Round 1 of FIDE World Chess Team Championships was played on June 17 in Khanty-Mansiysk.
A surprising result in the men’s tournament was a draw in the match Turkey vs. Ukraine. In the pivotal confrontation Russian ladies defeated team China.
The first symbolic move in the starting round of the Women’s Team Championship was made on Alexandra Kosteniuk’s behalf by the Deputy Governor of Ugra Mr. Vsevolod Koltsov. A similar “pawn face-off” in the game between Ian Nepomniachtchi and the Egyptian chess player Hesham Abdelrahman was jointly made by President of Ugra Chess Federation Vasily Filipenko and FIDE Vice-President Javier Ochoa.
In the men’s tournament team, Russia defeated Egypt 3.5 to 0.5. Scorers were Nikita Vitiugov, Maxim Matlakov and Vladimir Fedoseev; the game between Hesham and Nepomniachtchi was drawn.
Team China defeated Belarus with the same score (Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi and Li Chao won their games, and Ding Liren drew against Sergey Zhigalko).
Varuzhan Akobian’s victory on the third board helped team USA beat Norway 2.5 to 1.5.
Poland defeated Indian team by a hair (Yan Krzysztof Duda and Kacper Piorun scored for them, Radoslaw Wojtaszek lost and Mateusz Bartel drew).
A surprise of the start was a draw in the match Turkey vs. Ukraine: all four games were drawn.
In the pivotal match of the women’s championship Russia beat China 3 to 1. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno and Valentina Gunina scored, and Olga Girya lost her game.
Team Ukraine defeated USA 2.5 to 1.5 (the winning point was supplied by Iulija Osmak on the 4th board).
Polish ladies won their match against Azerbaijan by a big score. The winners for Poland were Monika Socko, Klaudia Kulon and Joanna Majdan.
Team Vietnam defeated Egypt four to nothing.
Match India vs. Georgia was drawn. First and fourth boards exchanged blows: Harika Dronavalli won her game against Nana Dzagnidze and Nino Batsiashvili defeated Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman.
Second round pairings are:
Men:
Belarus – Ukraine, Russia–Turkey, Norway – Egypt, Poland – USA, China – India
Women:
Ukraine – China, Vietnam – Russia, Azerbaijan – Egypt, Georgia – Poland, USA – India
Contact information:
FIDE Press Officer of the FIDE World Team Chess Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk
Eteri Kublashvili