Olympiad update (Monday 1.45pm)

The Irish women have run out 4-0 winners against Seychelles. The standard of play, particularly on boards 1 and 4, was abysmal. Just look at board 4, where Nicky Benson was four pieces up without breaking sweat and her opponent played moves like Ng3?? and h3?? in quick succession. Or on board 1, where Elisabeth was presented with a knight on d4 and took two chances to actually take it. Is there a symbol for shockingly awful moves aside from”??”? In fairness, you can only beat what is put in front of you, and the Irish women did themselves proud by comprehensively thrashing their opponents. It shouldn’t take away from the fantastic result.

The Irish men are struggling against Kyrgyzstan. Fitzsimons resigned early, Daly is lost already. But, Sam Collins is a pawn up, with 2Rs+B vs. 2Rs+B. Not sure he can win it though. Heidenfeld is also a pawn up in a rook endgame and has a well-placed king and two passed pawns, so it looks promising. We need to see Collins and Heidenfeld win their games to salvage a 2-2 draw.

In another game, Adams beat Carlsen in the England vs. Norway match! Quite a shocking display from Carlsen who looks very off-form for the world #1, following his other loss against Jobava. Another victim of the Irish party?