8th round of the WYCO has welcomed a new leader, Uzbekistan, who won against Iran by 3-1 and obtained 7/8. GM Firouzja of Iran made a rapid draw with GM abdusattarov on board one and ended his 7/7 run to 7.5/8. Uzbeks got 3 draw and their only win was recieved from Yakuboev on Board 2. The game witnessed to great drama, but at the end, Yakuboev got a splendid position and managed to escape out of sparks of his opponent Pour agha Bala. In the link below, you can analyze this fantastic game that brought the sole leadership to Uzbeks.

China stubbornly follows the leadership with 6.5/8 as they won against Ukraine by 3-1 in Round 8. On board 2, Wang Yanbin swindled against Galperin by getting him in the time trouble and Chinese player extended his record to 7.5/8.

In the final round of WYCO 2018, Uzbekistan will try to save the crown against China. Other critical game of tomorrow is Iran vs. India. Round 9 will be played tomorrow at 10:00 a.m (GMT+3)

6th and 7th round of WYCO 2018 has been played today. In round 6, Iran and Belarus played on Board 1. We saw a fantastic fight between IM Zarubitsky and GM Firouzja in which Zarubitsky brutally sacrificed his rook (22.Rxf7) for a heavy kingside attack. Firouzja's king marched from g8 to d7 and although Zarubitsky may have a draw by perpetual check, he did not go for it and arising compilcations brought nothing but a lose for him. Other teammates of Firouzja seemed inspired by his victory and record of 6/6, Iran won 3-1 against Belarus.

 

Despite IM Niemann continued his invincible run of 6/6 by winning with the help of an exchange sacrifice against FM Baidetskiy on Board 2 in behalf of his team, USA lost to Ukraine by 2.5-1.5 on Board 2 of Round 6. Uzbekistan also won against India by 3-1 on Board 3. Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine shared the lead by 5/6 at the end of Round 6.

 

In Round 7, on Board 1, Uzbekistan show a great team spirit and all players did their best on boards and efforts paid off to a clear victory of 3.5-0.5 against Ukraine. Uzbeks now share the leadership with Iran by 6/7.

 

On Board 2, the game between Iran and USA was critical to follow the leadership. We had a theoretical discussion in Open Ruy Lopez at GM Firouzja-IM Brodsky in which IM Brodsky did not play 14...c5. Instead, he preferred a passive defence by 14...Nc5. By doing so, he missed his active counter chances by sacrificing a piece in return of an attack against the weak king and underdeveloped white pieces. GM Firouzja handled his attack excellently and converted it into a crucial win for his team who won 3.5-0.5 against USA. He developed his unbeaten record to 7/7. You can see the critical Firouzja-Brodksy game in the link below. 

 

 

IM Niemann's 6/6 has also came to an end by losing against Pour Agha Bala of Iran on board 2.

 

The underdog of the WYCO 2018, China, also won against Belarus by 3-1 in which Wang Yanbin extended his remarkable run to 6.5/7 on board 2. By this victory, China occupied the 3rd place by 5.5/7.

 

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The excursions to Museum of Mevlana and Butterfly Valley organized on the sixth day of #wyco2018 received a great deal of attention from participants.

In Round 5, none of the teams managed to obtain sole leadership. USA and Belarus got 4.5/5 points as drawing by 2:2 in which Belarusian Tsaruk's tough defence against FM Wang of USA in a rook vs. Rook and bishop endgame brought the half point for Belarus.

This important game and Tsaruk's instructive method of defence in the ending can be seen in the link below; 

http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2018/11/28/Game714043265.html

 

Wounded tiger of Round 4, Uzbekistan fought back to the struggle for leadership by winning against Russia, 3:1. India, Ukraine, Iran and Georgia also won and they share the 3rd place with Uzbekistan by 4/5.

 

Belarus will encounter against Iran, USA against Ukraine and India against Uzbekistan on Round 6 in 30th of November, at 10:00 a.m, since tomorrow is the free day.

As tournament continues, top seeds recieve punches from underdogs and 1st seed Uzbekistan (ELO average 2520) and 3rd top seed India (ELO average: 2424) are no exceptions of this fashion. 

 

Uzbekistan lost to 8th seed USA (ELO average 2368) by 2.5-1.5. Just nearly in one hour after 4th round starts, IM Sindarov (2513), 3rd board of the Uzbek team, made a incredible blunder by playing 15.Qb6 against FM Wang (2248) and the game ended rapidly in 16 moves. This tragedy in the link below shows us that even the masters and the prodigies at the top level are humans and sometimes they also lose their nerves and commit grave mistakes.

 

 

 

On the Board 2, India is also lost against 13th seed Belarus (ELO average 2314) by 2.5-1.5. The battle between IM Zarubitsky and GM Erigaisi was theoretically a deep one in which IM Zarubitsky played a novelty by an exchange sacrifice in an ending arising after Burn Variation of French Defence and the game fizzled out in a draw after fierce battle. Russia also won against Kazakhstan at Board 3 and occupied the 3rd place at standing with 3.5/4 points.

 

USA and Belarus are only teams who still continue their run by 4/4 and playing against each other at Board 1. The other unbeaten (with 3.5/4 points) team, Russia is playing against the wounded tiger Uzbekistan, tomorrow at 15:00 (GMT +3).