China News Service, November 21. According to the WeChat official account of the Chinese Chess Association, on the evening of November 20th, Beijing time, the first round of the 2022 FIDE World Team Championship was held in Jerusalem, Israel. The Chinese team defeated South Africa and Spain successively. Congratulations to the two-game winning streak.
At the technical meeting held on the 19th local time, the Chinese team in Group A determined by drawing lots that their first opponent was the South African team.
This year's competition has undergone major adjustments in the competition system, from the original slow chess round robin to the fast chess round + knockout system. The time limit is 45+10. The 12 participating teams are divided into two groups for a round robin. Each team has four players in each round. The top four in each group enter the knockout round.
The Chinese team is in Group A, along with Ukraine, France, the Netherlands, Israel and South Africa.
In the first round, the Chinese team faced the South African team. The strength gap between the two sides was relatively obvious. Xu Xiangyu, Wen Yang, and Bai Jinshi made contributions one after another. Li Di drew with his opponent, and the Chinese team won 3.5-0.5.
In the second round against Spain, the strength of the two sides is comparable in terms of ratings, but in actual combat, Lu Shanglei and Li Di defeated their opponents and helped the Chinese team win again with 3-1.
After two rounds, both China and Ukraine temporarily topped the list with two wins, France and Spain ranked third and fourth, and the Netherlands lost both games.
At 21:00 on the 21st, Beijing time, the Chinese team will have a match against Ukraine.
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