World Teams Takes Off Today in Kemer, Antalya
Today the World Team Championship starts in Kemer, Antalya (Turkey). Ten countries will be playing a single round robin tournament over nine rounds. The top seeds are Russia, who have Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Nikita Vitiugov. Their biggest rivals will be reigning champion Armenia, Ukraine and China.
The FIDE World Team Championship is held every two years, and these are the qualification criteria:
- the previous event's World Chess Team Champion;
- the three highest-placed teams in the FIDE Olympiad prior to the event;
- the four Continental Champions;
- a team from the organizing federation;
- a team to be nominated by FIDE President and ranked in the official FIDE top sixteen countries list six months prior to the event.
This year's World Teams takes place 26 November - 5 December in Antalya, Turkey. It's a single round robin among ten teams, so there will be nine rounds. There is one rest day, on December 1st.
The tournament will be held in the Aspendos VI Hall in the Limar Limra Hotel in Kemer, Antalya. This is also where the players are staying.
The teams are made up of four players plus one reserve and one captain. Here's the line-up for all teams:
World Team Championship 2013 | Teams & Players
| BOARD | TITLE | GERMANY | RATING |
| 1 | GM | KHENKIN IGOR | 2612 |
| 2 | GM | MEIER GEORG | 2623 |
| 3 | GM | FRIDMAN DANIEL | 2600 |
| 4 | GM | NAIDITSCH ARKADIJ | 2727 |
| 5 | GM | BARAMIDZE DAVID | 2614 |
| BOARD | TITLE | TURKEY | RATING |
| 1 | GM | IPATOV ALEXANDER | 2630 |
| 2 | GM | SOLAK DRAGAN | 2618 |
| 3 | GM | YILMAZ MUSTAFA | 2577 |
| 4 | GM | ESEN BARIŞ | 2565 |
| 5 | GM | CAN EMRE | 2519 |
| BOARD | TITLE | NETHERLANDS | RATING |
| 1 | GM | GIRI ANISH | 2732 |
| 2 | GM | VAN WELY LOEK | 2678 |
| 3 | GM | TIVIAKOV SERGEI | 2663 |
| 4 | GM | SOKOLOV IVAN | 2648 |
| 5 | GM | L ' AMI ERWIN | 2625 |
| BOARD | TITLE | UKRAINE | RATING |
| 1 | GM | IVANCHUK VASSILY | 2731 |
| 2 | GM | KOROBOV ANTON | 2713 |
| 3 | GM | MOISEENKO ALEXANDER | 2709 |
| 4 | GM | KRYVORUCHKO YURIY | 2701 |
| 5 | GM | ARESHCHENKO ALEXANDER | 2720 |
| BOARD | TITLE | RUSSIA | RATING |
| 1 | GM | KRAMNIK VLADLMIR | 2793 |
| 2 | GM | KARJAKIN SERGEY | 2756 |
| 3 | GM | GRISCHUK ALEXANDER | 2785 |
| 4 | GM | NEPOMNIACHTCHI IAN | 2721 |
| 5 | GM | VITIUGOV NIKITA | 2741 |
| BOARD | TITLE | ARMENIA | RATING |
| 1 | GM | ARONIAN LEVON | 2801 |
| 2 | GM | MOVSESIAN SERGEI | 2700 |
| 3 | GM | AKOPIAN VLADIMIR | 2681 |
| 4 | GM | SARGISSIAN GABRIEL | 2676 |
| 5 | GM | PETROSIAN TIGRAN | 2660 |
| BOARD | TITLE | USA | RATING |
| 1 | GM | HIKARU NAKAMURA | 2786 |
| 2 | GM | GATA KAMSKY | 2721 |
| 3 | GM | ALEX ONISCHUK | 2672 |
| 4 | GM | RAY ROBSON | 2613 |
| 5 | GM | VARUZHAN AKOBIAN | 2625 |
| BOARD | TITLE | CHINA | RATING |
| 1 | GM | CHAO LI | 2679 |
| 2 | GM | LIREN DING | 2711 |
| 3 | GM | YUE WANG | 2725 |
| 4 | GM | XIANGZHI BU | 2683 |
| 5 | GM | YANGYI YU | 2668 |
| BOARD | TITLE | AZERBAIJAN | RATING |
| 1 | GM | MAMEDOV RAUF | 2647 |
| 2 | GM | SAFARLI ELTAJ | 2653 |
| 3 | GM | MAMEDOV NIDJAD | 2616 |
| 4 | GM | DURARBAYLI VASIF | 2559 |
| 5 | GM | GUSEINOV GADIR | 2607 |
| BOARD | TITLE | EGYPT | RATING |
| 1 | IM | MOHAMED EZAT | 2454 |
| 2 | IM | KHALED ABDEL RAZIK | 2450 |
| 3 | IM | SHOKER SAMY AHMED | 2500 |
| 4 | GM | BASSEM AMIN | 2652 |
| 5 | IM | LABIB IBRAHIM HASAN | 2411 |
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It's clear that Russia should be considered favorite, closely followed by Armenia. If Ivanchuk is in good shape, Ukraine must be a force to reckon with, and China is always in that category these days. USA and the Netherlands can be considered dangerous outsiders.
Like Germany and Turkey, without Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov probably Azerbeidzjan (the wild card from the organizers) won't play a significant role. As Teimour Radjabov explained on Twitter, their absence was a decision by the federation and the players together. And Egypt... well, they have a tough tournament ahead!
Here are the pairings of the first round. We see some interesting clashes especially on the top boards, e.g. Kramnik-Aronian (yes, Russia and Armenia clash immediately), Ivanchuk-Nakamura and Giri-Ding Liren.
World Team Championship 2013 | Pairings Round 1
| 1.1 | 1 | Germany | - | 10 | Egypt | ||
| 1 | GM | Khenkin Igor | 2612 | : | IM | Ezat Mohamed | 2454 |
| 2 | GM | Meier Georg | 2623 | : | IM | Abdel Razik Khaled | 2450 |
| 3 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2727 | : | IM | Shoker Samy | 2500 |
| 4 | GM | Baramidze David | 2614 | : | GM | Amin Bassem | 2652 |
| 1.2 | 2 | Turkey | - | 9 | Azerbaijan | ||
| 1 | GM | Ipatov Alexander | 2630 | : | GM | Mamedov Rauf | 2647 |
| 2 | GM | Solak Dragan | 2618 | : | GM | Safarli Eltaj | 2653 |
| 3 | GM | Yilmaz Mustafa | 2577 | : | GM | Mamedov Nidjat | 2616 |
| 4 | GM | Esen Baris | 2565 | : | GM | Durarbayli Vasif | 2559 |
| 1.3 | 3 | Netherlands | - | 8 | China | ||
| 1 | GM | Giri Anish | 2732 | : | GM | Ding Liren | 2711 |
| 2 | GM | Van Wely Loek | 2678 | : | GM | Wang Yue | 2725 |
| 3 | GM | Tiviakov Sergei | 2663 | : | GM | Bu Xiangzhi | 2683 |
| 4 | GM | Sokolov Ivan | 2625 | : | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2668 |
| 1.4 | 4 | Ukraine | - | 7 | United States of America | ||
| 1 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2731 | : | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2786 |
| 2 | GM | Korobov Anton | 2713 | : | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2721 |
| 3 | GM | Moiseenko Alexander | 2709 | : | GM | Onischuk Alexander | 2672 |
| 4 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | 2701 | : | GM | Akobian Varuzhan | 2625 |
| 1.5 | 5 | Russia | - | 6 | Armenia | ||
| 1 | GM | Kramnik Vladimir | 2793 | : | GM | Aronian Levon | 2801 |
| 2 | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2756 | : | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2700 |
| 3 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2785 | : | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2681 |
| 4 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | 2721 | : | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2676 |
You can watch the games live here.
