Famous Russian chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov has lost one game to Zhansaya Abdumalik, the world's second youngest female grandmaster from Kazakhstan.
Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen needs just a draw later Friday to be crowned world chess champion after taking an almost unassailable lead against India's Viswanathan Anand in a one-sided contest.
Russia's Nadezhda Kosintseva and Tatiana Kosintseva are not playing for the Russian team because of a conflict with their senior coach Sergey Rublevsky.