[imagefield_assist|fid=11337|preset=fullsize|title=Egypt proved no match for the U.S. in round four. GM Robert Hess, right, pulled out the victory over Sammy Shoker.|desc=|link=none|origsize=|lightbox=true|align=center|width=640|height=285]
USA beats Egypt
The USA got on track in round 4 beating Egypt. Although the score was a lopsided 3.5-0.5, things were not so simple! Gata drew pretty quickly with black against Adly. Onischuk won a nice strategical game against Amin. After that, things were touch and go. Hess seemed to be worse/losing on board 4 and Yasser was equal on board 3. But, when time trouble ended, Yasser was clearly better and Robert was winning! As both were able to win, we won the match with a convincing looking 3.5-0.5 score.
Tomorrow we play the host country, China, in a battle that is quite evenly matched, so let’s hope the USA can win and get into medal contention!
[imagefield_assist|fid=11208|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=Yasser Seirawan, the oldest competitor in the event, lost to Yu Yang of China, the youngest competitor.|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=427]
China crushes US
Quite a beating today, as China beat us 3.5-0.5! Yuri and Alex were in bad form and lost
easily, whilst Gata couldn’t get anything with white against Wang Hao. Gata said Hao is the only Chinese
player he had not yet played over the years. Yasser seemed to equalize easily, but lost the thread of the
game, and was outplayed by the youngest player in the event, Yu Yangi (Yasser
is the oldest!). So a crushing
defeat, but such a loss will not defeat our spirits! We need to get back on track tomorrow against the tough
Indian team, who beat the Israeli’s this round when board 1 Harikrishna won a
long endgame against Sutovsky.
Round 4 was the round of upsets, as Hungary beat Ukraine
(Leko won with black against Ivanchuk) and the Russians were crushed by the
Azeri team, 3-1! Svidler and
Grischuk both losing.
If we beat the Indian team in round 5 we are still in good
shape…..stay tuned…
[imagefield_assist|fid=11338|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=GM Alex Onischuk, who seems to be finding his footing, is pivotal piece to the success of the U.S. team.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=700|height=467]
Back on Track
After getting crushed yesterday by China, the U.S. bounced back with a convincing 3-1 win over India. Kamsky held comfortably with black against Harikrishna on board 1. Onischuk won a nice positional game agaijst Sasikiran. Thus far, Alex’s games have all been won by the white pieces, unfortunately, he has had black in 3 of those! Yury Shulman showed excellent preparation against Ganguly, and held the draw with black. Hess played the 2.c3 Sicilian, and, for the first time in a rated game, Gopal played 2…Nf6 (He always plays 2…d5). Robert was able to get a slight edge, and Gopal missed an equalizing chance with Bxf3 (after h3, he played Bh5!?), and Robert won quickly after a blunder in time trouble. A fantastic day for the U.S. team.
Hungary surprised everyone (even themselves!) with a crushing 3.5-0.5 victory over Israel. One can turn from a goat to a hero in one day (and vice-versa!) as Armenia beat China with 3 draws and a win by Gabriel Sargissian on board 4 over Yu Yangi. Yu had just beaten Yasser the day before, whilst Gabriel was lucky to draw with white against Egyptian Shoker! In fact, Shoker is on his way to a GM norm, as he drew Svidler today!
The U.S. team is still in the medal hunt, but we need to win 3 of our next 4 matches. Next round we play the tough Hungarian team, led by Peter Leko, Zoltan Almasi, and Judit Polgar. But first is the free day! When the going gets tough, we will go shopping. Until next time…..
