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[imagefield_assist|fid=1776|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The U.S. Team won the silver medals today at the World Team Championships in Bursa, Turkey, by drawing their match with Azerbaijan in the last round, as all four boards were drawn.

This is an amazing result for the U.S. team, especially with the absence of Gata Kamsky from the team.

Russia won the gold, and the surprising late entry India won the bronze after a devastating 3.5-0.5 victory over hapless Brazil. I will post the individual scores of our team below:

[imagefield_assist|fid=1773|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]BURSA, TURKEY -- The United States stands in clear first after round seven of the World Team Championship.

On a crucial must-win day, the Americans demonstrated true grit in their path to victory over Greece. The Greek team, with surprise victories over Russia and Armenia, are dangerous rivals capable of upsetting any team. The victory was by the smallest margin at 2.5-1.5 and was not decided until the last moment. On board two, the game between Alexander Onischuk and Ioannis Papaioannou was the first to finish and resulted in a draw.

[imagefield_assist|fid=1770|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The U.S. team kept up its winning ways with a decisive 3-1 win over hapless Brazil. Once again, Hikaru Nakamura beat a strong GM, and, our board four, Varuzhan Akobian was able to win with black, in a style that reminded me of Alexander Onischuk's best wins.

Solid draws on boards two and three meant a nice victory for the U.S. team, and now we can look seriously at fighting for gold! Russia squeaked by India by the smallest of margins, 2.5-1.5, whilst Armenia got crushed by giant killers Greece 3-1!

[imagefield_assist|fid=1768|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The Welcoming party at the CCSCSL was quite successful, with over 50 members in attendance. After we downed most of the food and drinks, it was time for the blitz tournament -- 44 players (!) entered the blitz tournament, which surprised the employees of the chess club. 

Luckily, our esteemed director, Ray Kurczynski, handled the directing job easily, and all rounds were started in a timely fashion.  I was fortunate to go 6-0, and a four way for second place, with 5-1, instigated a playoff, which was won by resident blitz phenom Joe Garnier.