Russia finish strongly

Russia beat Israel 3-1 to win the World Team Championship and so retain their title.
The Unites States hold onto second place by drawing with Azerbaijan.
The surprise team was India who took the bronze medal after demolishing Brazil 3.5-0.5.

The main question going into the final round was whether the Russians would hold their nerve against the Israeli team who had rather lost their way in rounds 7 and 8.

The USA versus Azerbaijan match pitched second against third and therefore would certainly be decisive for the other medals.

India and Armenia were both expecting to win their last round encounters and thus were serious contenders for Bronze.

As things turned out Tomashevsky and Vitiugov both won with White and thus confirmed Russia's first place.

Israel (6) 1-3 Russia (1)

USA (2) 2-2 Azerbaijan(3)

Four draws including the clash of the in-form players Mamedyarov and Onischuk.

Brazil (8) 0.5-3.5 India(4)

Egypt (9) 1-3 Armenia (5)

Aronian, Akopian and Pashikian won whereas Abdul Razik beat Petrosian.

Greece (7) 2.5-1.5 Turkey (10)

Athanasios Mastroavasilis was the only winner.

The mighty Russian team bounced back from a surprisingly defeat against Greece in the second round by only dropping one further draw against Armenia in round 7.

Azerbaijan scored 22 game points, the second highest, but were only fourth on match points and so were outside the medals.

The final standings were as follows

RankCountry+=-Match (Game) pts.
1Russia711 15 (24)
2USA612 13 (21.5)
3India612 13 (21)
4Azerbaijan522 12 (22)
5Armenia522 12 (20.5)
6Greece405 8 (18)
7Israel315 7 (17)
8Brazil207 4 (12.5)
9Egypt117 3 (12)
10Turkey117 3 (11.5)

The World Team Championships takes place every four years and since the break-up of the Soviet Union Russia have always been in the medals.

In 1985 and 1989 USSR came first whereas in 1997 and 2005 it was Russia who took gold. The other two titles were won by USA (1993) and the Ukraine in 2001.

India, who were only competing because the Chinese dropped out, win their first medal in this competition.

As for the individual performances, the highest percentages on each board are highlighted, on the condition that the player has played at least four games.

The highest performing player of all is Mamedyarov with 6.5/7 closely followed by Nakamura's 5.5/6 on board 1!

Russia rating average (over top four) 2729

1GMAlexander Grischuk273625064.3
2GMDmitry Jakovenko273023070
3GMAlexander Morozevich273212333.3
4GMEvgeny Tomashevsky270531170
5GMVladimir Malakhov271634071.4
6GMNikita Vitiugov269251091.7

Match points 15

Game points 24

Azerbaijan rating average 2718

1GMVugar Gashimov275913335.7
2GMTeimour Radjabov273334071.4
3GMGadir Guseinov261403137.5
4GMShakhriyar Mamedyarov274172088.9
5GMRauf Mamedov264013241.7
6GMNidjat Mamedov261012066.7

Match points 12

Game points 22

Armenia rating average 2697

1GMLevon Aronian278144166.7
2GMVladimir Akopian267844166.7
3GMGabriel Sargissian268014150
4GMArman Pashikian264723158.3
5GMTigran L Petrosian262704233.3
6GMTigran Kotanjian2537

Match points 12

Game points 20.5

Israel rating average 2686

1GMBoris Gelfand276114242.9
2GMMichael Roiz265705141.7
3GMIlia Smirin266813150
4GMEmil Sutovsky265733164.3
5GMEvgeny Postny264813150
6GMMaxim Rodshtein262204233.3

Match points 7

Game points 17

USA rating average 2658

1GMHikaru Nakamura270852175
2GMAlexander Onischuk267045072.2
3GMYuri Shulman262405235.7
4GMVaruzhan Akobian262825156.3
5GMRobert L Hess257210150
6IMRay Robson257002050

Match points 13

Game points 21.5

The USA team playing Brazil
© official site

India rating average 2641

1GMKrishnan Sasikiran265335161.1
2GMPentala Harikrishna267224250
3GMShekhar Ganguly Surya265434071.4
4GMGopal Geetha Narayanan258422160
5GMSubramanian Arun Prasad256713150
6IMBaskaran Adhiban251102050

Match points 13

Game points 21

Complete Indian team
© official site

Brazil rating average 2625

1GMGiovanni Vescovi266002612.5
2GMRafael Leitao262025064.3
3GMAlexandr Fier260107238.9
4GMGilberto Milos261804328.6
5GMAndre Diamant249701312.5
6GMDarcy Lima2481100100

Match points 4

Game points 12.5

Greece rating average 2601

1GMVasilios Kotronias259904328.6
2GMIoannis Papaioannou262524157.1
3GMHristos Banikas260825156.3
4GMStellos Halkias256623250
5GMDimitrios Mastrovasilis257112066.7
6GMAthanasios Mastrovasilis251002133.3

Match points 8

Game points 18

Egypt rating average 2519

1GMAhmed Adly259133256.3
2GMBassem Amin254424344.4
3IMMohamed Ezat24710050
4IMKhaled Abdel Razik246812333.3
5IMImed Abdelnabbi244802225
6IMWalaa Sarwat238601312.5

Match points 3

Game points 12

Turkey rating average 2501

1GMKivanc Haznedanglu249812333.3
2IMMert Erdogdu25130158.3
3IMMustafa Yilmaz247811425
4IMEmre Can244223250
5IMBaris Esen251312428.6
6FMBurak Firat241312150

Match points 3

Game points 11.5

For further information: official site

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