Dresden chess olympiad, Round 2

Round Two of the Dresden Chess Olympiad started late today. Errors in the team rosters, that's all the information I could get. So the games began at 11pm (local time in Malaysia) but what the heck: it's so darn late and it was almost impossible to reach the official web site. At my age, sleep is definitely more important than to spend half the early hours up over the computer. Never mind, the results won't go away. So this morning, I logged in to see these results at the top tables:

Poland 1½-2½ Russia
Slovenia 1-3 Germany One
Ukraine 2½-1½ Serbia
Belarus 1-3 China
Azerbaijan 3-1 Slovakia
Moldova 1-3 Armenia
USA 2-2 Greece
Spain 2½-1½ Bosnia Herzegovina
Sweden 1-3 India
Romania 2½-1½ Argentina

That's the top 10 tables. But apart from China and India, how are the other Asian teams doing? Here are some of the results:

Cuba 2½-1½ Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan 1½-2½ Georgia
Faroe Islands 2½-1½ Pakistan
Jersey - 1½-2½ Malaysia
Tajikistan 3½-½ Malawi
Switzerland 2½-1½ Turkmenistan
Singapore 0-4 Vietnam
Philippines 2½-1½ Algeria
Kyrgyzstan 1-3 Macedonia
Italy - 2½-1½ UAE
Iraq 1-3 Estonia
El Salvador 2½-1½ Australia
Uruguay 0-4 Bangladesh
Colombia 3½-½ Thailand
Qatar 1½-2½ Japan
Indonesia 3-1 Botswana
Mongolia 3½-½ Trinidad & Tobago
Iran 1-3 France
Macau 0-4 New Zealand
Papua New Guinea ½-3½ Sri Lanka
Chinese Taipei 0-4 Surinam
Netherlands Antilles 1½-2½ South Korea
Guernsey ½-3½ Afghanistan
Gabon 1-3 Nepal
US Virgin Islands 0-4 Hongkong

The number of unpaired countries have reduced to eight and among them are Bahrain, Myanmar and Maldives. I don't think they'll turn up.

Our representatives in Dresden, Round Two: (left to right) Lim Yee Weng, Mok Tze Meng, Jimmy Liew and Edward Lee

At Table 18, Jersey lost to Malaysia 1½-2½ in the second round. (In other words, Malaysia won.) Mas Hafizulhelmi was rested so Edward Lee was able to play his first Olympiad game. He won and these are the results for the team:
Belzo Krzysztof 1993 - FM Lim Yee Wng 1/2
Tandy Chris UR - FM Mok Tze-Meng 1/2
FM Hawes Jonathan - IM Liew Chee-Meng-Jimmy 2306 1/2
Jouault Louis UR - Edward Lee Kim Han UR 0-1

For Round Three, Malaysia is hoisted up even higher to Table 2. It's going to be a BIG one for them tonight as they're are up against Germany One. Good luck again, guys!

At first, I was wondering why our team had managed to find themselves among such company after only the second round of the Olympiad. Then I realised that there have been a few changes to the rules:

1) Open teams are reduced from six players to five. Good to see this implemented as it allows each player more chances to play and not be a passenger in the team.
2) Women's teams are increased from five players to six. This is also a very welcomed move as the number of women players have increased substantially. Besides, it's a positive demonstration for gender equality.
3) All matches are over four boards. Previously, the women's event was over three boards.
4) Match points will be counted instead of game points. The basis is that winning the match is more important than chalking up big scores. This is an experimentation but it gives rise to pairings such as Malaysia versus Germany One in the third round.
5) All players must be seated by 3pm or be defaulted. In my opinion, a very good move to instil discipline in players.