Canada vs. Lithuania:

Canada faced Lithuania in the final round, a somewhat lucky pairing given that of the 15 teams with 13 points, Lithuania was the second-lowest seed at 45th, and we had already faced 46th-seeded Australia, so could not play them again. Other possible opponents could have included France or the Netherlands!

Still, one has to make the most of one’s opportunities, and the team certainly came through. Maili-Jade and Yunshan won on the top two boards, and Svitlana and Oksana made solid draws in rook endings on Boards 3 and 4, for a convincing 3-1 final match score. A very strong finish over the final two rounds put Canada into the top 20! A well-deserved achievement by probably the strongest women’s chess team that Canada has ever fielded.

Final record: 7-1-3 (27.5/40), 20th.

I’ve chosen to highlight two endgame moments today, not to critique the play, but because they both offer fantastic and instructive moments, one of which I confess I would never have appreciated when playing over the game, if not for the vigilance of a kibitzing engine.

Yunshan wins a queen-and-pawn ending

Oksana misses a surprising winning chance