Michael Adams was the rating favourite at the second edition of the Cambridge International Open. However, the reigning World Senior 50+ Champion struggled to beat his lower-rated opponents at first, as he was only in the upper middle of the field halfway through. Thanks to a strong final spurt, though, the former World Championship candidate went on to win yet another tournament. | Photos: Shohreh Bayat and Reza Islam / Cambridge Chess Open
It wasn't completely able to sidestep the problems of the world, but the fact that the 44th Chess Olympiad is underway with actual over-the-board competition in Chennai, India, is a heartening sign that things are finally returning to something resembling normalcy.
Most games favoured the favourites in round 2 of the Chess Olympiad, with a few exceptions. In the open section, Zambia and Bulgaria upset Denmark and Croatia respectively, while among the women, Ecuador got the better of Slovenia. World champion Magnus Carlsen made his debut, and outplayed Georg Meier in a balanced endgame to help Norway get a 4-0 win over Uruguay. | Pictured: Mohamed Emli Ramla (Dijibouti) | Photo: Mark Livshitz