Harika will spearhead India at FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 06/09/2023

Indian Women's team won a historic Silver medal at the previous edition in 2021. However, this time they would definitely like to aim for the Gold. GM Harika Dronavalli is the sole member from that team. She will be joined by IM Padmini Rout, IM Vantika Agrawal, WGM Savitha Shri B and newly crowned Tata Steel Chess India 2023 Women Rapid winner - IM Divya Deshmukh. India is in Pool A with Georgia, Ukraine, France, Kazakhstan and Egypt. Pool B has USA, China, Germany, Poland, FIDE Americas and Bulgaria. Top four from each Pool will advance to the Quarterfinals. India will face France in Round 1 and Kazakhstan in Round 2 starting at 3 and 6 p.m. local time, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza

Shyam Sundar draws number one for India

GM Shyam Sundar M drew the number one at the draw of lots for team India. Georgia, India and France are the favorites from Pool A. Between Ukraine and Kazakhstan, either of them can claim the fourth spot. Comparatively, Pool B looks to be much more difficult to predict which four has the highest chances to advance. On paper, it may seem like USA, China, Germany and Poland should advance to the Quarterfinals, one should not discount FIDE Americas and Bulgaria, as they are very much capable of causing upsets. Moreover, it is a Rapid event, so anything can and probably will happen.

FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2023 official logo | Photo: Official site

Team India

GM Harika Dronavalli | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

IM Padmini Rout | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Vantika Agrawal | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

WGM Savitha Shri B | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

IM Divya Deshmukh | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Team lineups:

Pool A: Georgaia, India, Ukraine, France, Kazakhstan and Egypt

Team composition of Pool A

Round 1 pairings

India - France

Kazakhstan - Egypt

Ukraine - Georgia

Details

Round 2 pairings

France - Georgia

Egypt - Ukraine

India - Kazakhstan

Details

Pool B: USA, China, Germany, Poland, FIDE Americas and Bulgaria

Team composition of Pool B

Round 1 pairings

Bulgaria - FIDE Americas

USA - Germany

China - Poland

Details

Round 2 pairings

FIDE Americas - Poland

Germany - China

Bulgaria - USA

Details

Photo Gallery

Ukraine

France

USA

Germany

IM Oliwia Kiolbasa (POL) would certainly like an encore of her stellar performance at the 44th Chess Olympiad last year

Poland

FIDE Americas

Bulgaria

For more photos from the opening ceremony and draw of lots, please click here.

Schedule

The schedule of FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2023

Time Control

The time control is 45 minutes + 10 seconds increment for the entire game, for tie-breaks - 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.

Watch FIDE Women's World Team Championship - Pool Stage, Round 1 Live Commentary by GM Alojzije Janković and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili | Video: FIDE Chess YouTube Channel

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

Related news:

	FIDE World Women's Team 2023 R3-4: Indian women on the brink of elimination @ 08/09/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	FIDE World Women's Team 2023 R1-2: A mixed start for India @ 07/09/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)