Russia beats USA to win Online Chess Olympiad crown

Unlike Kazakhstan and India in the last two days, Russia did not allow USA to make a comeback from a one-set deficit.

Russia, joint-winner with India last year, won both sets with an identical score of 3.5-2.5.(Representative Photo)

As expected, top seed Russia defeated surprise finalist USA in two sets to retain the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad title late on Wednesday. Russia, joint-winner with India last year, won both sets with an identical score of 3.5-2.5. Unlike Kazakhstan and India in the last two days, Russia did not allow USA to make a comeback from a one-set deficit.

Final result: Set I: USA lost to Russia 2.5-3.5 (Jeffery Xiong drew with Daniil Dubov; Ray Robson lost to Vladislav Artemiev; Irina Krush lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina; Nazi Paikidze drew with Alexandra Kosteniuk; Awonder Liang bt Andrey Esipenko; Thalia Cervantes Landeiro drew with Polina Shuvalova). Set II: Russia bt USA 3.5-2.5 (Dubov drew with Xiong; Artemiev drew with Dariusz Swiercz; Kostenuik bt Krush; Kateryna Lagno drew with Anna Zatonskih; Esipenko lost to Liang; Leya Garifullina bt Thalia).