The first day of the 2021 Online Chess Olympiad began with 60 teams in action. Due to the varying levels of infrastructure around the world, some teams were able to play with all players present, while others had to make do with whoever could maintain a stable internet connection. As a consequence not all teams were able to perform to pre-tournament expectations, which leaves the competition for promotion places wide open.
I was a spectator for a couple of Pools (A and B), and was a pool arbiter for Pool C. This involved teams from Africa and Europe, and the results were either feast or famine. Five teams won all their matches to be on 6 match points, while 5 teams lost all of theirs to be on 0. The middle 2 teams one 1 match, drew against each other and lost 1 match. On tie-break, Angola and Ethiopia hold down the top 2 places, with Jersey, Malta and Cyprus close together, battling for third.
Just like last year, the strength of the lower division teams can sometimes be mixed, with a couple of strong players on the top boards, and lower rated players further down. However Angola has turned out a consistently strong team, as shown by the following board 1 game.
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (3.3), 20.08.2021
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