USA Upset Russia At The Women's World Team Champs
The US team scored the upset of the day in round 7 of the Women's World Team Championships, beating Russia by a score of 2½-1½.
That unexpected result drops Russia to third in the standings, allowing China to move up to second place thanks to their 3-1 win against hosts Kazakhstan.
Ukraine cemented their position at the top thanks to a 3-1 win against Georgia, and now look odds-odd to take the title with just two rounds to go. However, Ukraine face the US tomorrow and Russia in the final round, so they still have work to do.
The standings after 7 (of 9) rounds
| # | Team | MP | BP | TB |
| 1 | UKRAINE | 13 | 20 | 82.8 |
| 2 | CHINA | 11 | 19 | 67.8 |
| 3 | RUSSIA | 10 | 19½ | 56.0 |
| 4 | INDIA | 9 | 15 | 46.8 |
| 5 | GEORGIA | 8 | 16 | 44.8 |
| 6 | USA | 7 | 12 | 44.8 |
| 7 | ROMANIA | 5 | 11½ | 31.0 |
| 8 | KAZAKHSTAN | 4 | 11½ | 20.3 |
| 9 | FRANCE | 2 | 7 | 11.8 |
| 10 | TURKEY | 1 | 8½ | 5.8 |
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Valentina Gunina (left) drew with Anna Zatonskih on top board for Russia v USA
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Irina Krush beat a former world champion on board 2 (photo from earlier round)
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Natalia Pogonina's victory for Russia on board 3 was in vain...
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...due to the board 4 upset victory by Viktorija Ni of the US (right) against Olga Girya
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Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina continued her excellent form, beating Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia
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Mariya Muzychuk (right) also won her game, and Ukraine defeated Georgia 3-1
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The complete results in round 7
| TURKEY | 1½ - 2½ | INDIA | ||
| Ozturk Kubra | 2252 | 1 - 0 | Mohota Nisha | 2325 |
| Cemhan Kardelen | 2025 | ½ - ½ | Padmini Rout | 2316 |
| Sop Selen | 2028 | 0 - 1 | Gomes Mary Ann | 2387 |
| Kaya Emel | 1995 | 0 - 1 | Swaminathan Soumya | 2283 |
| CHINA | 3 - 1 | KAZAKHSTAN | ||
| Ju Wenjun | 2505 | ½ - ½ | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | 2344 |
| Huang Qian | 2476 | ½ - ½ | Dauletova Gulmira | 2265 |
| Tan Zhongyi | 2471 | 1 - 0 | Saduakassova Dinara | 2353 |
| Guo Qi | 2435 | 1 - 0 | Abdumalik Zansaya | 2187 |
| FRANCE | 2 - 2 | ROMANIA | ||
| Millet Sophie | 2401 | ½ - ½ | Foisor Cristina Adela | 2401 |
| Maisuradze Nino | 2330 | ½ - ½ | Bulmaga Irina | 2354 |
| Collas Silvia | 2282 | ½ - ½ | Cosma Elena Luminita | 2336 |
| Benmesbah Natacha | 2266 | ½ - ½ | Voicu-Jagodzinsky Carmen | 2281 |
| GEORGIA | 1 - 3 | UKRAINE | ||
| Dzagnidze Nana | 2554 | ½ - ½ | Lagno Kateryna | 2547 |
| Khotenashvili Bela | 2499 | 0 - 1 | Ushenina Anna | 2477 |
| Khurtsidze Nino | 2437 | 0 - 1 | Muzychuk Mariya | 2479 |
| Melia Salome | 2419 | ½ - ½ | Zhukova Natalia | 2471 |
| USA | 2½ - 1½ | RUSSIA | ||
| Zatonskih Anna | 2474 | ½ - ½ | Gunina Valentina | 2505 |
| Krush Irina | 2448 | 1 - 0 | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2495 |
| Foisor Sabina | 2323 | 0 - 1 | Pogonina Natalija | 2475 |
| Ni Viktorija | 2263 | 1 - 0 | Girya Olga | 2440 |
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More games and information can be found at the official website.
The competition features 10 national teams, with 4 players plus a reserve for each team. The format is a single round-robin from 2-12 March at a time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 30 minutes to finish with a 30 second increment from the start of the game. Games start at 15:00 local time (GMT+6) and live coverage is available at the official website.
Photos by Anastasia Karlovich at the official website. Games via TWIC.
