While the matches between absolute favorites at the Olympiad are still probably a couple of rounds away, round 3 already saw a number of competitive matches and even upsets near the top. Magnus Carlsen’s Norwegian team, the #3 team entering the event, was bounced 3-1 by the Italians. Ukraine, seeded eighth, only managed to draw with Cuba; while #9 Germany lost to the Austrian neighbors 2.5-1.5.
The top-seeded U.S. team defeated Georgia 3-1, but it could have been a 2-2 match. Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez drew comfortably with Black against Baadur Jobava and Levan Pantsulaia, respectively, and Levon Aronian and Sam Shankland won their games with White against Mikheil Mchedlishvili and Tamaz Gelashvili. Aronian was pressing for a long time, but the position remained objectively even until Mchedlishvili committed a fatal error after the time control.
That was a normal win of the sort that Carlsen has achieved on countless occasions throughout his career. Much less conventional, and comfortable, was Shankland’s win. He achieved an excellent position out of the opening, but couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Over a short space of time his position went from much better to nearly lost, and it seemed as if his doldrums were going to continue. Fortunately for the U.S. team and its fans, he finally found his mojo, survived the immediate trouble, and then outplayed Gelashvili to secure the match victory.
Nevertheless, while the U.S. is the top seed and is still a perfect 3-0 in match points, it is in last place among the 3-0 teams when it comes to board points. Guess which team is in first…
If you said “India”, you would be right, but possibly for the wrong reason. As the Olympiad host, India is entitled to two teams, and to a third team if the overall number of teams would otherwise be odd - which is what happened. So there’s India 1, which is the #2 seed overall and features most of their best-known players (Erigaisi, Harikrishna, Sasikiran, Vidit - Anand, as usual, skipped the Olympiad); India 2, which features most of their top prodigies (Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Sadhwani, and Sarin, plus non-prodigy Adhiban); and then there’s India 3 (consisting of five players with low-2600 ratings; all young adults or older).
All three teams are 3-0 so far, but India 2 has not only won every match, but every single game as well. As a U.S. fan, I’m more concerned about them than I am with the India 1 team. India 1 is very strong, of course, but except for Erigaisi they’re veterans who are known quantities and who have hit their peak. The India 2 team consists of monsters in their mid-teens who will probably all be at or very near 2800 by the next Olympiad. They’re not there yet, but they’re close enough that if they show flashes of that if and when they face the U.S. team, anything can happen.
For now, the U.S. must worry about another prodigy-laden team, as they will face Uzbekistan in round 4. India 1 will face France, India 2 gets Italy (not much of a reward for them after beating Norway!), and India 3 takes on Spain. Other pairings involving 3-0 teams: Poland-Romania, Turkey-Azerbaijan, Israel-Netherlands, Serbia-England, Armenia-Austria, and Canada-Iran.
Finally, here are some games from round 3: the four games from the U.S.A. vs. Georgia match, Carlsen’s draw with Daniele Vocaturo, and two of India 2’s wins against Switzerland.