Live Chess WL: Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Galicia Perfect In Week 5
Here is a recap of the 5th week of LCWL. As a reminder, the goal for the teams is to finish among the top four in their divisions to qualify for the Championship pool which will start on November 9.
- Site Update: Leaderboard for Live Club Matches!
- Div.1: Russia, Ukraine... but who else?
- Div.2: Czech Republic takes the lead
- Div.3: Galicia wins all so far
- U1600 Event: Russia-Ukraine warm-up match!
- Some Interesting Games
- Stats Corner
- Coming Next...
Finally we have got the Leaderboard for Live Club Matches! That will surely motivate the club members to participate in the live team matches. Seems like, the newly introduced leaderboard needs some improvement.
I believe, this leaderboard should be "live" as well. Instead of counting lifetime match scores, I prefer counting the points of last 25 or 30 matches. What's your opinion regarding this calculation method?
Div.1: Russia, Ukraine... but who else?
For the first time in this season, all 8 teams played in the same week! Kazakhstan showed a great character by having a close contest against Russia. Meanwhile, Ukraine secured comfortable victories against Serbia. Looks like, everyone is giving a try against Russia, but not against Ukraine!
Team France received the much needed boost from popular streamer NM Kevin Bordi @Blitzstream and produced an upset against Iran in the bullet match. The blitz match went down to the last wire as the scoreline stands 55.5-54.5! Is that too late for France? How costly will it be for Iran?
Division One | Current Standings
| Rk. | Team | RUS | UKR | KAZ | SRB | IRI | PHI | FRA | PER | Points | H2H | SB | Avg% | |
| 1 | Russia | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 15 | - | 72 | 66% | ||
| 2 | Ukraine | - | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 12 | - | 51 | 75% | ||
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | - | 7 | - | 28 | 56% | ||
| 4 | Serbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | - | - | 3 | 6 | - | 21 | 49% | ||
| 5 | Iran | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | 2 | - | 5 | - | 25 | 38% |
Matches against the underdogs will be crucial for both the Kazakhs and the Persians, as they might tie for the 4th place! Also Serbia can't afford another loss in their final two rounds and let SB points decide the standings.
Div.2: Czech Republic takes the lead
Czech Republic outnumbered the Romanians and defeated Team Romania with a huge margin. Bosnia also had a similar contest against USA. Earlier the Slovakia vs Uzbekistan contest was a stalemate (1-1). Uzbeks, the only Asian side in this division, are not looking as sharp as they used to be in the previous seasons.
Division Two | Current Standings
| Rk. | Team | CZE | UZB | MEX | BIH | SVK | ROU | USA | ARG | Points | H2H | SB | Avg% | |
| 1 | Czech Rep. | - | - | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | - | 18 | 70% | ||
| 2 | Uzbekistan | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 63% | ||
| 3 | Mexico | - | 1 | 0 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 63% | ||
| 4 | Bosnia | 0 | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | 17 | 68% |
Any of these four teams might fail to qualify as Slovakia (5 points) also got their chances alive!
Div.3: Galicia wins all so far
Galicia remains the only unbeaten side in this division as they defeated Canada by 2-0. Eastern group had only one contest where the Turks surprised the Aussies by winning both matches!
Western Group | Current Standings
| Rk. | Team | GAL | ENG | CAN | BRA | URU | PUR | CHI | Points | H2H | SB | Avg% | |
| 1 |
|
Galicia | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | - | 2 | 8 | - | 30 | 71% | |
| 2 | England | 0 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 50% | ||
| 3 | Canada | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 54% | ||
| 4 | Brazil | - | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | - | 14 | 51% |
Eastern Group | Current Standings
| Rk. | Team | TUR | AUS | ITA | IND | ESP | DEN | AZE | Points | H2H | SB | Avg% | |
| 1 | Turkey | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | - | 20 | 62% | ||
| 2 | Australia | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | - | 6 | - | 18 | 63% | ||
| 3 | Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | 14 | 49% | ||
| 4 | India | - | 0 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 3 | - | 4 | 66% |
Combined standings looks slightly different
U1600 Event: Russia-Ukraine warm-up match!
Ukraine defeated Russia in the 3rd round of U1600 event. That ended the longest winning streak (38 matches) for any team!! 52 boards in this match suggests that we can expect 300 boards in the main event 
In terms of recent form, Ukrainians are clear favourites. But don't forget, Russia is the only team to defeat Ukraine in the main event since Season 2 Rd. 6!
Let's start with a short game from Russia vs Kazakhstan. Can you find the winning move?
White missed the winning move here and eventually lost the game! Can you find it?
Lesson from Iran vs France: Look for tactics, when your opponent offers some piece to trade!
Can you find the winning move which was missed in the game?
Let's take a look at the maximum boards before Russia vs Ukraine breaks the records for Div.1!
| Div.1 | Div.2 | Div.3W | Div.3E | Div.4 | |
 |
104 | 76 | 27 | 35 | 26 |
 |
85 | 66 | 31 | 37 | - |
 |
96 | - | - | - | - |
Experienced teams of western group should have managed more boards.
- Division 1: Russia vs Ukraine
- Division 1: Kazakhstan vs Peru
- Division 2: Czech Republic vs Uzbekistan
- Division 3W: Canada vs England
Most of the matches are played on Saturday and Sunday. Live commentary will be available on the official YouTube channel for the key games at 11 a.m. Pacific / 7 p.m. Central Europe.
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