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Sixth Round: When the favourites go marchin’ in |
 It was a round at which favourites began to seperate themselves from the pack however everything still remains open as the system of game points always allows chances for the teams in behind to climb up rapidly. Let’s see if anyone is up to the task of cathing the speedy Russian hare.
As already indicated above Russia strengthened his position at the top by soundly beating the third seed India 3,5-0,5. The score in the second board of the round was by no means less devastating: 4-0 when Armenia suffered a heavy defeat in the hands of Iran. This result put Iran in second place, one point less than Russia. Azerbaijan entered free day also with 4-0 in an unfortunate match for the hosts and they are in third place with this win while Serbia and Lithuania couldn’t defeat each other.
Kazakhstan and Georgia beat their opponents, Turkey-Red and Greece in close matches 2,5-1,5. A bad day for both sides of Aegean Sea. The nice finish in the game between young Kazakh player, Serikbay and Atilla Yuksel from Turkey is a joy to watch. Especially the cunning preparatory move Kh2 is aesthetically pleasing.
One of the teams who jumped on to the elevator of game of points was Australia-A with a 3,5-0,5 win against Turkmenistan, thus ending the 8-0 series of their opponents in a cruel fashion and climbing up to the fifth place, just behind India. Also Peru against Singapore was a one –sided affair with 4-0 results which was also the case in the match between Czech Republic and Slovakia-B, a show of vengeance after their loss to Slovakia-A.
The young players are enjoying free day in Istanbul today but tomorrow they have to compete again, with a morning round at 10.00. Let’s all wait for some excitement and more great chess from young players coming back from a refreshing free day! |
