PRESS RELEASE: 2002-10-29
BARBADOS UPSETS HOSTS SLOVENIA

It was supposed to be 4-0 and so confident were they of the result that they sent in their last reserve to play. But someone forget to inform Barbados of the expectation and tonight hosts Slovenia are reeling from the 3-1 shock defeat of their talented B Team.

The 4th round of the 35th World Chess Olympiad currently under way in Bled Slovenia will probably be one of the most historic for Barbados as both its men's and women's team produced the stunning results of beating Slovenia B and tying with Ireland.

Winning for the Bajan men FIDE Master Matej Sebenik (2414), FIDE Master Jure Borisek (2401) and Blaz Bratovic (2318) were FIDE Masters National Champion Ricardo Szmetan (2282), Dr. Philip Corbin (2255), who is sponsored by Light & Power, and Delisle Warner (2231), while Slovenia's Tadej Sakelsek (2296) was fortunate to win over Kevin Greenidge, sponsored by Central Bank, on board.

Barbados vs Slovenia B: Kevin Greenidge, FIDE Master Delisle Warner and FIDE Master Philip Corbin (l-r)

For the Bajan Women, Former National Women's Champion Nathali Greenidge (2019), sponsored by The Mutual and its sports club, thwarted the Irish by holding their 1st Board Suzanne Connolly (2079) to a draw.

The top board taken care of, National Ladies Champion Rashida Corbin and Former Champion Rashaana Blenman, who is sponsored by Neil & Massey, push the Irish boards 2 and 3, Gearoidin Ui (2011) and Elisabeth Shaughnessy on the defensive.

Blenman polished off Shaughnessy to put the Bajan Women ahead and set up a nail biting finish between Corbina and Ui.

With both players in time trouble, and going for the win, Corbin miss blundered her rook in the winning position and allowed the Irish to equalize with 3 minutes on the clock.

Rashaana Blenman, Rashida Corbin and Nathali Greenidge in action against Ireland

In Men's top board action, a relaxed Gary Kasparov was in devastating form spearing Defending Champions Russia to a 3-1 win over number 15th seed Georgia. Also winning for the Russians was Former World Champion Alexander Khalifman (2690) on board 2, while Grandmasters Peter Svidler (2690) and Sergei Rublevsky (2528) drew with International Masters Zviad Izoria (2572)and Merab Gagunashvili (2538) .

Gary Kasparov, Russia Board 1

Sadly for the Caribbean, number 18 seed Cuba dropped from the leader board with a 3-1 loss to 12th seed Poland. Cuban junior star Grandmaster Lazaro Bruzon (2613) lost to Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow (2551) and Grandmaster Walter Arenciba (2521) went under to Grandmaster Tomasz Kovacevic (2549).

Armenia had a big win 3 ½ - ½ win against Yugoslavia, Bosnia & Herzegovina defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 and Hungary, with an informed Judit Polgar, won against Azerbaijan.

Round 4 was a disappointment for other Caribbean teams as well with the Jamaican and Trinidadian men losing to the Faroe Islands and Cyprus 1 ½ - 2 ½ and the Dominican Republic crashing to Lithuania 4-0. Bermuda drew with the US Virgin Islands 2-2 and the Netherland Antilles beat neighbors Aruba 3-1.

Russia, Poland and Armenia now share the lead with 13 points followed by Bosnia on 12 1/2 for 4th spot and the Ukraine and Czech Republic in 5th with 12.

The Women's section saw Defending Champion China and USA win by 2-1 margins against Poland and Yugoslavaia to share the tournament lead on 9 ½ points.

The Chinese win was not without drama as Grandmaster Chen Zhu (2509) lost to Poland's Women Grandmaster Iweta Radziewicz (2421) on board 1. Women Grandmasters Yuhua Xu (2473) and Xue Zhao (2367) however steered the Chinese out of trouble with well played wins against Women Grandmasters Jonna Dworakwska (2389) and Monika Socko (2354) .

The USA's win was set up by Women International Masters Irina Krush (2403) and Camilla Baginskaite (2365) who drew the top two boards against Women Grandmasters Natasa Bojkovic (2404) and Svetlana Prudnikova (2407). This allowed the Americans to ambush Yugoslavia's board 3 Women Grandmaster Irina Chelushkina (2378) with Women International Master Jennifer Shahade.

The Czech Republic, Russia, Georgia and India join Poland to shadow the top two on 9 points after wins against Ukraine 2 ½ - ½ , Armenia 2-1, Moldova 2 ½ - ½ and Azerbaijan 3-0, .

For Caribbean Women's teams day 4 saw the Jamaican losing their 4th straight match 2-1 against Botswana. Puerto Rico had a much need 3-0 blank out of Angola and the Dominican Republic went under by a similar margin to the B Team of hosts Slovenia.

Cuba the Caribbean's top women's team fell to Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-1.

The fifth round will see Barbados paired against Scotland in the men and the Dominican Republic in the women. Both matches can be followed live on the internet at the BCF Web Site http://www.barbados.org/chess or the Olympiad Web site www.35chessolympiad.com.

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