Month: April 2015

With a massive lead of 3 match-points over its nearest competitor Ukraine, Team China clinched the Gold medal in a dominant fashion at the World Team Chess Championship 2015. The last round saw the Chinese GMs record a comfortable 3-1 victory over India, with GM Yu Yangyi and GM Wei Yi winning their respective games. The Ukrainians had to settle for the Silver while the Armenians took Bronze.

The surprise package of the tournament proved to be Team USA as they secured a creditable 5th place with a total of 10 match-points. A comprehensive 3-1 victory over Cuba in the last round saw the Americans finish far ahead of their starting rank of 9. India, however, could only manage 7 match-points and finished 9th in the final standings.

Round 9 Results:

The final rankings can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=0&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

The 8th round of the World Team Chess Championship 2015 turned out to be quite eventful with U.S.A. surprising overnight joint-leaders Ukraine 2.5-1.5, thanks to GM Lenderman’s crucial win over GM Ivanchuk. The other overnight leader – China – took full advantage of this unexpected result as a 3-1 victory over the Cubans propelled the Chinese into sole lead ahead of the final round.

Meanwhile, the Indians had a tough day as they went down to Armenia 1.5-2.5, with yesterday’s hero GM Vidit (IND) losing to GM Melkumyan (ARM) in the decisive encounter. With this loss, India’s Bronze hopes have vanished.

Going into the last round, only China and Ukraine have a chance at Gold, while as many as 5 (!) teams are in a race for the Bronze. The Final round starts at 11 am local time (i.e. 12:30 pm IST or 7 am GMT).

Round 8 Results:

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

The seventh round of the World Team Chess Championship 2015 proved to be the most exciting round of the tournament so far, with as many as four matches resulting in 2.5-1.5 while the clash of the leaders – China vs Ukraine – finishing in a 2-2 draw.

In the match of the leaders, GM Ivanchuk (UKR) scored a win over GM Yu Yangyi (CHN) but GM Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) struck back with a victory over GM Eljanov (UKR). With the other two games ending in draws, the match was drawn 2-2.

The battle of the heavyweights – Russia vs Armenia – ended in a narrow victory for the 3rd-seeded Armenians, thanks to GM Sargissian’s crucial win against GM Sergey Karjakin. This loss has pushed the Russians to the 8th spot in the ranking crosstable.

Indians, meanwhile, overcame a strong challenge as they beat the in-form Cubans 2.5-1.5, courtesy of GM Vidit’s important victory over GM Ortiz Suarez. The Americans also achieved quite a similar feat with a narrow 2.5-1.5 win over Israel. On the other hand, Hungary finally reversed its fortunes with a rather close victory against the inspired Egyptian team.

After 7 rounds, Ukraine and China lead jointly with 11 points while 5 teams (!) are tied for the second spot with 7 points each.

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

The sixth round of the World Team Chess Championship 2015 saw the overnight leaders Ukraine and China maintain their lead as they narrowly overcame Cuba and Israel respectively. Both – Cuba and Israel – were pretty much on the heels of the two overnight leaders and as such, today’s victories by Ukraine and China over the former teams have pushed the leading duo further ahead of the pack.

Meanwhile, the Russians continued their upsurgence with a 2.5-1.5 victory over India. Super GM Sergey Karjakin scored the decisive win for Russia as he beat GM Sethuraman in a 56-move Ruy Lopez battle.

In other matches, Hungary and Armenia split points whereas U.S.A. registered it’s first win of the tournament with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Egypt.

The 7th round will feature the hugely crucial match-up Ukraine vs China while Armenia will take on Russia in the battle of the heavyweights.

Round 6 Results:

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984