The World Team Chess Championship kicked off in Jerusalem on Sunday. With a new ‘slow rapid’ format, the event saw the teams from each of the two pools playing two matches on the first day of action. Pool A saw China and Ukraine winning both their matches, while only Azerbaijan managed the same feat in Pool B. Four out of six squads in each group will move on to the quarterfinals. | Pictured: France’s Laurent Fressinet (currently on 2 out of 2) | Photo: Mark Livshitz
It is getting more and more difficult for the top teams to beat their lower-rated opponents at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai. In round 3, Norway and Germany, seeded third and ninth in the open section, were defeated by Italy and Austria respectively, while the eighth seeds from Ukraine could only get a draw against Cuba. In the women’s section, Mongolia beat the United States and Estonia took down Armenia. | Pictured: Daniele Vocaturo (Italy) | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Rating favourites prevailed in the quarterfinals of the FTX Road to Miami online tournament. Levon Aronian and Jan-Krzysztof Duda secured victory ‘in regulation’, after four rapid games, while Richard Rapport and Wei Yi only won in the blitz tiebreakers. In semis, Wei is paired up against Rapport, while Duda is set to face Aronian.