Although Romania has been doing better than expected up until now, Elisabeta Polihroniade of Romania said that the top three male Romanian players and the top two female players did not come to this Olympiad in protest to the decision of FIDE regarding Alexandru Crisan. Alexandru Crisan was ranked number 33 in the world, with a rating of 2635, although he is barely master strength, much less a grandmaster player. After protests to FIDE by his own countrymen, his rating was reduced by 100 points to 2538. Recently, his rating was restored conditionally, the condition being that he confirm his rating by playing in four tournaments. He has so far not played in any tournaments and the Romanian players are protesting.
What makes this situation especially tricky for FIDE is that Alexandru Crisan is backed by officials of the Romanian Sports Ministry, who are nominally officials of the Romanian Chess Federation, even though Alexandru Crisan is opposed by the strong players, who say that he can't play chess.
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There is speculation that the event will have to be moved, most likely to Elista.
Late in the day, however, FIDE officials were saying that this rumor is false and that the event will be held in New Delhi on schedule.
It does not help that the organizer of this event is Ummer Koya of India and he has not arrived yet in Istanbul plus he has the reputation of being one of the most unreliable chess organizers in the world.
The USA delegation has arrived, with the exception of Steve Doyle. Tim Redman is the newly elected USCF President. I asked Redman when the USCF will issue a consolidated financial statement. Ever since Tim Redman was elected to the Executive Board and Jim Pechac was elected Treasurer in August, 1999, the USCF has never issued a consolidated financial statement. Redman replied that a consolidated financial statement will be issued "in the next few weeks", even though the USCF Treasurer Jim Pechac "does not consider this to be a top priority."
I always thought that it was the treasurer's job to make certain that a consolidated financial statement is issued on a timely basis and that he had no other priority.
Stewart Reuben, a long time USCF member even though he lives in England, said, "Don't hold your breath" [waiting for a consolidated financial statement to be issued].
Results from round ten were: Germany beat Armenia 2.5 to 1.5, Ukraine beat Bulgaria 2.5 to 1.5, Russia beat Romania 4-0, Hungary drew USA 2-2, Israel drew Denmark 2-2, Brazil drew England 2-2, Netherlands beat Uzbekistan 2.5 to 1.5, Bosnia beat Switzerland 2.5 to 1.5, Greece drew Slovakia 2-2, India beat Georgia 2.5 to 1.5, Kazakhstan beat Spain 2.5 to 1.5, Philippines beat Estonia 2.5 to 1.5, Poland beat Czech Republic 3.5 to .5, France beat Iceland 2.5 to 1.5.
Standings after ten rounds were Russia leads with 28 out of 40, Germany is in second with 27.5, followed by Ukraine with 27, Armenia with 26.5, Hungary and Bulgaria with 25.5, Israel, USA, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland with 24.5, England, China, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Greece, Slovakia, India, Denmark and Philippines with 24, Bosnia, Uzbekistan, France, Romania and Canada with 23.5, Georgia, Spain, Sweden, Estonia with 23, Yugoslavia and Iceland with 22.5.
On the women's side: China beat Ukraine 2-1, Georgia beat Romania 2-1, Russia drew Netherlands 1.5 to 1.5, Yugoslavia beat Hungary 2-1, Czech Republic beat Armenia 2-1, Bulgaria beat Austria 2-1, Spain beat Greece 2-1, Germany beat Moldova 2-1, Vietnam beat Uzbekistan 2.5 to .5, England beat India 2-1, Poland drew Lithuania 1.5 to 1.5, Slovakia beat Azerbaijan 2.5 to .5, Latvia beat Belarus 2-1, Cuba beat Venezuela 3-0, Kazakhstan beat Bangladesh 2.5 to .5, USA beat France 2.5 to .5.
Standings after ten rounds were China leads with 23 out of 30, followed by Georgia with 22.5, Russia and The Netherlands with 20, Ukraine and Yugoslavia with 19, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Spain with 18.5, Hungary, Vietnam, Romania and Armenia with 18, Germany, England, Slovakia, Cuba and Austria with 17.5, Poland, Greece, USA, Bosnia with 17, Moldova, India, Latvia and Lithuania with 16.5.
My girl left me today and went back to her country.
Sam Sloan
http://www.samsloan.com/day-9.htm
[Event "34th Chess Olympiad (men)"] [Site "Istanbul"] [Date "2000.11.07"] [Round "10"] [White "Khalifman, A."] [Black "Marin, M."] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2557"] [WhiteCountry "RUS"] [BlackCountry "ROM"] [Result "1-0"] [Remark "3982"] [PresId "0000110031"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 Bg4 12. Re1 Qd7 13. Nf1 Rd8 14. Ne3 Bh5 15. b4 Ne6 16. g4 Bg6 17. Nf5 O-O 18. a4 Rfe8 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bd3 Rb8 21. Qe2 Ncd8 22. Ra5 d4 23. Rd1 c6 24. N3xd4 Bg5 25. Nxe6 Nxe6 26. Bc4 Qc7 27. Bxe6 Bxc1 28. Rd7 Qb6 29. Bxf7+ Bxf7 30. Raa7 Ra8 31. Rxa8 Rxa8 32. e6 1-0 [Event "34th Chess Olympiad (men)"] [Site "Istanbul"] [Date "2000.11.07"] [Round "10"] [White "Leko, P."] [Black "Seirawan, Y."] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2647"] [WhiteCountry "HUN"] [BlackCountry "USA"] [Result "1-0"] [Remark "3986"] [PresId "0000110041"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6 8. Ng3 Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. c3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 c6 12. Bf4 Re8 13. Rad1 Nf8 14. a3 Ng6 15. Bc1 Qc7 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Rad8 18. g3 Rd7 19. h4 Nf8 20. Bf4 Qd8 21. b4 Bd6 22. Be3 a6 23. c4 f5 24. Bc2 Rf7 25. Bg5 Qb8 26. Bc1 Qd8 27. Bg5 Qb8 28. Kg2 h6 29. Bc1 Qd8 30. Rh1 Qf6 31. Bb2 Bb8 32. Bc3 Kh8 33. Rde1 Nd7 34. Re2 e5 35. dxe5 Bxe5 36. Rhe1 Ree7 37. Bxe5 Rxe5 38. Rxe5 Nxe5 39. Qf4 Ng6 40. Re8+ Kh7 41. Qf3 Nf8 42. h5 g6 43. hxg6+ Nxg6 44. Qe3 Kg7 45. Re6 Qg5 46. Qd4+ Kh7 47. f4 Qg4 48. Bd1 Nh4+ 49. Kf2 Qh3 50. gxh4 Rg7 51. Bf3 Qxh4+ 52. Ke2 Qh2+ 53. Kd3 Qa2 54. Qd6 Qxa3+ 55. Ke2 Qa2+ 56. Ke3 Qh2 57. Be2 c5 58. bxc5 a5 59. Qe5 Qh3+ 60. Kd2 a4 61. Bd3 Rg2+ 62. Kc3 a3 63. Qf6 Rg7 64. Kb4 Qxd3 65. Qxh6+ Kg8 66. Re8+ 1-0