Fifth China vs Russia Match in Ningpo

24.9.2008 - Ningpo or Ningbō is a provincial Chinese city – populated by over two million and covering an area of over 6000 square kilometres. It is playing host to a traditional China vs Russia match, which this year is going in favour of the Eastern players. After the five rounds of regular chess (rapid and blitz are to follow) the score is 26:24 points – thanks to the Russian girls. Pictorial report.

Fifth China vs Russia Match in Ningpo

The Fifth China vs Russia Chess Match is taking place from September 18-27 2008, in Ningpo, China. The name, also given as Ningbo, tanslates to literally to "Tranquil" (宁 Ning) "Waves" (bō 波). The city with a population of over two million is located in northeastern Zhejiang province, facing the East China Sea. You can browse around the area in the following Google Maps window:

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Wikipedia tells us that Ningbo is one of China's oldest cities, with a history dating back to 4800 B.C. the Hemudu culture. It was known as a trade city on the silk road and the major ports for foreign trade. In 1940 Piero Scaruffi reports Japan bombed Ningbo with fleas carrying the bubonic plague.

The metropolitan area of the city covers an area of over 9000 square kilometres

The famous Zhenhai Bridge in Ningpo

Tower on Zhaobao Mountain

The city at dusk

More information on the Ningpo home page

The China vs Russia match consists of standard (90 min + 30 sec), rapid (25' + 10") and blitz (3' + 2") games. In the first five games the Russian men were soundly defeated by their Chinese counterparts, but the Russian women fought back to reduce the distance between the two. This is now just two points.

Standings after five rounds of standard chess (90 min + 30 sec)

Chinese men

Russian men

1	Wang Hao	GM	2691	3.5	2844
2	Wang Yue	GM	2704	3.0	2767
3	Li Chao2	GM	2590	3.0	2767
4	Ni Hua	GM	2705	2.5	2700
5	Bu Xiangzhi	GM	2710	2.5	2707

1	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	GM	2646	2.5	2680
2	Alekseev, Evgeny	GM	2708	2.5	2680
3	Svidler, Peter	GM	2738	2.0	2608
4	Jakovenko, Dmitry	GM	2709	2.0	2608
5	Inarkiev, Ernesto	GM	2675	1.5	2531

Total: 14.5

Total: 10.5

Chinese women

Russian women

1	Shen Yang	WGM	2445	4.0	2706
2	Xu Yuhua	GM	2483	2.5	2466
3	Ruan Lufei	WGM	2499	2.0	2394
4	Zhao Xue	IM	2522	2.0	2394
5	Huang Qian	WGM	2430	1.0	2226

1	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	IM	2460	3.0	2547
2	Pogonina, Natalija	WGM	2469	3.0	2547
3	Korbut, Ekaterina	IM	2459	3.0	2547
4	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	IM	2435	2.5	2475
5	Kosintseva, Tatiana	IM	2511	2.0	2403

Total: 11.5

Total: 13.5

Chinese total: 26.0

Russian total: 24.0

Individual round by round results

Round 1 – September 18, 2008
Wang Hao	1-0	Jakovenko, Dmitry
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	½-½	Ni Hua
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	Xu Yuhua
Li Chao2	1-0	Alekseev, Evgeny
Pogonina, Natalija	1-0	Ruan Lufei
Wang Yue	½-½	Inarkiev, Ernesto
Korbut, Ekaterina	0-1	Shen Yang
Huang Qian	½-½	Kosintseva, Nadezhda
Zhao Xue	½-½	Kosintseva, Tatiana
Svidler, Peter	½-½	Bu Xiangzhi
Round 2 – September 19, 2008
Shen Yang	1-0	Pogonina, Natalija
Ni Hua	1-0	Svidler, Peter
Kosintseva, Nadezhda	1-0	Zhao Xue
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	1-0	Huang Qian
Jakovenko, Dmitry	1-0	Bu Xiangzhi
Li Chao2	0-1	Tomashevsky, Evgeny
Xu Yuhua	0-1	Korbut, Ekaterina
Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	Wang Yue
Inarkiev, Ernesto	0-1	Wang Hao
Ruan Lufei	½-½	Kosintseva, Tatiana
Round 3 – September 20, 2008
Shen Yang	½-½	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	½-½	Wang Hao
Ni Hua	½-½	Jakovenko, Dmitry
Kosintseva, Nadezhda	½-½	Ruan Lufei
Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	Li Chao2
Zhao Xue	½-½	Korbut, Ekaterina
Svidler, Peter	½-½	Wang Yue
Kosintseva, Tatiana	0-1	Xu Yuhua
Bu Xiangzhi	½-½	Alekseev, Evgeny
Huang Qian	0-1	Pogonina, Natalija
Round 4 – September 21, 2008
Wang Hao	½-½	Svidler, Peter
Wang Yue	1-0	Tomashevsky, Evgeny
Pogonina, Natalija	½-½	Zhao Xue
Alekseev, Evgeny	1-0	Ni Hua
Ruan Lufei	1-0	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina
Korbut, Ekaterina	½-½	Huang Qian
Xu Yuhua	½-½	Kosintseva, Nadezhda
Bu Xiangzhi	1-0	Inarkiev, Ernesto
Jakovenko, Dmitry	0-1	Li Chao2
Kosintseva, Tatiana	0-1	Shen Yang
Round 5 – September 22, 2008
Shen Yang	½-½	Kosintseva, Nadezhda
Wang Yue	½-½	Jakovenko, Dmitry
Li Chao2	½-½	Svidler, Peter
Korbut, Ekaterina	1-0	Ruan Lufei
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	½-½	Bu Xiangzhi
Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	Wang Hao
Xu Yuhua	½-½	Pogonina, Natalija
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	Zhao Xue
Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	Ni Hua
Huang Qian	0-1	Kosintseva, Tatiana

Wang Hao, 2691 vs Dmitry Jakovenko, 2709 in round one. Wang won this game and has scored 3.5/5 so far, with a sterling 2844 performance.

WGM Natalija Pogonina, 2469, with 3.0/5 and a 2547 performance

Gopal leads in Banja Luka

5.10.2008 - It is a famous tournament site, in the capital of the Republic of Srpska (an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina). From September 28 to October 9 ten GMs are battling it out – quite literally, since there was only one "saloon draw" in the first four rounds. Indian GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal, rated 2548, leads, with 77-year-old Viktor Korchnoi in hot pursuit. Report from Banja Luka.

Monokroussos on the Match

15.10.2008 - The World Championship has started, and our weekly Playchess lecture is scheduled for the night after game two. From now until the end of the match Dennis Monokroussos plans to go were the action is and do recaps of the games. If you missed them – or even if you didn't – be there and watch. Nine p.m. ET.

Fifth China vs Russia Match in Ningpo