ARMENIA’S GOLDEN RULE
by Malcolm Pein
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
June 6, 2006 Tuesday
A COUPLE of 2-2 draws were enough to give Armenia the gold medals
for the first time at the 37th Chess Olympiad. They needed to play
just a few moves in their final match against Hungary to secure the
four draws they required.
China tried to put pressure on in the 12th round by defeating the
Czech Republic 3-1 and Russia overcame Cuba by the same score, but
the Armenians, seeded third, have been just too good. As well as
Levon Aronian’s fine performance on board one, Gabriel Sargissian
playing on board five scored an astonishing 8/9 and then, when his
team needed him to be solid, he drew his last four.
Russia’s misery was complete when they were defeated 3-1 by Israel,
a team of ex-Russians or, in the case of Boris Gelfand, Belarussian.
Israel’s victory was not good enough for a medal. China’s win over
the Netherlands gave them silver and the United States won bronze on
tie-break after scoring 3.5 against Norway. Michael Adams led England
to wins over Iran and Serbia and a respectable 19th place.
Final scores: 1 Armenia 36/52; 2 China 34; 3-4 US, Israel, 33;
5 Hungary 32.5; 6-10 Russia, France, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain 32;
19 England 30.5; 52 Scotland 28; 56 Ireland 27.5; 90 Wales 25.