Round five caused no harm in the top of the progress table as all of top teams went to draw each other. Only top teams to take wins are USA who beat Georgia and surprisingly Iran who defeated Vietnam 3-1 to find themselves in tied 5th.

The Russia-Armenia was a match of two teams commonly believed to struggle for gold. Vladimir Kramnik hammered rising talent Aronian at top board but the match result was levelled by Armenia's board 4 Sargissian who outplayed Morozevich in the mid-game. Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan scored another nice win defeating Sokolov, a Dutch player of Bosnian origin to lead Uzbekistan to a valuable draw. Sweden are another surprise as they held Spain today to a draw with two tied and two decisive games. Ukraine gave rather disappointing display once more barely halving with Bulgaria as Volokytin wasted all his chances to lose to Cheparinov. Finally India, who conceded yet another draw, are less and less likely to emerge as the first Asian team ever to win the Olympiad. Unfortunately is seems Anand is not well shaped this time.

There are a few exceptionally strong teams that seem to be at the end of their wits. Israel (6th seeded) only managed to draw all four games vs Denmark. Azerbaijan beat Moldova by the smallest possible margin. Bologan lost to Radjabov in a way which makes it hard to believe he was sensational winner in Dortmund 2004. France are lacking vigour - another four draw match today. Algeria produced biggest upset of the day holding Slovenia to a 2-all draw. Please find details on Adlane's excellent win over Beliavsky in the game highlights section. Also Haddouche beat GM Pavasovic, rated 250 points better than himself.

In the women's section Russian hegemony was finally broken by Ukraine who beat the leaders 2-1. The Russians retained the lead, although the margin diminished to half of a point. Hungary led by Vietnamese Hoang beat China 2.5-0.5 to move into third. Tomorrow they will be tested by Russia. Georgia are still struggling at 15th.

Standings:
Men: Russia and Armenia 15.5; Netherlands 15; Uzbekistan 14.5; Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain, Belarus, USA, Iran and Sweden 14
Women: Russia 12.5; Ukraine 12; Hungary 11.5; USA, Romania et al. 11

To be played tomorrow: Netherlands-Russia, Armenia-Uzbekistan, Sweden-Bulgaria, Ukraine-Iran (!!), Germany-India

Recommended links:
Detailed results and statistics at Wiener Zeitung page
The Chess Drum reports by Daaim Shabazz
ChessVista - photos by Frits Agterdenbos

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY


1. Kramnik (RUS, 2729) - Aronian (ARM, 2756)
Many believe Kramnik will never be able to come back to his top form. His claims for classical World Champion title aren't commonly recognized anymore. Today he showed really good chess squeezing World's third highest rated player move by move. The diagram position is hardly playable for Black, but what Aronian chooses causes immediate debacle: 33... b4? leaving pawn for a rout 34. c7 Ra8 35. Qb6 Bf8 forced 36. Bxb4 +- We can only regret Topalov doesn't play.


5. Kasimdzhanov (UZB, 2673) - Sokolov (NED, 2676)
That Kasim took FIDE World Championship title in 2004 was a mockery for many journalists and fans. In Turin he is virtually unstoppable showing brave and far-sighted chess. The position is way better for White as Sokolov commited decisive mistake 19... Rb7? forces Black to free e4 square for white Knight 20. Bd5! Bxd5 21. exd5 Ne7 22. Ne4 Qf5 only move 23. Nxc5 dxc5 24. Nxe5 +- White won a pawn and his piece mobility is better. 1-0 after 52 moves of hopeless struggle.


13. Ivanchuk (UKR, 2731) - Ki.Georgiev (BUL, 2677)
People love Ivanchuk for his unique style which combines sense of tactics with simply clairvoyant strategical outlooks. This game will no doubts become one of his classics: 32. Rxf8! Kxf8 33. Qc5 Ke8 34. Nd5 That's the point! Black is forced to trade his Bishop, the most active piece. Black's Rook will stay useless as White Bishop safely guards advancing pawns. 34... Bxd5 35. axd5 Ra6 36. Qc3! f6 36... Qb8 would meet winning 37. Bf4!! 37. gxf6 Rxf6 38. Qxe5 Qe7 39. Qxe7 Kxe7 40. Bg5 1-0 Perhaps the most valuable manoeuvre of day 5 of the games.


17. Anand (IND, 2803) - Bu (CHN, 2640)
Anand's play doen's resemble that of arguably World's strongest player. Today he was close to taste bitter as his Chinese rival missed a win by a hair's breadth. Anand played badly and had to trade his Queen for a Rook and a Bishop. Here Bu could well win yet another pawn with 32... Qh4! attacking Rf2 and pg5. 33. Re2 would follow 33... Qg5+ 34. Kb1 Qf6 35. Rb2 (only way to prevent mate at a1) f4 and White's position is dead lost. Instead he chose 32... f4? 33. Bxd6 Bd4 34. Rfd2 Be3 35. Nxe3 fxe3 = The game went on for a perpetual check, thus 1/2-1/2


25. Socko (POL, 2606) - Garcia Palermo (ITA, 2462)
Time for a bit of wild tactics. Poland deprived of their top players perform rather poorly and this one seemed ominous for the Pole too. The black Knight forks white pieces but Socko managed to threaten the back rank mate. Black had two good answers here. One is 29... Rd8 preventing white Queen from occupying d4 (29... Ra8 or 29... Rb8 would be countered with 30. Qd4 Qxd4 31. Rfxd4 =) and White has nothing better to do than to trade a Rook for a Queen, so Black wins at once. 29... Rfc7 is not that strong but enough to win as well: 30. Rxc7 Qxc7 winning exchange or 30. Qa3 Nxf4. Instead the Italian chose suicidal 29... Qd8?? and lost on spot: 30. Qc3! +- Rxc4 31. Rxc4 Nc5 32. Rxc5 1-0 We can't say anything about time trouble (since it appears to be technically too hard for the organizers to provide live data on time remaining) but I would bet Black was under serious time pressure. That's modern chess.


31. Mastrovasilis (GRE, 2577) - Zarnicki (ARG, 2507)
Zarnicki, former junior World Champion never lived up to expectations of Argentinian fans. He is no more a chess prodigy, rather just a decent GM, one of hundreds. White to move. Black cunningly intended to send white Knight away from the centre but White happened to be even smarter: 19. dxc6! f4 20. Nc3 unleashing power of white Rook 20... fxg3 21. Bxg6 now Be7 is hanging 22.Bf6 c7! +- White has advanced pawn and development advantage. 1-0 after 35th move. The rest of the game is interesting too so it is recommended that you took a look on it (please see the game file below).


63. Haznedaroglu (TUR, 2455) - Markos (SVK, 2492)
As far as quality of chess managment is concerned Turkey can no doubt claim to be World Champions. Their Olympic team progresses too, but is still very far from the peak. 65. Rxf3 Now what?... White tried to win theoretically drawn RRNvRR ending. He was so diligent and overactive that he even managed to blunder a Rook on his 89th move. Of course RNvRR is drawn too (a strange case, a Rook doesn't make any difference!). 1/2-1/2


85. Beliavsky (SLO, 2622) - Adlane (ALG, 2424)
Beliavsky is some two decades after his prime but still a win with black pieces over legendary GM, former World Championship candidate must be a lifetime success for young Algerian. Black to move. White pieces are pointlessly aiming at Black's Queenside, while white King is left undefended. 34... Rxe3! 35. Kh2 Qf3 Now White has to capture to prevent Rxd3. Rc3 or Rd2 fails due to Re2+. 36. Nxe3 Rxe3 White has to protect g2 at any cost 37. Rg2 gxf4! 38. Qd1 fxg3+ 39. Kh3 Qf5+ 40. Qg4 Qxg4 41. Kxg4 Rxd3 -+ Black has huge material and positional advantage, and he easily grabbed the point after 55 moves 0-1. Excellent play by Arab Adlane. Chapeau bas!


95. Sammalvuo (FIN, 2461) - Gausel (NOR, 2509)
This bizarre game looks like a joke, but it is not. The Four Knights Opening followed 4. Bb5 Bd6?! 5. g4!?, the ending of this brisk game was no less strange: 10. d4 White is lost anyway but he continues the crazy dance. 10... Qg6! best reply 11. Bd3 preventing Qe4+ 11... e4 12. dxc5 exd3 13. dxc6 minor pieces are traded but the tempo is in Black's hands 13... Qe4+ 14. Kd2 Bg4! 15. Re1+ so?... 15... Be2!! and White cannot capture cxd3 because of Qxd3#. White pieces hermetically cut off way of escape for White King. 16. cxb7 Rd8 17. Rxe2 0-1 Really amusing and refreshing chess. We wish more, gentlemen!


See online games from round 5