Game Of the Week: GM Lie vs. GM Kozul

GM Lie vs. GM Kozul

Opening: B41: Sicilian

Player(s): Lie, Kozul

Three-time U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin brings you a new show every Friday at 15:00 Server Time. Joel is regarded by many as one of the best commentators and analysts' we have in the game today -- so if you want to get ahead of the game, get ready to tune-in!

It has been a crazy Olympiad, filled with head-scratching performances, from the sublime-Sam Shankland's amazing winning streak to the ridiculous-overall poor play from the Russian team, baffling blunders from Ivanchuk. Magnus Carlsen has not been especially good in the Olympiad before, and he hasn't excelled here on home turf, with surprising losses to Naiditsch and Saric.

Perhaps he doesn't easily find motivation in a tournament that he has no chance to win. While Magnus suffered against his young Croatian opponent in round ten, an incredible barn-burner took place just a few feet away. Norwegian GM Kjetil Lie launched a massive attack against the veteran grandmaster Zdenko Kozul. Sacrifices, counter sacrifices, bizarre material balances, and unfortunately, time pressure, dominated this strange encounter. Let's see how it went down.