Live Chess World League: Calm Before The Storm?

Here is a recap of the 8th week and the free week of Live Chess World League. This time I'm keeping it short as we don't have many games!

• Div.1: Calm before the storm?
• Div.2: Czech Republic extends the lead
• Div.3: Full of actions!
• Div.4: Busy weekend for Venezuela
• Some Interesting Games
• Stats Corner
• Coming Next...

Div.1: Calm before the storm?

Only one match was played & that’s in the free week! Probably teams are preparing extremely well. We will find out in the coming weeks  

Serbia vs Kazakhstan & Russia vs Ukraine will be the key contests of Championship pool. Good to see the super-final is set up 3 weeks in advance! Meanwhile, so much is going on in the lower divisions. I just couldn't wait another week for writing this review

Div.2: Czech Republic extends the lead

Uzbeks made it much closer this time, but couldn't end their win drought. Later Bosnia secured comfortable victories over Mexico.

Relegation Pool: Since it was a free week, couple of rounds have been played in advance. Completely opposite scenario compared to Div.1!

Romania vs Argentina - How close could it be?

USA avenged their loss against Romania in the first stage and was able to fend-off relegation.

Note: 2nd stage matches worth double points in Div.1 and Div.2.

Div.3: Full of actions!

Italy vs Canada was another close contest. Italy got a good crowd after a long time and outnumbered the Canadians! Both matches were extremely close and could go either way. 

What a contest between Italy 🇮🇹 and Canada 🇨🇦 (1⃣-1⃣) in week eight! 4 streamers were streaming this match in English, Italian and French!!#LiveChessWL #LCWL #Division3A pic.twitter.com/X9D2zQ3hUz

— Live Chess World League (@LiveChessWL) November 15, 2020

After winning against England and Brazil, Turks are currently leading in this group.

England won the Ashes of Chess! Despite playing very early (10am local time), British players produced some stunning results. Winning both of the matches, they have ruled the Aussies out of the race!

Group B: Spain is cruising with a lead of 5 points and only Uruguay got some theoretical chances. Puerto Rico is also back on winning track.

Note: Div.3 and Div.4 teams will play 11 rounds.

Div.4: Busy weekend for Venezuela

Venezuela played 3 matches within 18 hours. But we haven't noticed much activity from other clubs yet. Chess.com got some popular partner streamers from India, Turkey, Georgia, Hungary, Norway, Korea etc. Their participation would definitely make the lower divisions way more competitive.

Some Interesting Games

Checkmate was missed here and the game ended as a draw!

Decider of the rapid match between Italy and Canada!

Nice sacrifice! Well spotted

This puzzle is little longer.

Stats Corner

2812 games were played in last two weeks (including U1600 and friendlies).

131 games ended without any move!

Players are eager to represent their nation on LCWL. At the same time, many of them don’t have that patience to wait till the end. If you think you're not going to be paired, don't just walk away and gift some points to your opponent. Press the "withdraw" button before leaving! Also don't forget that you have to play two games.