SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – China lived up to hype as it crushed Rest of the World (ROW) and Europe to pull ahead in the FIDEChess.com Online Nations Cup late Tuesday, May 5.
Striking in the lower boards, the top-seeded Chinese routed the international selection, 3-1, in the inaugural round then dumped the Europeans, 3-1, for 4 match points, towing the Americans and the ROW bets with 3 each.
Team USA, which included Philippine-born Grandmaster Wesley So, settled for a 2-2 draw with India in the opener before thumping Russia, 3-1, in Round 2. Recovering from its fumbling start, ROW nipped India, 2.5-1.5.
India, led by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, was at 1 point with Russia and Europe in the six-team $180,000 rapid tournament organized by the International Chess Federation.
Russia and Europe agreed to a 2-2 truce in Round 2.
In the first round, Wang Hao and Wei Yi played boards 1 and 2 and drew with Azerbaijani Teimour Radjabov and Iranian sensation Alireza Firouzja, respectively.
Yu Yangi and Hou Yifan, four-time women’s world champion, decided the match by beating lower rated Bassem Amin and Mariya Myzychuk on boards 3 and 4.
Ding Liren replaced Wang against Europe and drew with France’s Maxime Vachier Lagrave. Wei had another draw with Armenian Levon Aronian.
Yu notched his second straight win at the expense of Dutchman Anish Giri while current women world champion Ju Weijun took over on board 4 and downed Georgian Nana Dzagnidze.
In the India-US tussle, Anand and Nakamura halved the point on board 1 and so did Leinier Dominguez Perez and Pentala Harikrishna in board 3.
Humpy Koneru bested Anna Zatonskih on board 4 to push the Indians ahead, but Fabiano Caruana persevered to tame Santosh Gujrathi after 119 moves.
Against Russia, Nakamura and Caruana prevailed over Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladislav Artemiev.
So, the world’s first Fischer Random chess champion, and Dmitry Andreikin drew on board 3 and so did Irina Krush and Aleksandra Goryachkina on board 4.
The India-ROW encounter saw draws by Radjabov and Anand, Firtouzja and Harikrisna, and Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru, before Peruvian Cori Jorgi stun B. Adhiban on board 3.
Rounds 3 and 4 will be played Wednesday with China taking on Russia and India in succession. Team USA will clash with ROW and Europe next. India and Europe clash in Round 3 while Russia and ROW collide in Round 4. – Rappler.com
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