World Team Update: US Falls to China, Defeats Azerbaijan
December 2, 2013
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GM Hikaru Nakamura, Photo Tony Rich of the CCSCSL

Six rounds into the World Team Championship in Antalya, Turkey, the US squad is ranked 5th just behind China, out of ten teams.

In round five, the US lost to China. Hikaru Nakamura, now ranked #4 in the World, won on board 1 but US Champion Gata Kamsky and Webster student GM Ray Robson both lost.

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GM Ray Robson, Photo Tony Rich of the CCSCSL


We rebounded with a win vs. Azerbaijan in round six, in which Robson scored the key victory, finding the unusual tactical resource 20.Nxc4!

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Of his marathon grind today, Nakamura tweeted:

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Follow the tournament on the official site at http://wctc2013.tsf.org.tr/ An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that China and US were currently tied for 4th-5th.