Two U.S. Losses in World Teams

Team America took one on the chin today in the seventh round of the 2019 World Team Championship. The Open team fell to Russia 2.5-1.5, giving Russia a one-point cushion in the team standings over second-place England. The Women suffered their biggest loss of the tournament, getting swept by India 4-0. OPEN RESULTS The U.S.-Russia match was decided on the fourth board, where Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev (to whom we have twice referred in this series of reports) wove a bit of magic and defeated GM Zviad Izoria.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.12"]
[White "Artemiev, Vladislav"]
[Black "Izoria, Zviad"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2603"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 c5 5. d4 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. O-O b5 8. Bb3
Bb7 9. e4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc6 13. f3 Bc5+ 14. Kf1 Ke7
15. Ne2 Rhd8 $6 (15... Rac8 16. Bg5 h6 $11) 16. Bg5 $1 {The pin, coupled with
the new threat of Rdc1 to attack the bishops, gives White serious initiative.}
Rxd1+ (16... h6 17. Rdc1 (17. Bxf6+ gxf6 18. Rdc1 Kd6 19. Rc2 $14) 17... hxg5
18. Rxc5 Be8 $16) (16... Bd6 17. Rxd6 Kxd6 18. e5+ Kxe5 19. Bf4+ Kf5 20. Bc2+
Ne4 21. fxe4+ Kf6) 17. Rxd1 Bd6 {This allows Artemiev to gain a significant
advantage via a forced line.} (17... h6 18. Rc1 hxg5 19. Rxc5 Be8 $16) 18. Rxd6
Kxd6 19. e5+ Kxe5 20. Bf4+ Kf5 21. Bc2+ Ne4 22. fxe4+ Kf6 $16 23. Kf2 e5 24.
Bd2 Ke7 25. Bb4+ Ke8 26. Ba5 Bd7 27. Bb3 Rc8 28. Nc3 Rc6 29. Nd5 Rh6 30. Bc3
Kf8 31. h3 f5 32. exf5 Bxf5 33. Bxe5 a5 34. Ke3 Rc6 35. Nc3 b4 36. Bd5 Rc8 37.
Nb5 Rc1 38. Nd6 Bb1 39. Nb7 Re1+ 40. Kd4 Re2 41. a4 Rxb2 42. Nxa5 Bc2 43. Nc4
Ra2 44. Bd6+ Ke8 45. Bxb4 1-0

[/pgn]

American GM Sam Sevian did his best to even the score in a long game against GM Alexander Grischuk, but Grischuk’s defenses held and so the match ended 2.5-1.5 in favor of the Russians.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.12"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2771"]
[BlackElo "2642"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. e3 Nd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. Bd3
g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Re1 dxc4 11. Bxc4 O-O 12. e4 e5 13. d5 Nb6 14. Bb3 Rd8 15. h3
Bf8 16. Qe2 Bd7 17. Red1 Rac8 18. a4 a5 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Qe3 Nd7 21. Nd5 Bxd5
22. Rxd5 Nc5 23. Bc4 Rxd5 24. Bxd5 b6 25. Rc1 Kg7 26. g3 Rc7 27. Kg2 Bd6 28. b3
Na6 29. Rxc7 Bxc7 30. Qc3 Nc5 31. h4 Qd6 32. Qc4 Qe7 33. h5 Bd8 34. Qc3 Nd7 35.
hxg6 fxg6 36. Bc6 Qc5 37. Qc4 Qxc4 38. bxc4 Nb8 39. Bb5 Kf6 40. Ne1 Bc7 41. Nd3
g5 42. c5 bxc5 43. Nxc5 Bb6 44. Nd3 g4 45. Nb2 h5 46. Nc4 Bc7 47. Ne3 Kg5 48.
f3 gxf3+ 49. Kxf3 Bb6 50. Nc4 Bc7 51. Ne3 Bb6 52. Nc4 Bc7 53. Kg2 h4 54. gxh4+
Kxh4 55. Kf3 Kg5 56. Ne3 Bb6 57. Nd5 Bc5 58. Ke2 Kg4 59. Nc7 Bg1 60. Ne6 Bb6
61. Kd3 Kf3 62. Nf8 Bd8 63. Ne6 Bb6 64. Ng7 Ba7 65. Nf5 Bf2 66. Nd6 Be1 67. Ne8
Bb4 68. Ng7 Be1 69. Nf5 Bf2 70. Nd6 Be1 71. Nc4 Kf4 72. Nb6 Kf3 73. Nd5 Bh4 74.
Ne3 Be1 75. Nc2 Bf2 76. Na3 Be1 77. Nc4 Kf4 78. Nd6 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

WOMENS RESULTS India pitched a perfect game in their match against the American women, taking all four boards to win the match 4-0. WGM Sabina Foisor played the most interesting game among the Americans, and might even have had the better end of things before a mistake as the time control approached.

[pgn]

[Event "12th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.12"]
[White "Kulkarni, Bhakti"]
[Black "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2322"]
[BlackElo "2276"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 Ne4 8.
Qc2 f5 9. O-O d6 10. Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Nd7 12. b4 Nf6 13. Rfc1 e5 14. d5 f4
15. Ng5 h6 16. Ne6 Bxe6 17. dxe6 Qxe6 18. Bxb7 Rab8 19. Bg2 fxg3 20. fxg3 e4
21. a3 Qe5 22. e3 Kh8 23. Qd4 Qh5 24. Rf1 Ng4 25. h3 Nf6 26. Qxa7 Qe5 27. g4 c5
28. b5 Qc3 29. b6 Qxe3+ 30. Kh1 h5 31. Rae1 Qg3 32. g5 Qxg5 33. Qe7 {[#]} Rfd8
$6 (33... Rfe8 34. Qxd6 Qe5) (33... h4 {with the idea of ...Nh5-g3}) (33... Qg3
) 34. Bxe4 (34. a4 {looks better, trying to run conjoined pawns up the board.})
34... Nxe4 $6 (34... Re8 35. Qxd6 Rxb6 $1 {only now!} 36. Qxb6 Nxe4 37. Rxe4
Rxe4 $11) 35. Qxe4 (35. Rxe4 Qxe7 36. Rxe7 Rxb6 37. Rff7 Rg8 $11) 35... Rxb6 $2
(35... d5 $1 36. cxd5 Rxb6 37. Rf5 Qg3 {and now} 38. Rxh5+ {is painless
because of} Rh6 $11) 36. Rf5 $18 Qh6 37. Qh4 Rdb8 38. Rxh5 d5 39. cxd5 Qxh5 40.
Qxh5+ Rh6 41. Re8+ Rxe8 42. Qxe8+ Kh7 43. Kh2 Ra6 44. a4 g6 45. d6 1-0

[/pgn]

IRANIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT The Iranian Open team – GMs Firouzja, Maghsoodloo, Sokolov (team captain), Idani, Tabatabaei (L to R above; identity of the two men on the right is unknown) – is one of the youngest teams in the event, with three of their five players born after 2000. Both Maghsoodloo and Firouzja are widely considered to be two of the top U21 talents in the world, and Firouzja shows why in this stunning victory over Kazakhstan’s GM Petr Kostenko.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.12"]
[White "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Black "Kostenko, Petr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2657"]
[BlackElo "2466"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Iran"]
[BlackTeam "Kazakhstan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IRI"]
[BlackTeamCountry "KAZ"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5
9. Bd3 Qb6 10. Qf2 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 (11... Bc5 12. Nce2 b4 13. O-O a5 14.
Rac1 O-O 15. c3 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Rxa6 17. c4 {0-1 (35) Svetushkin,D (2580)-Svane,R
(2595) Batumi 2018}) 12. Bxd4 Bc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 {[#]} Nxd3+ $146 (14...
Nd7 15. a4 Qc7 16. Qd4 bxa4 17. Nxa4 Bb7 18. O-O O-O 19. Ra3 Rfc8 20. f5 h6 21.
f6 Qxe5 22. Qxe5 Nxe5 23. Nb6 {1/2 (44)-1/2 (88)}) 15. cxd3 d4 16. Ne4 O-O 17.
O-O Bb7 18. Nd6 Bd5 19. f5 exf5 20. Nxf5 {[#] What was it that Kasparov said
about a knight on f5 virtually winning the game for you?} Rfe8 21. Rae1 Qg6 22.
Re2 Rad8 23. Qxd4 f6 $2 (23... Bxg2 $2 24. Ne7+ Rxe7 25. Qxd8+) (23... h6 {
is safer luft!}) 24. Qb6 $1 {And now the Ne7+ idea becones very serious.} Kh8
25. Ne7 Qf7 (25... Qxd3 {fails to} 26. exf6 Qxe2 (26... Rf8 27. fxg7+ Kxg7 28.
Nf5+ Rxf5 29. Rxf5 Qxf5 30. Re7+ Bf7 31. Qxd8 $18) 27. fxg7+ Kxg7 28. Qf6#) 26.
exf6 {With dual threats of Nxd5 and fxg7.} Ba8 27. fxg7+ Qxg7 28. Nf5 Qg5 29.
Qd4+ $1 Kg8 (29... Rxd4 30. Rxe8+ Qg8 31. Rxg8+ Kxg8 32. Nxd4) 30. Ne7+ Qxe7
31. Rxe7 (31. Rxe7 Rxd4 32. Rxe8+ Kg7 33. Rxa8) 1-0

[/pgn]

STANDINGS AFTER RD 6 Open Division: Women’s Division: Tomorrow the U.S. plays India in the Open section, while the Women take on China. Rounds begin at 3pm local time, or 4am EST. Live on-site coverage is available at the official website:  http://kazchess.kz/world_astana2019/