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MANILA, Philippines – There was China and the others.
The powerhouse Chinese disposed of the Europeans and the Russians by similar 2.5-1.5 scores in Rounds 7 and 8 late Friday to assure themselves of the first finals slot in the FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup.
Left to dispute the second finals spot on Saturday, May 9, are the second-running United States and third-running Europe, with the winner getting another crack at China, which moved beyond reach with 15 match points.
Team USA, which includes Philippine-born Wesley So, edged Russia, 2.5-1.5, and routed Rest of the World (RoW), 3-1, to overtake Europe, which was held to a 2-2 standoff by the Viswanathan Anand-led India in Round 8.
The Americans climbed to 11 points, a point ahead of the second-seeded Europeans.
Against Russia, Hikaru Nakamura provided the clincher for the US when he beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in Board 1.
So split the point with Sergey Karjakin in Board 3, Fabiano Caruana and Vladislav Artemiev also drew their Board 2 tussle and so did Irina Krush and Aleksandra Goryachkina in Board 4.
Against RoW, it was So’s and Caruana’s turn to shine as they downed Peruvian Jorge Cori and Egyptian Bassem Amim, respectively. Nakamura drew with Iranian sensation Alireza Firouzja and so did Krush against Ukrainian Mariya Muzychuk.
Following its successive losses, former superpower Russia fell out of the title race in the six-team $200,000 tournament with just 5 points, the same total posted by India, which bested RoW, 2.5-1.5, in Round 7. RoW hogged the cellar with 2 points.
Round 9 will pit RoW against Russia, US against Europe, and India against China. Clashing in the 10th and last round of the double round-robin group stage are Russia and India, China and US, and Europe and RoW.
China, the 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad champion in both the Open and Women division, parades world No. 3 Ding Liren, Wang Hao, Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, four-time women world champion Hou Yifan and reigning women world titlist Ju Wenjun.
The Chinese have won 7 of their 8 matches thus far with only the Russians forging a draw in Round 3. Yu is their current best scorer with 4 wins and 1 draw in Board 3. – Rappler.com
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