World Chess Olympiad - Round 3 Highlights
Round 3 of every World Chess Olympiad is usually the point when the higher rated teams start being paired against each other.
Many matches were closely contested and the final scores were hanging on a balance.
Russia defeated Moldova 3-1 thanks to the victories on the lower boards. Azerbaijan beat Hungary by the same score, but all four games were decisive - Mamedyarov, Mamedov and Naiditsch won for the hosting country, while Almasi was sole winner for Hungary.
The solid team of Cuba won against the higher-rated Poland thanks to the wins of Quesada Perez and Ortiz Suarez. The emerging star Duda scored for the opposite side.
Adhiban and Vidit secured the Indian victory against Azerbaijan 2, while Anish Giri brought the points for Netherlands against Vietnam.
Italy shocked the higher-rated Turkey thanks to the young hope Luca Moroni Jr. By the same narrow margin Ukraine defeated Germany, the executioner being Andrei Volokitin.
Heavy favourites USA and China won against the south American teams Argentina and Brazil, respectively, by the identical 3-1 score.
Azerbaijan 3 smashed Lebanon by 4-0.
Round 4 top matches are Ukraine-Russia, India-Cuba, USA-Czech Republic, Romania-Azerbaijan, China-Italy.
In the Women section the world champion Hou Yifan made a debut in this Olympiad and won her game, but this was not sufficient for the top seeded China to beat Vietnam. Thi Mai Hung Nguyen leveled the score by defeating Zhao Xue.
Russia walked past Uzbekistan 3-1 thanks to wins of Kosteniuk and Gunina, and Lithuania maintained perfect score by narrowly defeating Cuba.
Azerbaijan stunned the higher-rated Poland with the wins of Mamedjarova and Mammadzada. The lone success of Klaudia Kulon was not sufficient to even the score.
Italy and Argentina exchanged the blows to tie the match, while France crushed Venezuela 3,5-0,5. Former world champion Anna Ushenina secured Ukrainian victory against USA.
Azerbaijan 2 held the favoured Germany to a tie 2-2, and Azerbaijan 3 crushed Kyrgyzstan 4-0.
Top round 4 matches are Hungary-Russia, Ukraine-France, India-Israel, Azerbaijan 1-Romania, Lithuania-Kazakhstan.
