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.
Ponomariov: “Since becoming World Champion I haven’t worn that lucky sweater once” *FAKE*
Fresh from his victory in Dortmund, ex-FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov gave an interview to GM Dmitry Komarov of the Ukrainian Fakty, where he talks about chess and music, the upcoming Olympiad, some of the secrets of his recent success, and a valuable preparation tip from Veselin Topalov.
Gashimov left out of Azerbaijan team for Olympiad
In an ugly turn of events, Azerbaijan, previously real contenders for a gold medal at the Olympiad, have chosen to leave out Vugar Gashimov, one of their star players. This follows a bitter conflict with the team management and a nationalistic campaign against the 2719-rated player.
Kamsky on the Candidates Matches
Gata Kamsky, in Azerbaijan for the Baku Open which starts on Sunday, gave an interview to T. Tushiev for extratime.az. The conversation inevitably centred around the uncertainty over the Candidates Matches, with Kamsky coming out against any last-minute changes to the line-up.
Making a drama out of a crisis
Worries over the state of preparations for the World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk have recently made the headlines, but surely the strangest report appeared on the local Ugra Inform website. Their decision to transcribe the conversation during FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer’s inspection quite literally made a drama out of a crisis.
The Polish Chess Federation responds
Tomasz Sielicki, the President of the Polish Chess Federation, gave an interview responding to criticism from the leading Polish player, Radosław Wojtaszek. Sielicki also outlines the achievements of his year in charge and discusses preparations for the upcoming Olympiad.
