Bangladesh!

I was among those who thought - even almost considered it a fact - that Team China would dominate the Team Chess Standard event of the 2010 Asian Games.

I was expecting a domination just as how a hungry lion would treat a helpless prey.

But China's hairline win (2.5-1.5) over Team Bangladesh showed that the host team is not really that fearsome. Only if the Board 4 man of Team Bangladesh halved the point against former 2700-rated player GM Ni Hua, then it would be a draw. What more if Hua (2633) lost to FM (yes, FM) Abu Sufian Shakil (2340)?

Let's look at the China-Bangladesh clash. It was three draws from Board 1 to Board 3, draws that seemed to be more than wins for the Bangladesh players. GM Wang Yue (2756) drew with GM Murshed Niaz (2429); GM Bu Xiangzhi (2680) drew with FM (yes, FM) Minhazuddin Ahmed; and GM Zhou Jianchao (2669) drew with Rahman Ziaur (2527). Take note that Team Bangladesh was manned only by two GMs and two FMs in Round 1 against China's all-GM, three 2600-rated, and one 2700-rated players.

This showing could have taught the Chinese Team some lessons, lessons that they could use against their next round opponent - which happens to be the Philippine Team!

Now, should the Philippine Team fear the powerhouse China? For Round 2, the psychological armament that the Filipino players could bring to the war over the board is this: we are better than the Bangladesh Team.

Rank after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	7		Iran	1	1	0	0	2	4,0	0,0
2	8		Qatar	1	1	0	0	2	4,0	0,0
3	2		India	1	1	0	0	2	3,5	0,0
4	4		Vietnam	1	1	0	0	2	3,5	0,0
5	3		Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	2	3,0	0,0
6	5		Uzbekistan	1	1	0	0	2	3,0	0,0
7	6		Philippines	1	1	0	0	2	3,0	0,0
8	1		China	1	1	0	0	2	2,5	0,0
9	17		Lebanon	1	0	1	0	1	2,0	0,0
10	9		Bangladesh	1	0	0	1	0	1,5	0,0
11	11		Yemen	1	0	0	1	0	1,0	0,0
12	13		Mongolia	1	0	0	1	0	1,0	0,0
13	14		Iraq	1	0	0	1	0	1,0	0,0
14	10		Kyrgyzstan	1	0	0	1	0	0,5	0,0
15	12		Jordan	1	0	0	1	0	0,5	0,0
16	15		Korea	1	0	0	1	0	0,0	0,0
17	16		Maldives	1	0	0	1	0	0,0	0,0