USA & China Gold Medals - 2016 Chess Olympiad Baku

USA chess team has scored one of their finest result ever in chess history, here in 2016 Chess Olympiad Baku, Azerbaijan. The USA team entered the Olympiad with very strong formation, they are the 2nd seed only after Russia. After playing 11 rounds, in which in their final 11th round they beat Canadian team, USA grab the gold medal and very narrowly beat their closest rival, team Ukraine.

USA chess team for 2016,  from left to right: Ray Robson, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, John Donaldson (Captain), Wesley So, Aleksandr Lenderman. This is their first gold medal after waiting for 40 years, when in 1976 US Team also won the gold medal. The other fun facts : This is the first gold medal by Philippines-born player, credit to Wesley So. The first gold medal for Japanese descendant, credit to Hikaru Nakamura.

the final tie break calculation indeed favored team USA , sorry to team Ukraine who performed well in 2016 Baku Olympiad despite not bringing Vasily Ivanchuk on board

On  the Women team, the other super power country, China won the gold medal. The Chinese ladies wrestling out Russian women to grab the first prize. Poland and Ukraine is silver and bronze medal.

China Women won Gold Medal in 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad - photo chess.com

Hou Yifan lead China Women to win their gold medal

2016 Chess Olympiad Results :

Open Category :
Gold Medal = United States of America
Silver Medal = Ukraine
Bronze Medal = Russia

Women Category :
Gold Medal = China
Silver Medal = Poland
Bronze Medal = Ukraine

Board Prizes / Best Player for Every Board :

Board 1 : 1. Jobava Baadur / Georgia 2. Leinier Dominguez perez, Cuba 3. Fabiano Caruana, USA Board 2 : 1. Vladimir Kramnik / Russia 2. Anton Kovalyov / Canada 3. Jorge Cori / Peru Board 3 : 1. Wesley So / USA 2. Zoltan Almasi / Hungary 3. Eugenio Torre / Phillippines Board 4 : 1. Laurent Fressinet / France 2. Ian Nepomniachtchi / Russia 3. Aleksandr Indjic / Serbia Board 5 : 1. Andrei Volokitin / Ukraine 2. Sami Khader / Jordan 3. Aleksej Aleksandrov / Belarus

Board 1 : 1.       Anna Muzychuk / Ukraine 2.       Hou Yifan / China 3.       Pia Cramling /Sweden Board 2 : 1.       Valentina Gunina / Russia 2.       Ju Wenjun / China 3.       Deimante Daulyte / Lithuania Board 3 : 1.       Gulnar Mamadova / Azerbaijan 2.       Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska / Poland 3.       Nguyen Thi Mai Hung / Vietnam Board 4 : 1.       Tan Zhongyi / China 2.       Nino Batsiashvili / Georgia 3.       Klaudia Kulon / Poland Board 5 : 1.       Guo Qi / China 2.       Cristiana-Andreea Navrotescu / Franch 3.       Anita Gara / Hungary

Tim catur Amerika Serikat akhirnya memenangkan ajang Olympiade Catur 2016. Tim USA yang diperkuat tiga pemain top ten dunia mengalahkan tim Canada di round 11 dengan score 2.5-1.5. Pesaing terdekat mereka tim Ukraina menang 3.5-1.5 dan kedua tim pun memiliki nilai akhir yang cukup imbang. Namun dengan kalkulasi tie break yang cukup jelimet, tim USA lebih unggul. Ukraina di peringkat 2 dan Rusia puas dengan medali perunggu. Perlu diketahui juga Olimpiade Catur 2016 di kota Baku ini tidak dihadiri tim kuat Armenia dikarenakan tensi rival kesejarahan antar kedua negara.

Kemenangan tim catur Amerika Serikat ini adalah yang pertama kali sejak 40 tahun yang lalu di event Chess Olympiad. Tahun 1976, tim catur USA yang diperkuat Byrne, Kavalek, James Tarjan, Pendeta William Lombardy dan Larry Evans menang di Haifa, Israel.  Kemenangan tim catur Amerika Serikat adalah refleksi terkuat dari kemauan insan-insan catur di negara adikuasa paman Sam ini dalam hal ambisi di olahraga catur. Semenjak beberapa tahun terakhir, kita melihat bagaimana geliat catur di negara USA ini. Mari kita kaji pemain-pemain catur yang memperkuat tim USA :

Utut Adianto Turun Gunung - Chess Olympiad 2016 Round 9

Indonesia legendary grandmaster, Utut Adianto, has finally comeback to (serious) chess competition. As we reported in previously, the 2016 chess Olympiad in Baku is going on and most of Indonesian top chess players are unable to travel due to local scheduling conflict.  In this case, GM Utut Adianto himself "down from the mountain" / turun gunung, for playing and defending Indonesia team. Thus making Indonesia's team for Baku 2016 become quite a legendary formation for years.

After 2016 round 9 in Baku, team Indonesia slowly climb back to position #67 by beating neighbor Malaysia team. GM Utut Adianto played board 1 started in round 6 and already score 3.5/4, he duly draw against very strong Montenegro grandmaster Nikola Djukic, while crushing all his lower rated opponents. GM Utut Adianto is having full time jobs and commitment as government legislative member. He is still an active player in Indonesia chess federation as mentor.

Remember GM Nigel Short's comments on Indonesian team ?

It is hard to believe that, in a country of 260 million, Indonesia couldn't find a reserve rated higher than 1860... https://t.co/WFTJwNqwlA

— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) September 5, 2016

Well, we coming up with GM Utut Adianto with 2556 elo rating!

In ladies section, the Indonesian team lost their first 0-4 against team Colombia. The whole ladies section perhaps tired after nine rounds of roller coaster pairings. They are now in position 69.

Partai catur Utut Adianto vs Tze-Meng Mok 1-0, Baku 2016

Partai Catur Utut Adianto vs Nikola Djukic 1/2-1/2, Baku 2016

Partai Catur Soon Wei Yee vs Utut Adianto 0-1, Baku 2016

Grandmaster Utut Adianto akhirnya turun gunung juga membela tim Indonesia untuk event Chess Olympiad (Catur) di Baku 2016. Setelah rombongan team Indonesia berjerih lelah membela tim Indonesia hingga round 5, GM Utut terbang menuju negara Azerbaijan dan turun membela tim papan pertama mulai round 6. Setelah bermain sebanyak 4x, pak dewan Utut mengantongi "performance" 3.5/4. Semua lawan-lawan yang lebih lemah berhasil ditundukkan, hanya ketika bertemu lawan bergelar GM (Nikola Djukic) dari Montenegro, Utut menahan remis.

Walau demikian prestasi team Indonesia di Baku masih naik turun, di round 8 ketika bertemu team Montenegro, Indonesia musti kembali puas kalah tipis 1.5-2.5. Namun demikian posisi regu Indonesia yang juga diperkuat IM Muhammad Ali Lutfi dan IM Irwanto Sadikin lambat namun pasti mulai memperbaiki posisi. Berikut peringkat team-team catur di Baku 2016 hingga round 9:

Chess Olympiad 2016 , standings after round 9:

1	2		United States of America	USA	9	7	2	0	16	284,0	26,5	103,00
2	5		Ukraine	UKR	9	8	0	1	16	267,0	24,5	106,00
3	1		Russia	RUS	9	7	1	1	15	290,0	27,0	104,00
4	20		Georgia	GEO	9	6	2	1	14	235,5	23,5	98,00
5	17		Czech Republic	CZE	9	6	2	1	14	235,5	22,0	105,00
6	9		India	IND	9	7	0	2	14	234,0	23,5	102,00
7	25		Canada	CAN	9	6	1	2	13	247,5	26,0	95,00
8	4		Azerbaijan 1	AZE	9	6	1	2	13	235,0	24,0	99,00
9	46		Iran	IRI	9	5	3	1	13	229,0	24,0	95,00
10	6		England	ENG	9	6	1	2	13	224,5	22,0	100,00

67

67

Indonesia

INA

9

5

0

4

10

144,0

22,0

75,00

Sementara itu, team puteri Indonesia musti menelan kekalahan pahit 0-4 di round 9 melawan tim Kolombia. Tim yang diperkuat WIM Chelsie Monica juga mengalami hasil pasang surut di pairing chess Olympiad 2016 ini. Dengan hasil round 9, bisa disimak urutan team di bawah ini :

Chess Olympiad Baku 2016 , standings after round 9 Women:

1	1		China	CHN	9	7	2	0	16	261,0	26,0	96,00
2	7		Poland	POL	9	7	1	1	15	277,5	28,0	93,00
3	2		Ukraine	UKR	9	6	2	1	14	268,5	25,5	103,00
4	3		Russia	RUS	9	6	2	1	14	256,0	25,0	101,00
5	5		India	IND	9	6	2	1	14	232,5	24,0	94,00
6	6		United States of America	USA	9	7	0	2	14	231,0	23,0	95,00
7	4		Georgia	GEO	9	6	1	2	13	251,5	26,0	92,00
8	8		Hungary	HUN	9	5	3	1	13	230,0	23,0	93,00
9	10		Germany	GER	9	5	3	1	13	219,0	23,0	93,00
10	15		Mongolia	MGL	9	6	1	2	13	215,5	24,5	84,00

69

112

Indonesia

INA

9

4

1

4

9

115,0

17,5

76,00

Indonesia chess team in Baku 2016 with GM Utut Adianto playing 1st board, IM Muhammad Ali, Rusdi Taher, IM Irwanto Sadikin - quite a strong team already

(photo dari media social)

Indonesia Women Chess Olympiad 2016 team - Chelsie Monica, Captain Lisa Lumondong (she was strong Indonesia player in the '90s), Regita Desyari, Julisa Pasaribu, Ayyun Afifa Faruq

(photo dari media social)

Muhammad Ali in Chess Olympiads 2016 - Round 5

It's turn out that our Muhammad Ali Lutfi is a minor sensation in Chess Olympiad 2016, currently held in Baku. Chess player Muhammad Ali Lutfi is part of Indonesia team for the olympiad. He ranked 2411 FIDE elo and titled International Master. The first sensation was when we held a draw against stronger grandmaster from England, GM Michael Adams in more than 100 moves. The chess reporting site begins to nickname him as "Muhammad Ali", surely a tribute to the legendary boxer.

In round 5, team Indonesian yet unable to overcome their opponent team Switzerland and down with score 1.5-2.5. All the three boards ended in draw against Switzerland, with notably Muhammad Ali hold draws GM Yannick Pelletier, but the last board Ivan Pasaribu was defeated by IM Richard Forster.

Bo.	67	Indonesia (INA)	Rtg	-	48	Switzerland (SUI)	Rtg	1½:2½
32.1	IM	Ali, Muhammad Lutfi	2411	-	GM	Pelletier, Yannick	2555	½ - ½
32.2		Taher, Yoseph Theolifus	2321	-	IM	Georgiadis, Nico	2475	½ - ½
32.3	IM	Sadikin The, Irwanto	2327	-	IM	Studer, Noel	2445	½ - ½
32.4	FM	Pasaribu, Ivan Maxmillian Putra	1860	-	IM	Forster, Richard	2459	0 - 1

Previously, Indonesian team got "razor-ed" by Canadian team, 0-4 in round 4. Giving that, the results against Switzerland is still quite a recovery. The current 2016 chess olympiad team for Indonesia composed with cross generation players, from senior IM Irwanto Sadikin, younger IM Muhammad Ali Lutfi, debutants Yoseph Tahir Theolifus and Ivan Putra Pasaribu.The country's strongest players such as GM Susanto Megaranto, IM Irene Sukandar, IM Medina Warda Aulia, IM Sean Winshand and others are not playing in Baku due to local scheduling conflict. Yet the good news is , rumored saying that Indonesian's senior GM Utut Adianto will played in Baku in the later rounds.

The conditions did at least attracted attention of one grandmaster ......

It is hard to believe that, in a country of 260 million, Indonesia couldn't find a reserve rated higher than 1860... https://t.co/WFTJwNqwlA

— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) September 5, 2016

Quote from chess.com "Are you seeing ghosts? No, this Muhammed Ali is an IM and top board for Indonesia!" -
"Apakah ini penampakan dari Muhammad Ali? Bukan, ini adalah IM dan pemain papan pertama untuk regu Indonesia!" , demikian laporan chess.com yang menampilkan IM M.Ali Lutfi yang hangat dibicarakan komunitas catur sehubungan dengan namanya yang mirip petinju legendaris USA itu.

Partai Catur IM Muhammad Ali Lutfi vs GM Yannick Pelletier 1/2-1/2, Olympiad 2016 Baku

The Indonesian ladies enjoyed their fifth round with a victory against Pakistani ladies :

Bo.	124	Pakistan (PAK)	Rtg	-	112	Indonesia (INA)	Rtg	½ :3½
35.1	WCM	Begum, Ghazala	1668	-	WIM	Sihite, Chelsie Monica Ignesias	2199	0 - 1
35.2		Saira Rafique,	1104	-		Putri, Regita Desyari	1623	0 - 1
35.3		Wasif, Zenobia	1566	-		Pasaribu, Julisa	0	0 - 1
35.4		Mehak, Gul	0	-		Walukow, Theodora Paulina	0	½ - ½

Pecatur Muhammad Ali di Olimpiade Catur 2016

Ternyata nama IM Muhammad Ali Lutfi menjadi sensasi kecil di ajang Olympiade 2016 di kota Baku. Kehadiran pecatur Ali Lutfi ini menyita perhatian reporter-reporter catur di media online dikarenakan nama Muhammad Ali yang terkenal sebagai petinju legendaris dari USA. Sensasi ini tentu juga akibat permainan catur dari Ali Lutfi, yang memang di round-round sebelumnya sempat menahan remis lawan pecaturnya yang lebih kuat. (Lihat laporan Olympiade Catur sebelumnya). 

Memasuki babak 5, tim Indonesia masih musti berpuas dengan hasil kalah 1.5-2.5 melawan tim Switzerland. Meski demikian tiga papan pertama Indonesia berhasil menahan remis lawan-lawan pecaturnya yang lebih kuat (lihat hasil round 5 di atas). Hanya saja di papan 4, perbedaan rating lawan Ivan Pasaribu yang hingga 500-an elo rating terbukti terlalu jauh untuk beliau. Indonesia masih ada di urutan 105 hingga babak 5 ini.

Hasil menang dipetik regu puteri Indonesia di Olympiade Baku round 5. Tim puteri yang dipimpin Chelsie Monica menekuk regu Pakistan 3.5-1.5. Dengan hasil ini Indonesian girls naik ke urutan 54. 

Indonesian ladies playing in 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad

photo from official website  - the fifth player is Julisa Pasaribu not in picture

2016 Chess Olympiad Baku - round 5 standings :

1	11	Netherlands	NED	5	5	0	0	10	87,0	16,5	28,00
2	5	Ukraine	UKR	5	5	0	0	10	84,0	15,0	30,00
3	9	India	IND	5	5	0	0	10	79,0	16,5	26,00
4	17	Czech Republic	CZE	5	4	1	0	9	81,0	14,5	30,00
5	2	United States of America	USA	5	4	1	0	9	79,0	15,5	28,00
6	20	Georgia	GEO	5	4	1	0	9	74,5	15,0	26,00
7	23	Belarus	BLR	5	4	0	1	8	83,0	14,5	32,00
8	1	Russia	RUS	5	4	0	1	8	78,0	15,5	29,00
9	4	Azerbaijan 1	AZE	5	4	0	1	8	76,0	15,0	30,00
10	3	China	CHN	5	4	0	1	8	75,0	15,0	29,00

105

67

Indonesia

INA

5

2

0

3

4

28,5

9,5

25,00

2016 Chess Olympiad Baku Women - round 5 standings :

1	3	Russia	RUS	5	5	0	0	10	93,0	17,0	29,00
2	2	Ukraine	UKR	5	5	0	0	10	86,0	16,5	28,00
3	11	Romania	ROU	5	4	1	0	9	81,5	15,0	30,00
4	1	China	CHN	5	4	1	0	9	81,0	15,5	29,00
5	16	Azerbaijan 1	AZE	5	4	1	0	9	76,5	14,0	31,00
6	8	Hungary	HUN	5	4	0	1	8	80,0	14,0	30,00
7	4	Georgia	GEO	5	4	0	1	8	76,5	16,5	25,00
8	7	Poland	POL	5	4	0	1	8	74,5	17,0	25,00
9	5	India	IND	5	3	2	0	8	74,5	14,5	27,00
10	17	Turkey	TUR	5	4	0	1	8	69,0	15,5	23,00

54

112

Indonesia

INA

5

3

0

2

6

34,0

12,0

20,00

IM Irwanto Sadikin Kalahkan GM Luke McShane - Chess Olympiad Baku 2016 Round 2

Selesai pagelaran Olympiade musim panas di negara Brasil kota Rio, insan olahraga (catur) disambut dengan even Olympiade Catur di kota Baku negara Azerbaijan. Seperti diketahui, dikarenakan panjangnya (dan buanyaknya) proses tanding catur, apalagi per team, maka olahraga catur tidak bisa begitu saja nyunsep ke dalam even Olympiade seperti cabang bulu tangkis atau lomba lari. Sebab inilah, FIDE akhirnya musti menyelenggarakan Olympiade khusus catur setiap 2 tahun sekali.

Di tahun 2016 ini, Olympiade catur dilangsungkan dengan tuan rumah negara Azerbaijan. Bertepat di ibukotanya, Baku, Chess Olympiade 2016 berlangsung dari tanggal 1 September 2016 hingga 14 September 2016. Sebanyak 178 team bertanding di kategori Open dan 131 team di kategori Women (namun banyak juga yang no show alias nggak nongol...) membuat even seberat olympiade ini sungguh penuh dengan pemain hingga hampir ribuan pecatur termasuk official.

Tentunya team kesayangan dan kebanggaan kita, Indonesia, hadir di Olympiade ini. Pecatur IM Muhammad Lutfi Ali, IM Irwanto Sadikin, Taher Yoseph Theolifus dan FM Ivan Putra Pasaribu membela team putera Indonesia. Kabarnya GM Utut Adianto sendiri juga akan turun di olympiade ini. Team Women Indonesia chess 2016 adalah : WIM Monica Chelsie Sihite, WFM Afifa Ayyun Faruq, Putri Regita Desyari, Julisa Pasaribu, dan Theodora Walukow Paulina.
Sesi olympiade tahun ini, pecatur kenamaan Indonesia seperti Susanto Megaranto, Irene Sukandar, Medina Aulia, Sean Winshand, Pitra Andika dan kawan-kawan tidak hadir, sehingga kesempatan bermain di level olympiade sedikit banyak bisa disharingkan oleh potensi pecatur-pecatur baru.

Di babak pertama, seperti dilaporkan di chess-results.com, team putera Indonesia tampil mulus mengalahkan team Virginia Island (USA) 4-0. Namun team puteri musti bertemu tim kuat Swedia dan menelan kekalahan 0.5-3.5. Kekalahan team puteri membuat pairing di round 2 lebih ringan dengan dipertemukannya dengan team Suriname. Round 2 Chess Olympiade 2016 untuk Chelsie dkk pun berakhir mulus 4-0 untuk team srikandi Indonesia.

Sedangkan untuk round 2 team putera, Indonesia berhadapan dengan team lumayan kuat, England. Hasilnya juga lumayan untuk fans catur Indonesia. Di board 1, Muhammad Luthfi bermain panjang dan menahan remis GM Michael Adams. Bisa disimak partai caturnya di bawah ini yang dipublikasi oleh chess.com :


Partai IM Irwanto Sadikin vs GM Luke McShane juga dapat pujian dari chess.com, yang menulis :

England only defeated Indonesia 2.5-1.5 because there was an even bigger upset. IM Irwanto Sadikin The played the game of his life against GM Luke McShane.

Sadikin The, Irwanto (2327) vs. McShane, Luke J (2671)
Baku Chess Olympiad | Open | Baku | Round 2.3 | 3 Sep 2016 | 1-0



Dengan hasil ini, tim putera Indonesia akan bertemu Team Morroco di round 3, dan team puteri bertemu team Luxembourg.

Berita seru di round 2 Chess Olympiad adalah sudah turunnya Magnus Carlsen melawan team Bangladesh. Magnus membuat sensasi dengan memainkan pembukaan nyentrik 1.e3. Berikut partainya :


Partai yang langsung dikomentari rekan se regunya dari Norwegia, GM Ludvig Hammer :


Foto-foto team Indonesia dari sumber media sosial :

Irwanto Sadikin vs Luke McShane 1-0 2016

M. Lutfi Ali vs Michael Adams 1/2-1/2 2016

Olympiade catur Baku 2016 bisa disaksikan di website official . Link hasil di chess-results untuk Putera dan Puteri.