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World Teams R01: Viji's unbelievable miss

by Sagar Shah - 18/06/2017

Team tournaments are well known for their unusual outcomes. The Indian team tasted that on the first day of the World Team Championship 2017. While the men lost to Poland with a margin of 2.5-1.5, the women drew their round against Georgia. On paper Georgia was the higher seed, but India was completely winning with Viji being a piece up. She blundered and lost. We have the critical moments of all decisive games, and also a very interesting new idea used by Vidit to beat Wojtaszek.

Men lost to Poland: 1.5- 2.5, Women draw Georgia: 2:2 

The headlines of this article could have very well read Vidit's amazing win over Radoslaw Wojtaszek. However, as it turns out Vijayalakshmi's loss was much more pivotal. And it happened in an endgame where she was a complete piece up. Usually it's the other way around - Viji is losing the game and tricks her opponent. It's a very rare occurrence that she would mess up in a completely winning position. Let's have a look at what happened in her game:

 

Nino Batsiashvili - S. Vijayalakshmi, board four

Nino went wrong at this point in the game when she took on c6 with her knight. Viji simply recaptured and after Bxc6 White thought that he was going to win back some material. But, what had she missed?

Of course, Qa6! With this move, everything is saved and with a few more accurate move, White emerges with an extra piece. It could be possible that Batsiashvili saw a bit further, that after Qxa6 Rxa6 Bb7 Ra7 Rc8 she was winning back a piece, but Viji's Kf8 threw cold water on her ambitions, as after Rxd8 Ke7 Rb8 Nd7, wins back the piece. (If you could follow this entire line blindfold in your mind, then great. If you couldn't, try it out again. It's one of the best ways to get better at chess!)

Just to show you how much Viji was in control. She had her king centralized and also the knight. It was just a winning position!

The critical moment of the game. Viji played the inexplicable Na6. Just Nc6 and pushing the b-pawn down the board would have finished off the game. After Na6 the game became complicated and although Black still got chances to win the game, she went on to actually lose the battle. Here's the entire game with analysis:

[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Batsiashvili, Nino"]
[Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2469"]
[BlackElo "2375"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "Georgia"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. g3 Nbd7 8.
Bg2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Nc4 Qa6 {This is all well known theory.} 12.
Bd2 Nb6 13. Rfc1 Rfd8 14. e3 Bf5 $6 (14... Nxc4 15. Rxc4 Qb6 $14 {might have
been the right way to go.}) 15. Ba5 (15. Na5 $1 $16 {was even stronger. The
threat of Bf1 is extremely hard to meet.}) 15... Rd5 16. Bxb6 Rb5 17. Qd1 axb6
18. Nfe5 {White is still clearly better.} Be4 19. Bf1 Qa7 20. a4 (20. f3 Bg6
$14) 20... Rd5 21. Qb3 Bd8 {This is typical Viji. She defends inferior
positions with all her might.} 22. Nd2 Ra5 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 24. Bg2 Nf6 $11 {
At this pont Black has solved all the problems. The a4 pawn is hanging and
overall she has a solid position.} 25. Qd3 (25. Qc3 $1 $11) 25... Rxa4 $1 {
Viji calculates accurately.} 26. Rxa4 Qxa4 27. Nxc6 $2 {This was
Batsiashvili's idea, but she misses out on Black's response a move later.} bxc6
28. Bxc6 Qa6 $1 {This is what the Georgian missed. The queen on d3 is hanging
and White is just a piece down!} 29. Qxa6 Rxa6 30. Bb7 Ra7 $1 31. Rc8 Kf8 $1 {
Accurate play by Viji.} 32. Rxd8+ Ke7 33. Rb8 Nd7 {And there you have it. The
bishop is lost.} 34. Rg8 Rxb7 35. Rxg7 Nf6 {White has two pawns for the piece,
but in no way is it sufficient.} 36. Rg5 Rc7 37. Rb5 Rc6 (37... Rc2 38. f3 (38.
Rxb6 Ng4 $19 {was also possible.}) 38... Nd7 $19 (38... Re2 39. e4 Rd2 40. Rxb6
Rxd4 $19)) 38. Kg2 Kd6 39. Kf3 Kc7 40. g4 Rc2 41. h4 Nd5 42. e4 Kc6 43. Rb3 Nc7
44. h5 Nb5 45. Rb4 Nd6 46. g5 Rc4 (46... b5 {Followed by Nc4 would have been
stronger and immediately ended the game.}) 47. Rxc4+ Nxc4 {Of course this
knight ending is better for Black. But it is not so simple.} 48. b3 Nd2+ 49.
Kf4 (49. Ke3 $5 Nxb3 50. f4 Kd6 51. f5 Ke7 52. d5 exf5 53. exf5 Na5 $19 {
This should win.}) 49... Kd6 50. b4 Nc4 51. d5 b5 (51... exd5 52. exd5 Kxd5 53.
Kf5 Nd6+ $1 54. Kf6 Ne4+ $19) 52. dxe6 Kxe6 53. h6 Ne5 {Black has absolutely
everything under control.} 54. Kg3 Nc6 (54... f6 $1 55. f4 (55. gxf6 Nf7 $19)
55... fxg5 56. fxe5 Kxe5 57. Kg4 Kxe4 58. Kxg5 Ke5 $19) 55. f4 Ke7 (55... Nxb4
{I think this is the variation that scared Viji.} 56. f5+ Ke7 57. g6 $1 fxg6
58. fxg6 $18 {And there is no way to stop a white pawn from queening.}) 56. f5
Kf8 $1 {So far so good. Black is still in control.} 57. Kf4 Nxb4 58. Ke5 Na6 $4
{But why?} (58... Nc6+ $1 59. Kf6 (59. Kd6 b4 60. Kxc6 b3 $19 {White pawns are
going nowhere.}) 59... b4 60. g6 fxg6 61. fxg6 Kg8 $19 {This is an absolute no
brainer. Black king takes care of the kingside pawns and White is just lost.})
59. Kd5 $2 (59. Kd6 $1 b4 60. g6 fxg6 61. fxg6 hxg6 (61... Kg8 62. e5 $18 {
The knight on a6 is dominated.}) 62. e5 b3 63. e6 b2 64. e7+ Kf7 65. h7 b1=Q
66. e8=Q+ Kxe8 67. h8=Q+ $11) 59... Kg8 (59... b4 $1 $19) 60. e5 b4 (60... Nb4+
{This is the only move to win.} 61. Kc5 (61. Kd4 Nc6+ 62. Kd5 Ne7+ 63. Ke4 Nxf5
$1 64. Kxf5 b4 65. Ke4 Kf8 66. Kd4 Ke7 67. Kc4 Ke6 68. Kxb4 Kxe5 $19) 61...
Nd3+ 62. Kd4 Nf4 $19) 61. Kd6 Kf8 $2 {The losing mistake.} (61... b3 62. e6
fxe6 63. fxe6 b2 64. e7 Kf7 65. g6+ hxg6 66. h7 b1=Q 67. e8=Q+ Kxe8 68. h8=Q+
$11 {It was important to play this variation and accept the draw.}) 62. e6 Nc7
63. Kxc7 fxe6 64. g6 hxg6 65. h7 Kg7 66. fxe6 {Suddenly the White pawns are
reaching the finish line before Black. What an unbelievable win for Nino.} 1-0

Viji is well known for her fighting spirit. One can only hope that this defeat spurs her on and that she is able to beat many opponents in the rounds to come!

2:2 against Georgia is not bad, but the way things were poised it could very well have been a 3:1 victory
Harika won the full point by beating Georgian Nana Dzagnidze, just like she had done in the World Cup a few months ago. However, it must be mentioned that at some point in the game she was completely lost.
[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2535"]
[BlackElo "2533"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Georgia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GEO"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 Nc6 7. g4 Nxd4 8.
Qxd4 e5 9. Qd3 Be6 10. Bg2 Rc8 11. Be3 Be7 12. O-O-O Qa5 13. a3 Nd7 14. Nd5 Nc5
15. Qe2 Bxd5 16. Rxd5 O-O 17. Kb1 Qa4 18. f3 Ne6 19. Qd2 (19. h4 $1 Nf4 20.
Bxf4 exf4 21. g5 $16) 19... Rfd8 20. Rd1 $6 (20. h4 $1 {It is very important
to cover the g5 square.} Nc7 21. Rd3 d5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Bg5 $14) 20... h6 $1
{Excellent move by Dzagnidze. She is going to exchange the bishops with Bg5
and now h4 is no longer possible.} 21. Bf1 Bg5 22. Bxg5 hxg5 $15 {I would say,
I already prefer Black.} 23. c3 (23. Rxd6 Rxd6 24. Qxd6 Qxc2+ 25. Ka2 Rd8 $19)
23... Rc6 24. Ka2 Rb6 25. b4 Rc8 26. Rc1 Qc6 27. Qb2 Nf4 $17 {Black is
completely in control.} 28. Rd2 a5 29. b5 Qc5 30. a4 Qe3 31. c4 Qxf3 {Black
has won a pawn and is well on her way to victory.} 32. Re1 Qg3 33. Red1 Ne6 34.
Qa3 Qf4 35. Qc3 Ra8 36. Bd3 Qg3 37. Kb2 Qxh3 38. Rg1 Nd4 39. Be2 Qh2 40. Qe3
Rc8 41. Rg3 Qh6 42. Bf1 Qf6 $2 (42... d5 43. exd5 Qd6 $17) 43. Rh3 Re8 (43...
Qxf1 44. Rdh2 Kf8 45. Rh8+ Ke7 46. Qxg5+ Kd7 47. Rxc8 Ne6 48. Qe3 Nc5 $11 {
And somehow miraculously it's a draw according to the engine.}) 44. Rdh2 Kf8
45. Rf2 Qg6 46. Qd2 {The a5 pawn is falling.} d5 47. Qxa5 dxc4 $2 (47... Qd6 {
was important. White is better, but Black is fighting.}) 48. Bxc4 $1 {Now it
is game over. Harika's technique wasn't especially great, but was good enough
for the full point.} f5 49. gxf5 Qd6 50. f6 Ne6 51. Rd2 Qc5 52. Rh8+ Kf7 53.
Rxe8 Qxc4 54. fxg7 Nxg7 55. Red8 Rf6 56. Qc3 Qxe4 57. R8d7+ Kg6 58. Qc2 Qxc2+
59. Rxc2 g4 60. Rxb7 g3 61. Rd7 e4 62. a5 Rf5 63. b6 Rxa5 64. b7 Rb5+ 65. Ka2
e3 66. Rc6+ Kh7 67. Rcc7 e2 68. Rxg7+ Kh6 69. Rh7+ Kg6 70. Rh1 g2 71. Rg1 Kf6
72. Rc6+ 1-0
This was an important win to level the scores. One could say that our luck compensated. Viji's loss was compensated by Harika's win!
Padmini on board three drew her game against Bela Khotenashvili
[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Padmini, Rout"]
[Black "Khotenashvili, Bela"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2375"]
[BlackElo "2452"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Georgia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GEO"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. Nd2 Nc6 7. N2f3 Nge7 8. c3
Ng6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Qa4 Qc7 12. O-O a5 13. Re1 Bd7 14. Qg4 Qd8 15.
a4 Rb8 16. Rb1 c5 17. b3 Bc6 18. Bc2 Rb7 19. Bd2 Rd7 20. Rbd1 d4 21. cxd4 cxd4
22. Be4 Bxe4 23. Qxe4 O-O 24. g3 Bc5 25. h4 h6 26. Qg4 Kh7 27. Qh5 Qb6 28. Ng5+
Kg8 29. Ne4 Be7 30. Bxh6 gxh6 31. Qxh6 Qd8 32. f4 Re8 33. h5 Bf8 34. Qg5 Qxg5
35. fxg5 Bg7 36. hxg6 Bxe5 37. Nc5 Rd5 38. gxf7+ Kxf7 39. Ne4 d3 40. Kg2 Rb8
41. Nf2 Rxb3 42. Nxd3 Bb8 43. Re3 Kg7 44. g6 Rg5 45. Rde1 Bxg3 46. Rxg3 Rxg3+
47. Kxg3 Rxd3+ 48. Kf4 Rd4+ 49. Ke5 Rxa4 50. Rg1 Rb4 51. Kxe6 Rb6+ 52. Kd5 Rxg6
1/2-1/2

Eesha Karavade played solidly on the second board against Lela Javakhishvili and drew her game.

[Event "11th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Javakhishvili, Lela"]
[Black "Karavade, Eesha"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2388"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "Georgia"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2
b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rad8 12. Rfe1 Rfe8 13. Bf1 c5 14. cxd5 exd5
15. g3 Rc8 16. Bh3 cxd4 17. exd4 Ne4 18. Re3 Bb4 19. Rc1 Bxc3 20. Bxc3 Rc7 21.
Qd1 Rec8 22. Bb2 Rxc1 23. Bxc1 Rc3 24. Kg2 Rxe3 25. Bxe3 Nb8 26. Ne5 f6 27. Nd3
Nd7 28. Qe1 Nf8 29. Qb4 Qxb4 30. Nxb4 Kf7 31. f3 Nd6 32. Kf2 Ke7 33. a4 Ne6 34.
Ke2 a5 35. Na2 b5 36. axb5 Nxb5 37. Bxe6 Kxe6 38. Kd2 Ba6 39. Nc1 Na7 40. Nd3
Bxd3 41. Kxd3 Nc6 42. h4 h5 43. g4 g6 44. Bf4 Kd7 45. Bh6 Ke6 46. Bf4 Kd7 47.
Bh6 Ke7 48. Be3 Ke6 1/2-1/2

Open section:

If this was an individual tournament we would all have been rejoicing Vidit's fine win over Radoslaw Wojtaszek. As it turns out Adhiban and Karthikeyan both lost their games to Duda and Kacper respectively, and India slumped to a 2.5:1.5 defeat against Poland.

Both the teams were quite evenly matched. Poland won 2.5-1.5

The Indian team made a bold decision of resting the Capablanca memorial winner and the man in form Sasikiran Krishnan. Well, one can only wonder what would have happened if Sasi had played the round, especially because Vidit had done his job on board one. Although India lost, a good point for the team is Negi's draw with the black pieces against Bartel. Even playing after such a long time, he was able to show good level of chess.

Vidit in his element!

Vidit Gujrathi won his game without much difficulty against Polish number one Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2730). He attributed his victory to the sixth move of the game 6.Ne5!?

Speaking to Vidit after the game, the 22-year-old said to ChessBase India, "Ne5 was actually found together by Anish (Giri) and me. It's a funny move, with a very original idea. Anish played it against Wesley in chess.com blitz match, but apparently Wojtaszek didn't know about it! His reaction was very passive and I built a strong position."

 

We had an interesting question on Facebook by Aditya Talekar, who asked - Isn't it bad to move the same piece twice in the opening? A valid point, Aditya. However the move Ne5 has some upsides. First of all the knight is on a good central square, putting pressure on the various key points in the black position. More importantly this is a new idea that Vidit analyzed at home and Wojtaszek didn't. The surprise element makes it worth trying out for a game or two. As Nigel Short famously said in the Anand-Carlsen match of 2014 - "This is a condom variation!" You cannot try it more than once! Well, is it true for this line as well? Only time will tell.

Not one to mince with words, India's third GM Pravin Thipsay calls the battle between Vidit and Wojtaszek as a Master vs Amateur classic!

Let's go over the game:

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2692"]
[BlackElo "2730"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. Ne5 $5 {A fresh idea!
The knight moves again, but it opens up the bishop and also keeps an eye on
the c4 pawn. White will try and follow it up with d4.} (6. d4 {is the normal
move. But perhaps Vidit was tired of the 20-move theory!}) 6... c5 (6... Nbd7
7. d4 c6 8. Nc3 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. f4 Re8 12. Be3 Bc5 13. Bxc5
Nxc5 14. Qd2 f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. b4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Qe3 a5 19. b5 cxb5
20. Qb3+ Kh8 21. Qxb5 Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Bg4 23. Rae1 Qd2 24. h3 Be6 25. a3 Qe3 26.
Kh2 b6 27. f5 Bf7 28. f6 g6 29. Rc1 Kg8 30. Rc7 Rf8 31. Re7 Qxa3 32. Qg5 {
1-0 (32) Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017}) 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 Qd6
$6 (8... Nc6 {would not have been such a bad idea. Perhaps Vidit would then go}
9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. d3 $13 {And the idea could be to gang up on the d3 pawn.} Ba6
11. Qc2 {[%cal Gb1d2,Gd2b3]}) 9. d4 cxd4 $6 (9... Nc6 $11) 10. exd4 Be6 11. Nc3
$14 {The queen is not happy on d6. The bishop may come out to f4. White has
harmonious development. Something has gone terribly wrong for Wojtaszek.} Qb6
12. Re1 Nc6 13. Na4 Qd8 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bf4 $14 Re8 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Nc5 Bf5
18. Re5 Bc8 (18... Bg6 19. Qa4 $16) 19. Qa4 Bd7 {Radoslaw has absolutely no
idea about what he is doing.} 20. Nxd7 Nxd7 21. Re2 g5 22. Bd2 Nb6 23. Qxc6 {
White has not only won a pawn, but the black kingside is also in ruins.} Rc8
24. Qh6 Rxc1+ 25. Bxc1 f6 26. Bh3 Bf8 27. Rxe8 {A fine win by Vidit, who made
absolutely no errors.} (27. Rxe8 Qxe8 28. Qxf6 $1 Qe1+ 29. Kg2 Qxc1 30. Be6#)
1-0

With this win Vidit has pumped up his rating by 5.5 Elo points and is now on 2697.5! One more win and he will be the fourth Indian to cross 2700 after Anand, Sasi and Hari!
Adhiban lost his game to the Polish talent Jan Krzysztof Duda

Adhiban has to attribute this loss to his habit of always wanting to do something in a position.

In a relatively even position, he went ahead and opened the position with ...g5. If you look closely, this move does absolutely nothing positive to the black player's game. He is simply left with the h5 weakness which Duda used to activate his forces. The Polish GM unleashed some beautiful tactics revolving around the e4 square. Have a look at it in the game analysis below:

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2670"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
dxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. h3 Qe7 11. Bb3 Bc7 12. Bd2 h6 13. Rad1 Re8 14. Nh4 Nf8 15.
Nf5 Bxf5 16. Qxf5 e4 17. h4 Rad8 18. a3 Qd7 19. Qxd7 N8xd7 20. g3 Nb6 21. Kg2
h5 22. Rc1 g6 23. Rc2 Re7 24. Ba2 Bd6 25. Rb1 Red7 26. b4 Bf8 27. Kf1 a6 28.
Ke2 Kg7 29. Be1 Re8 30. Rbb2 Ng4 31. Nb1 f5 32. Bb3 Nf6 33. Nd2 Nfd5 34. Rb1
Kf6 35. Ba2 {The position is around even and after some shuffling, the players
would have agreed to a draw I guess. But Adhiban wanted more.} g5 $6 {Nothing
positive happens in the position with this move for Black. He is just left
with an isolated h5 pawn.} 36. hxg5+ Kxg5 37. Nb3 Nf6 38. Bd2 Rh7 39. Na5 Ree7
40. Rh1 h4 41. gxh4+ Rxh4 42. Rxh4 Kxh4 43. Rc1 Kg5 44. Rh1 Bg7 45. Nb3 Nbd5
46. Nc5 f4 $6 {Once again Adhiban forces the issue.} 47. Rg1+ (47. exf4+ Nxf4+
48. Bxf4+ Kxf4 49. Rg1 Kf5 50. Be6+ $18) 47... Kf5 48. exf4 Bh6 49. Bb1 $1 {
A great move by Duda.} b6 (49... Nxf4+ 50. Kf1 $1 $18 {Everything is badly
pinned.} Nh3 51. Bxh6 Nxg1 52. Kxg1 $16 {White should win this.}) (49... Bxf4
50. f3 $1 Bxd2 51. Kxd2 $18) 50. Nxe4 $1 Bxf4 (50... Rxe4+ 51. Kd1 $1 {There
is no way to stop f3.}) 51. Kd1 $1 (51. f3 {was also strong.}) 51... Bxd2 52.
Ng5+ $1 Ne4 (52... Kf4 53. Nh3+ Kf3 54. Rg3#) 53. Bxe4+ Rxe4 54. Nxe4 Kxe4 55.
Kxd2 {The rest is just a matter of technique.} Kxd4 56. Rg4+ Ke5 57. Rg6 Nf6
58. Kd3 Kf5 59. Rg7 Ng4 60. Kd4 Ne5 61. Ra7 c5+ 62. bxc5 Nc6+ 63. Kd5 Nxa7 64.
cxb6 Nc8 65. b7 Ne7+ 66. Kc5 1-0

Karthikeyan was doing pretty well in the game, but when things got complicated his opponent Piorun Kacper clearly showed superior tactical mastery.

[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Karthikeyan, Murali"]
[Black "Piorun, Kacper"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2631"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4
Ba7 9. Re1 b5 10. Bb3 d6 11. Nf1 h6 12. a4 b4 13. a5 bxc3 14. bxc3 Ne7 15. Be3
Ng6 16. g3 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. d4 e4 20. Qc2 f5 21. N3d2 c6 22.
Ba4 Re6 23. Nb3 Nf8 24. Nc5 Rf6 25. Qb3 Re7 26. c4 Nc7 27. d5 Qd6 28. Qa3 cxd5
29. cxd5 Kh8 30. Ne3 $2 (30. Rec1 $1 Qxd5 31. Nxa6 $1 $18) 30... f4 $1 31. Nc4
Qxd5 $1 32. Nb6 Qf5 33. Nxc8 f3 $1 {Great play by Piorun. Qh3 is a deadly
threat.} (33... Qxc8 34. Nxe4 $14 {was perhaps what Murali was expecting.}) 34.
Kh1 Re5 $1 {You can bank on the World Champion of composing to find such moves.
} 35. Rxe4 (35. Nb6 Qh3 36. Rg1 Qxh2+ 37. Kxh2 Rh5# {is a textbook mate.}) (35.
Rg1 Rxc5 $19) 35... Qh3 36. Rg1 Rh5 37. Rh4 Rxh4 38. gxh4 Rg6 $1 39. Qa1 Rg2 {
Piorun Kacper showed some great tactical vision to win the game.} 0-1

Parimarjan drew his game against Mateusz Bartel. If you look at it as Negi coming back to chess after a long gap, this is a good result. But if you look at the position objectively, it wasn't great because the Indian was clearly winning.
[Event "11th World Teams 2017"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2017.06.17"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Bartel, Mateusz"]
[Black "Negi, Parimarjan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2670"]
[PlyCount "161"]
[EventDate "2017.06.17"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Qe2 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8.
Qxf3 Nd7 9. Qg3 O-O 10. Nd2 f6 11. O-O Re8 12. Nb3 Bd6 13. Na5 Qc8 14. Nc4 Nf8
15. f4 exf4 16. Bxf4 Bxf4 17. Rxf4 Kh8 18. e5 f5 19. Rf2 Ng6 20. Qf3 f4 21. d4
Qe6 22. Nd2 Rad8 23. c3 b6 24. Ne4 Qf5 25. b4 Rf8 26. Re1 h6 27. Nd2 c5 28.
bxc5 bxc5 29. Nb3 cxd4 30. e6 Qf6 31. cxd4 Rfe8 32. d5 Rd6 33. Rc2 Qg5 34. Rxc7
Rxd5 35. Re4 Re5 36. Nd4 Nh4 37. Rxe5 Nxf3+ 38. Nxf3 Qd8 39. Rd7 Qb6+ 40. Nd4
Qb1+ 41. Kh2 Qxa2 42. e7 f3 43. Nxf3 Kg8 44. Nd4 Qd2 45. Re2 Qf4+ 46. g3 Qf6
47. Kg2 a5 48. Re6 Qg5 49. h4 Qg4 50. Rdd6 Kf7 (50... a4 $1 $19) 51. Nc6 Qxe6
52. Nd8+ Kxe7 53. Rxe6+ Kxd8 54. Ra6 Re5 55. Kf3 Kc8 56. Rg6 Kb8 57. Rxg7 a4
58. Rg4 Ra5 59. Rb4+ Kc7 60. Rb1 a3 61. g4 Kd6 62. Ke4 a2 63. Ra1 Ke6 64. Kd3
Ra4 65. Kc3 Ke5 66. Kb3 Rxg4 67. Rxa2 Rxh4 68. Ra5+ Kf4 69. Kc3 Rh2 70. Kd3 h5
71. Ra8 h4 72. Rf8+ Kg3 73. Ke3 Ra2 74. Rg8+ Kh2 75. Kf3 h3 76. Rh8 Ra5 77. Rg8
Rf5+ 78. Ke2 Kh1 79. Rh8 h2 80. Rg8 Ra5 81. Kf1 1/2-1/2
The president of the Russian Chess Federation, as well as the captain of the team - Andrey Filatov. This man simply loves chess.
CEO of FIDE Geoffrey Borg. Apart from being an extremely successful entrepreneur, did you know Geoffrey is a strong chess player with a rating of 2367!
Press officer Eteri Kublashvili

Team results Open section:

The biggest upset was Turkey holding Ukraine to a 2-2 draw.

Round 1 on 2017/06/17 at 15:00
No. SNo. Team Res. Team SNo.
1 1 CHINA 3½ – ½ BELARUS 10
2 2 INDIA 1½ – 2½ POLAND 9
3 3 UNITED STATES 2½ – 1½ NORWAY 8
4 4 EGYPT ½ – 3½ RUSSIA 7
5 5 TURKEY 2 – 2 UKRAINE 6

For board wise break down, click here

Team results Women section:

The most important match up was Russia against China. The Russian women won 3:1 and this has surely boosted their campaign for a gold medal.

Round 1 on 2017/06/17 at 15:00
No. SNo. Team Res. Team SNo.
1 1 UNITED STATES 1½ – 2½ UKRAINE 10
2 2 INDIA 2 – 2 GEORGIA 9
3 3 POLAND 3½ – ½ AZERBAIJAN 8
4 4 EGYPT 0 – 4 VIETNAM 7
5 5 RUSSIA 3 – 1 CHINA 6

For board wise break down, click here

Live Games along with live commentary from Evgeny Miroschnichenko and Anna Rudolf can be followed on the ChessBase India website. You can also download games of all the rounds, lightly annotated by the tactical analysis feature.

Follow the games live with commentary