OLYMPIAD R9: RUSSIA LOSES TO FRANCE

Chessbase News, Germany
May 31 2006

30.05.2006 Another shock result: Russia lost 1.5:2.5 to France,
and are now on place four on the table. China, on the other hand,
demolished Georgia 4-0 and advanced to place two. Armenia beat Ukraine
to stay in the lead. In the women’s section Ukraine beat the US and
lead ahead of Russia, which drew China. Things are getting close.

Turin 2006: After round nine
The top pairings was Ukraine vs the leading Armenia. The top three
boards drew, but the deadly board four weapon that the Armenians have
launched struck yet again: Gabriel Sargissian scored his eighth win
in nine games to clinch the match. Sargissian has the best rating
perfomance (2852) so far in the Olympiad for a board five player,
and the third best over all. Only Vladimir Kramnik (board one, 2873)
and Sergey Karjakin (board 3, 2861) are above him.

The Russian produced Yet Another Shock result, by losing 1.5:2.5 to
France, with Fressinet scoring the decisive win on board four. Even
more shocking: China did a 4-0 whitewash over Georgia. The USA drew
with the Czech Republic, with Kamsky winning and Akobian losing.

Kamsky has now scored 4.5/6 on board one, with a 2829 performance,
the sixth best in these games.

Armenia is now one point ahead of China, which in turn is 1.5 points
ahead of France. Russia, USA and Ukraine share 4-6 half a point
behind France.

For score boards 6