Seven out of nine rounds of the Team World Championship 2013 in Chess have been played already. At this moment it is certain that only three of the ten teams still have chances on winning the title: The Ukraine, Russia, and China.
Ukraine takes lead two rounds before the end of World Championship 2013
A glance at the overall standings shows us that the Ukraine has taken the overall lead with a score account of 12 match points. The Eastern Europeans were able to decide 5 games in their favor and had to comply with only one defeat. This defeat happened in round 6 against the Netherlands. While during this match three duels ended in draws, Loek Van Wely (ELO 2678) was surprisingly able to beat Anton Korobov (ELO 2713) who had shown a strong performance in previous rounds of the tournament. Round 7 was then again characterized by the victories of Korobov and Yuriy Kryvoruchko (ELO 2701) against Egypt, and the two defeats of Alexander Areshchenko (ELO 2720) and Amin Bassem (ELO 2652), which resulted in a final score of 2.5:1.5 points. In case the Ukraine is able to win both outstanding matches against Russia and Armenia, the World Championship title is safe and sound; possibly, prevailing over the Russians may even be enough to win, if also China unexpectedly loses against the German team.
Russia and China still with chances on title
On ranks 2 and 3 follow Russia (11 points) and China (10 points), who both still have chances on winning the title in Antalya. The Russians were able to decide 5 matches to their favor, played one draw and were defeated once. In the previous two duels, the Russians were able to score clear victories with 3.5:0.5 points against Germany and 3:1 against the home team from Turkey. The Chinese, on the other hand, have triumphed 5 times so far and were defeated twice. The Asians also won the previous two duels with 3:1 points against Egypt and 2.5:1.5 points against the United States. The Americans have a current score account of 8.0 match points out of four victories and three defeats, like Armenia and the Netherlands. Theoretically speaking, these teams even have a chance on the silver or bronze medal, if one of the top-favorite teams makes a severe mistake in one of the upcoming duels.
European Champion Azerbaijan far off
Out of all ten participating teams, the German team currently ranks 7th. With three victories and four defeats, the Germans, led by Arkadij Naiditsch, have only 6.0 match points at the moment. With China and European Champion Azerbaijan, they have two strong opponents to face in the remaining rounds of the World Championship 2013 in the Turkish city Antalya. Azerbaijan, however, still ranks behind Germany on 8th place with 5.0 points out of two victories, one draw, and four defeats. Azerbaijan is followed by the teams from Turkey (2.0) and Egypt (0) who both have no chances on successfully finishing the tournament.
Picture: Stefan64
written by Michael, translated by Birthe