After 3 rounds of the CIS Master Italian Team Championship 2015, top seeds ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’, boasting of such players as Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave and Bacrot, took the sole lead with a perfect score of 6 match-points. This became possible courtesy of a comfortable 3-1 victory over 2nd seeds ‘WorldTradingLab Club 64 Modena’ in Round 3. Although Padova’s star-player GM Nakamura could only manage a draw against GM Brunello, their young Italian GMs Vocaturo and Dvirnyy came to the party with wins over IM D’Amore and IM Caprio respectively.
The battle between the 3rd and the 4th seeds – A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi vs P.W. Napoli – ended in a well-fought 2-2 draw with FM Bonafede scoring for A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi and IM Collutiis equalizing for Napoli. The other two games finished in draws, thus ensuring 1 match-point each for both the teams.
In the Women’s Section, A.S.D. Circolo Scacchi and S.S. Lazio Scacchi won their respective matches 3-0, and as such, have taken up the joint lead after Round 1 in this 5 round tournament.
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.
The 47th CIS Master (Italian Team Chess championship) takes place from Apr 29 – May 3. Its a 7 round swiss tourney featuring top 18 teams on the Italian circuit.
The league has attracted top players like Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Eitenne Bacrot (FRA), Maxime-Vachier Lagrave (FRA) and several other GMs. All these top players are playing for ‘Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova’.
With a close victory over China in the final round, the Georgian women clinched Gold at the World Team Chess Championship 2015 with a comprehensive margin of 2 match-points over the second placed Russia. IM Meri Arabidze, again, scored a crucial victory for Georgia, this time over IM Shen Yang. Meanwhile, the Russian women came up with a fantastic 3.5-0.5 victory over U.S.A. to clinch the Silver while Team China secured the Bronze.
The Indian women, despite being out of contention for any medal, did not show any signs of complacency as they scored a resounding 3-1 victory over Armenia to finish fourth in the final rankings. Although GM Koneru Humpy (IND) suffered a shock defeat at the hands of IM Mkrtchian Lilit (ARM), the rest of the Indian women won their respective games and ensured a nice finishing victory for their team.
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).
The World Women’s Team Championship 2015 continued to be a fairy-tale for the Georgian women as they beat Armenia 3-1 in the 8th round of this 9-round event. The Georgians still lead with a margin of 2 match-points over the second-placed Russians, who overcame arch-rivals Ukraine with a close 2.5-1.5 scoreline. GM Anna Muzychuk’s (UKR) victory against GM Gunina (RUS) went in vain with WGMs Pogonina and Girya Olga scoring two crucial points for the Russians and GM Kosteniuk (RUS) holding the newly crowned women’s world champion IM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) to a draw.
The Indian women, although out of contention for a medal, showcased immense determination as they routed 6th-seeds Poland 3.5-0.5. GM Koneru, WGM Soumya and WGM Mary Ann Gomes won their respective games while GM Harika held WGM Zawadzka with the black pieces.
With the 3rd-placed Chinese team taking on Georgia and the Russians facing a struggling American team in the final round, the fight for the top spot promises to be an exciting one as either Georgia or Russia have a chance at fame. The 9th round commences at 11:30 am Local Time and 10 am IST.
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.