Round 7: Armenia Loses Match Against Azerbaijan
KHANTY MANSIYSK, Russia (A.W.)—In Round 7 of the 2010 Chess Olympiad, Azerbaijan beat Armenia (2.5-1.5) and Ukraine beat Georgia (2.5-1.5) to take the sole lead. Thus, Armenia retreated to 9th place from the top of the scoreboard (see below).
During the match with Azerbaijan, the games of Armenian grandmasters Levon Aronian and Gabriel Sargissian ended in a draw, while Arman Pashikian lost to his Azeri opponent. Vladimir Akopian, whose was still playing, had to beat his opponent Teimur Radjabov to secure a 2-2 draw for Armenia. The marathon game, however, ended in a draw.
In the women’s section, the Armenian team lost the 7th round match with the United States (2.5-1.5). The Armenian women’s team is now 19th on the scoreboard.
U.S. coach Hakobyan optimistic
Varuzhan Hakobyan is coaching the U.S. team at the 2010 Olympiad. In an interview given to the official website of the Olympiad, he said, “We have a good team and we will be fighting for medals, moreover that we won the second place in the World Team Championship this year. I believe in my players, we only need to break out.”
Another Armenian, Tatev Abrahamyan, is part of the U.S. women’s team at the Olympiad.
Other Armenians participating in the Olympiad include grandmaster Sergei Movsesian, the top player in Slovakia’s team, and Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian, in Brazil’s team.
In the women’s section, Yerazik Khachatourian is representing Norway. Khachatourian, an Iranian-Armenian, told the Armenian Weekly that she represented Iran in the 2000 Olympiad held in Istanbul. She later married and moved to Norway. This is her first time representing Norway at the Olympiad.
Around 1,300 chess players from 124 countries are participating in the Olympiad.
The Armenian team won the Chess Olympiad in 2006 in Turin, Italy and in 2008 in Dresden, Germany. It took third place in 2002 and 2004 at Olympiads in Bled, Slovenia and in Calvia, Spain respectively. Armenia hosted the Chess Olympiad in 1996 in Yerevan.
Top 10 countries after Round 7
1 Ukraine, 13 points
2 Russia, 12
3 Hungary, 12
4 Azerbaijan, 12
5 Poland, 11
6 China, 11
7 Georgia, 11
8 U.S., 11
9 Armenia, 11
10 Belarus, 11
