Olympiad, Round 7

The match of the day was between the hitherto perfect co-leaders, Poland and Azerbaijan. They're still undefeated and still the co-leaders, but after a 2-2 draw (all four games were drawn as well), they're no longer perfect, and they've been caught by the U.S. The Americans faced an overperforming Croatian team, but the rating gap proved too much for the latter this time and the U.S. won 3-1, winning both white games and drawing the black ones. Ukraine-China and Germany-Netherlands were also 2-2 ties with every game drawn, and Israel vs. the Czech Republic was likewise drawn, but with White winning every game. Almost all of the higher-rated favorites won in the subsequent top matches, with Russia's failure to defeat Serbia a stunning exception. If anything, they were fortunate to save the match as Kramnik won his game only after his opponent blundered in a complicated position.

Top pairings for round 8 (ongoing):

• USA (6.5) - Azerbaijan (6.5)
• Armenia (6) - Poland (6.5)
• Czech Republic (5.5) - India (5.5)
• Spain (5.5) - Germany (5.5)
• Israel (5.5) - England (5.5)
• France (5.5) - Ukraine (5.5)
• China (5.5) - Netherlands (5.5)

In the Women's section, the United States' dream run came to an end as they lost to Armenia 2.5-1.5. Armenia won both white games, and while our youngest and lowest-rated player, Jennifer Yu, came through to defeat her higher-rated opponent on board 4, Irina Krush only managed a draw against her opponent. In other top matches, Georgia 1 drew with India 2-2, China beat the Netherlands 3-1, Ukraine beat Iran 2.5-1.5 (but gave Anna Ushenina the day off), Italy and Azerbaijan played to a 2-2 tie, and the Romania women beat the Uzbeks 2.5-1.5.

Leading Women's Pairings for Round 8:

• Ukraine (6) - Armenia (6.5)
• China (6) - Romania (6)
• Georgia 1 (6) - Kazakhstan (5.5)
• USA (5.5) - Italy (5.5)
• Hungary (5.5) - India (5.5)
• Georgia 2 (5.5) - Azerbaijan (5.5)

And finally, here's a selection of games with very light notes, taken from readers Greg Steele (the first four suggestions are his, going back to round 6 and mainly focused on opening ideas that caught his attention) and Marc Beishon (mostly noting some blunders).