Bursa: Russia wins Gold, USA Silver, India Bronze

by ChessBase
1/13/2010 – Going into the final round with a one match point lead Russia cleared all doubts by defeating Israel 3-1. USA drew Azerbaijan on all four boards and came second, while India trounced Brazil 3.5:0.5 to overtake the Azeris and win Bronze. Best performers were Mamedyarov and Vitiugov, the best on the top boards was Hikaru Nakamura. Final report.

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World Team Championship 2010

The World Team Championship, which is organised every four years, but was delayed by one year this time, took place in Bursa from January 3rd to 14th 2010. The teams were from Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, USA, India, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey and Greece.

Round nine report (final)

By IM Gavin Crawley

Going into this round Russia were leading by one match point, so if they won 2.5-1.5 they would be champions. Russia were also leading on game points, but if they drew 2-2 and the USA won 3-1 the Americans would take the title. The Russians took a risk by dropping Morozevich and Jakovenko and playing two lower rated players. The USA played the same team as the previous round.

Israel vs Russia

Gelfand-Grischuk was a sharp opening, White got an edge but the position was full of tension and hard to play for both sides. The game was drawn. In Tomashevsky-Roiz White got a pleasant position out of the opening, two bishops and more space and no risk.

Tomashevsky,E (2705) - Roiz,M (2657) [D12]
7th World Team Championship Bursa TUR (9), 13.01.2010
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 d5 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Be7 10.b3 e5 11.Bg2 dxc4 12.bxc4 Nb6 13.Qd3 0-0 14.0-0 exd4 15.exd4 c5 16.d5 Ne8 17.Ne4 f5 18.Nd2 Nd6 19.h4 Bf6 20.Ra2 Re8 21.Rc2 Qd7 22.Nb3 Na4 23.Bf4 Rac8 24.Nd2 Nb6 25.h5 gxh5 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Qxf5 h4 28.Ne4 Qe5 29.Qg6 Nd7 30.Re2 Be7 31.Rfe1 Nf8 32.Qg4 1-0. [Click to replay]

Sutovsky-Malakhov was another sharp opening. Black took a risk with Be7 instead of the drawish Nd6 and it worked out. The game was drawn. Vitiugov-Rodshtein was a sharp opening, very fashionable at the moment, but very hard to understand without computer help. White sacrificed a rook, but the computers were giving him a slight edge after 22.Bxc4. This looked to be one of the key games, very sharp and could go either way.

Vitiugov,N (2692) - Rodshtein,M (2622) [A11]
7th World Team Championship Bursa TUR (9), 13.01.2010
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.d4 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e5 9.dxe5 Bb4 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 12.Bb4 bxc4 13.Qg4 c5 14.f3. Currently very fashionable at the top level, e.g. 14...cxb4 15.fxe4 0–0 16.exd5 cxb3 17.Qd4 Nd7 18.axb3 Qg5 19.Qf4 Qxe5 20.Qxe5 Nxe5 21.Bxa6 Rfc8 22.Kd2 Rc3 23.Rhb1 f5 24.Ra4 Rc5 25.e4 fxe4 26.Ke3 Rc2 27.Bd3 Rxa4 28.Bxc2 Ra2 29.Bxe4 Kf7 30.Rc1 Kf6 31.Rc2 Ra1 32.Kd4 Rd1+ 33.Kc5 h5 34.Rf2+ Ke7 35.Re2 Nd7+ 36.Kc6 Rc1+ 37.Bc2+ Kd8 38.Kd6 Nf6 39.Ke6 h4 40.d6 Rf1 41.Re5 Rf2 42.Bf5 g6 43.Bxg6 Nd7 44.Rg5 Rf6+ 45.Kd5 Nb6+ 46.Kc6 Nc8 47.Kc5 Nxd6 48.Bd3 1-0, Kramnik,V (2772) - Ni Hua (2665) Chess Classic London ENG (2), 09.12.2009. 14...Nc6 15.fxe4 Nxb4 16.Qxg7 Rf8 17.exd5 Qh4+ 18.Ke2 Qe4

Probably this was prep from both players, but from now on Black seems to lose the thread. I expect this position will be crunched by thousands of computers in the next few months. My feeling is in practice White will score well, as its always harder to defend. One slip and you are dead.

19.Kf2 Nc2 20.Qh6 Qg6 21.Qf4 Nxa1 22.Bxc4 Nc2 23.d6 Rg8 24.g4. This just seems to be an unpleasant position for Black, who has all the danger, while White has all the fun. 24...Ra7 25.Rd1 Qg5 26.Qe4 Rg6 27.Ke2 h5 28.Rd5

28...Kd8? 28...Qh4 was better but I would expect White to win anyway. 29.Qxc2 hxg4 30.e6 Qh6 31.e7+ Ke8 32.Qf5 Rd7

Now White finishes in style. There are many ways to win but its always nice to win a gold medal with a queen sac: 33.Qxf7+ 1-0 because of 33...Kxf7 34.Rf5+ Kg7 35.Rf7+ Kh8 36.e8Q+. [Click to replay]

USA vs Azerbaijan: Onischuk and Akobian agreed quick draws with black. This left Nakamura and Shulman trying to convert a small edge in drawish positions, which in the end both drew, which was a bit surprising as they both has a small edge and it took some pressure off the Russians. But in pure chess terms it was fair enough.

With that Russia had won the Gold and USA Silver. India beat Brazil 3.5-0.5 and overtook Azerbaijan to take third place ( Harikrishna and Geetha won nice games, and by move 40 it was clear Ganguly was probably going to win too). A very good result for a team that replaced the Chinese at short notice.


Greece beat Turkey 2½-1½, thanks to a spectacular game on board four:

Firat,B (2413) - Mastrovasilis,A (2510) [C74]
7th World Team Championship Bursa TUR (9), 13.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 f5 6.exf5 Bxf5 7.0-0 Bd3 8.Re1 Be7 9.Qb3 b5 10.Qd5 bxa4 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Qc4 Qd7 13.Qxa4 0-0 14.d3 Nd4 15.Qd1 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3

After a fun opening White has emerged with the usual slight plus, but Black finds a nice pawn sac. 16...d5! White should probably decline with 17.Qd1 or 17.h3, but Black has nice play anyway. 17.Rxe5 Bd6 18.Rf5 Ng4 19.Qxg4 Rxf5 20.Be3 Re8 21.h3 h5 22.Qd1

22...Rxe3! 23.fxe3 Qe7 24.Nd2 Qxe3+ 25.Kh1 Qg3 26.Qg1 Rf2 27.Rd1 g5 28.Nf1 Qf4 29.Nh2 g4 30.hxg4 hxg4

The official score ends here, but in my opinion Black is only slightly better after 31.g3. Was this a premature resignation? Maybe White was so impressed with Black's swashbuckling style he thought he deserved to win. Or maybe Black actually played 30...h4, which does seem to be winning, though a resignation is still surprising. 0-1. [Click to replay]

Individual results of round eight

 5 Egypt
1-3
 10 Armenia
GM Adly Ahmed 2591
0:1
GM Aronian Levon 2781
GM Amin Bassem 2544
0:1
GM Akopian Vladimir 2678
IM Ezat Mohamed 2471
0:1
GM Pashikian Arman 2647
IM Abdel Razik Khaled 2468
1:0
GM Petrosian Tigran L 2627
 6 Israel
1-3
 4 Russia
GM Gelfand Boris 2761
½:½
GM Grischuk Alexander 2736
GM Roiz Michael 2657
0:1
GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2705
GM Sutovsky Emil 2657
½:½
GM Malakhov Vladimir 2716
GM Rodshtein Maxim 2622
0:1
GM Vitiugov Nikita 2692
 7 Brazil
½-3½
 3 India
GM Leitao Rafael 2620
½:½
GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2653
GM Fier Alexandr 2601
0:1
GM Harikrishna P 2672
GM Milos Gilberto 2618
0:1
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2654
GM Diamant Andre 2497
0:1
GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 2584
 8 Greece
2½-1½
 2 Turkey
GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2625
½:½
GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2498
GM Halkias Stelios 2566
½:½
IM Can Emre 2442
GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2571
½:½
IM Esen Baris 2513
GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios 2510
1:0
FM Firat Burak 2413
 9 USA
2-2
 1 Azerbaijan
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2708
½:½
GM Guseinov Gadir 2614
GM Onischuk Alexander 2670
½:½
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2741
GM Shulman Yuri 2624
½:½
GM Mamedov Rauf 2640
GM Akobian Varuzhan 2628
½:½
GM Mamedov Nidjat 2610

All round results

Round 1 – 5.1.2010 Round 2 – 6.1.2010
Azerbaijan 
2½-1½
 Armenia
Turkey 
1-3
 USA
India 
2½-1½
 Greece
Russia 
2½-1½
 Brazil
Egypt 
1-3
 Israel
Armenia 
2½-1½
 Israel
Brazil 
2½-1½
 Egypt
Greece 
2½-1½
 Russia
USA 
3-1
 India
Azerbaijan 
3-1
 Turkey
Round 3 – 7.1.2010 Round 4 – 8.1.2010
Turkey 
½-3½
 Armenia
India 
2½-1½
 Azerbaijan
Russia 
3-1
 USA
Egypt 
2½-1½
 Greece
Israel 
2½-1½
 Brazil
Armenia 
2½-1½
 Brazil
Greece 
1½-2½
 Israel
USA 
3-1
 Egypt
Azerbaijan 
1½-2½
 Russia
Turkey 
1-3
 India
Round 5 – 9.1.2010 Round 6 – 10.1.2010
India 
2-2
 Armenia
Russia 
3½-½
 Turkey
Egypt 
1-3
 Azerbaijan
Israel 
1½-2½
 USA
Brazil 
1-3
 Greece
Armenia 
1-3
 Greece
USA 
3-1
 Brazil
Azerbaijan 
2-2
 Israel
Turkey 
2-2
 Egypt
India 
1½-2½
 Russia
Round 7 – 11.1.2010 Round 8 – 12.1.2010
Russia 
2-2
 Armenia
Egypt 
1½-2½
 India
Israel 
1½-2½
 Turkey
Brazil 
½-3½
 Azerbaijan
Greece 
1½-2½
 USA
Armenia 
2½-1½
 USA
Azerbaijan 
3-1
 Greece
Turkey 
1½-2½
 Brazil
India 
2½-1½
 Israel
Russia 
3½-½
 Egypt
Round 9 – 13.1.2010  
Egypt 
1-3
 Armenia
Israel 
1-3
 Russia
Brazil 
½-3½
 India
Greece 
2½-1½
 Turkey
USA 
2-2
 Azerbaijan
 

Final standings (after nine rounds)

 #
Team
win
draw
loss
MP
BP
Res.
SB
1
Russia
7
1
1
15
24
0
127.75
2
USA
6
1
2
13
21½
0
103.00
3
India
6
1
2
13
21
0
103.25
4
Azerbaijan
5
2
2
12
22
0
93.75
5
Armenia
5
2
2
12
20½
0
97.00
6
Greece
4
0
5
8
18
0
68.50
7
Israel
3
1
5
7
17
0
53.50
8
Brazil
2
0
7
4
12½
0
23.50
9
Egypt
1
1
7
3
12
0
23.75
10
Turkey
1
1
7
3
11½
0
23.00

Congratulations to Russia – a strong finish and a convincing win. Good fighting chess combined with genuine top quality gave them a fully deserved gold medal.

Top performances at the World Team Championship 2010

#
 Ti. Name Rtg Team   %
Pts.
Gms
 Perf
Board one
1
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2708 USA 75.0
6
8
2851
2
GM Aronian Levon 2781 Armenia 66.7
6
9
2789
3
GM Grischuk Alexander 2736 Russia 64.3
7
2797
Board two
1
GM Onischuk Alexander 2670 USA 72.2
9
2809
2
GM Radjabov Teimour 2733 Azerbaijan 71.4
5
7
2808
3
GM Akopian Vladimir 2678 Armenia 66.7
6
9
2762
Board three
1
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2654 India 71.4
5
7
2804
2
GM Banikas Hristos 2608 Greece 56.3
8
2688
3
GM Sargissian Gabriel 2680 Armenia 50.0
3
6
2613
Board four
1
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2741 Azerbaijan 88.9
8
9
2950
2
GM Sutovsky Emil 2657 Israel 64.3
7
2689
3
GM Pashikian Arman 2647 Armenia 58.3
6
2671
Board five
1
GM Malakhov Vladimir 2716 Russia 71.4
5
7
2771
2
GM Mamedov Rauf 2640 Azerbaijan 50.0
3
6
2599
3
GM Arun Prasad S 2567 India 50.0
5
2604
Board six
1
GM Vitiugov Nikita 2692 Russia 91.7
6
2939
2
GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios 2510 Greece 50.0
2
4
2601
3
FM Firat Burak 2413 Turkey 50.0
2
4
2520

As you can see the highest performances were achieved on the lower boards, where players have weaker opponents but cannot afford any missteps. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored eight points in nine games for a 2950 performance, while Nikita Vitiugov had 5.5/6 for a 2939 performance. The best performance of any of the top boards was by Hikaru Nakamura, who finished with 6.0/8 with a 2851 level of play. Onischuk, Radjabov and Ganguly are the other GMs with a 2800+ performance.


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