Astana R4: Ukraine catches Russia and China

by ChessBase
3/7/2013 – The leading teams from Russia and China faced each other and made a 2-2 result – with two wins for each side. Ukraine was facing a drawn match against Turkey, but after more than 100 moves and six hours of play the talented Turkish WFM Selen Sop simply did not have the physical strength to win the position with a huge advantage. Round four report.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

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.

Round 4 on 2013/03/06 at 15:00
India
2-2
Georgia
USA
2-2
France
Russia
2-2
China
Ukraine
2½-1½
Turkey
Romania
2-2
Kazakhstan
Round 5 on 2013/03/07 at 15:00
Kazakhstan
-
India
Turkey
-
Romania
China
-
Ukraine
France
-
Russia
Georgia
-
USA

Round four

The fourth round ended unpredictably peacefully, despite the fact that the battles lasted till the very end on all boards. Four out of five matches finished in a draw, and the outcome of the last match, Ukraine versus Turkey seemed equal as well.

Anna Ushenina (above) won against Betul Yildiz, two other games finished in a draw. Inna Gaponenko was still fighting for a draw against Selen Sop, but it seems that after more than 100 moves and six hours of play the talented Turkish player simply did not have the physical strength to win the position with a huge advantage. As a result, Gaponenko made a draw, Ukraine won the match +1.

WFM Selen Sop, rated 2028, with her trainer GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.06"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Sop, S."] [Black "Gaponenko, I."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "2028"] [BlackElo "2421"] [PlyCount "226"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h3 c6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. e5 Ne8 9. Bf4 dxe5 10. dxe5 Nc7 11. Bc4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Ne6 13. Be3 Qc7 14. Re1 Bd7 15. Qc1 Rad8 16. a4 a5 17. Bh6 Bc8 18. Re4 f5 19. exf6 Rxf6 20. Bg5 Nd5 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Qe1 Nc5 23. Bxd5+ cxd5 24. Nb5 Qb6 25. Rxe7 Ne6 26. Rxe6 Bxe6 27. c3 Bd7 28. Nfd4 Re8 29. Qd2 Qc5 30. Nb3 Qc4 31. Nxa5 Qe2 32. Qxd5+ Be6 33. Qxb7 Qxb2 34. Rf1 Bf7 35. Qc6 Re6 36. Qa8+ Kg7 37. Qc8 Qc2 38. Nb7 Re8 39. Qg4 Re4 40. Qc8 Re8 41. Qg4 Re4 42. Qd1 Qxd1 43. Rxd1 Rxa4 44. N7d6 Bb3 45. Rb1 Ba2 46. Re1 Bg5 47. Nd4 Bd2 48. Re7+ Kf8 49. Re8+ Kg7 50. N4b5 Bd5 51. f3 Bf4 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Re8+ Kg7 54. Re7+ Kf8 55. Re1 Bg3 56. Rc1 Ra2 57. c4 Bc6 58. Nc3 Rb2 59. Nce4 Bf4 60. Re1 Rc2 61. c5 Be5 62. Rd1 h6 63. Kf1 Kg7 64. Rd2 Rc1+ 65. Ke2 Rg1 66. Kf2 Rc1 67. Ke3 Re1+ 68. Kd3 Bf4 69. Ra2 Rd1+ 70. Kc3 Be5+ 71. Kc2 Rg1 72. Kd3 Rd1+ 73. Rd2 Ra1 74. Nc4 Bf4 75. Re2 Rd1+ 76. Ned2 Bb5 77. Kc2 Ba4+ 78. Kc3 Kf6 79. Kb4 Bd7 80. Ne4+ Kg7 81. Nc3 Rd3 82. Re4 Bg3 83. Ne5 Bxe5 84. Rxe5 Rd4+ 85. Ka5 Bf5 86. Ne4 Rd1 87. c6 {This should be easily won for the Turkish WFM.} Kf8 88. c7 Ra1+ 89. Kb6 Bd7 90. Nd6 (90. Nf6 Bc8 91. Re8+ {wins on the spot.}) 90... Rb1+ 91. Ka7 Rc1 92. Kb6 $2 Rc2 (92... Rc6+ 93. Kb7 Rxd6 {would have immediately secured the draw.}) 93. Rc5 Rxg2 94. c8=Q+ Bxc8 95. Rxc8+ { and now, with rook and knight against rook, things are quiet difficult for White.} Ke7 96. Ne4 Rh2 97. Rc7+ Ke6 98. Rh7 h5 99. Rg7 Ke5 100. Rxg6 Rxh3 101. Nd2 Rh2 102. Nc4+ Kf4 103. Rf6+ Kg5 104. Rf8 h4 105. Ne5 Rf2 106. Kc5 h3 107. Ng4 Rc2+ 108. Kd4 Kh4 109. Ke3 Kg3 110. Rd8 Rc3+ 111. Rd3 Rxd3+ 112. Kxd3 Kxf3 113. Nh2+ Kg2 1/2-1/2

A very tense struggle in the key match between the leaders China and Russia (picture above) – all four games were decisive. Velentina Gunina won worse a looking fight against Ju Wenjun, and Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Huang Qian. In an equal position Natalia Pogonina went for a forced line and ended up in a lost position. Alisa Galliamova missed nice tactical blow, 16.Bd5, and after that her opponent Qi Gou played presicely and didn’t leave any chance to opponent.

The Indian girls showed today that despite the absence of Humpy, Harika and Sachdev, the team can fight along with the favorites. Eesha Karavade defeted Nana Dzagnidze, who is normally very solid. The Georgians immediately equalized the score with a victory of Bela Khotenashvili on the second board.

On the fourth board Nino Khurtsidze had an absolutely winning position against WGM Soumya Swaminathan (above right) but failed to find the direct win a few times. The victory of Georgia was very close, but the match finished in a draw.

[Event "FIDE Women's World Teams"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2013.03.06"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Khurtsidze, N."] [Black "Soumya, Sw"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2437"] [BlackElo "2283"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2013.03.03"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b4 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. d4 e5 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. Nc3 Re8 9. O-O e4 10. Nd2 Nf8 11. a4 h5 12. a5 Bf5 13. a6 b6 14. f3 Bh6 15. fxe4 Bxe3+ 16. Kh1 Be6 17. Nf3 Bh6 18. h3 Ng4 19. Bc1 Ne3 20. Bxe3 Bxe3 21. e5 dxe5 22. dxe5 Qe7 23. Qb3 Bf4 24. Rae1 Nd7 25. Bd3 c6 26. Nd4 Nxe5 27. Nxc6 Nxc6 28. Nd5 Qd6 29. Nxf4 Qxb4 30. Qa2 Nd4 31. Qf2 Nf5 32. Nxe6 fxe6 33. g4 hxg4 34. hxg4 Qd6 35. gxf5 Qxd3 $4 36. Qg2 {Threatening 37.Qxg6+ and mate to follow.} Kh8 37. fxg6 $2 (37. f6 {decides Black's fate instantly.}) 37... Qd4 $2 38. Re4 $2 ({Instead of the simple} 38. Qh2+ Qh4 39. Qxh4+ Kg7 40. Qh7#) 38... Qg7 39. Rh4+ Kg8 40. Rh7 Qe5 41. Rg1 (41. Qb7 {wins on the spot.}) 41... Qf6 42. Qe4 Rab8 43. Rxa7 Rbd8 44. Rf7 Rd4 45. Rxf6 Rxe4 46. Rg3 {and White has managed to steer a totally won game into a draw.} Rxc4 47. Rf7 Ra4 48. Ra7 Rc8 49. g7 Rh4+ 50. Kg1 Rc1+ 51. Kf2 Rc2+ 52. Kf3 Rc3+ 53. Kg2 Rc2+ 54. Kf3 Rc3+ 55. Kg2 Rc2+ 56. Kg1 Rc1+ 57. Kg2 Rc2+ 1/2-1/2

How could I have missed that?? IM Nino Khurtsidze, rated 2437

One more match, Romania versus Kazakhstan, finished peacefully. Irina Bulmaga got quite comfortable position in the middle game and managed to outplay Gulmira Dauletova. Two other games finished in a draw but Guliskhan Nakhbaeva showed self-possession and steel nerves once again – this time in her game against the very experienced Romanian player Cristina Adela Foisor. She outplayed her opponent after long-lasted fight and saved the match for her team. The French team managed to make a draw in the match against the USA and finally gained the so long-awaited first team point.

After the fourth round Ukraine has caught Russia and China and shares first place with them.

Rank
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
MP
Pts.
1
Russia
*
2
3
4
7
12½
2
China
2
*
3
7
12
3
Ukraine
*
3
2
7
10
4
Georgia
1
*
2
3
5
5
India
1
2
*
2
4
6
USA
½
*
2
2
4
7
7
Romania
½
2
2
*
2
3
8
Kazakhstan  
1
2
2
*
2
9
France
½
½
2
*
1
10
Turkey
0
1
*
0
4

Photos from Astana by Anastasiya Karlovich

Replay all games of the round

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Schedule and results

Round 1 on 2013/03/03 at 15:00
Ukraine
3-1
India
Romania
½-3½
Russia
Kazakhstan
2-2
USA
Turkey
1-3
Georgia
China
3½-½
France
Round 2 on 2013/03/04 at 15:00
India
2½-1½
France
Georgia
1-3
China
USA
2½-1½
Turkey
Russia
3-1
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
2-2
Romania
Round 3 on 2013/03/05 at 15:00
Romania
2-2
India
Kazakhstan
1½-2½
Ukraine
Turkey
0-4
Russia
China
3½-½
USA
France
½-3½
Georgia
Round 4 on 2013/03/06 at 15:00
India
2-2
Georgia
USA
2-2
France
Russia
2-2
China
Ukraine
2½-1½
Turkey
Romania
2-2
Kazakhstan
Round 5 on 2013/03/07 at 15:00
Kazakhstan
-
India
Turkey
-
Romania
China
-
Ukraine
France
-
Russia
Georgia
-
USA
2013/03/08 – free day
Round 6 on 2013/03/09 at 15:00
India
-
USA
Russia
-
Georgia
Ukraine
-
France
Romania
-
China
Kazakhstan
-
Turkey
Round 7 on 2013/03/10 at 15:00
Turkey
-
India
China
-
Kazakhstan
France
-
Romania
Georgia
-
Ukraine
USA
-
Russia
Round 8 on 2013/03/11 at 15:00
India
-
Russia
Ukraine
-
USA
Romania
-
Georgia
Kazakhstan
-
France
Turkey
-
China
Round 9 on 2013/03/12 at 11:00
China
-
India
France
-
Turkey
Georgia
-
Kazakhstan
USA
-
Romania
Russia
-
Ukraine

Links

The 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.

Copyright ChessBase


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register