China Win Women's World Team Champs
For many years the reputation of China as a chess playing nation has grown almost as fast as the country's economy. Although China has it's own version of the royal game - Xiangqi (a.k.a. Chinese Chess), it has made great strides in the traditional game which is more familiar in the West.
Women's chess in particular now has some very strong Chinese players, and their power was once again evident as they recently retained the Women's World Team Championship in the delightfully named city of Ningbo.
The victorious Chinese team were: Hou Yifan (pictured, 2584 Elo), Zhao Xue (2544), Shen Yang (2453), Ju Wenjun (2443) and Huang Qian (2424).
The American team achieved a mixed bag of results against their competitors, but can boast a 3-1 victory in their match against the eventual winners, and a gold medal for Alisa Melekhina for her 4/6 score on board four.
The full line-up for the US team was: Irina Krush (2458), Anna Zatonskih (2466), Rusudan Goletani (2391), Alisa Melekhina (2270) and Tatev Abrahamian (2273). Their coach was GM Gregory Kaidanov.
The full individual results of all the players and teams in the tournament can be found here. The final standings were:
| Rank | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Score | Tie-break |
| 1 | China A | * | 2 | 1 | 3½ | 3½ | 2½ | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 21,5 |
| 2 | Russia | 2 | * | 2 | 2½ | 2 | 2 | 1½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 21,0 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 3 | 2 | * | 1 | 2½ | 2 | 2½ | 2 | 2 | 3½ | 12 | 20,5 |
| 4 | Georgia | ½ | 1½ | 3 | * | 1½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2½ | 11 | 20,0 |
| 5 | Armenia | ½ | 2 | 1½ | 2½ | * | 3½ | 2 | ½ | 2½ | 3½ | 10 | 18,5 |
| 6 | Poland | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 1 | ½ | * | 3 | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ | 10 | 17,5 |
| 7 | India | 1 | 2½ | 1½ | 1 | 2 | 1 | * | 3 | 2½ | 3 | 9 | 17,5 |
| 8 | USA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3½ | 1½ | 1 | * | 1½ | 2 | 6 | 16,5 |
| 9 | China B | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | 1½ | 2½ | * | 3 | 6 | 16,0 |
| 10 | Vietnam | 2 | 1 | ½ | 1½ | ½ | 1½ | 1 | 2 | 1 | * | 2 | 11,0 |
However, there have been questions raised regarding the final round 2-2 draw between China and Vietnam. The Vietnamese team seemed to be in a very strong position on board one, and an even better position on board four, yet they agreed to draws without attempting to convert their advantage to victory - a victory which would have denied China the title. Both games are included among the games below (the first two), so you can make up your own mind.
