2014 Chess Olympiad - Day 10

The win by China over France in round 10 leaves them in the box seat to win their first ever Open Olympiad. The 2.5-1.5 victory leaves them with a 1 point lead over Hungary and a 2 point lead over a large number of teams tied for third. In the final round they are paired with Poland, and barring a last round accident they should end up either in first or tied for first. However Hungary are holding out hope that they can defeat Ukraine while Poland steps up to take down China. The third scenario involves both China and Hungary slipping up and then a whole raft a teams ending up on 17 points. While the Olympiad tie break rules are a little complicated, I suspect that China would probably end up in first place in this case anyway.
In the Women's event the Russian team look good for first place. The lead by a point ahead of China and the Ukraine, and with China and Ukraine playing each other in the final round, the Russian have an easier path to victory.
The Australian team has a difficult task with Germany in the final round. Obviously a win would give them a fantastically high finish, while a loss will probably drop them to their seeding level. Nonetheless, apart from a few early hiccups, the team has pretty well, scoring a number of good wins in the run home. The Australian Women's team is currently sitting around their seeding, but a last round pairing against Malaysia gives them a good opportunity to achieve a much higher placing.
Round 11 starts early today, and is probably underway as you read this. There is live coverage at the Chess24 website, while Chessbomb has also had live games available there as well. The presentations and closing party take place this evening, and tomorrow will see the exodus from Norway begin.


Fressinet Laurent (2708) - Yu Yangyi (2668) [A37]
WCO2014 Tromso (10.27), 12.08.2014