No Endgame Jokes with Ponomariov At the Chessboard

The seventh World Children's Chess Olympics, attended by thirty teams, has ended at the Artek International Children's Center in the Crimea. It is a pleasure to note that Ukraine's first national team led the pack. Renowned chess observer Yukhym LAZAREV commented for The Day :

“There is nothing unexpected in this, for the winning team was headed by the world's youngest grand master Ruslan Ponomariov from Donetsk oblast. True, the home team's coaches had to worry some our boys had their bad days in the middle of the tournament: three defeats in a row at the hands of their peers from China, Rumania, and Armenia. However, the trepidation soon melted away: Ukraine's second team surged ahead and had an excellent chance to win gold medals on the eve of the final round. But, as it often happens not only to young but also to famous competitors, the premonition of success played a cruel joke at the last moment and shook the boys' nerves. They suffered a crushing defeat and as a result sank to fifth place. But their compatriots, on the contrary, rallied and made mincemeat out of Azerbaijani chess players. This victory in fact determined the final winner and allowed them to score 24 points, leaving behind the national teams of Georgia and China. And Ruslan Ponomariov became best in the individual classification, having lost only half a point. A brilliant victory for the fall!”