The U.S. team performed fantastically well to win the Silver medal in the 2010 World Team Championship.
But the $64,000 question many people have asked and will continue to ask is why on earth would Azerbaijan sit Radjabov, a superstar, who is performing over 2800 in this WTC, and one of the best players in the world, as well as Gashimov, a top 10 player in the world, in the final round when Azerbaijan MUST win to get the Silver medal?
Both Mamedov are strong players but they are no where near the level of Radjabov or Gashimov. In addition, the four games were drawn before other teams even have results. Why take 4 draws so quickly when a silver medal is on the line?
I played in 4 Olympiads and unless I am in the hospital, nothing would keep me away from a game which could bring my country a medal. In fact, I played in all 56 consecutive games and I never sat out even once. When you represent your country, you must give 150% of yourself to bring home a medal. Maybe I am old school but this is very puzzling to me.
Obviously this is great news for the U.S. and I am very happy that my friends won the Silver medal so once again congratulations to all!
| Final Ranking | |||||||||
| Rank | Team | Gam. | + | = | – | MP | Pts. | Res. | SB. |
| 1 | RUSSIA | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 24 | 0 | 127,75 |
| 2 | UNITED STATES | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 21½ | 0 | 103,00 |
| 3 | INDIA | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 103,25 |
| 4 | AZERBAIJAN | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 0 | 93,75 |
| 5 | ARMENIA | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 20½ | 0 | 97,00 |
| 6 | GREECE | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 68,50 |
| 7 | ISRAEL | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 53,50 |
| 8 | BRAZIL | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 12½ | 0 | 23,50 |
| 9 | EGYPT | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 23,75 |
| 10 | TURKIYE | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 11½ | 0 | 23,00 |
Was there an agreement to draw all 4 games?
The USA vs. Azerbaijan was clearly a fixed result. Antisportive deal.
I guess most people would prefer to see another intense game by Nakamura against either Gashimov or Radjabov.
Instead, they chose to resolve it politically.
Boooooo.
Can’t understand the mentality of Azerbaijan’s team. They should fight.
Azerbaijan takes care only about to be ahead of Armenia, this draw quarateed it. All things are simple.
Susan whats going on? Cuz the U.S. get lucky in one round errbody complains, but when Russia draw nobody says anything, what UM i missing?
Susan whats going on? Cuz the U.S. get lucky in one round errbody complains, but when Russia draw nobody says anything, what UM i missing?
I guess Azerbaijan didn’t want to take the chance of losing against the USA. Had they lost, they would have ended up in the fifth position.
agree with the post that they can lose out on medal contention.
anyplace ahead of armenia is good enough for the azers.
I can understand you very well, susan. Thank you for your clear words. No american chess fan can be happy with this last round, because professionell chess is fight and not giving away the points.
But nevertheless: The russians without svidler and kramnik showed, why they eventually will win the olympiad this year in Khanty: They are traditionally the best.
Do you read that, Lionel?
okay
I think alternates are good to have to give someone a little break. I know Susan only would call on them in medical emergencies. Thought Hess & Robson would have done just fine had they played more.
Congrats to Russia, US and India. India performed excellently even without World Champion Vishy 🙂
I agree, I said the same thing about the recent women’s tournament when the two Kosintseva sisters played in the last round and drew and they always appear to do. Nadezhda with a win could have possibly moved into a tie for first but with the draw guaranteed herself only second place. If you aren’t in it to win it, then don’t get in it.
The US-Azerbaijan result demands an investigation, and both teams must answer.
Why would the US, with a chance at gold, accept 4 quick draws (before other matches were decided) and settle for silver? Had Israel upset Russia (and they were capable of doing this), the US could have won the title with a win.
The bigger puzzle of course is, why would Azerbaijan, with a great chance at silver, play the deciding match without its top 2 players? Even if they were satisfied with a 2-2 result to stay ahead of Armenia (as some posters allege), wouldn’t using your 2 top guns give you a better chance of achieving that (unless the draws were fixed, which means both sides connived)?
This “mystery” must not pass unchecked.
Well, not sure about the Kosintseva sister. Had Nadezha won that last game – contrary to the usual draw they take against each other – people would have claimed they cheated.
Anyway, the Azeris attitude towards their last round matchup against the US team is definitely not something they (or anybody) should be proud of…
Beelze
Susan,
You wrote: “Maybe I am old school but this is very puzzling to me.”
No my dear. You are not “old school”. You are honest.
Fixing results is not.