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The city of Astana in Kazakhstan is hosting the Women's World Chess Team Championship from March 2nd to 12 in the Duman Hotel in Astana. Ten best teams in the world are participating: China, Russia, Ukraine, USA, India, France, Turkey, Georgia, Rumania and Kazakhstan. Each team consists of five players, with four playing in each of the nine rounds of this round robin tournament. Time control is 90 minutes per 40 moves and thirty minutes until the end of the game plus 30 seconds increment per move.
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One of the most dramatic matches of the second round was the encounter between two medalists of the previous world team championship, China and Georgia. Despite the fact that Georgian team was the rating favorite in the match, the result was not easy to predict as after a relatively quick draw on the last board all the other players continue to fight.
Before the first time control the leader of the Georgian team Nana Dzagnidze (above) blundered a simple tactical idea and had to resign. The victory of Chinese team was secured after the win of Huang Qian against Bela Khotenashvili.
[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.04"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A83"] [WhiteElo "2554"] [BlackElo "2505"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] [WhiteTeam "GEO"] [BlackTeam "CHN"] 1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nc6 5. f3 d5 6. Bb5 Qd6 7. Bxf6 exf6 8. fxe4 dxe4 9. Nge2 Bg4 10. d5 a6 11. dxc6 axb5 12. cxb7 Rb8 13. Qxd6 Bxd6 14. Nxe4 Be5 15. Nf2 Bf5 16. O-O-O Rxb7 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Nb3 Bf5 19. Nd3 Bd6 20. Rhf1 Bxd3 21. Rxd3 Kf7 22. a3 b4 23. a4 Ra8 24. a5 Rb5 25. g3 Ra6 26. Rd4 Rh5 27. Rf2 Ke6 28. Re2+ Re5 29. Kd2 c5 30. Rh4 h6 31. Rxe5+ fxe5 32. Kd3 Kd5 33. c4+ bxc3 34. bxc3 Bc7 35. Ra4 Bd8 36. c4+ Kc6 37. Ke4 Bf6 38. Ra1 Ra8 39. a6 { White has a nice advantage and appears to be on the path to victory. But one move before the time control Ju Wenjun sets a simple trap:} Bd8 {and her Georgian opponent walks straight into it:} 40. Kxe5 $4 Bf6+ {What a terrible skewer.} 41. Kf5 Bxa1 42. Nxa1 Rxa6 43. Nc2 Ra2 44. Ne3 Rxh2 {and of course everything is lost.} 45. Kg6 Re2 46. Nf5 Re4 47. Kxg7 Rxc4 48. Kxh6 Re4 0-1
[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.04"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Huang, Qian"] [Black "Khotenashvili, Bela"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2476"] [BlackElo "2499"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] [WhiteTeam "CHN"] [BlackTeam "GEO"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. e3 c4 9. Be2 g5 10. Bg3 Ne4 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Ne5 f6 15. Nxc4 dxc4 16. Bxc4+ Kg7 17. Bd3 Nxg3 18. fxg3 Nc6 19. h4 Bd7 20. e4 Rad8 21. Qf3 g4 22. Qe2 Ne7 23. Kh2 Rde8 24. Bb1 Qh5 25. Qd3 Ng6 26. Kg1 Qb5 27. Qd2 Qa5 28. Rf2 Qc7 29. Qd3 h5 30. Rcf1 Qb6 31. Qd2 Qd8 32. Kh2 b5 33. Kg1 Qe7 34. Qd3 Qe6 35. Qd2 Qd6 36. Qd3 a5 37. Kh2 Rc8 38. Kg1 Qc6 39. Rc1 Qd6 40. Qe3 Rce8 41. Rcf1 Qb6 42. Qd3 Rd8 43. Qe3 Rde8 44. Qd3 Rc8 45. Qe3 b4 46. cxb4 axb4 47. e5 f5 48. Bxf5 Bxf5 49. Rxf5 Rxf5 50. Rxf5 Rc4 51. Kh2 Qxd4 52. Qg5 Rc6 53. e6 Rxe6 54. Rd5 Qa7 55. Qd2 Qb6 56. Rxh5 Re3 57. Rg5 Kh6 58. Rxg4 Qe6 59. Rxb4 Qe5 60. Qf2 Re2 61. Qf7 {Once again the Georgian player has dominated in most of the game, and her team was desperately looking for a win to compensate for the loss by Dzagnidze and save the day. But the advantage has slipped away and now she blunders.} Re3 $4 {Threatening 62...Qxg3+ and mate to follow. BUT:} 62. Rg4 $1 {Defends, but more importantly threatens mate in one on g6.} Ne7 63. Rg5 { Attacks the black queen and at the same time threatens 64.Qh5 mate. There is only one solution:} 1-0
The leader of the Russian team Valentina Gunina blundered a piece right after the opening and Kazakh player Guliskhan Nahbaevoy didn’t lose her chance to win the full point.
Coach Sergei Rublevsky with Alexandra Kosteniuk (left) and Valentina Gunina
[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.04"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Gunina, Valentina"] [Black "Nakhbayeva, Guliskhan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2505"] [BlackElo "2344"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] [WhiteTeam "RUS"] [BlackTeam "KAZ"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. Nc3 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Qc2 Be7 11. Ne5 c5 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Na4 Qd6 14. Bc3 $2 { As Guliskhan said after the game she was surprised when her opponent decided to play this move and took ten minutes to check all variations and play the winning move:} d4 15. exd4 cxd4 16. Rfd1 Qxe5 17. Bxd4 Qg5 18. Bf1 Na6 19. Nb6 Rad8 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Nd7 Rfe8 22. Qb3 Nb4 23. a3 Bd5 24. Qa4 Nc6 25. Nb6 Nd4 26. Rxd4 Bxd4 27. Qxd4 Bxg2 28. h4 Qg6 29. Qc5 Bb7+ 30. Kh2 Re4 31. Bh3 Rxh4 32. Rg1 Rxh3+ 0-1
This looked promising for the young team from Kazakhstan, but the Russian players didn’t let their opponents gain even half a point more. The match finished with 3-1 in favor of Russia.
The match between Ukraine and Romania (above) unexpectedly ended in a draw as all four games finished peacefully. It is undoubtedly successful result for Romanian team which placed seventh on the starting list.
The young team from Turkey put up stubborn resistance in the match against the USA. The turkish players on the first three boards made draws with the opponents, whose rating was at least 150 points higher. Nevertheless, Viktorija Ni managed to win on the last board and brought the victory to American team.
[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.04"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Kaya, Emel"] [Black "Ni, Viktorija"] [Result "*"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "1995"] [BlackElo "2263"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] [WhiteTeam "TUR"] [BlackTeam "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bxc6 Nxc6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qc7 9. Re1 Be7 10. Nd5 exd5 11. exd5 O-O 12. dxc6 dxc6 13. Qf3 Bd6 14. h4 Qa5 15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Qxf4 Qb4 17. Ne6 Qxf4 18. Nxf4 Bf5 19. Re7 b5 20. Re5 g6 21. Rc5 Rac8 22. f3 Rfd8 23. g4 Rd4 24. gxf5 Rxf4 25. fxg6 hxg6 26. h5 Rxf3 27. Kg2 Rf6 28. Re1 Rd8 29. Re2 Rd4 30. Kg3 Kg7 31. hxg6 Rxg6+ 32. Kf3 Rdg4 33. b3 R4g5 34. Rce5 $4 {Another time pressure blunder.} ({After} 34. Rxg5 Rxg5 { White should be able to hold the position.}) 34... Rf6+ (34... Rf6+ {wins due to} 35. Ke4 Rxe5+ 36. Kxe5 Re6+ {with another deadly skewer.}) *
The same scenario was in the match France-India – the result on the fourth board was fatal for the final score. Soumya Swaminathan (above) outplayed Natacha Benmesbah and India won the match.
French WIM Natacha Benmesbah, 2266, facing WGM Soumya Swaminathan
As a result Russia and China are on the lead after two rounds, Ukraine and the USA share the third place. In the third round China will meet with the USA and Russia will fight Turkey.
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Rank
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Team |
1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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MP
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Pts.
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1
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China |
*
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3
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3½
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4
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6½
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2
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Russia |
*
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3
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3½
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4
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6½
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3
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Ukraine |
*
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3
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2
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3
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5
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4
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USA |
*
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2
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2½
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3
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4½
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5
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Georgia |
1
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*
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3
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2
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4
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6
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India |
1
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*
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2½
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2
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3½
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7
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Kazakhstan |
1
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2
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*
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1
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3
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8
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Romania |
½
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2
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*
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1
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2½
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9
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Turkey |
1½
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1
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*
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0
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2½
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10
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France |
½
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1½
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*
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0
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2
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The Women's World Team Championship has been organized since 2007, and the Chinese team won all the championships in the past. This time without their strongest players, Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue, the task will not be so easy this year. The Russian team, which won the Chess Olympiad last September and took three silver medals in previous Women’s World Team Championships, is also playing without their two top players, Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva. So that evens things out for the top teams.
Photos from Astana by Anastasiya Karlovich
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
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2013/03/08 – free day
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LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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