ARACAJU — The calm and quiet environment in the competition room of the World University Chess Championship is misleading, for it doesn’t reveal the frenetic activity going on in the competitors’ minds. After four fiercely contested rounds and a few surprises, definite rankings and standings are beginning to emerge in the Championship being held in Brazil.
China’s Lu Shanglei started as the strongest in the competition, among the 26 top college chess players participating in the men’s category. The field includes only two Grandmasters, and Shanglei is one of them.
In chess, athletes are ranked according to their own score. With each match played and every tournament entered, the rating changes according to the performance. Shanglei arrived in Aracaju with the highest score in the competition, with Polish Grandmaster Daniel Sadzikowski placed second.
After the end of the fourth round in Aracaju, these two strongest players found themselves outside the top ten. According to WUC Chess chief referee Pedro Caetano, this goes to show the quality of the competition.
“It’s really a world class level of competition,” he said. “The best rated players being defeated by players with lower scores is a proof of that. We are very happy to be working with the best university chess players in the world.”
In the overall standings, which includes female and male athletes, Poland, Serbia and China have emerged strong in the first few days of competition. Among the women, Brazil’s Julia Alboredo leapfrogged from 8th to 2nd position in the partial rankings, after four rounds. Peru’s Cori T Deysi, for now, has the lead.
Check out the live play on this link. Competition continues until 18 September and you can follow all results and schedules here.
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