12th World Team Championship
Astana, Kazakhsstan
March 5-14, 2019
Final Standings
1. RUSSIA (Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Andreikin, Artemiev), 16/18
2. ENGLAND (Adams, Mcshane, Howell, Jones, Speelman), 13/18
3. CHINA (Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua), 12/18
4-5. INDIA (Adhiban, Sasikiran, Ganguly, Sethuraman, Aravindh), USA (Swiercz, Sevian, Onischuk, Lenderman, Izoria), 11/18
6-7. IRAN (Maghsoodloo, Idani, Tabatabaei, Firouzja), AZERBAIJAN (Naiditsch, Mamedov, Guseinov, Safarli, Abasov), 8/18
8-9. KAZAKHSTAN (Jumabayev, Ismagambetov, Kazhgaleyev, Makhnev, Kostenko), SWEDEN (Grandelius, Tikkanen, Blomqvist, A. Smith, Johansson), 4/18
10. EGYPT (Amin, Adly, Fawzy, Hesham, Abdelnabbi), 3/18
Match Point System. Each match will be scored by match points as used in the FIDE Olympiad. Winner will get two points, a draw will give each team a point, and a loss is scored as zero points. If any teams finish with equal match points, the tie shall be resolved by board points in total.
Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1
Team Russia is once again the World Chess Team Champion, a title they last held in 2013 with a lineup composed of Kramnik, Karjakin, Grischuk Nepomniachtchi and Vitiugov. At that time it was a great comeback story — Russia was held to a draw by Armenia in the first round, then lost heavily to USA 1-3 in the second.
Vitiugov, Nikita (2741) — Robson, Ray (2613) [D31]
WchT 9th Antalya (2.4), 27.11.2013
This game was the sensation of the event. The college sophomore Ray Robson dares to engage his Russian foe in one of the very chaotic lines in the opening and manages to come out on top. This game, combined with Nakamura’s heavyweight victory over Vladimir Kramnik, earned for the USA a 3–1 upset win over the title favorites.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2
When you say “Marshall Attack” or “Marshall Gambit” most people think of the Spanish Opening with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 d5. There is however another Marshall Gambit, this time from the White side of the Semi-Slav, which is also very popular.
I myself used to play this a lot from the Black side. Just like its namesake in the Spanish Opening, do not go into it without a lot of theoretical preparation!.
6…Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Ne2!?
Vitiugov is trying to confuse his young opponent. More common is 8.Be2 and let me show you one of the thematic traps in the line: 8…Na6 9.Bd6 Ne7? (correct is 9…b6) 10.Nf3 Nf5 (with the benefit of hindsight 10…Ng6!? is better) 11.0–0 Nxd6 12.Qxd6 Bd7? (12…Qxe2? 13.Rad1 f6 14.Qd8+ Kf7 15.Qxh8 and wins; 12…Qf5 13.Ne5 Qg5 14.Nxc6 Bd7 15.Ne5 Qe7 16.Rfd1 with strong pressure) 13.Bd3 1–0 Camus, B (2065)-Piermee, E (2161) Champagne Ardenne 2003 Black resigns because of 13.Bd3 Qg4 14.Ne5.
8…Na6
Another game you should be aware of: 8…Ne7 9.Qd2 f6 10.0–0–0 Nd7 11.Nc3 Qg6 12.Qd6 Qf7 13.Ne4 Nf5 14.Qc7 h5 15.g3 g5 16.f3 g4 17.fxg4 hxg4 18.Be2 Qg7 19.Bxg4! c5 (19…Qxg4 20.Nxf6+ Nxf6 21.Rd8#) 20.Bxf5 exf5 21.Nd6+ Ke7 (21…Kf8 22.Qd8#) 22.Rhe1+ Kf8 23.Re8# 1–0 (23) Canal-Lokvenc Venice 1948.
9.Bf8 Ne7
[9…Kxf8?? 10.Qd8#]
10.Bxg7 Nb4 11.Qd6 Nc2+ 12.Kd2 Nxa1 13.Bxh8
A really crazy position.
13…Qc2+ 14.Ke1 e5 15.f3
[15.Bxe5? Be6 16.f3 Rd8 17.Qc7 Qd2+ 18.Kf2 Nc2 Black is clearly winning: Kononenko, T (2379)-Korneev, O (2606) Seville 2007 0–1 23.]
15…Be6! 16.Bf6 Ng6 17.h4! Qf5 18.Bg5 h6! 19.Bxh6 Rd8 20.Qc5 Qb1+ 21.Kf2 Nc2 22.h5 Nf4! 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Qa5 Qd1 25.Nxf4?
Vitiugov loses his nerve. The cold-blooded 25.h6! puts Black in a difficult position and in fact might even be winning.
25…Rd2+ 26.Kg1?
The losing move. Correct was 26.Be2! Rxe2+ 27.Nxe2 Qxh1 28.Ng3 Qd1 29.Qc3 Nd4 30.h6 Kf8 White is still fighting.
26…Ne3 27.Qg5 Qxf1+ 28.Kh2 Qxf3 [mate is forced] 0–1
Wow. I got a bit carried away there, but in my defense the game was quite exciting. To continue with the story, the Team Russia did not start well but righted itself after this bad loss and did not lose a single game in the rest of the tournament. They beat all the other teams, scored seven straight victories and managed to overtake China at the finish gate.
Now, six years later, the Russian team took charge from the beginning and held the lead to the end, actually clinching the gold medals with one round to go. Karjakin was a bit off (3/7 with 2 losses against a single win), but Nepomniachtchi (4/6), Grischuk (5.5/8), Andreikin (4.5/7) and most especially Vladislav Artemiev (6.5/8) successfully fended off all challenges and did not lose a single game.
As all of you know Vladimir Kramnik recently announced his retirement from competitive chess. It appears that Artemiev is determined to become the “New Vlad” in Russia — last December 2018 he became European Blitz Champion, and in January 2019 he won the Gibraltar Masters, one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. Here in the beautiful city of Astana (just two weeks ago they renamed it Nur-Sultan, after former president Nursultan Nazarbayev) Artemiev notched five wins, including the decisive points in the team victory over Iran and the USA. He is by no means an opening connoisseur, but his feel for the quiet openings is uncanny. A tempo gained here, an awkward pin there, and suddenly you feel the grip tightening and are forced to make concessions, either positional or in material. Then, no matter how small an advantage Artemiev gets, his ruthless technique will more often than not push it home.
Artemiev, Vladislav (2736) — Izoria, Zviad (2603) [D27]
WchT Astana 2019 Astana (7.4), 12.03.2019
Zviad Izoria is a 35–year-old Georgian GM who migrated to the United States in 2013. He was the World U16 Champion back in 2000 and European U18 Champion in 2001. Zviad also represented his native country in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 chess olympiads. He managed to defeat both Caruana and Nakamura in last year’s USA championship, his only two wins of the event!
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 c5 5.d4 dxc4 6.Bxc4 a6 7.0–0 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.e4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc6 11.Nxc6 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Bxc6 13.f3
We have reached a position from the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Black is solid, but passive. The Ukrainian GM Anton Korobov likes to play it as White and has a good score with it. Black’s problems are the pawns on f3 and e4 which restricts his light-squared bishop.
13…Bc5+ 14.Kf1 Ke7 15.Ne2N
An attempt to improve on 15.e5 Nd7 16.Bg5+ f6? (16…Ke8 is correct) 17.exf6+ gxf6 18.Re1! e5 19.Bh4 b4 20.Nd5+ Bxd5 21.Bxd5 Rac8 22.Rad1 Rc7 23.f4 Bd6 24.Rd3 h5 25.Bb3 Rh6 26.Rd5 Rc6 27.fxe5 Nxe5 28.Rdxe5+ 1–0. Korobov,A (2675)-Lesiege,A (2512) Baku 2016.
15…Rhd8?
Believe it or not this move is a mistake. Black’s best is 15…Rac8! as it prevents White’s continuation which you will see.
16.Bg5!
Threatening both e4–e5 and Rdc1, in both cases winning a piece.
16…Rxd1+ 17.Rxd1 Bd6 <D>
POSITION AFTER 17…BD6
18.Rxd6!!
Obviously overlooked by Black.
18…Kxd6 19.e5+ Kxe5 20.Bf4+ Kf5 21.Bc2+ Ne4
[21…Be4 Black loses even more: 22.fxe4+ Nxe4 23.g4+]
22.fxe4+ Kf6 23.Kf2
After the combination White is left with two pieces against a rook and pawn. Not much but did I tell you about Artemiev’s technique?
23…e5 24.Bd2 Ke7 25.Bb4+ Ke8 26.Ba5
Restraining the black queenside pawns.
26…Bd7 27.Bb3 Rc8 28.Nc3 Rc6 29.Nd5 Rh6 30.Bc3 Kf8 31.h3
[31.Bxe5 Re6 wins the pawn right back]
31…f5 32.exf5 Bxf5 33.Bxe5 a5 34.Ke3 Rc6 35.Nc3 b4 36.Bd5 Rc8 37.Nb5 Rc1 38.Nd6 Bb1 39.Nb7 Re1+ 40.Kd4 Re2 41.a4! Rxb2 42.Nxa5 Bc2 43.Nc4 Ra2 44.Bd6+ Ke8 45.Bxb4 1–0
The pawn is taboo: 45.Bxb4 Rxa4 (45…Bxa4 46.Nd6+) 46.Bc6+. In both cases the white rook is lost.
Russia’s record in the World Team Championship:
Rd01 defeated Iran 2.5-1.5 (3 draws and an Artemiev win)
Rd02 beat Egypt 3.0-1.0 (Karjakin and Artemiev won, draws on other games)
Rd03 beat China 2.5-1.5 (draws and a Nepomniachtchi win)
Rd04 drew with England 2.0-2.0 (4 draws)
Rd05 beat Kazakhstan 3.0-1.0 (Karjakin lost but Grischuk, Andreikin and Artemiev all won)
Rd06 tied with Azerbaijan 2.0-2.0 (Karjakin lost but this was offset by a Nepomniachtchi win)
Rd07 beat USA 2.5-1.5 (3 draws and an Artemiev win)
Rd08 defeated Sweden 3.5-0.5 (Karjakin drew while Grischuk, Andreikin and Artemiev all won)
Rd09 beat India 2.5-1.5 (3 draws and a Grischuk win)
Russia won the tournament with a round to spare and could have agreed to short draws on all board against their last round opponent India. Instead they chose to fight it out and come up with another win. Ahh … the killer instinct!
We will continue our story on Thursday.
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
