42nd World Chess Olympiad highlights
he national chess teams of 176 countries continue to struggle to win the 42nd FIDE World Chess Olympiad running in Baku.
Following the 4th round, the Chinese team topped the ranking, while Azerbaijan was the second and the Dutch team was coming the third.
The Round 4 of the World Chess Olympiad brought a big derby between the top rated Russia and 5th-seeded Ukraine.
Ian Nepomniachtchi put Russia in the lead, but the Ukrainians fought back and with the wins by Ponomariov and Volokitin turned the match in their favor 2.5-1.5.
The 2nd-seeded USA were held to a tie by the solid Czech Republic, but the other favorites fared better. Azerbaijan and China won by 3-1 against Romania and Italy, respectively.
India defeated Cuba 2.51.5 and Netherlands demolished England 3.5-0.5.
Sergei Zhigalko defeated Alexei Shirov to secure a narrow Belarus victory against Latvia. In similar fashion, Tsegmed Batchuluun brought the victory for Mongolia against the higher-rated Croatia.
Aleksandar Indjic put Serbia in lead against Slovenia, but Luka Lenic struck back to even the match. Spain crushed Peru by 3,50,5 and Georgia defeated Bulgaria 3-1 with a Jobava win against Topalov on the top board.
Azerbaijan 2 was convincing against IBCA 3.50.5, while Azerbaijan 3 lost by the same result to Turkmenistan.
The Round 5 would see the matches of the following teams: Ukraine vs. China; Netherlands vs. Belarus; Serbia vs. U.S.A.; Azerbaijan 1 vs. India; Slovenia vs. Czech Republic; Spain vs. Georgia; Mongolia vs. Turkey; Russia vs. Egypt; Moldova vs. Poland; Cuba vs. Canada; Latvia vs. Hungary; Sweden vs. Romania; Paraguay vs. France; Vietnam vs. England; Denmark vs. Italy; Bangladesh vs. Germany; Azerbaijan 2 vs. Turkmenistan; Singapore vs. Greece; Brazil vs. Kazakhstan; Estonia vs. Iceland; Norway vs. Belgium; Argentina vs. Venezuela; United Arab Emirates vs. Chile; Philippines vs. South Africa; Portugal vs. Qatar; Montenegro vs. Croatia; Slovakia vs. Iran; Finland vs. Luxembourg; Colombia vs. Bulgaria; Peru vs. FYROM; Trinidad & Tobago vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina; Indonesia vs. Switzerland; Faroe Isles vs. Algeria; Uzbekistan vs. Surinam; Israel vs. Scotland; Austria vs. Hong Kong; Costa Rica vs. Lithuania and Monaco vs. Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, in the Women section the biggest attention was attached to the victory of Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Latvia's top board and also the country's Minister for Finance, against the world champion Hou Yifan. China still emerged on the top with wins of Ju Wenjun and Guo Qi.
On the first table Russia defeated Hungary thanks to Natalija Pogonina's effort on the 4th board. Ukraine was convincing 3,5-0,5 against France, whose top rated player Sophie Milliet took a day off.
India and Israel, as well as Azerbaijan and Romania, exchanged blows but by the end of the day their respective matches were tied. Kazakhstan came up top in the clash with Lithuania.
Pia Cramling won a nice game to bring Sweden in the lead, but Serbia dominated on the remaining boards for a total 3-1 victory.
Italy narrowly defeated Azerbaijan 2, while Azerbaijan 3 split the match points with Brazil.
After the Round 4, Top 10 women standing is as the following: Ukraine, Serbia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania, India, Italy, China, Israel and Germany.