If you have read Part I of the article, you already know that China prevailed in the classical games over Russia: 26-24. Now even more points were at stake: 100 instead of 50; contested in rapid chess. This offered us good chances to overcome our opponents. The Russian women’s team, including myself, was willing to win the rapid competition and compensate for the loss in classical chess.
 

Before round 1 most of the players were agitated and amused. FIDE recently introduced rapid ratings, so each of the participants was assigned with a different, unfamiliar numerical indicator of one’s strength. This innovation didn’t affect the male grandmasters (none of them had played any rated rapid games by that time), while most of the female players were quite surprised. All of a sudden, Alexandra Kosteniuk became the rating favorite of the women’s tournament with an ELO of 2568!

Diego Garces, Alexandra’s husband, is taking a picture of her before round 1

The time control was 15 min/game + 10s/move. Each round took 1 hour. The players who tended to finish their games last hardly had any chances to take a rest, not to mention preparation. Olga Girya was usually the latest bird, but she didn’t complain in any way and just proceeded from one round to the other non-stop.

Olga Girya fought valiantly without any rest breaks

On each of the two days we were to play 5 games. In the first round we defeated our opponents 3.5-1.5, while our compatriots dominated their partners: 4.5-0.5! The Chinese delegation looked somewhat tired. Maybe it was due to them having gone sightseeing (bridge ceremony before the night) in St. Petersburg. The second round was also in our favor: we won 4-1; our male teammates – 4.5-0.5.

Li Chao is sipping on his tea, while a well-known Russian grandmaster is taking pictures. Can you guess who he is?

After the first two rapid rounds the match looked pretty much over. However, in round 3 China managed to heroically overcome the trend and strike back: both of their teams won 3-2. Our women’s team had an assembly after each round – coffee, tea, sweets, jokes. The Chinese team was even more united: both men and women stayed in the playing hall after each rounds and spent the rest time together.

The Chinese team resting on spectators’ seats between rounds

In round 4 we lost agains with the same score: 2-3. The men’s team drew. We were beginning to feel fatigue, while the Chinese team seemed to have a reserve supply of energy. In round 5 we exchanged blows: the Russian women’s team lost 2-3, while the men’s team won 3-2.

Wang Yue and Evgeny Najer observing Zhao Xue vs. Olga Girya

Standings after Day 1: Women: Russia– China 13,5:11,5. Men: 16,5:8,5.

Here are a few instructive examples from Day 1 of the rapid competition:

Day 2 brought us bad luck. We didn’t manage to hang on to the positive score. In round 6 we lost 2-3 (what a cursed score, isn’t it?) and in round 7 – 1.5-3.5 (or maybe 2-3 wasn’t THAT bad, after all?). The men’s team drew the first match and lost 2-3 in the second. The atmosphere was heating up.

Wang Hao definitely has a trick up his sleeve

In round 8 the roles were reversed: we won 3.5-1.5, but our men’s team lost 1.5-3.5! Just two rounds left; all of us were exhausted; but we wanted to win so badly!
 

Round 9. We drew; the Russian men had their revenge: 3.5-1.5. Round 10 was the final and decisive one. Our women’s team had a 1 point advantage, so our #1 goal was not to lose. Alas, we didn’t succeed. I had a much better position against Shen Yang, but very little time left. I got nervous and agreed to a draw only to discover that Valentina Gunina and Alexandra Kosteniuk had already lost their games. The other two games were drawn, so we lost the round 1.5-3.5 and, correspondingly, the entire match. The Russian men’s team beat the Chinese team 3-2 and thus came out on top in both classical chess and in rapid. Thanks to their efforts, we also won on the combined standings, so now the historical score of the unofficial Russia vs. China matches stands at 4-4.
 

Standings in classical chess:
Men: Russia - 13.5; China - 11.5
Women: Russia - 10.5; China - 14.5
Combined: Russia - 24; China - 26

Standings in rapid chess:
Men: Russia - 29, China - 21
Women: Russia - 24.5, China - 25.5

Classical chess + rapid chess:
Men: Russia - 42.5, China - 32.5
Women: Russia - 35, China - 40
Combined: Russia - 77.5, China - 72.5
 

Ju Wenjun had the best score among women: 10.5 out of 15. In the men’s section Ian Nepomniatchi scored 10 out of 15.

My result was rather mediocre: 1.5/5 in classical chess and 4.5/10 in rapid. Still, it gave food for thought.

Interesting moments from Day 2:

	1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 20:46 28 îêòÿáðÿ 2013 ã.
	good show chess quee good show chess queen alexandra kouetnisk where are you going next? it is a great pleasure to be your fan. hail chess queen. loved your games at both rapid and blitz and watched all live. sorry about that half mark. but great performance overall best i think in both combined. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003447713614

	2. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 15:25 28 íîÿáðÿ 2013 ã.
	One can only assume One can only assume black can draw this, otherwise, why ask? I am not going to do an in depth analysis of this one anyway- simply too long to do thoroughly. As a six man endgame, a Nalimov tablebase is the best place to study this. What I will do is analyze the very beginning:I can really only think of one starting move in this position- Rf1+. Why this move? To cut the white king off from one of the pawns-.1. .....Rf1White has 4 moves- Ke3, Kg3/g4, and Ke5. Let's take them in order:Line 1 with 2.Ke3:2. Ke3 Kg6This move by black more or less plays itself. What black wants to do is to liquidate one of the pawns, and with the white king at e3, now, if the g-pawn falls, it is very, very likely the resulting rook ending with a single pawn will be drawn. With Kg6, black has pinned the rook to the 5th rank, and also prevented e5 for the moment. From here on, white will find it very, very difficult to actually hold both pawns while trying to advance the e-pawn.Back at move 2, white could try:2. Kg4 Rg1This move also plays itself. A particular feature of this position is that the black king from f7 guards g6-g8 and g6-e6 preventing the white king from escaping these rook checks by dashing up the h-file, or reaching g6 or e6. If, now, white plays Kf3, black plays Kg6 again and doubly attacking the g-pawn, which white can either guard with Kf4, or he can try to liquidate down to a king + pawn endgame by allowing the capture and exchanging rooks. However, the resulting king + pawn ending is drawn. So, on Kf4, black just continues the check assualt from the 1st rank.Or, at move 2:2. Ke5 Kg63. Ke6I don't think Kd6 is very different in the end. The idea of Ke6 is to allow the rook to shield from d6. Continuing:3. .....Ra1To harass the white king if necessary from the a-file. Again, white has trouble advancing the e-pawn while holding on to the g-pawn. If white tries to play Rf5, black can either simply wait by playing Rb1/a1 until white plays e5 at which time Ra6/b6+ is fatal to white. There are two key lines from this point- an immediate e5 and Ke7. Taking the latter first:4. Ke7 Ra75. Rd7 Ra46. e5 Kg5 (only move?)7. e6 Kg6 (only move?)And this is a classic endgame position that I already know is drawn:8. Rc7 Kg79. Kd8 Kf6 (only move again)10.e7 Ra8 (not Rd4??)11.Kd7Of course, Rc8 is drawn after the exchange at c8 of the rooks and black then takes at e7. Continuing:11. .....Kf7 and white cannot support the pawn's advance since, if the white rook leaves the seventh rank, black either checks at a7 forcing it's return if the pawn is to be saved, or captures the rook at c8 if white tries to shield the queening square by playing Rc8.Lastly, all the way back at move 4 in the line above, an immediate e5 changes nothing:4. e5 Kg55. Rc5Here, Ke7 isn't going to be different from the line previously.5. .....Kg66. Kd7 Rd17. Kc7 Kf7 and this will either reduce down to the position seen previously, or white will find it impossible to protect the pawn- one or the other.Now, a question is- could black draw this with any other beginning in the first two moves? I looked the starting position up in the Nalimov tablebase- 1. ....Rf1+ is the only drawing move. http://wwwcheaponlinecollegesorg.com

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