World Team Championship Gets Underway in Astana

The World Team Championship got underway today in Astana, Kazakhstan. National teams from 14 countries, including the United States, will compete in Open and Women’s divisions to determine a World Team Champion. The event features two 10 team round-robin schedules of nine rounds each, and the time control is 40/90, SD/30 with a 30 second increment. The U.S. Open Division team was paired with Egypt in Round 1, while the Women’s team faced the Ukraine. GM Dariusz Swiercz, playing in his first international event under the U.S. flag, led the team to a 3-1 victory.

Swiercz and GM Zviad Izoria, the underdog hero of the 2018 US Championships, both won their individual games.

[pgn] [Event "World Teams 2019"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.05"] [White "Amin, Bassem"] [Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2655"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "Egypt"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "EGY"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Re1 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Nf1 Bxb3 11. Qxb3 Qd7 12. Ng3 Rfe8 13. h3 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Ne4 Bf8 16. Bd2 b5 17. a4 b4 18. a5 Rab8 19. Qc4 Rb5 20. Ng3 bxc3 21. bxc3 Nf6 22. Reb1 Nxa5 23. Qa2 Qxd3 24. Rxb5 axb5 25. Qxa5 e4 26. Nd4 Qxd2 27. Nf1 Qd3 28. Qxc7 b4 29. Rc1 e3 30. fxe3 Rxe3 31. Nc6 b3 32. Qb8 b2 33. Qxb2 Re2 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "World Teams 2019"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.05"] [White "Izoria, Zviad"] [Black "Hesham, Abdelrahman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2603"] [BlackElo "2450"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Egypt"] [BlackTeamCountry "EGY"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. e4 Bb4 6. e5 Ne7 7. a3 Ba5 8. b4 Bc7 9. Bd3 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. O-O O-O 12. Ne2 Nf5 13. Ng3 a5 14. bxa5 Nxg3 15. hxg3 dxc4 16. Bxc4 Rxa5 17. Qb3 Nd5 18. Bd2 Ra7 19. a4 Qe8 20. Rfe1 Qh5 21. Ng5 h6 22. Nxe6 Bxe6 23. Rxe6 Rxf2 24. Bxd5 cxd5 25. Kxf2 Qf5+ 26. Bf4 Bxf4 27. Re8+ Kf7 28. Re2 Be5+ 29. Ke1 Bf6 30. Qb6 Qc8 31. Qxa7 Qc3+ 32. Rd2 Qxa1+ 33. Kf2 Kg6 34. Qc5 Qxa4 35. Qxd5 b5 36. g4 Kh7 37. Ke2 Qb4 38. Qe4+ g6 39. Rc2 Bg7 40. Rc7 Qb2+ 41. Kf1 b4 42. Qe5 Qa1+ 43. Ke2 Qa2+ 44. Kd3 Qb3+ 45. Ke4 Qg8 46. Qxg7+ Qxg7 47. Rxg7+ Kxg7 48. Kd3 1-0 [/pgn]

Outrated on every board by at least 150 points, the Women’s team scored a minor upset by holding the powerful Ukrainians to a 2-2 draw.

Top board WGM Tatev Abrahamyan fell to GM and former Women’s World Champion Mariya Muzschuk on board one, but FM Carissa Yip defeated GM Anna Ushenina on board two to even the score.

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams Women"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.05"] [White "Ushenina, Anna"] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E73"] [WhiteElo "2443"] [BlackElo "2279"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qd2 c6 8. Nf3 e5 9. d5 Nc5 10. Qc2 a5 11. O-O Rb8 $146 12. a3 cxd5 13. cxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2 Bd7 15. Nb5 Bxb5 16. Bxb5 Rfc8 17. Rac1 Qd8 18. Qb1 a4 19. Be3 Qa5 20. Be2 b5 21. f3 Nfd7 22. Rc3 Bf6 23. Qc2 Bd8 24. Rb1 Qa6 25. Qd1 Ba5 26. Rc2 Bb6 27. Bf2 Kg7 28. Rbc1 Rc7 29. Qf1 Ba7 30. Rc3 Rcc8 31. Kh1 Qb7 32. R1c2 Rf8 33. b4 $6 axb3 34. Nxb3 Qa6 35. Bh4 Qa4 {[#]} 36. Qb1 $2 b4 $1 37. axb4 Qxb4 38. Qa2 (38. Re3 $4 Nxb3) (38. Bc4 Na4 39. Rd3 Ndc5 $1) 38... Nxb3 39. Qxa7 Nd4 40. Qxd7 (40. Rc4 Qxc4 $1 41. Bxc4 (41. Rxc4 {is the same}) 41... Rb1+ {and the weak backrank tells.}) 40... Qxc3 0-1 [/pgn]

Both WGM Sabina Foisor and WCM Rochelle Wu drew to hold the line and the match. The 12 year old Wu very nearly beat her opponent, IM Nataliya Buksa, in a wonderful game.

[pgn] [Event "12th World Teams Women"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2019.03.05"] [White "Buksa, Nataliya"] [Black "Wu, Rochelle"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2416"] [BlackElo "2120"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2019.03.05"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nb3 g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8. g4 h6 9. Be3 Nc6 10. f4 Be6 11. Rg1 g5 12. Qd2 Qd7 13. f5 Bxb3 14. axb3 Rc8 15. h3 Ne5 16. Bd4 Qc6 17. Bxe5 dxe5 18. O-O-O Qb6 19. Kb1 Rc6 20. Rg3 O-O 21. Rd3 Qf2 22. Rf1 Qc5 23. h4 Nh7 24. Nd5 Re8 25. b4 Qa7 26. h5 Nf6 27. Nxf6+ Bxf6 28. Rd5 Qb6 29. c3 Kg7 30. Rd1 Rec8 31. Bd3 Rd6 32. Bc2 Rcd8 33. c4 Rxd5 34. exd5 Qd4 35. Qe2 Qb6 36. Qe1 Qc7 37. Bb3 Qb6 38. Bc2 Qc7 39. Qe4 a5 40. bxa5 Qxa5 41. Rd3 Qc5 42. Rb3 Ra8 43. Bd1 Ra4 44. Rc3 Rb4 45. Bb3 Qg1+ 46. Kc2 b5 47. d6 exd6 48. Qb7 Qf2+ 49. Kb1 Rxb3 50. Rxb3 bxc4 51. Rb5 Qg1+ 52. Ka2 Qxg4 53. Qc8 c3 54. Ka3 cxb2 55. Rb8 Qf3+ 56. Kxb2 e4+ 57. Ka2 Qe2+ 58. Ka3 Qd3+ 59. Ka4 Qd4+ 60. Kb5 Qd5+ 61. Kb4 Qd2+ 62. Ka3 Qa5+ 63. Kb3 Qd5+ 64. Ka3 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Standings after Round 1: Open Division: Women's Division: Tomorrow the Open team takes on China, while the Women’s team faces Hungary. Rounds begin at 3pm local time, or 4am EST. Live on-site coverage is available at the official website: http://kazchess.kz/world_astana2019/