FIDE World Team Championship: India shines

All photos by Anastasia Balakhontseva

Round four

The FIDE Open and Women’s World Team Chess Championships is taking place from June 16 to June 27, 2017 (June 21 is a free day) in the the Ugra Chess Academy of the oil-book town of Khanty-Mansiysk, in western Siberia. Ten open and ten women's teams are participating. Games start at 3 p.m. local time – 12 noon CEST, 6 a.m. New York (check your location).

Open section

For board wise break down, click here

It would be an exaggeration to say the entire round had been one of upsets, since that was not the case. Russia was certainly expected to overcome Belarus, and sure enough they did, with a convincing 3-1 win, including victories by Ian Nepomniachtchi, as well as a re-invigorated Maxim Matlakov.

Ian Nepomniachtchi’s 2.5/3 result is certainly impressive, and it seems to suggest that he performs particularly well in team events, at least when playing for his country. During the Baku Olympiad in 2016 he was also a force to reckon with, as he had a terrific start.

Ian Nepomniachtchi scored another big win for Russia in their match against Belarus

The same was true of China’s emphatic 3.5-0.5 win over Egypt, a match between the top seed and the bottom seed, with a 340 Elo difference on average. Ukraine also had no trouble dispatching Norway where their board three and four were decisive.

That was where the normal ended though. Turkey had managed thus far to hold both Ukraine and Russia to draws, showing they were playing far beyond their ratings suggested. This has been a classic example of a team where the whole is worth more than the sum of their parts. Facing a confident Poland, that had won its three previous matches with an unblemished score, they outpipped them with three draws, and one win by Emre Can over Mateusz Bartel for a 2.5-1.5 win.

This key game by Can Emre (right) over Mateusz Bartel clinched the victory for Turkey over Poland

However, the biggest surprise was the big match between India, with an average rating of 2675, and the USA, which still came with a 2673 average, pretty much identical. But nothing went right for the Americans that day.

As IM Sagar Shah explains, “Adhiban began with two losses in this event. The logical thing to do would have been to rest him for a round. But coach Ramesh put faith in Adhiban's abilities and let him play the third round. The boy from Chennai delivered and India beat Belarus. Once Adhiban is in form, it is quite difficult to stop him and Varuzhan Akobian must have felt it in the fourth round!”

Instead of taking him off for a rest day, Adhiban was given another chance, and he delivered!

Indeed, watch the spectacular tactics the Indian unleashed to win his game against Varuzhan Akobian:

Akobian - Adhiban

After trying your hand at the position above, be sure to see the detailed analysis of the game:

Varuzhan Akobian (USA) vs B. Adhiban (IND) (annotated by IM Sagar Shah)

Another key win was Krishnan Sasikiran’s victory over Ray Robson. Robson is a very talented grandmaster, with a powerful sense of opportunism that has allowed him to turn many pooor positions into outright wins, but he faced a very much in-form Sasikiran, fresh from a victory at the Capablanca Memorial, and also a big expert on the Slav.

Krishan Sasikiran (IND) vs Ray Robson (USA) (annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson)

Finally, it came down to the last board between Jeffery Xiong, one of America’s brightest young talents, and Parimarjan Negi, who is no stranger to the concept of prodigy. Negi, it should be noted, has the record as the world's third youngest grandmaster ever. Though he is retired from play at the moment, focused on his studies in Stanford, at age 24 he is still a player with over 10 years as a grandmaster. Experience counts for something in chess, and he wisely chose to neutralize Xiong's tactical skills, and steer for a simple dry position where his younger opponent broke his teeth.

Jeffery Xiong (USA) vs Parimarjan Negi (IND) (annotated by IM Sagar Shah)

In round five, one of the most intriguing matches will be China vs Turkey. With the surprising success the Turkish team has had, China is taking no chances, and will field its strongest team possible.

Warm thanks to IM Sagar Shah for sharing his analysis with ChessBase readers. You can read his full report at ChessBase India.

Crosstable of Open section

Women's section

For a board wise break down, click here

The women’s competition saw another success for India, as they overcame the team of Poland, rated identically. While this places them in third place, they are still a margin away from the two leaders Russia and Ukraine. China faltered once again, and were unable to overcome Azerbaijan.

India had a great day, and their women's team also emerged victorious, defeating Poland

Round five sees Russia pitted against Team USA.

Crosstable of Women's section

Links

• Official tournament site
• All Open games in PGN or Replay them directly here (many analyzed)
• All Women games in PGN or Replay them directly here (many analyzed)

You can use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.