania-1, Chile, India-1
• 6 MP = Vietnam, Russia-3, Poland-2, Ukraine-2 and six others
• 5 MP = Canada, Argentina, USA, North Macedonia and six others
• Total of 58 teams remaining

The Americans seek to bounce back against Argentina, yet another higher rated opponent. Each of the first six opposing teams have been ranked in the top half of the field, while Team USA came in seeded 39th out of 60. Games begin on Thursday at 6:00 AM PST and will be broadcast on both Chess24 and FollowChess. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all readers!