Astana Chess Women's World Team Event R4: Top Match China-Russia Draw on Wins by Gunina, Kosteniuk

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

The fourth round ended "unpredictably" peacefully despite the fact that the fight lasted till the end on all the 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 won against Betul Yildiz. Two other games finished in a draw, but Inna Gaponenko was still fighting for a draw against Selen Sop. It seems that after more than 100 moves and 6 hours of playing, 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.

A very tense struggle in the key match between the leaders China and Russia - all four games were decided. Velentina Gunina won against Ju Wenjun and 12th Women's World Chess Champion 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 precisely and won. The match was China-Russia draw.

Indian girls showed today that, despite the absence of Humpy, Harika and Sachdev, the team can fight with favorites. Eesha Karavade defeated Nana Dzagnidze, who normally plays very stable, but lost the second game in this event. Georgians immediately equalized the score due to victory of Bela Khotenashvili on the second board. On the fourth board Nino Khurtsidze had absolutely winning position but failed to find the direct win a few times. The victory of Georgia was so close in the match but it finished in a draw.


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 the game against very experienced Romanian player Cristina Adela Foisor. She outplayed her opponent after long-lasted fight and saved the match for her team.

French team managed to make a draw in the match against the USA and finally gained so long-awaited first team point. After the fourth round Ukraine caught Russia and China and shares with them the first place. Georgia is 2 points behind.

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Astana Chess World Women's Team Event R2: China beat Georgia

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

One of the most dramatic matches of the second round was the encounter between two medalists of the previous world team championship, China and Georgia. Despite the fact that Georgian team was the rating favorite in the match, the result was not easy to predict as after relatively quick draw on the last board all the other players continue to fight. Before the first time control the leader of Georgian team Nana Dzagnidze blundered a simple tactical idea and had to resign. The victory of Chinese team was secured after the win of Huang Qian against Bela Khotenashvili. 

The young team from Turkey put up a stubborn resistance in the match against the USA. Turkish players on the first three boards made draws with the opponents, whose rating was at least 150 points higher. Nevertheless, Viktorija Ni managed to win on the last board and brought the victory to American team.

The same scenario was in the match France-India – the result on the fourth board was fatal for the final score. Soumya Swaminathan outplayed Natacha Benmesbah and India won the match.

The leader of the Russian team Valentina Gunina blundered a piece right after the opening and Kazakh player Guliskhan Nahbaevoy didn’t lose her chance to win the full point. As Guliskhan said after the game she was surprised when her opponent decided to play Bc3. It took her 10 minutes to check once again all variations and play the winning move d4. Such course of the match looked promising for the young team from Kazakhstan but Russian players didn’t let their opponents to gain even half a point. The match finished with 3-1 in favor of Russia.

The match between Ukraine and Romania unexpectedly ended in a draw as all four games finished peacefully. It is undoubtedly successful result for Romanian team which placed seventh on the starting list. 

As a result Russia and China are on the lead after two rounds. Ukraine and the USA share the third place. In the third round China will meet with the USA and another leader Russia will fight with Turkey. Ukrainian team will face Kazakhstan, the team which already showed they can be really dangerous.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel