starts, at the expense of Croatia, England, Argentina and Vietnam. The Czech Republic defeated Iran, despite David Navara taking a rest; Viktor Láznička stepped up to board 1 and scored the decisive win over world junior champion Parham Maghsoodloo. Israel and Armenia both recorded 3–1 wins in their matches against Sweden and Greece to remain on maximum board points. Round 5 The fifth round saw another upset, as the China–Czech Republic match ended 1–3. Yu Yangyi was outplayed by Láznička, while Jiří Štoček capitalised on a mistake to win with black against Wei Yi. Poland continued their strong form by defeating France 3–1, and Azerbaijan edged out their rivals Armenia 2½–1½. The United States were held to a draw by Israel, which left Ukraine as the only other team to maintain their winning streak after they defeated Spain. Round 6 The four remaining teams on a perfect score faced off against each other. Azerbaijan recorded a convincing 3–1 victory over the Czech Republic, while Poland defeated Ukraine thanks to 20-year-old Jan-Krzysztof Duda's 32-move win against Vassily Ivanchuk. The United States bested Bosnia and Herzegovina 3½–½, with the only negative being Nakamura's draw to IM Dejan Marjanović. Russia–India, England–France and Israel–Germany all ended in draws. Round 7 The top pairing in round 7 saw Azerbaijan and Poland draw on all boards. The United States defeated 18th-seeded Croatia 3–1 to join Azerbaijan and Poland on 13/14. Wesley So and Sam Shankland won with white, and Caruana and Nakamura recorded draws with black. Armenia's 2½–1½ win over Belarus saw them rise to clear fourth with 12/14, as the China–Ukraine, Germany–Netherlands and Israel–Czech Republic matches were all drawn. Round 8 A sole leader was established for the first time in the tournament as the United States defeated Azerbaijan 2½–1½. Teimour Radjabov struck first on board 2, defeating So. This was followed by Nakamura being held by Arkadij Naiditsch to another draw. Caruana equalised the score by defeating Mamedyarov, then Shankland with black converted the point against Rauf Mamedov to give the victory to the United States. The Poland–Armenia match ended with four draws, with Duda holding well against Aronian on top board. India defeated the Czech Republic 2½–1½, with three draws and one decisive game. It was the same scenario in the Israel–England match, where Luke McShane scored against Maxim Rodshtein. Germany defeated Spain by 2½–1½, with Daniel Fridman improving his score to 6½/7