Russia and China Win World Teams

The Russian Open team and the Chinese Women’s team both clinched victory with a round to spare in the 2019 World Team Championship . The Russians defeated Sweden 3.5-0.5, leaving them an unassailable three match points ahead of India and England.

The Chinese Women downed the U.S. Women by a score of 3-1, leaving the Russian, Ukraine, and Georgian teams to battle for silver and bronze. This puts the American Women in seventh place with one round to go.

The U.S. Open team drew their match 2-2 against India. The Open team sits in fifth place before the final round tomorrow. OPEN RESULTS

It looked for many moves that the U.S. would win this match, as GM Dariusz Swiercz worked to drive home his near-winning advantage against Indian top board GM Baskaran Adhiban. But Adhiban continued to set problems for Swiercz, and his tenacity was rewarded with a hard-fought draw and a drawn match for his team.

Adhiban-Swiercz Rd 8 Astana (photo Llada)

Onischuk studies Adhiban-Swiercz (photo Emelianova)

Adhiban-Swiercz Rd 8 (photo Emelianova)

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams 2019"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.13"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "2655"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "175"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Ne5 Bd7 8. Nxc4 cxd4 9. Bf4 Be7 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Nxb7 Qb6 12. Nd6 Qc5 13. b4 Qxb4 14. a3 Qc5 15. Qb3 Qh5 (15... Na5 16. Qb4 Qxb4 17. axb4 e5 18. Bxa8 exf4 19. Rxa5 Bxd6 20. Rxa7 Bxb4 21. Rd1 fxg3 22. hxg3 Bc5 23. Ra5 Bb4 24. Ra6 {1-0 (45) Wojtaszek,R (2727)-Adams,M (2712) Douglas 2018}) 16. Qc4 $6 (16. Rc1 g5 17. Bxc6 Ng4 18. Bg2 gxf4 19. h3 fxg3 20. Qf3 gxf2+ 21. Kh1 Bxd6 22. Qxa8+ Kg7 23. Qe4 Nf6 24. Qxd4 Be5 25. Qxf2 Bxa1 26. Nc3 Qe5 {0-1 (26) Arnaudov,P (2459)-Fridman,D (2633) Germany 2019}) 16... Nd5 (16... g5 $1 {is sharp but looks strong:} 17. g4 (17. Bxg5 Qxg5 18. Bxc6 Bxc6 19. Qxc6 Kg7) 17... Qxg4 18. Bg3 Bxd6 19. Bxc6 (19. Bxd6+ Kg7) 19... Bxg3 20. fxg3 Bxc6 21. Qc5+ (21. Qxc6 $6 Kg7) 21... Kg7 22. Qe7 Rhf8 23. Qxf6+ Kg8 $17) 17. Bf3 Qh3 18. Bg2 Qh5 19. Bf3 Qg6 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Qxd5 Qe6 22. Qxe6 Bxe6 23. Rc1 Na5 24. Nd2 g5 25. Be5 f6 26. Bxd4 Bxd6 27. Bxf6 Rg8 {Black is up a piece but White has two pawns and targets.} 28. Ne4 Kf7 29. Rc3 Nc4 30. Nxd6+ Nxd6 31. Be5 Nc4 32. Rf3+ Ke8 33. Bd4 a5 34. a4 Rb8 35. Rc1 Rb4 36. Ra1 Rb7 (36... Nd2 37. Rd3 Nb3 $19) 37. Bc3 Rf8 38. Rd3 Rff7 39. f3 Rfd7 40. g4 Kf7 41. Rxd7+ Bxd7 42. Rd1 Be6 43. Kf2 Rb3 44. Be1 Ra3 45. Rd8 Rxa4 46. Rh8 Kg6 47. Re8 Bf7 48. Rc8 Ra3 49. Ra8 Kf6 50. Kg3 a4 51. h4 gxh4+ 52. Kxh4 Ke6 53. f4 Ra1 54. f5+ Kd5 55. Bb4 h6 56. Rf8 $6 Rh1+ 57. Kg3 Rb1 58. Be7 Rb7 59. Bf6 Nd6 60. Rd8 Kc6 (60... a3 $1) 61. Be5 Rb3+ 62. Kh4 Nc4 63. Bg7 a3 64. Bxh6 a2 65. Bg7 Ne3 66. Rd3 Rxd3 67. exd3 Kd5 68. Bb2 Kd6 (68... Be8 69. Kg5 Nd1) 69. Kg5 Ke7 70. Kf4 Nd5+ 71. Kg5 Nb4 $2 $11 (71... Kf8) 72. Kh6 Nxd3 73. Ba1 Kf8 74. g5 Kg8 75. g6 Be8 76. f6 Nb4 77. Kg5 Nc2 78. Bb2 Ne3 79. f7+ Bxf7 80. gxf7+ Kxf7 81. Kf4 Nc4 82. Ba1 Ke6 83. Ke4 Nd2+ 84. Kd3 Nb3 85. Kc3 Nxa1 86. Kb2 Ke5 87. Kxa1 Kd4 88. Kxa2 {Tragedy for Swiercz, but credit to Adhiban for never giving up!} 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams 2019"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.13"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2642"] [BlackElo "2678"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "India"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. a5 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Qe8 13. c3 Rb8 14. d4 bxc3 15. bxc3 exd4 16. cxd4 Nb4 17. Qb3 Nh5 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Rb1 Nf4 20. Qc4 Qg6 21. g3 d5 22. exd5 Bd6 23. Ba3 Nh3+ 24. Kf1 Qh5 25. Rb3 Nxd5 26. Rxb8 Rxb8 27. Bxd6 cxd6 28. Qxa6 Rd8 29. Qc6 Nhf4 30. gxf4 Nxf4 31. Re4 Qf5 32. Re8+ 1-0 [/pgn]

WOMENS RESULTS

FM Carissa Yip and WCM Rochelle Wu continued to impress in today’s action, earning two draws for the Americans against much higher rated opposition. Yip, who entered the event rated 2279, has a current performance rating of 2402. Wu, rated 2120, is playing at a 2399 clip as the final round approaches.

Rochelle Wu, Rd 6 Astana (photo Emelianova)

Carissa Yip, Rd 8 Astana (photo Emelianova)

Carissa Yip and Rochelle Wu (photo Emelianova)

Yip and Rochelle Wu at the World Team (photo Emelianova)

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams Women"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.13"] [White "Yip, Carissa"] [Black "Huang, Qian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2279"] [BlackElo "2441"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "China"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h4 $5 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. g3 Be7 11. Bh3 O-O 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Qg4 Rf6 14. O-O-O Nc6 15. f4 b5 16. a3 Qc8 17. Rhf1 b4 18. axb4 Nxb4 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. Rxf6 Bxf6 21. Rd6 Kf7 22. Qd1 (22. Rb6 $1 a5 (22... Nc6 23. Nc5 $1) 23. Qe2 {guarding c2 and freeing the c3-knight to head to a4. The goal is to put a knight on c5 and add another attacker to e6.}) 22... Ra7 23. Na4 (23. Rb6 Nc6 24. Nc5) 23... Be7 24. Rd2 Qc6 25. Qh5+ Kg8 26. Qxe5 $2 (26. Nbc5 Qb5 27. Qg4 h5 28. Qxe6+ { and White is much better.}) 26... Qxc2+ 27. Rxc2 Nd3+ {Now Black is fine.} 28. Kb1 Nxe5 29. Nac5 Kf7 30. Nd4 Bxc5 31. Rxc5 Rd7 32. Rxe5 Rxd4 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams Women"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.13"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Wu, Rochelle"] [Black "Ding, Yixin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2120"] [BlackElo "2432"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "China"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 c6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Nge2 h6 9. Bf4 Bd6 10. Qc2 Bxf4 11. Nxf4 Qd6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. f3 Re8 14. Rae1 Nf8 15. Qf2 Bd7 16. Qg3 Qb4 17. Re2 Ne6 18. a3 Qb6 19. Nxe6 Bxe6 20. Na4 Qd8 21. Nc5 b6 22. Nxe6 Rxe6 23. Rc1 Qe7 24. Rce1 Re8 25. Bf5 Rd6 {[#]} 26. b4 (26. e4 $1 dxe4 27. Rxe4 (27. fxe4 Rxd4 28. e5 Nh5 29. Qc3 {gives White reasonable play for the pawn}) 27... Nxe4 28. Rxe4 Re6 (28... Qd8 $2 29. Qxd6) 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Qe1 {with chances.}) 26... g6 27. Bd3 Kg7 28. h3 Re6 29. e4 Nh5 30. Qg4 Qg5 31. Qxg5 hxg5 32. Re3 Nf4 33. Bf1 dxe4 34. Rxe4 Rd8 35. Rxe6 Nxe6 36. Bc4 Kf6 37. Bxe6 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

STANDINGS AFTER RD 8 Open Division:

Women’s Division:

Tomorrow the U.S. plays Iran in the Open section, while the Women take on Egypt. The final round begins three hours early, at 12pm local time, or 2am EST. Live on-site coverage is available at the official website:  http://kazchess.kz/world_astana2019/