Epress.am News from Armenia
The Yinzhou Cup 2011 World Chess Team Championship, taking place in Ningbo, China, Jul. 15 to 27. continued with Round 7 on Jul. 24. The Chinese team beat the Russian team, 2.5-1.5. As Russia was defeated, the Armenian team’s triumph over Hungary allowed them to keep their place at the top of the standings, according to the championship’s official website.
The Armenian champion title was almost secured by a difference of three points. For the other three games, the United States won 2.5-1.5 over Azerbaijan, India won 2.5-1.5 over Egypt, Israel drew 2-2 with Ukraine.
The battle between the Chinese and Russian teams caught most spectators’ attention. Chinese board 2 player Wang Yue and board 3 Li Chao drew with old opponents Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi, Chinese board 1 player Wang Hao had some critical moments toward Russian superstar Sergey Karyakin. The opening was not quite well for Wang Hao and he couldn’t gain any advantage. Even worse, his h line pawn went too far and got caught by Karjakin. However, the Russian superstar couldn’t find an optimal attack strategy in time, panicked and missed several opportunities, then finally made the most deadly mistake… Ba6? Wang Hao grabbed the only chance to win, moved his queen to f7 to crash black’s defense immediately. The last game was from Chinese young talented player Yu YangYi, who held a tenacious defense toward Peter Svidler’s attack and sealed the tough victory for the Chinese team, to end the unbelievable 0-7 history in previous Olympic and World Cups.
Leading the rank table, the Armenian team continued their hot-streak, had another victory over Hungary with the contribution of Sergei Movsesian. Unstoppable Armenia extended its score advantage to three points, followed by China, Ukraine, Russia and Hungary.