U.S. Teams Keep Momentum with Round 8 Wins

GM Varuzhan Akobian held a draw against GM Vlatko Bogdanovski to help secure the win.

By Alex Marler

Another smashing victory for the U.S. team over the Macedonians has boosted the team to 4th place! The U.S. team along with China, the Philippines, Armenia, and Germany all have 13 points and are trailing the Russians by two points. The U.S. faces the strongest team in the world, Russia, in round 9! The Russian team is comprised of five players rated over 2722, including former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik.

The Philippines stood no chance against the U.S. Women's team, which was proven by the 3.5-0.5 result in favor of the U.S. IM Anna Zatonskih, IM Irina Krush and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan all won their games! This nice win has vaulted the team all the way up to 7th place, and the team is only trailing the leaders, China, by two points. The team does battle with the perennial powerhouse team, the Ukraine, in round 9, a match that will be very important for standings.