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

Rank

Country

Match (Game) pts.

1	Russia	7	1	1	15 (24)
2	USA	6	1	2	13 (21.5)
3	India	6	1	2	13 (21)
4	Azerbaijan	5	2	2	12 (22)
5	Armenia	5	2	2	12 (20.5)
6	Greece	4	0	5	8 (18)
7	Israel	3	1	5	7 (17)
8	Brazil	2	0	7	4 (12.5)
9	Egypt	1	1	7	3 (12)
10	Turkey	1	1	7	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

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Alexander Grischuk	2736	2	5	0	64.3
2	GM	Dmitry Jakovenko	2730	2	3	0	70
3	GM	Alexander Morozevich	2732	1	2	3	33.3
4	GM	Evgeny Tomashevsky	2705	3	1	1	70
5	GM	Vladimir Malakhov	2716	3	4	0	71.4
6	GM	Nikita Vitiugov	2692	5	1	0	91.7

Match points 15

Game points 24

Azerbaijan rating average 2718

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Vugar Gashimov	2759	1	3	3	35.7
2	GM	Teimour Radjabov	2733	3	4	0	71.4
3	GM	Gadir Guseinov	2614	0	3	1	37.5
4	GM	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2741	7	2	0	88.9
5	GM	Rauf Mamedov	2640	1	3	2	41.7
6	GM	Nidjat Mamedov	2610	1	2	0	66.7

Match points 12

Game points 22

Armenia rating average 2697

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Levon Aronian	2781	4	4	1	66.7
2	GM	Vladimir Akopian	2678	4	4	1	66.7
3	GM	Gabriel Sargissian	2680	1	4	1	50
4	GM	Arman Pashikian	2647	2	3	1	58.3
5	GM	Tigran L Petrosian	2627	0	4	2	33.3
6	GM	Tigran Kotanjian	2537

Match points 12

Game points 20.5

Israel rating average 2686

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Boris Gelfand	2761	1	4	2	42.9
2	GM	Michael Roiz	2657	0	5	1	41.7
3	GM	Ilia Smirin	2668	1	3	1	50
4	GM	Emil Sutovsky	2657	3	3	1	64.3
5	GM	Evgeny Postny	2648	1	3	1	50
6	GM	Maxim Rodshtein	2622	0	4	2	33.3

Match points 7

Game points 17

USA rating average 2658

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Hikaru Nakamura	2708	5	2	1	75
2	GM	Alexander Onischuk	2670	4	5	0	72.2
3	GM	Yuri Shulman	2624	0	5	2	35.7
4	GM	Varuzhan Akobian	2628	2	5	1	56.3
5	GM	Robert L Hess	2572	1	0	1	50
6	IM	Ray Robson	2570	0	2	0	50

Match points 13

Game points 21.5

The USA team playing Brazil
© official site

India rating average 2641

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Krishnan Sasikiran	2653	3	5	1	61.1
2	GM	Pentala Harikrishna	2672	2	4	2	50
3	GM	Shekhar Ganguly Surya	2654	3	4	0	71.4
4	GM	Gopal Geetha Narayanan	2584	2	2	1	60
5	GM	Subramanian Arun Prasad	2567	1	3	1	50
6	IM	Baskaran Adhiban	2511	0	2	0	50

Match points 13

Game points 21

Brazil rating average 2625

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Giovanni Vescovi	2660	0	2	6	12.5
2	GM	Rafael Leitao	2620	2	5	0	64.3
3	GM	Alexandr Fier	2601	0	7	2	38.9
4	GM	Gilberto Milos	2618	0	4	3	28.6
5	GM	Andre Diamant	2497	0	1	3	12.5
6	GM	Darcy Lima	2481	1	0	0	100

Match points 4

Game points 12.5

Greece rating average 2601

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Vasilios Kotronias	2599	0	4	3	28.6
2	GM	Ioannis Papaioannou	2625	2	4	1	57.1
3	GM	Hristos Banikas	2608	2	5	1	56.3
4	GM	Stellos Halkias	2566	2	3	2	50
5	GM	Dimitrios Mastrovasilis	2571	1	2	0	66.7
6	GM	Athanasios Mastrovasilis	2510	0	2	1	33.3

Match points 8

Game points 18

Egypt rating average 2519

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Ahmed Adly	2591	3	3	2	56.3
2	GM	Bassem Amin	2544	2	4	3	44.4
3	IM	Mohamed Ezat	2471	0	0	5	0
4	IM	Khaled Abdel Razik	2468	1	2	3	33.3
5	IM	Imed Abdelnabbi	2448	0	2	2	25
6	IM	Walaa Sarwat	2386	0	1	3	12.5

Match points 3

Game points 12

Turkey rating average 2501

Board	Title	Name	Rating	Wins	Draws	Losses	Percentage
1	GM	Kivanc Haznedanglu	2498	1	2	3	33.3
2	IM	Mert Erdogdu	2513	0	1	5	8.3
3	IM	Mustafa Yilmaz	2478	1	1	4	25
4	IM	Emre Can	2442	2	3	2	50
5	IM	Baris Esen	2513	1	2	4	28.6
6	FM	Burak Firat	2413	1	2	1	50

Match points 3

Game points 11.5

For further information: official site