Giant Killing at the Olympiad
Welcome, everyone to a special Olympiad edition of the Osaka Papers.
The 45th Chess Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary has come to an extraordinary conclusion. For team India it was a historic event, the top ranked women's team, and the highly touted open team both took home gold in their respective competitions.
Yet, for most teams such lofty goals, such as medalling, are far beyond the realms of possibility. Take Japan for instance: a relative minnow in the deep seas of the chess world, the nation has no grandmasters, nor women grandmasters, moreover, the women's and open teams were ranked 100th and 70th respectively.
One has to ask the question what can such a team do against the giants of the chess world?
The answer is quite simple...Giant Killing...they can go out there and KILL GIANTS.
Before we get into that, how about a few pics to prove that any of this actually happened.
Photo by Hiroshi Manabe.
The playing hall was packed with chess luminaries and women's team member Melody Takayasu got pictures with nearly all of them: Nigel Short, Tania Sachdev, R Praggnanandhaa, Alexander Grischuk to name a few. Yet, we must content ourselves with these few pictures lest this Blog run on forever.
GIANT KILLING
Giant Killing is not only the name of this blog, it is a Japanese manga series featuring a small time soccer team, which constantly upstages it's far stronger opponents. It is one of my favorite anime and inspired me to write this article. Reality often mirrors fiction and once again we have a small time team upstaging its gigantic rivals.
I have collected five tactics from the recent Olympiad, which demonstrate Team Japan's indomitable spirit. In all five tactics team Japan is able to do the seemingly impossible and overcome a grandmaster, a giant of our great game.
Each tactic is represented by an anime print, which is available for purchase on REDBUBBLE,
click the link or the print.
Who knows, maybe one day we'll have an anime about a team of chess underdogs...one can only dream...
Good luck trying to solve all five puzzles on the first attempt, there are a couple diabolical ones here.
So, without further ado, lets get to the Anime and Tactics.
Dragon Balled
In the anime known as Dragon Ball Z, the characters are on a never ending hunt to find the magical "dragon balls", which are said to grant the holders one wish...
I can only assume that CM Thanh Tu Tran was in possession of one of these dragon balls, as this position is a wish come true.
In the 9th round he was facing GM Al Khatib Ahmad of Jordan, when the grandmaster blundered with Qb7.
Can you see how to make this wish come true?
Through the Torii Gate
A Torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrances to Shinto Shrines. It symbolizes the transition from the mundane to the sacred...
Here is symbolize the transition from an even position to a winning endgame.
In round 9, IM Shinya Kojima was up against GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson of Iceland, when he spotted a way to open the flood gates.
Can you spot a forcing move to open the path to the White king?
Engine Like Accuracy
The use of Engines to help our understanding of chess is very controversial, what is more important: human ingenuity or the raw calculating power of cybernetics? Moreover, can we mere humans ever hope to play as accurately as the machines?
In the penultimate round of the open tournament, IM Ryosuke Nanjo just about did, playing against GM Gudnundur Kjartansson of Iceland, Nanjo was able to play a virtual brilliancy, winning in 23 moves with an accuracy of 99%. (I'm told Kramnik is investigating...O_o...)
You must play precisely to solve this puzzle, moreover for the final move you must think like an engine. What is truly the most accurate move and why?
The Nadeshiko
Yamato Nadeshiko is a Japanese term meaning "personification of an idealized Japanese women". While the term refers to the Japanese ideals of femininity, possessing grace, elegance, delicacy and beauty, it also describes the Yamato nadeshiko's inner strength.
Well, here we have a position representing subtle quietness while concealing great ferocity.
In the 9th round of the women's section, WCM Azumi Sakai faced GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant of Scotland, one of only 42 female grandmasters on the planet.
Yet, in their game Arakhamia-Grant has just played...axb4, a mistake that has critically weakened her queen side.
A subtle push at the right moment is the key.
The Final Boss
In martial art themed anime the final boss is typically an old bearded master, his serene aged appearance belying his colossal inner strength.
In chess, the final boss is a 2600 rated grandmaster, who is approaching the rarefied air of the top 100 chess players on the planet.
In the 4th round, CM Thanh Tu Tran clashed with GM Adam Kozak of Hungary. In 2022 Kozak finished 2nd at the Junior World Championship, but for his part Tu may be the strongest Candidate Master in the world...
In the following position, Black has the advantage, yet White has 5 pieces to Black's 4, and he possesses the bishop pair.
Black must attack with precision to have any chance, good luck.
Hint: at the right moment the knight is brought into the battle to deliver the death blow.
And that was it, that was Giant Killing at the Olympiad.
A huge congratulations to every member of team Japan. I was among those of us who were watching the live streams of your games on the JCF YouTube page, so I can tell you that the Japanese Chess Community is immensely proud of your efforts.
Special congratulations to CM Thanh Tu Tran, his 8.5 points and 2609 performance rating earned him a GM norm.
And lets not forget you few puzzle masters who got all 5 puzzles correct on the first attempt, if it were up to me, you would earn a "Puzzle" norm.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to share these puzzles with your friends down at the library or manga book store.
Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.
P.S. I have recently joined Instagram click the link below to follow me, I will be posting chess prints, puzzles and random banter.
