The Indian juggernaut keeps on blowing everyone away at the Olympiad, with Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi in particular shutting out their opposition. They both won again in round 5 while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Vidit Gujrathi drew their games, giving the team a 3-1 victory over Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, they are not alone in first, though they do lead on tiebreak. China defeated Spain 2.5-1.5 thanks to Wei Yi, by far their most dominant player so far (and their highest-rated player as well, though he is on board 2 behind Ding Liren, who has drawn all his games.
That those two teams would share the lead after five rounds isn’t surprising; that they would also be tied with Vietnam is. Le Quang Liem and his Polish opponent, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, were essentially equal in rating, but on the next three boards the Polish players enjoyed a significant rating plus. That mattered on board 4, won by Poland, but the Vietnamese players triumphed on boards 2 and 3 (board 1 was drawn) to take the match 2.5-1.5.
The fourth member of the quadrumvirate is Hungary, who defeated the Ukrainians. Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk was his team’s hero in round 4, but this time he lost what was (briefly) a winning game with White, to Richard Rapport, and that one win decided the match.
From the next score group, a point behind (on the tournament’s 2-1-0 scoring), Norway and Iran defeated Turkey and Canada, respectively. They won easily, too, with the main drama coming in Magnus Carlsen’s game - he was losing to Mustafa Yilmaz before escaping with a draw.
There are 22 teams in the next score group, including the U.S. and Uzbekistan. The U.S. defeated Argentina handily, 3-1, with Fabiano Caruana (perfect thus far in the event), Wesley So, and Ray Robson winning their games while Leinier Dominguez lost to Diego Flores. Uzbekistan was even more punishing, defeating Moldova 3.5-0.5. While both teams are within range of the leaders, they have lots of company: they are just two of 22 teams with an 8-2 score.
Here’s a selection of games from round 5 (the round 4 selection has been added to that post), and here are some of the leading pairings for round 6 (the last round before the free day):
China (10) vs. Vietnam (10)
Hungary (10) vs. India (10)
Norway (9) vs. Iran (9)
USA (8) vs. Romania (8)
Israel (8) vs. Uzbekistan (8)
Netherlands (8) vs. Croatia (8)
Italy (8) vs. England (8)
Poland (8) vs. Austria (8)
Azerbaijan (8) vs. Lithuania (8)
Georgia (8) vs. Spain (8)
Iceland (8) vs. France (8)
Ukraine (8) vs. Montenegro (8)
It occurs to me that I haven’t explained what it means to list one team first. Those of you who have played in team events probably know, but many of you may not. The team listed first has the white pieces on boards 1 and 3, the black pieces on boards 2 and 4. It does not indicate a higher seed, better tiebreaks, or anything having to do with their score.
Finally, a brief update on the Women’s section: India, Armenia, and Mongolia(!) lead with 10 points apiece after defeating Kazakhstan, China, and the U.S.A. by identical 2.5-1.5 scores. A disappointing result for the Americans, who outrated the Mongolian team on every board from a minimum of 40 points to a maximum of 160 points. That, as they say, is why they play the games.