USA Finishes Fourth in FIDE Women's World Team Championship

The 2023 FIDE Women's World Team Championship concluded Monday, September 11 in Bydgoszcz, Poland after three days of group play and three days of knock-out rounds. When the dust settled, Georgia defeated Kazakhstan to claim top honors, while France defeated USA in the match for third place.

courtesy of FIDE

Each round of the knock-out consisted of two matches of 45-minute games with 10-second increment. In an event of a tie after the two rounds, there would be blitz playoffs.

courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE

In the quarterfinals, USA managed to withstand an upset bid from Ukraine, winning both rounds 2½–1½. Both matches were close, as WIM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova defeated IM Annie Wang on board three in the first match and IM Nataliya Buksa defeated IM Anna Zatonskih (who was subbed in for Wang) in the second match. This meant that winning the round would require two wins out of the remaining games, which is what happened in each match.

Tatev Abrahamyan on the way to an individual silver medal for her third board performance (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

In the first match, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan took down Buksa, and WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan defeated GM Natalia Zhukova.

In the second match, it was again Abrahamyan and Pourkashiyan who sealed the deal, defeating IM Inna Gaponenko and WIM Yelyzaveta Hrebenshchykova, respectively.

Playing top board, FM Alice Lee was able to hold GM Ushenina to a draw in both games, which was a fantastic result for the 13-year-old.

This set up a semifinal pairing against eventual champions Georgia. In the first match, Georgia won 2½–1½ despite a fantastic upset by Lee of GM Bella Khotenashvili.

Both Zatonskih and Abrahamyan had drawing chances in their games, but, such is the cruelty of rapid chess:

In the return match, three of the four games were drawn, but Wang came through with a clutch win over GM Nino Batsiashvili to send the match to tiebreaks.

Unfortunately, here, Georgia's experience proved decisive, winning the blitz 3½–½, with only Abrahamyan managing to "hold serve." Khotenashvili's win over Lee was indicative of the Georgian team's resolve:

On the other side of the bracket, France also managed to take Kazakhstan to playoffs, with the similarly professional Kazakhstani team winning their blitz match in an even more convincing 4–0 clean sweep, setting up Kazakhstan versus Georgia in the finals and France versus USA for third place.

Georgian top board Bella Khotenashvili celebrating after her tournament victory (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

In the gold medal fight, the first match saw draws on the top three boards, but Georgian IM Lela Javakhishvili came through with the decisive blow in a geometrically pleasing position.

This momentum proved decisive, with Khotenashvili leading the charge from the top board as Georgia won the second match 3½–½ to claim the gold.

The winners! (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

In the battle for bronze, team USA put up a resilient 2–2 draw in the first match. After a remarkably solid performance throughout the week, Lee made an uncharacteristic blunder that left her in a lost position on the top board.

Nevertheless, she ended up clawing her way back to hold and eventually even win the game. This could have been exactly what her team needed to win the match, with Abrahamyan earning a great position with the black pieces.

It's not a tournament without at least one swindle (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

Unfortunately, Caissa gives and takes in equal measures.

In the second match, draws on the top two boards meant that either Wang or Pourkashiyan could lead the team to victory.

The French team celebrates their bronze medal victory (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

But Pourkashiyan's over-ambitious sacrifice early against WIM Natacha Benmesbah left her in a lost position, which meant Wang would have to strike back to equalize.

With both semifinal matches going to blitz tiebreaks, this was an incredibly tight "final four" with all teams showing fighting spirit up to the final games. As such, several individual players stood out, including three Americans who earned individual medals for their performances.

Lee receiving her gold medal for her performance on board one (courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

Going undefeated across her six rapid games in the knockout stage, in addition to scoring three wins and only giving up one loss in the group stages, Alice Lee also took home a very well deserved individual gold medal on the top board for her performance.

Third board silver medalist Tatev Abrahamyan (courtesy David Llada/FIDE)

Additionally, Tatev Abrahamyan earned a silver medal for third board and Atousa Pourkashiyan a silver for fifth board. Individual medal results are available here.