The Chinese men's and women's chess teams have both scored overwhelming victories in the eighth round of the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy.?

For their fight against Latvia, 17 year old Shen Yang replaced Wang Yu on the second table of the women's team, while Zhao Xue and 14 year old Hou Yifan remained on the first and third tables.

Zhao Xue took the lead from the start after opening with a King's Indian defense. She extended her advantage by launching a strong attack in the middle and wound the game up after 56 moves.

Hou Yifei opened with a Spanish game, sent her opponent into the corner with a good move in the middle and won the match within the compulsory time of play.

Replacement Shen Yang was also faced with the Spanish Game in her match but seized the opportunity later in the game to climb from behind and turn the table round.

The 3-0 victory marks the team's third clean sweep at the Chess Olympiad. The women are now tied with the US, just behind leaders Russia and Ukraine.

On the men's front, China beat their arch rival the Philippines 3.5-0.5 to stay strong in the rally with 21.5 points, just 2.5 points behind leader Armenia.

(CRI English May 30, 2006)