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The tournament had clear favorites. Rating wise, it was Hou Yifan and Nigel Short that were to beat, but certainly Zhu Chen and Seirawan were powerful contenders.
Despite being the pre-tournament favorites, Hou Yifan and Nigel Short couldn't claim first place
The top rated team started the tournament well with two victories without problems. However they really stumbled in the next two rounds. The solid team of Yu Shaoteng and Xu Yuhua held them to a draw but the real disaster came in round four against Zhu Chen and Seirawan:
Yasser Seirawan and Zhu Chen stepped up to take advantage of their opponent's mistakes
After this loss it was nearly impossible to catch the top teams. A full point behind Zhu Chen and Seirawan and half a point behind Xu Yuhua and Yu Shaoteng with only one round to go meant that the standings were basically set.
Despite the high rating combination of Arthur Jussupow and Maia Chiburdanidze, it seems that their styles were too clashing and they never got along on the chessboard
Zhu Chen and Seirawan took no risks and chose a super-solid variation in the last round against Jussupow and Chiburdanidze; a team that never found any momentum but certainly posed real danger. The draw suited them fine, but it allowed Xu Yuhua and Yu Shaoteng to catch up with them by beating the relatively weak team of Liu Shilan and Xie Jun.
Ye Jiangchuan and Alisa Maric had their glory moment with their win on round two, but no other big successes
Yu Shaoteng (left) and Xu Yuhua played solid, good chess al through-out. Their styles truly matched!
Final round ready to begin
In the team of Xie Jun and Liu Shilan it was Xie Jun that was given the honorary "man" role in the pair, which basically meant she played first.
Overall the event was very fun to watch. The high ratings didn't mean that the teams would do well. Things such as style, coordination and general knowledge of openings were key to success. For example, Alisa Maric prefers to play the Caro-Kann but has never played a Sicilian... the opening that her partner preferred! It was a great way to blur the traditional rating lines and to create a new and interesting way of playing chess. Hopefully next year's event is slightly longer.
Photos by Liang Ziming from the Official Website
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games. Note: It seems the last round games have some relay errors.
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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