ON CHESS U.S. wins after four decades
BEGINNER’S CORNER Hint: Threaten checkmate.
It’s been a long time coming — 40 years since the U.S. team last won a world chess Olympiad. As usual, winning the 180-team event in Baku, Azerbaijan, was not easy. Victory was clinched when America’s Fabiano Caruana defeated Canada’s Evgeny Bareev in the final round. Caruana incidentally had the best record of any top board at the Olympics — not exactly a surprise as he is ranked third in the world among all players. But for a single bad move in a critical game of a qualifying tournament earlier this year, Caruana, rather than Sergey Karjakin, would be scheduled to play Magnus Carlsen next month for the individual world title in New York City. He was ably complemented by Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So — 6th and 7th in the world respectively. Rounding out the U.S. team were Sam Shankland and Ray Robson. The players were accompanied by a resolute trio of coaches and analysts, Yasser Seirawan, a veteran of top-level chess play, as well as Nick de Firmian and John Donaldson. The three are friends as well as colleagues of many years, providing a gritty backbone to the players’ efforts. Winning the Olympiad repeatedly in modern times has been virtually impossible. But Baku may be the beginning of a dynasty. Not an unlikely possibility — especially if team USA can add another player of world class caliber. Below is a win by Sergey Karjakin against Bomo Kigigha from the Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan.