World Women’s Team Ch: Kazakhstan still perfect, USA beat China

Pool A: Kazakhstan perfect, India in trouble

With two consecutive wins by the smallest of margins, Kazakhstan became the only team to end day 2 at the World Women’s Team Championship with a perfect 8 out of 8 score. Despite being 2 match points ahead of Georgia in the standings, the Kazakh team has collected 10½ game points to Georgia’s 11½. Nonetheless, Georgia also secured a spot in the knockout with their 6 match points.

As per the teams still in the hunt for the remaining two spots, France and Ukraine are tied with 4 match points and 8 game points each. India, on their part, after losing to Ukraine and Georgia on Thursday, stand 2 match points behind.

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Only one round remains to be played on Friday. India will play against the underdogs from Egypt, who have yet to score a single match point in Bydgoszcz, while France and Ukraine will face each other. Interestingly, if France and Ukraine draw and maintain their perfect equality in match points and game points, both teams would advance to the knockout, leaving India out of contention.

Bella Khotenashvili (Georgia) beat Harika Dronavalli (India) in round 4 | Photo: Michal Walusza

France’s Sophie Milliet | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 4

All games

Pool B: USA beat direct contenders

This pool saw two surprising results in round 3. FIDE Americas managed to hold the United States to a draw thanks to María José Campos’ win over Annie Wang, while Bulgaria obtained a convincing victory by a 3-1 score over China — Antoaneta Stefanova and Viktoria Radeva were the heroes of the Bulgarian team in this match.

Continuing their over-performing run, Bulgaria went on to draw Poland in round 4, while China suffered a second consecutive loss in their match against the United States. In another somewhat unexpected outcome, the under-performing German team got the better of FIDE Americas, keeping their chances alive going into the round-robin’s final match.

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6

In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

Much like in Pool A, the two qualified teams — the United States and Poland — will face each other in round 5, which means all eyes will be put on China vs FIDE Americas and Germany vs Bulgaria, as the four teams fight for the two remaining qualifying spots in this group.

Former women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) playing white against Oliwia Kiolbasa (Poland) | Photo: Michal Walusza

Team USA | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 4

All games

Links

• Official site
• Chess Federation of Russia wins the Women’s World Team Championship