FIDE World Team Championship: Turkey holds Russia to draw

All photos by Anastasia Balakhontseva

On the Men's side, the battle of Asian giants, China and India, saw all four games still going on after the time control. In the end of the day the only victory belonged to Yu Yangyi, who beat Adhiban with black, thus providing the margin of victory. However, it could have easily gone the other way, as on board one Vidit Santosh Gujrathi proved to be a worthy opponent for Ding Liren. If anything, Black appeared to be better in a complex middlegame with the opposite-color bishops.

Another thrilling match by the Indians, this time against top-seed China. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi showed he was more than up to the challenge of the top board, and was even well ahead in his game against Top Ten player Ding Liren.

The bigger miss was on board three, where Sasikiran let his advantage of an extra pawn gradually slip away in the battle with Wei Yi. Negi also pushed against Li Chao in a minor piece endgame, but Black just had enough counterplay for the match-clinching draw. A disappointing loss for the young Indian squad, but they will unquestionably fight until the end of their stay in Khanty.

For more insights on Vidit's vision of chess, not to mention a deep understanding of the Caro-Kann, be sure to check out his DVDs.

Krishnan Sasikiran showed the fine form that brought him victory at the recent Capablanca Memorial. In the end, Wei Yi was able to save it, but just.

The encounter between two neighboring former Soviet Union Republics, Ukraine and Belarus, stood in sharp (should I say, bleak?) contrast. Lifeless draws on all four boards left me wondering about the tournament prospects for the Ukrainian team. Where's Ivanchuk, when they need him? Fresh off his victory over David Navara in the rapid version of this year's Cez Trophy, Vassily apparently is focusing on the Leuven stage of the Grand Chess Tour, which he will participate in as a wild-card invitee. Who knows, there may be some checkers tournament he doesn't want to miss.

An action-packed schedule of events this summer has deprived many teams of their best players. I have already mentioned the U.S. Team taking the heaviest loss, as all of their Top Three are playing in Paris (June 21st start). The “B” squad that showed up here, has failed to impress in the opening rounds. Today the U.S. team lost to Poland, 1.5-2.5. Once again, there was only one decisive game

A painful loss for USA's Sam Shankland

Wojtaszek (POL) vs Shankland (USA)

Ray Robson has been unable to show his fire so far

A nice way for Rado to quickly redeem himself after a first-round loss, and a lot of soul-searching to do for the Americans, who desperately need to get their young stars, Xiong and Robson, going.

It wasn't the first time I ended up with my foot in my mouth, and it's certainly not going to be the last, but I did write yesterday after the Ukrainian surprise tie match with Turkey that other teams will get to play Turkey later in the tournament. Well, one of them did. It was Russia, and they haven't done a sight better. Same story: all games drawn, although not for the lack of effort on the part of Russia's newest additions to their squad, as both Matlakov and Fedoseev gave it their all today.

Matlakov (RUS) vs Can (TUR)

Vladimir Fedoseev came even closer, as at some moment he had a clear extra pawn against Sanal in a minor piece endgame. His hasty decision to trade off his good bishop brought the game to a knight ending that simply could not be won. The ensuing queen and knight versus queen and pawn finale was anticlimactic.

No pressure: Sanal and Fedoseev were the longest game of the round, and decisive in determining whether Turkey would draw against Russia or lose. In the end, the Turkish player withstood the relentless pressure by the Russian on the rise.

Over the past dozen years a lot of attention was given to the struggles of the Russian team in the post-Kasparov era. Along with many others, I firmly believe in the need of bringing up fresh talent. Despite the glaring omission of Grischuk from this year's lineup – I have heard of Alexander's disagreement with the Russian Chess Federation – this group has the potential to turn the corner.

Now, as promised in yesterday's report, I turn my attention to the Ladies' event.

The key win for Russia over China has upset the apple cart early. Headed by the participants of the next World Championship match, Grand Prix winner Ju Wenjun and World KO Champion, Tan Zhongyi, the pre-tournament rating favorites now have to play catch-up, and that got off to a rough start as well. China-Ukraine ended in a tie after an exchange of blows on Boards two and three.

Ukraine proved to be a stumbling block for China, who needed win to hope to challenge Russia in the eventuality they should slip along the way

Tan (CHN) vs Zhukova (UKR)

Inna Gaponenko helped save the match for her team

Gaponenko (UKR) vs Lei (CHN)

In the meantime, the Russian team, who brought their optimal lineup, is firing on all cylinders. Today they downed Vietnam thanks to the wins on the bottom two boards. Valentina Gunina is on fire.

Russian top board, Alexandra Kosteniuk, shows Natalija Komarova, Governor of Ugra, the region where the event is held, her choice of opening move against her Vietnamese opponent

Nguyen (VIE) vs Gunina (RUS)

The U.S. team is missing two of their top players, Irina Krush and Tatev Abrahamyan, and so far, their absence has resulted in two match losses. In today's battle with India, Katerina Nemcova had her chances to equalize.

IM Rout Padmini was one of the key cogs in India's win (photo by Peter Ermakov)

Nemcova (USA) vs Padmini (IND)

Young Akshita Gorti missed her chance to win her game and snatch the match from the jaws of defeat

Outside the venue, a number of parallel events are being held. Here Natalija Komarova, the governor of Ugra, region of Khanty-Mansiysk, greets a couple of the participants

It certainly isn't everyday that one sees someone sporting a... paperhat

GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and IM Anna Rudolf have been doing an excellent job in the commentary box

Open results of round two:

Crosstable of Open section

Women's results of round two:

For a board wise break down, click here

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.