Batumi Olympiad 2018

The members of the New Zealand Olympiad squad are responsible for their own travel costs to Batumi, and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made to the New Zealand Chess Federation Inc, ANZ Bank 01 0535 0073257 00 (or cheques to PO Box 216, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140). Funds received will be shared equally amongst the squad. An email to NZCF Treasurer Winsome Stretch – secretary@newzealandchess.co.nz - to advise of the donation would be appreciated. Donors may be credited on the NZCF website (unless requested otherwise).

Progressive Tournament Report

Round 6 was a good day for New Zealand, the women's team took down the higher ranked Venezuela and the open team performed creditably against the powerful Slovenia team. Ben Hague bought the powerful attacking style we see so often domestically to his first White(!) game and defeated his grandmaster opponent. Round 7 saw Ben's first rest, and a disappointing result for the Open team. Happily the Women's team scored a second win in a row.

Round 9 featured an impressive clean sweep by the Open team, four impressive games against decent opposition. Russell Dive returned to form, with some lovely tactical play. Sadly Round 10 saw the end of Ben Hague's IM pursuit, in this tournament anyway. He needed at least a draw, but Indonesia swept the match 4.0. In the Women's team Vyanla Punsalan has been performing very well and she did secure a WFM title. Thanks to Russell Dive and Bob Gibbons for on the scene reporting. Round 11 is the final round.

Open NZ ranked 77th out of 185
Final place 87th, Match points 5.5 from 11, Game points 24/44
Round 1 NZ 3.5 - 0.5 Seychelles (ranked 170)
Round 2 NZ 1.0 - 3.0 Algeria (57)
Round 3 NZ 3.0 - 1.0 Wales (114)
Round 4 NZ 2.0 - 2.0 Costa Rica (68)
Round 5 NZ 1.0 - 3.0 Ireland (66)
Round 6 NZ 1.5 - 2.5 Slovenia (26)
Round 7 NZ 1.0 - 3.0 Panama (89)
Round 8 NZ 4.0 - 0.0 Bermuda (146)
Round 9 NZ 4.0 - 0.0 Trinidad and Tobago (104)
Round 10 NZ 0.0 - 4.0 Indonesia (69)
Round 11 NZ 3.0 - 1.0 Angola (98)

Women NZ ranked 78th out of 151
Final place 94th, Match points 5 from 11, Game points 20/44
Round 1 NZ 0.0 - 4.0 India (5)
Round 2 NZ 4.0 - 0.0 Lesotho (128)
Round 3 NZ 0.5 - 3.5 Moldova (46)
Round 4 NZ 3.5 - 0.5 Netherlands Antilles (111)
Round 5 NZ 0.5 - 3.5 Turkmenistan (54)
Round 6 NZ 3.0 - 1.0 Venezuela (55)
Round 7 NZ 2.5 - 1.5 Iraq (95)
Round 8 NZ 0.5 - 3.5 Jordan (85)
Round 9 NZ 1.5 - 2.5 Montenegro(70)
Round 10 NZ 2.5 - 1.5 Nicaragua (101)
Round 11 NZ 1.5 - 2.5 Sweden (59)

Final PGN file of all NZ games here

43rd World Chess Olympiad, Batumi

Pre-Olympiad Player liaison with FIDE: Auckland NZCF Councillor Ying Wang has been appointed the NZ Player Liaison officer, responsible for Registration of teams and pre-event communication between the Olympiad Organisers and the New Zealand teams.

The NZCF selectors have chosen the New Zealand squads for the Batumi Olympiad, September 23rd – October 7th. In provisional board order they are:

Open Team

1. IM Russell Dive
2. FM Ben Hague
3. FM Alexei Kulashko
4. IM Anthony Ker
5. FM Daniel Gong

Women’s Team

1. CM Helen Milligan
2. WCM Vyanla Punsalan
3. WFM Jasmine Zhang
4. WCM Joy Qin
5. WCM Nicole Qin

The teams are chosen from a list of players who have confirmed themselves available. Head of Delegation is Hilton Bennett. The Open Team Captain/Coach is Bulgarian Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov. The Women’s Team Captain is Brazilian IM Herman van Riemsdijk.

The Player Agreement from the 2014 Olympiad is available here (pdf document) for your information. There may be some further changes to the wording before it is finalised. Players will be asked to sign this, when they are invited to be members of the team. Please be aware that breaking the Player Agreement will mean that your participation in future team events for New Zealand will be discussed by the NZCF Council.

The Olympiad is a FIDE event where dope-testing may take place. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances can be downloaded here (pdf document; 2017 version). FIDE's rules regarding Anti-Doping can be downloaded here (pdf document; dated 1/1/2015). If you are taking any medications on the banned list (for example, steroids in asthma inhalers, or amphetamines in ADHD treatments) then it is possible that you will need a Therapeutic Use Exemption certificate (see section 4.4 of the FIDE document). This is something you should discuss with the Team Manager well before the event. Note also restrictions on various over-the-counter and prescription drugs in Georgia.