Olympiad through the eyes of captains
“I am a lucky person. The first Olympiad for me as a coach turned out to be perfectly organized chess fest. In the last year FIDE initiated the supporting program for small and poor chess federations. They choose 3 federations from each continent and pay for their coach during the Olympiad. I was assigned for Lesotho team. I surfed in Internet for the information about the country before going to Baku. There I got to know that my wards were to skip the first round! They started to book tickets too late, so there were no more available for the proper date. That doesn’t sound too bad if you compare it with the Djibouti team which arrived before the 6th round.
Both woman and man teams consisted of young people 18-19-year-old and only one 50-year-old player was playing at the 4th board in man team. His name is Molapo Joang, he’s former minister of the country and currently in opposition party of Lesotho. They all are handsome and polite young men. They have great respect to age. For example, in Lesotho it’s forbidden to smoke next to older person, one may be seriously punished for this.
Previously I didn’t pay much attention to the project of FIDE Trainers’ commission, now I realize how important it is. Apparently, that’s the only chance for such countries as Lesotho to get access to “high technologies” in chess. Initially I was supposed to train only man team, but seeing the enthusiasm of these young people in learning, I decided to help also the woman team. It was a bit tough, but I have no sorrows. I believe I could improve their level of play during the tournament. Every next round they played better and more confidently.
The woman team consisted of 3 rated and 2 unrated players. I liked the unrated girl at the 3rd board, she gained the norm of WFM! She played quite decent chess. Men team was at more serious level. Young man Tokela, elo 1663, who was playing at the first board, turned out to be great defender. His rating will move up in the nearest time. Other players were rated between 1685 and 1750. The third board - young man and gifted tactician named Katanelo. He played very fast and sometimes after the end of the game the was more time on his clock than before the start! Our discussions made his play more thoughtful.
I introduced him the theme of candidate moves in calculation of variations. Before that he normally chose the first appropriate move and calculated it. Finally, his choice of moves became more responsible.
Gibson Franklyn (1987) - Kananelo Latela (1736) [D43]
WCO 2016 (3.3), 04.09.2016
[Maksimenko Andrei]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 8.Bd3 Bg7 9.0–0 Nd7 10.Re1!? [Modern Anti-Moscow variation has been played. Both players are aware of ideas.] 10...0–0 11.e4 dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5 13.d5 Nb6 14.Bb3 Bg4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zpp+-+pvl-'
6-snp+-wqpzp&
5+-+Pzp-+-%
4-+-+P+l+$
3+LsN-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
15.h3 [The unexpected decision. The idea of 10. Re1 is exactly 15.Re3 and eventually recapture on f3 with the rook.]
15...Bd7 [Originally played] [15...Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Qxf3 1/2 (16) Vazquez Igarza,R (2601)-Riazantsev,A (2692) Saint-Quentin 2014]
16.Rc1 Rad8 17.Qe2І h5 18.Qe3 Nc8!? [Its typically for the style of Kananelo. He doesnt want to stay passively and looks for counterplay.]
19.Rc2 Nd6 20.h4 [20.dxc6 bxc6 21.Qxa7 Bxh3!]
20...a6 21.a4 Bg4 22.Ng5 Bh6 23.f3? [How can one weaken the dark squares if he has no darksquare bishop?] [23.dxc6 bxc6 24.Na2!±]
23...Bc8 24.a5 Qe7 25.dxc6 bxc6 26.Na4 Nb5? [Black had spent over the move about 10 seconds and blundered in variation Rg6, it was necessary to play 26.. Bb7 first] 27.Qc5! [27.Rxc6! Nd4 28.Rxg6++–]
27...Bxg5 28.hxg5 Qxg5 29.Qe3 Qxe3+ 30.Rxe3 Rd1+ 31.Kh2 Ra1!? [Better was Nd4]
32.Nc5? [White couldnt withstand the tension. Better was 31 Nb5 Nd4 32 Rc5]
32...Nd4 33.Rcc3 Rxa5 [Haste] [33...Kg7 34.Ba4 h4±]
34.Bd1? [34.Ba4! Be6 35.b4 Rxa4 36.Nxa4 Rb8°]
34...Ra1 35.Be2 Rb1 36.Bxa6 Bxa6 37.Nxa6 Rxb2 [The rest is technical matter, which was on high level this time]
38.Rc4 Ra8 39.Nb4 Ra4 40.Nd3 Rxg2+ 41.Kxg2 Rxc4 42.Nxe5 Rc2+ 43.Kh3 Kg7 44.Rd3 Ne6 45.Rd7 Kf6 46.Nxf7 g5 47.Nd8 Nf4+ [If Kananelo learns to play more thoughtfully he may grow into a good player]
0–1
Naturally, their main drawback was lack of knowledge. They knew some opening theory, as there are plenty chess books on it everywhere. But in the middlegame and end game there were serious problems. The example of this may be the end game played by our 4th board.
Joang, Molapo (1685) - Moinzai,Khushal (1624) [E12]
Baku Olympiad (Men) 42nd Baku (6.4), 08.09.2016
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+R+R+pzp-'
6q+-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+Q+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-mKP#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-+r!
xabcdefghy
45...g6?? [could hold the position 45...Qa2] 46.Rxf7! [The minister strikes and the team has to win 2,5 –1,5]
46...Qd6+ [The last check before death] [46...gxf5 47.Rg7+ Kh8 48.Rh7+ Kg8 49.Rbg7#]
47.Qf4? [47.f4! Qa3+ 48.Kh4+–] 47...Qxf4+ 48.Rxf4 Rxf4 49.Kxf4
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+R+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+pzp&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-mK-+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-+r!
xabcdefghy
Who could know it that rook endgame with 3 against 2 pawns is drawn. It would be funny if it were not that sad. White had…lost this endgame, so the team lost 1,5–2,5.
What is interesting that not only my team members but also other players from some African countries came to me for advice how to work on chess, which matherial to use. It means the system is working! To sum up I must admit that both Lesotho team and their coach acquired priceless experience. I hope the program will keep on working and bring more use”.
Dear sirs,
Now that the Olympiad dust have finally settled, please allow me to say that on behalf of the Lesotho Delegation that attended the Chess Olympiad in Baku, the players and the entire chess community here in Lesotho, we wish to thank FIDE and the Trainers Commission for providing us with a skilled and knowledgeable coach during the Olympiad.
Because of his skills our players were able to perform much better and this is evidenced by the fact that three of them are in line to receive tittles from their performance in the Olympiad.
Aside from being a brilliant and hard working person, coach Andrey Maksimenko is a wonderful person!
We are really thankful that he coached the players and most of them will use the skills he gave them for the rest of their lives as chess players.
Once again, on behalf of the chess playing community in Lesotho, a big THANK YOU ALL. GENS UNA SUMUS!!
Regards,
Tseliso Motloheloa
Lesotho Chess Federation
