Leinier Domínguez's Victory Saves United States Team in Seventh Round of Chess Olympiad

August 6, 2022

An important victory by Leinier Domínguez saved the United States from a debacle against Armenia, while Cuban teams fell during the seventh round of the World Chess Olympiad.

Both island teams succumbed spectacularly, with similar scores of 3.5 to 0.5, due to only one draw and three losses.

The Open team fell victim to the impressive India 2 squad, while the women lost to Mongolia.

After these outcomes, the men dropped to 20th place in the standings, while the women plummeted to 40th place.

The highlight of the day was written by Leinier Domínguez, who saved the United States from a fall that would have been resounding, even though his opponent of the day, Armenia, is putting together a great performance.

With his victory in the seventh round, the Cuban maintained his undefeated record and saved his squad from a debacle at the World Chess Olympiad.

The USA dropped to fifth place after tying 2-2 with Armenia, which holds the sole lead with an impressive collective performance.

With Wesley So's spectacular victory at the second board and Fabiano Caruana's defeat at the first board — both results already in the overall count — Leinier won at the third board, broke the tie, and put the match in favor of his team.

In this scenario, with only Sam Shankland's draw at the last board — the one that was still to be decided — the USA would have taken the match and would have taken the lead in the tournament, finally, as many predicted.

But Sam made an illegal move when it seemed he was heading toward a draw and ended up losing the game, which resulted in both sides settling at 2 points each.

Leinier is the United States' "secret weapon" at this Olympiad as he has four victories with two draws, alternating between the third and fourth boards. So far, two of his wins have decided two matches in favor of a team that has suffered more than expected and that stands in fifth place.

Cuban Performance in the Seventh Round of the World Chess Olympiad

Cuban Open team: lost 3.5 to 0.5 to India 2.
Women's team: lost 3.5 to 0.5 to Mongolia.
Leinier Domínguez with USA: won.
Neuris Delgado with Paraguay: drew.
Roberto Carlos Sánchez with Panama: won.
Mariano Ortega with Cape Verde: won.
Celia Rodríguez with Cape Verde: drew.
Tania Regla with Costa Rica: won.
Zenia Corrales with Mexico: drew.