By A.E. Boy Espejo Jr.
The United States team defeated China in its last preliminary round outing, 2½-1½, to secure the second championship slot of the ongoing FIDE Online Nations Cup which is being played online on the chess.com server.
China earlier qualified as the first championship finalist after topping the prelims.
USA’s closest competitor for the second slot, Europe, was held by the Rest of the World (ROW) squad, 2-2, and missed its chances for the championship by the proverbial whisker.
Beating ROW would have given the second championship slot to Europe.
China and the USA will now play a four-board championship match. For topping the preliminary round, China will have draw odds and will also have white on Boards 1 and 3.
The final preliminary round standings (board points): 1. China, 25½; 2. USA, 22; 3. Europe, 21½; 4. Russia, 19; 5. India, 17½ 6. Rest of the World, 14½.
So, Wesley (2770)-Adhiban, B (2659) [C78]
chess.com (6.3) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Qe7 8.Nbd2 Bg4 9.Nc4 Nd7 10.h3 Bh5 11.a3 0-0-0 12.b4 Bd4 13.Rb1 Nb6 14.Ne3 Bxe3 15.Bxe3 g5 16.Bxg5 f6 17.Bh4 Rhg8 18.Qe2 Na4 19.Rb3 Rdf8 20.Qe3 Kb8 21.Kh2 Ka8 22.c4 Nb6 23.Bg3 f5 24.Nxe5 fxe4 25.dxe4 Qe6 26.c5 Nc8 27.Rd3 Ne7 28.Re1 Ka7 29.a4 Be8 30.Rd8 h5 31.h4 Qf6 32.b5 cxb5 33.axb5 Bxb5 34.c6+ b6 35.Nd7 Rxg3 36.Qxg3 1-0
Cori, J (2652)-So, Wesley (2770) [D37]
chess.com (8.3) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e3 c5 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qe2 Nc6 12.Rfd1 Qb6 13.Bg3 Nxd4 14.Rxd4 Rfd8 15.Rad1 Bc6 16.h3 Rxd4 17.Rxd4 Rd8 18.Rxd8+ Qxd8 19.Bb5 Qd7 20.Bxc6 Qxc6 21.Qd3 a6 22.Bh4 b5 23.b3 g5 24.Bg3 Nd7 25.Ne2 Nc5 26.Qd4 Ne4 27.f3 Nxg3 28.Nxg3 Qc1+ 29.Kh2 Qc7 30.f4 Bc5 31.Qc3 gxf4 32.Ne4 fxe3+ 33.g3 Bd6 34.Qxe3 Qc2+ 35.Kh1 Qb1+ 36.Kg2 Qxa2+ 37.Kf3 Be7 38.Qc3 Qb1 39.Qc8+ Kh7 40.Qe8 Qd3+ 41.Kf2 Kg7 42.Qxe7 Qxe4 43.b4 Qd4+ 0-1
Ding, L (2791)-Nakamura, H (2736) [C50]
chess.com (10.1) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.c3 d6 6.0-0 h6 7.Re1 0-0 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Nf1 Be6 10.Bb5 Bb6 11.Ng3 Ne7 12.h3 Nd7 13.d4 f5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nd4 Bc8 16.exf5 Nxf5 17.Ngxf5 Bxf5 18.Be3 Bd7 19.f4 Bxd4 20.Bxd4 Bxb5 21.fxe5 Bc6 22.Qg4 dxe5 23.Rxe5 Qd7 24.Qg3 Rae8 25.Rae1 Rxe5 26.Rxe5 a4 27.Re6 Kh7 28.Qd3+ Kg8 29.Rxh6 Qf5 30.Qg3 Qf1+ 31.Kh2 Qf4 32.Rg6 Qxg3+ 33.Kxg3 Rf7 34.Rg5 Kh7 35.b4 a3 36.Ra5 Re7 37.Kf2 Rf7+ 38.Kg3 Re7 39.Rxa3 Re2 40.Ra5 Rxg2+ 41.Kf4 Re2 42.Rh5+ Kg8 43.b5 Re4+ 44.Kf5 g6+ 45.Kxg6 Be8+ 46.Kf5 Bxh5 47.Kxe4 Be2 48.a4 Bd1 49.a5 Be2 50.Be5 Bxb5 51.Bxc7 Kf7 52.Kd5 Ke7 53.Kc5 Be2 54.Kb6 Bf3 55.c4 Kd7 56.c5 Kc8 57.h4 Be2 58.Bf4 Bf3 59.a6 bxa6 60.Kxa6 Kd7 61.Kb6 Kc8 62.c6 Bh5 63.Kc5 Bg4 64.Kd6 Kd8 65.c7+ Ke8 66.h5 1-0
Caruana, F (2835)-Wang, H (2763) [C42]
chess.com (10.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nf6 10.Bd3 c5 11.Rhe1 Be6 12.Bf4 d5 13.Ng5 Bg4 14.f3 Bd7 15.c4 d4 16.h4 Re8 17.g4 Bc6 18.Qh2 Qa5 19.a3 Bf8 20.Bd2 Qb6 21.Qf4 Bd7 22.Bxh7+ Kh8 23.Bf5 Bxf5 24.Qxf5 Kg8 25.h5 Qc6 26.Nxf7 Kxf7 27.g5 Qd7 28.Qg6+ 1-0
Yu, Y (2709)-So, Wesley (2770) [C67]
chess.com (10.3) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.c3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.a4 d5 14.a5 Nd6 15.Bf4 Bf5 16.Nd2 Bg5 17.Qe3 Bxf4 18.Qxf4 Qd7 19.Nb3 Re8 20.Nc5 Qc8 21.a6 b6 22.Nb7 Ne4 23.Re1 Bd7 24.c4 Nf6 25.Rc1 Bc6 26.c5 Re4 27.Qg3 Bxb7 28.cxb6 Bxa6 29.Rxc7 Qe8 30.Bxa6 Re1+ 31.Bf1 axb6 32.Qd3 g6 33.f3 Qa4 34.Kf2 Rd1 35.Qc3 Kg7 36.Bd3 Rh1 37.b3 Qa2+ 38.Bc2 Qa3 39.Qe3 Qa1 40.Kg3 Re1 41.Qc3 Nh5+ 42.Kf2 Rf1+ 43.Ke3 Qc1+ 44.Qd2 Re1+ 45.Kd3 Nf4+ 46.Kc3 Re3+ 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Ra5!. Black’s futile options are: 1…Bf6 2.Bf5#; 1…Bd6 2.Bd5#; 1…Bc5 2.Qb1#; 1…Sc5 2.Qb4#./PN
