With 17 match points out of nine games Georgia was the glorious winner at the 2015 Women's World Team Championship in Chengdu, China. Russia won the silver medals; China took bronze.

The Georgian team, fourth-seeded behind Russia, Ukraine and China, consisted of GM Bela Khotenashvili (2513), IM Lela Javakhishvili (2481), IM Salome Melia (2459), IM Nino Batsiashvili (2473) and the revelation of the recent World Women's Championship, IM Meri Arabidze (2374).

Especially the first and last board contributed strongly to the success. Khotenashvili scored a splendid 7½/9 (the best score of anyone in Chengdu) with three draws and six wins, good for a 2704 performance rating. Arabidze didn't lose either and scored 6/7 (a 2615 TPR).

Georgia started 2-2 against Russia, and then defeated Egypt 4-0 and Poland 2½-1½. This was all covered in FM Mike Klein's first report on the tournament. By now you will have figured out that Georgia finished with six more wins, and that Ukraine and China were among the victims!

Ukraine was beaten 2½-1½ in round five. With draws on boards two, three and four, the key game was GM Bela Khotenashvili versus GM Anna Muzychuk, where Black's opening wasn't great. In a slightly worse position, Muzychuk's 12...Ng4 just dropped a pawn. She would never see it back.

Unlike its male counterpart in Armenia, the Russian team still had a small chance to win gold before the last round. For that, Georgia needed to lose against host country China, but instead it won.

Also in this match three boards were drawn and this time it was IM Meri Arabidze who sealed the deal. We'll surely hear much more from this big talent in the future!

Russia remained unbeaten but after its 2-2 tie with Georgia on the first day, it also played 2-2 with Armenia in round two and against Kazakhstan, as well, in round seven. Russia beat bronze medal winners China in round three. Besides Khotenashvili, IM Lilit Mkrtchian (Armenia, 2443) and WGM Lei Tingjie (China, 2444) had excellent tournaments. Both scored 6.5/9, with 2562 and 2489 TPRs respectively.

The new world champion, IM Mariya Muzychuk, played a solid tournament with three wins and six draws. She was in trouble against USA's Katerina Nemcova but held the draw. The following win was quite interesting:

Team USA had a rough time in China. After its 3-1 win over Egypt (who lost nine times), the USA would play 2-2 with Poland, Kazakhstan and Armenia and lose five times, finishing ninth. However, without GM Irina Krush and IM Anna Zatonskih, the team was also ninth-seeded.

The tournament took place April 19-28 and was organized by the Chinese Chess Association, FIDE and the Chengdu Municipal Government. Alongside, FIDE's first Quarter Presidential Board Meeting was held.

/ Written by Peter Doggers for chess.com /