Chennai Chess Olympiad : July 28 - Aug.10, 2022

Here's a rundown and a few statistics on the players of the likely winning Country.

Board 1 : Anton Smirnov  Rated 2600 - Competed in his first 2 Olympiads in 2014 and 2016, aged 13 and 15 - did not lose a game in either. Enough said. Attacking Demon.

Board 2 : Temur Kuybokarov  Rated approaching 2600 - Beat WC Anand in a Simul when he was 11. Has won nearly everything since emigrating to Australia in 2016, except the National sheep throwing championships.

Board 3 : Justin Tan  Rated approaching 2600 - Though just 25, very experienced in competition all around the globe.

Board 4 : Bobby Cheng  Rated approaching 2600 - Likes those long 4-8 hour games where his play just gets better without tapering off.

Board 5 : Zong-Yuan Zhao  Rated approaching 2600 - Crushed Short in the Game of the Century (!?) to win the Thailand Open a few moons ago. All round brilliance.

Australia's first all GM team at an Olympiad!!!

I'd think we'd be seeded in the Top 10, but I see we're at No. 29 - must be a typo.

Apparently the Yanks are Seeded No.1 - Fab, Lev, Wes, Dom and Sam - never actually heard of any of them, but I guess they know how to move the pieces.

We've devised a very cunning plan against those Yankees - it's all about rest and rotation - so if we play them, we're gonna leave out, not one, but TWO players - 2 wins and a draw will give us the match, as we need to save our stars for the more important and crucial games in the latter rounds of the tournament!

So, be warned, to all countries, the Aussies are comin' for ya!

wow that is a lot