The highly rated Russian team led by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik will enter the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden as the clear favorite, but one American grandmaster says the US is fielding its strongest ever team. The 13-day tournament starting Thursday includes 154 teams in the open division - often referred to as the men's division although it includes a few women - and 116 in a separate women's division. Ukraine is ranked second behind Russia in the open division, with China third, Azerbaijan fourth and Hungary fifth. The next five teams are, in order, Bulgaria, France, Israel, Armenia, and the United States. Yet some believe the US's No. 10 ranking is misleading and the open division team - almost identical to the one that took the bronze behind Armenia and China at the last Olympiad, in Turin, Italy, in 2006 - is actually much stronger. American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan called the US open team “the strongest team that America has ever fielded.” While he did not favor them for a medal, Seirawan said that first board Gata Kamsky of Brooklyn, New York, and second board 20-year-old Hikaru Nakamura of White Plains, New York, “are brimming with confidence and are dangerous players who can beat anyone on a given day.” American grandmaster Larry Christiansen said the “Americans are underrated in general compared to the Europeans. If they avoid jet lag, they can finish in the top five.” The Russian team is led by former world champion Kramnik and is the highest-rated team ever to participate in an Olympiad. Seirawan predicted that Russia would win the Olympiad, with Armenia and Azerbaijan taking silver and bronze. On the women's side, Russia is also seeded first, and Ukraine and China are tied for second and third place. A number of changes have been introduced for this Olympiad. The number of rounds has been reduced from 14 to 11; the number of reserves on each team has been reduced from two to one; and it will be scored by match points instead of game points. The World Chess Federation will also hold its annual congress during the Olympiad. – AP __
