Čatež ob Savi - The Russian women's team is at the cusp of wining the title at the European Team Chess Championship with two rounds of play to go, whereas the open competition remains wide open with Azerbaijan and Ukraine at the top.

In the women's competition, Russia have a flawless record with 14 points after defeating Azerbaijan.

They are three points ahead of Georgia and four points ahead of Ukraine.

The first Slovenian team currently rank 19th after defeating Sweden but on a points basis they are close to the best teams.

In the open competition Azerbaijan and Ukraine are tied at eleven points.

Russia, which was defeated by Ukraine in yesterday's seventh round, are in third place with nine points, a score shared by five more teams.

The first Slovenian team narrowly defeated Lithuania and now rank 21st.