Olympiad Round 2. | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

Today we played against Tunisia, and won the match with the smallest possible margin. One board 2. Erik Blomqvist played a game that contained a very nice and strange opening idea:

   [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad"]  [Site "Chennai"]  [Date "2022.07.30"]  [Round "2"]  [White "Boudriga, Mohamed Ali"]  [Black "Blomqvist, Erik"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "D02"]  [WhiteElo "2308"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 cxd4 5. O-O h6 {This is quite fashionable.  Black wants White to take on c6 before playing either Nc6 or e6, in which case  White would play the Black side of a Grünfeld Defence, but with an extra  tempo.} (5... Nc6 {is not exactly a mistake, but after} 6. Nxd4 e5 7. Nxc6 bxc6  8. c4 {White is clearly happy to have played 0-0 (which would not have been  the case if you played the black side of a Grünfeld).}) (5... h5 $5 {has been  played a few times by a certain M. Lyell. Here} 6. c4 $5 (6. Bg5 Ne4 7. Bf4 {  might be the best chance for an advantage. This also half explains why Erik  plays h6 first...}) (6. b3 $2 {was played in one game, at it is almost  hilarious how bad this is. It is indeed a common move, generally speaking, but  here it is horrible. The bishop is clearly needed on the c1-h6 diagonal.}) (6.  Nxd4 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 {is fine for Black.}) 6... dxc3 7. Nxc3 e6 8. e4 {gives  White some initiative, but after} Nxe4 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Ne5 Ke8  12. Bxe4 Nd7 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. Be3 Bc6 15. Bxc6+ bxc6 16. Rac1 c5 17. Rfd1 a5 {  Black's position seems quite playable.}) 6. b3 h5 $5 {There are a number of  games in the database featuring this move, and Erik picked up the idea from  Martin Lokander, who played it once. The point of first playing h6 and then h5  is that, in Erik's words: "the b3 pawn later makes it impossible for White's  queen to reach a4" (or b3). Also, it is a weakening of the dark squares which  makes little sense unless you plug b2 with a bishop.} 7. Bf4 $6 (7. Qxd4 $5 Nc6  8. Qb2 g6) (7. Bg5 Ne4 8. Bf4 h4 $36) 7... h4 8. Nxh4 $2 {Taking this pawn  like this just takes too much time. The knight is deflected from where it is  really needed.} Nc6 9. Nf3 Ng4 $1 {White is already in trouble here, since  there is no way to stop Black advance in the center.} 10. Nxd4 $2 {This makes  things even worse, but one must sympathize with White who must (already) have  wondered where things went wrong.} (10. h3 e5 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bc1 Nh6 {is very  good for Black too.}) 10... e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bc1 Nxh2 13. Re1 (13. c4)  13... Bc5 {Black is completely winning and the rest is just White getting to  terms with the state of things.} 14. b4 Bb6 15. Qd3 Ng4 16. e3 Qf6 17. Re2 Bf5  18. Qc3 Be4 19. f3 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Qxf3 {White can get two revenge checks, on c6  and then b7, but then Black goes with the king to d6, and it is over. It was  time to resign.} 0-1

There is – as usual – a bit of betting going on between the Nordic team captains. As far as we know, no one has placed a bet against the Norwegians (who are rated third). I believe the Danes’ odds went down somewhat today, as they lost against Zambia (who were heavily out-ranked on every board), but I would not count them out of the race because of a small bump in the road. Sometimes losing an early match like that can inspire focus and determination. I will keep an eye on Zambia ahead. They seemed to play quite well.

Tomorrow Sweden play against Holland in the main hall. Another great adventure.