Favorite Russia brought down the fourth seed India 2-0 to claim the title in the finals of the FIDE World Women Team Chess title at Sitges, Spain on 2nd October 2021.
Despite missing the gold, team India has quite a few laurels to be proud of. The silver medal is the nation’s first ever medal in this premier team championship. And, despite a few setbacks and the notable absence of the lead player Koneru Humpy, India’s tigresses fought the good fight and kept the Indian standards high in the prestigious international event.
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For Russia, former champions in 2017, it is a double victory as their team had won gold on FIDE’s online chess Olympiad earlier this year. The team had it easy after the first set winning 2.5-1.5. For India, despite a brilliant win by D.Harika, the team was brought down by the Russians 3-1 in the second match.
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In the finals against Russia held on 7 October, India’s D Harika and Vaishali R held Goryachkina and former champion Alexandra Kosteniuk respectively to a brilliant draw. In a bitter turn-out, Tania Sachdev lost to Kateryna Lagno in 53 moves and Mary Ann Gomes to Polina Shuvalova in 48 moves. India’s disadvantage proved beneficial to the Russians, sealing their comprehensive victory of 3-1.
D. Harika is a name that stood out through the entire event as she remained unbeaten at all levels. The ace player with her composed games grabbed an individual silver medal on Board 1. Mary Ann Gomes who was roped in as a substitute to India’s top seed Koneru Humpy also proved her mettle by being in good form throughout the event and winning an individual bronze on Board 3.
The Indian team had put forth a brilliant act throughout and braved all odds to win its historic maiden medal at the Women’s Team championship. Koneru Humpy had to back off from the event due to vaccination concerns. And though her absence from the team was a grave concern, her substitute Mary Ann kept the team going by sustaining a good form throughout.
India faced Russia in the finals after their victory against Georgia in the semi.
The final results:
Set 1: Russia v’s India 2.5-1.5
D Harika over Alexandra Gorychkina
Alexandra Kosteniuk over R. Vaishali
Kateryna Lagno over Bhakti Kulkarni
Mary Ann Gomes drew with Alina Kashlinskaya
Set 2: Russia v’s India 3-1
D Harika drew with over Goryachkina
R.Vaishali drew with Kosteniuk
Lagno over Tania Sachdev
Kashlinskaya over Ann Mary
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The Matches that Decided the Victories
Russia dominated the event throughout the event, especially in Pool A. The second day had all the teams vying for the top 4 places within the groups to secure their places in the knockout stage.
India earned its first win in the match against the host Spain 2.5-1.5 in the second pool.
R.Vaishali’s 47-move victory in a Sicilian Four Knights Variation game against Sabrina Vega Gutierrez in the second Pool A match turned crucial for India, as did Harika’s win over Gunay Mammadzada on Board 1.
Bhakti Kulkarni and Mary Ann Gomes turned the wheels around on their previous defeats by helping India win against France (3-1) in the final round qualifying for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, D Harika and Mary Ann Gomes gave a leg up for their team as India beat Kazakhstan 1.5-0.5.
SEMIS
Russia and Georgia qualified for the quarterfinals from their respective groups along with India and Ukraine. Both the latter teams had a few hurdles to overcome in their run for the semis. If India qualified due to its handful of wins in the regular rapid time-control games, for Ukraine it was a brave battle over a first-round loss and a nail-biting blitz tiebreak team-match.
In the semis, however, Ukraine suffered at the hands of former champions and tournament-favorites Russia, going down 2.5-1.5 and 3-1 in both the semifinal rounds, Russia scored a 2-0 win by match points and rode smoothly to the finals.
In the other semifinal match consisting of India and Georgia, the first round ended in a draw 2-2. But Team India made an astounding 2.5-1.5 victory in the second round and entered the finals with 1.5-0.5 match points against Georgia. The semi finals did not disappoint and gave enough on-the-edge moments as out of the total eight games in the second round, seven turned out to be decisive games.
The Russian GM Alexandra Gorychkina displayed a highly impressive deep endgame technique while pitted against Ukraine's GM Anna Muzychuk. Meanwhile, Tania Sachdev, the Indian WGM showcased incredible grit under pressure as she tackled Georgia’s IM Meri Arabidze in a tough position. In the key game that decided the second round, Tania succeeded in turning the tables around in favor of India.
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FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2021: The games and the format
The 2021 FIDE World Women's Team Championship was held in Spain from 27th September to 2nd October 2021. The event was broadcasted on Chess.com.
The League phase
There were twelve teams, categorized into two groups with six players in each. The top four teams from every group would qualify for the quarterfinals. Each tie in the knockout level consisted of two sets of matches.
The games were held over four boards with a time-control of 45 minutes each for every player with an additional 10-seconds increment for each move. Twelve teams were invited – four of the best from the four continents (Asia, Africa, Europe & America); five teams from countries whose four best female players rank high in average ratings as per FIDE Rapid June 2021 rating list; the host country’s team and another two referred by the FIDE president. Every team comprises four main players as well as a reserve,
The Round-Robin Stage
Here the teams were segregated into two pools of the same strength: Teams ranking 1st-, 4th-, 5th-, 8th-, 9th-, and 12th- were in one pool, and the rest in the other.
Every team in each pool played against all others within the pool. There were five total matches in every pool. A match win would lead to two points, a match draw one point, and a match loss, zero pts. The four teams that ranked top in each group moved to the next level of Playoffs.
The Playoff Stage
In the single-elimination knockout tournament, eight teams take part. In the quarterfinals, teams were paired according to whatever finishing position they were during the previous round-robin stage. Each match consisted of two games and the team that won the most points in total, advanced to the next level.
Conclusion
Both the winners and the runners-up teams received FIDE trophies. Both the semifinalists secured bronze medals as well as entry to the next FIDE Women’s Team Championship. Stay updated about the premier chess events and tournaments and news from the world of chess, on Mind Mentorz. To know more on our chess coaching for kids reach us at +91 9606847428.