World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

[Jeffrey Xu]

Sergei Karjakhin seemed to be holding and then an inexplicable blunder occurred. (very unusual for the minister of defence)

I don't think he really is the "minister of defence" anymore. Perhaps Ding Liren holds that title now.

[Hans Jung]

Yu Yangyi missed a golden opportunity to head for a B+R and passed pawn vs N+R endgame and the game was drawn.

[Hans Jung]

Sergei Karjakhin seemed to be holding and then an inexplicable blunder occurred. (very unusual for the minister of defence)

[Hans Jung]

Wesley So demonstrated a textbook rook endgame win against Vidit.

[Hans Jung]

Not all rook and pawn endings are drawn. The final position in Duda's game is a nice zugzwang.

[Hans Jung]

Jeffrey Xiong was prepared to be tested by Anish Giri and he passed the test. Anish headed for a position in the endgame where he was a pawn up but the pin on the knight meant that Anish could make no progress.

[Hans Jung]

The Shak - high pressure tactics in the middlegame continue into a rook and pawn endgame with passed pawns.

[Hans Jung]

Alekseenko - nice play with the rooks on 7th and 6th ranks led to large advantage.

[Hans Jung]

Grischuk had sharp pressure on the kingside, his opponent chose to counterattack by capturing on g7 and eventually the pressure on his supporting knights was too much.

[Hans Jung]

Radjabov scored first in rd 3 with a g4, gxf5 breakthru and sharp tactics (helped by his opponents nervous defence)

[Wayne Komer]

World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

September 15, 2019

Round Two

Tiebreaks (continued)

Round 2, Game 4, Sept. 15
25+10
Radjabov, Teimour – Sjugirov, Sanan
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 c5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Be2 b6 12.O-O Bb7 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.b4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Ne5 Bd5 17.a3 Rc8 18.Qd4 f6 19.Nc4 Qc7 20.Qb2 Rfd8 21.Rfe1 Qb8 22.Bf1 e5 23.Red1 Be6 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Nd2 Qd6 26.Ne4 Qd7 27.Nc3 Rc8 28.Rd1 Qc7 29.Nb5 Qb8 30.Qd2 Nc6 31.Rc1 Rd8 32.Qc2 Ne7 33.Bc4 Bxc4 34.Qxc4+ Kh8 35.Qe6 a6 36.Qxe7 axb5 37.h3 Qd6 38.Qf7 Qd3 39.Qc7 Qd6 40.Qc2 Qd7 41.Qe2 e4 42.Rc3 f5 43.g3 Qd1+ 44.Qxd1 Rxd1+ 45.Kg2 Rd6 46.Rc8+ Kh7 47.Re8 Rd3 48.Re5 Kg6 49.g4 fxg4 50.hxg4 Rxa3 51.Rxb5 Rb3 52.Kg3 Rb2 53.Rxb6+ Kf7 54.b5 g6 55.Kf4 Rxf2+ 56.Kxe4 Rb2 57.Ke5 h5 58.Rb7+ Ke8 59.g5 h4 60.Ke6 Kd8 61.Kf6 h3 62.Kxg6 h2 63.Rh7 Ke8 64.Rh8+ Ke7 65.e4 Ke6 66.b6 Ke5 67.Kf7 Rxb6 68.Rxh2 Rb7+ 69.Kg6 Rb6+ 70.Kh7 Rb7+ 71.Kh6 Rb8 72.Rf2 Kxe4 73.g6 1-0

Radjabov to Round 3

Round 2, Game 7, Sept. 15
5+3
McShane, Luke – Yuffa, Daniil
B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.a3 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 Ne7 9.d3 Nd7 10.O-O O-O 11.Qe2 b5 12.Nb1 a5 13.Nd2 b4 14.Nf3 Rb8 15.axb4 axb4 16.h4 h6 17.h5 g5 18.e5 c5 19.c3 Nc6 20.d4 bxc3 21.bxc3 cxd4 22.cxd4 g4 23.Nh2 Nxd4 24.Qxg4 Nf5 25.Bf4 Kh8 26.Rfe1 Rg8 27.Qd1 Rb4 28.Bd2 Rd4 29.Nf3 Re4 30.Bf4 Rxe1+ 31.Qxe1 Nc5 32.Bf1 Qb6 33.Rb1 Qa7 34.Kg2 Rb8 35.Rxb8+ Qxb8 36.g4 Ne7 37.Qe3 Qb4 38.Kh3 Ne4 39.Bxh6 Nxf2+ 40.Qxf2 Bxh6 41.g5 Bf8 42.Bd3 Qf4 43.Kg2 Qg4+ 44.Qg3 Qxh5 45.Qf4 Kg8 46.Qf6 Ng6 47.Kf1 Be7 48.Bxg6 Qh3+ 0-1

Yuffa to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Jakovenko, Dmitry – Jones, Gawain
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.a4 Rb8 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 O-O 12.Be3 exd4 13.cxd4 Nb4 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Re1 c5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 c4 18.Bc2 g5 19.Nxg5 hxg5 20.Bxg5 Nxc2 21.Qxc2 b4 22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.exd5 Bxd4 24.Qxc4 Bxb2 25.Rab1 Bc3 26.Qh4 Re8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8 28.Bxf6 Bxf6 29.Qxf6 Qe5 30.Qxe5 dxe5 31.h4 Kf8 32.h5 Rd8 33.Rxb4 Rxd5 34.Rg4 e4 35.h6 Rh5 36.Rxe4 Rxh6 37.Re5 Rh4 38.f3 Ra4 39.Kh2 Kg7 40.Rc5 f6 41.g4 Kg6 42.Kg3 Ra3 43.Rf5 Ra4 44.Kf2 Ra3 45.Ke2 Rb3 46.Rc5 Ra3 47.Rd5 Kf7 48.Rc5 Kg6 49.Kf2 Kf7 50.Kg3 Ra4 51.g5 fxg5 52.Rxg5 Kf6 53.Rc5 Ke7 54.f4 Ra1 55.Kg4 Rg1+ 56.Kf5 Ra1 57.Kg6 Rg1+ 58.Rg5 Rf1 59.Re5+ Kd6 60.Rf5 Rg1+ 61.Rg5 Rf1 62.f5 Ke7 63.Rg2 Rf3 64.Re2+ Kf8 65.Re6 Rg3+ 66.Kf6 Rh3 67.Ke5 Re3+ 68.Kf4 Ra3 69.Rxa6 Kf7 70.Ra8 Kf6 71.a6 Ra4+ 72.Ke3 Ra3+ 73.Kd4 Kg7 74.a7 1-0

Jakovenko to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Esipenko, Andrey – Svidler, Peter
D15 QGD Slav, Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.Be2 e6 8.Ne5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Bd6 10.O-O O-O 11.Bb2 bxc4 12.bxc4 Nbd7 13.f4 c5 14.cxd5 cxd4 15.exd4 Nxd5 16.Ne4 N7f6 17.Nxd6 Qxd6 18.f5 Rab8 19.fxe6 Qxe6 20.Ba3 Rfc8 21.Rae1 Rc3 22.Bc5 Re3 23.Qf2 Ne4 24.Qxf7+ Qxf7 25.Nxf7 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Nxc5 27.Ne5 Na4 28.Nc6 Rb6 29.Re8+ Kf7 30.Rc8 Nac3 31.Ne5+ Ke6 32.Re8+ Ne7 0-1

Svidler to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Matlakov, Maxim – Gelfand, Boris
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.Ne5 c5 11.cxd5 cxd4 12.exd4 exd5 13.Bf3 Nc6 14.Re1 Qd6 15.Nxf7 Rxf7 16.Bxd5 Bf5 17.g4 Bd7 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Nb5 Qb4 20.Qf3+ Kg8 21.Qd5+ Kh7 22.Qxd7 Qxb5 23.Re7 Rg8 24.Rae1 Qxb2 25.Qxb7 Qc2 26.Qc7 Qa4 27.Qd7 Qc4 28.Rf7 Nxd4 29.Ree7 Kh8 30.Kg2 Nc2 31.Qe6 Qd3 32.Re8 Rxe8 33.Qxe8+ Kh7 34.Qe5 Ne1+ 35.Qxe1 Qd5+ 36.Rf3 Qxa2 37.Qe4 1-0

Matlakov to Round 3

Round 3, Game 1 Pairings

Firouzja-Ding Liren
Giri-Xiong
Jakovenko-MVL
So-Vidit
Tomashevsky-Nepomniachtchi
Aronian-Matlakov
Safarli-Mamedyarov
Dominguez-Wang Hao
Xu Xiangyu-Grischuk
Radjabov-Yuffa
Le-Artemiev
Yu Yangyi-Wei Yi
Vitiugov-Karjakin
Nisipeanu-Svidler
Duda-Andreikin
Alekseenko-Harikrishna

16 matches

Vote for the best game of Round 1 and 2

An established jury of Maxim Notkin, Chief Editor of 64 Chess Review, Chairman, Evgenij Miroshnichenko, grandmaster and World Cup caster, Vladimir Barsky, Chief Editor of RCF Website, and Leontxo Garcia, commentator and a famous Spanish journalist, selected a shortlist of five best games out of the first two rounds of FIDE World Cup.

Svidler-Albornos

A spectacular tactical duel! Up to a very last moment it wasn't clear which king is getting mated, however, the more experienced player demonstrated deep and accurate calculation and elegantly refuted Black's dangerous yet premature attack.

Firouzja-Dubov

“Yet this one, restive, quests for tempests”. According to Dubov, this is his most spectacular loss ever. Daniil aimed at complications at all costs, voluntarily spoiling his pawn structure for dynamic play. The young Iranian grandmaster accepted the challenge. In a critical position, Firouzja sacrificed a piece, obtaining sufficient compensation – a passed pawn on the 7th rank. Black's attempt to rearrange his forces to survive was unsuccessful.

Sarin-Cori

The 15-year-old Indian teenager increased his positional advantage with impeccable technique, and finished the game in a very elegant manner – just like Karpov in the prime.

Mamedyarov-Kasimdzhanov

A brilliant attack by the grandmaster from Azerbaijan! He sacrificed two pieces in order to bring Black's king to the center, and then, combining attacking moves with threats to Black's queen, secured a decisive material advantage. White's play was fearless, resourceful, and required deep and accurate calculation.

Navara-Yuffa

Yuffa was defending during the first half of the game, but as soon as his opponent lost vigilance and made a slight error, the Russian found a petite combination, which gave him a stable positional advantage – a strong knight against a bad bishop. In addition, the white king's shelter was rather weak. Navara tried to carry out a pawn break on the queenside, but Yuffa skilfully denied him the counterplay. Black finished off the game with a direct and elegant attack.

[Wayne Komer]

World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

September 15, 2019

Round Two

Tiebreaks

From the official site:

An overwhelming majority of matches ended after rapid chess games.

Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan) defeated Nihal Sarin (India), Lenier Dominguez (USA) beat Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan), Jeffrey Xiong (USA) proved stronger than Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), Yu Yangyi (China) outplayed Baskaran Adhiban (India), Maxim Matlakov (Russia) defeated Boris Gelfand (Israel), Peter Svidler (Russia) knocked out his compatriot Andrey Esipenko, Alexander Grischuk (Russia) defeated Benjamin Bok (Netherlands), Ding Liren (China) bested Sergei Movsesian (Armenia), Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) won against Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (Norway), Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia) defeated Gawain Jones (England), Nikita Vitiugov (Russia) passed Niclas Huschenbeth (Germany), Sanan Sjugirov (Russia) lost to Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), and David Anton Guijarro (Spain) lost to Wei Yi (China).

Giri-Najer and McShane-Yuffa matches were much closer.

Luke McShane (England) and Daniil Yuffa (Russia) exchanged blows first in rapid chess, then in 10+10 games. In blitz, however, the Russian won both games and advanced to the Third Round. One should note that in both starting rounds Daniil Yuffa was a big underdog, judging by ratings, and his performance is nothing short of sensational.

Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Evgeniy Najer (Russia) finished their first four rapid games peacefully. The 5-minute blitz match started with Giri's victory, but Najer managed to come back in the second game, bringing the match to an Armageddon. In the sudden death game Anish Giri got the black pieces, won the game outright and advanced to the Third Round of the World Cup.

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Ding, Liren – Movsesian, Sergei
A20 English, Modern Nimzowitsch

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.b3 Bd6 8.Bb2 O-O 9.d3 Qe7 10.Nbd2 Ba3 11.Bxa3 Qxa3 12.Qc1 Qe7 13.Qb2 Bg4 14.Rac1 Rad8 15.Rfe1 Rfe8 16.a3 a5 17.b4 axb4 18.axb4 Nd4 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Bxb7 Na4 21.Qc2 Nc3 22.Bf3 h5 23.Bxg4 hxg4 24.Nb3 c5 25.bxc5 Nxe2+ 26.Kf1 Qf6 27.Rxe2 Qf3 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 29.Kg1 Re2 30.Qxe2 Qxe2 31.c6 1-0

Ding Liren to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Alekseenko, Kirill – Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian
C02 French, Advance, Milner-Barry Gambit

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.a3 Nge7 7.dxc5 Qc7 8.Be3 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 Qxe5 10.Bb5+ Nc6 11.O-O Bd7 12.Nd2 Be7 13.Nf3 Qh5 14.b4 Bf6 15.Rc1 O-O 16.Be2 Qg6 17.c4 Ne7 18.Bf4 Rfd8 19.Bc7 Rdc8 20.Ne5 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 a5 22.Rc3 Nf5 23.Rh3 axb4 24.axb4 Qg5 25.f4 Qe7 26.Bd3 dxc4 27.Bxf5 exf5 28.Qh5 f6 29.Qxh7+ Kf7 30.Rg3 Qf8 31.Qg6+ Ke6 32.Bd6 Qg8 33.Re3+ Kd5 34.b5 c3 35.Qg3 Ra3 36.Qf3+ Kc4 37.Qe2+ Kb3 38.c6 bxc6 39.Qd1+ 1-0

Alekseenko to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Dominguez, Leinier – Abasov, Nijat
B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 g6 6.h3 Nh5 7.Be3 b6 8.a4 a5 9.O-O Bg7 10.e5 f5 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Qc1 Nd5 13.Bh6 O-O 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Nbd2 Nf4 16.Re1 Be6 17.b3 Bd5 18.Qb2+ Kg8 19.Re3 Qd7 20.c4 Be6 21.Rae1 Rae8 22.Ne5 Qc8 23.Ne4 Bf5 24.Ng5 h6 25.Ng4 Bxg4 26.Rxe7 Rxe7 27.Rxe7 Nh5 28.hxg4 Qxg4 29.Ne6 Rf6 30.Qe5 1-0

Dominguez to Round 3

Round 2, Game 4, Sept. 15
25+10
Bok, Benjamin – Grischuk, Alexander
D59 QGD, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.e3 b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Be2 Be6 12.Rc1 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.O-O Nd7 15.Qa4 Rfb8 16.Bb5 a5 17.Bxd7 Bxd7 18.Qa3 Rb4 19.Qc3 Rc8 20.b3 a4 21.Rfd1 Be6 22.Nd2 axb3 23.Nxb3 Ra4 24.Qb2 Qa7 25.Rd2 c4 26.Nd4 Rb8 27.Qa1 Qa5 28.Rcc2 Rab4 29.Rd1 Bd7 30.Rdc1 Ra4 31.Rd1 Ra3 32.Rdd2 c3 33.Rd3 Rb2 34.Rdxc3 Rbxa2 35.Rxa2 Rxa2 36.Qe1 Ra1 0-1

Grischuk to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Vitiugov, Nikita – Huschenbeth, Niclas
E51 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Nf3 d5 6.Bd2 c5 7.a3 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Ne4 9.Rc1 Nxc3 10.Rxc3 cxd4 11.Nxd4 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Bd7 13.O-O Nc6 14.Nb3 Ne5 15.Be2 Bc6 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.Nd4 Bd5 18.Rfc1 g6 19.f3 a6 20.Kf2 Rd6 21.Nc2 Bc6 22.Nb4 Be8 23.f4 Nc6 24.Nd3 Ne7 25.Rc7 Nd5 26.Rc8 Rxc8 27.Rxc8 Kf8 28.e4 Ne7 29.Rb8 b6 30.Ne5 b5 31.Ng4 Nc6 32.Ra8 Ke7 33.e5 Rd8 34.Rxa6 Nd4 35.Nf6 Rc8 36.Bd3 b4 37.axb4 Rb8 38.g4 h5 39.Ke3 Nc6 40.b5 Nb4 41.Ra7+ Kf8 42.Bc4 hxg4 43.Nxe8 Kxe8 44.Kd4 Rc8 45.b3 Nc2+ 46.Kc3 Ne3 47.Kb4 Rb8 48.Ka5 Nf5 49.b6 Nd4 50.b7 Nc6+ 51.Kb6 Nxa7 52.Kxa7 1-0

Vitiugov to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Adhiban, B. – Yu, Yangyi
B38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 Nd7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.Rxc3 c6 12.Bd3 Nb6 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Nf3 Nb6 15.Ne5 Nd7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.O-O Rfe8 18.Qb3 Rab8 19.Qa4 a6 20.Qa5 Bf5 21.Bxf5 Qxf5 22.Qc7 Qc8 23.Qg3 Qd8 24.Rfc1 Qb6 25.R1c2 Qxd4 26.h3 Qe4 27.Rd2 Rbd8 28.Rb3 Rd7 29.Rd4 Qe5 30.Qf3 c5 31.Rf4 b5 32.Rf5 Qe6 33.Rc3 c4 34.Rf4 Qg6 35.Rc1 Re5 36.Rg4 Qe6 37.Rd4 a5 38.Qd1 Re4 39.Qd2 Rxd4 40.Qxd4 Qf6 41.Rd1 Qxd4 42.Rxd4 Kf8 43.a4 bxa4 44.e4 Rb7 45.exd5 Rb4 46.Rd2 Ke7 47.Kf1 Kd6 48.Ke2 Rb5 49.Ke3 Rxd5 50.Rd4 Kc5 51.Rf4 f6 52.Ke2 Kb4 53.Rg4 g5 54.Rg3 Rd3 0-1

Yu Yangyi to Round 3

Round 2, Game 4, Sept. 15
25+10
Anton Guijarro, David – Wei, Yi
A10 English, Adorjan Defence

1.c4 g6 2.e4 e5 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 Ne7 6.d3 c5 7.f4 Nbc6 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 f5 11.O-O O-O 12.Bg2 Qd7 13.h4 Nd4 14.h5 exf4 15.Bxf4 Ne6 16.Be3 Be5 17.Ne2 fxe4 18.Bxe4 Nf5 19.Qd2 Qg7 20.h6 Qe7 21.Bxf5 Rxf5 22.Rxf5 gxf5 23.Nf4 Kh8 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.Bf4 Rg8 26.Rf1 Rg4 27.Qe1 Kg8 28.Kg2 Kf7 29.Kf3 Qf6 30.Qa5 Kg6 31.Qc7 Bxf4 32.gxf4 Rh4 33.Qg7+ Qxg7 34.hxg7 Kxg7 35.Kg3 Rg4+ 36.Kf3 h5 37.d4 h4 38.dxc5 dxc5 39.Rd1 Kg6 40.Rd7 Rg3+ 41.Kf2 Kh5 42.Rxb7 a5 43.Rb5 Kg4 44.Rxc5 h3 45.Rc8 Rg2+ 46.Ke3 Rg3+ 47.Kf2 Kxf4 48.Rh8 Rg2+ 49.Kf1 Kg3 50.Rg8+ Kf3 51.Rh8 Kg3 52.Rg8+ Kh2 53.Rf8 Rxb2 54.Rxf5 Kg3 55.Rg5+ Kh4 56.Rg8 h2 57.Rh8+ Kg3 58.Rg8+ Kf3 59.Rf8+ Ke4 60.Rh8 Kd4 61.Rh4+ Kc5 62.a4 Rb1+ 63.Kg2 h1=Q+ 64.Rxh1 Rxh1 65.Kxh1 Kxc4 66.Kg2 Kb4 67.Kf2 Kxa4 68.Ke2 Kb3 69.Kd2 Kb2 0-1

Wei Yi to Round 3

Round 2, Game 9, Sept. 15
Armageddon 5/4
Najer, Evgeniy – Giri, Anish
A28 English, Four Knights, Nimzowitsch variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.Na4 Bd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Nc3 a5 11.b5 O-O 12.Be2 c6 13.O-O cxb5 14.Nxb5 Nxb5 15.cxb5 a4 16.Bb2 Be6 17.f3 Nh5 18.g3 Qg5 19.Bc1 Qg6 20.Kh1 f5 21.f4 Nf6 22.exf5 Bxf5 23.Bb2 Ng4 24.Qd2 e4 25.dxe4 Bxe4+ 26.Kg1 Rac8 27.Rac1 d5 28.Bd4 Nxh2 29.Kxh2 Qh6+ 30.Kg1 Qh1+ 31.Kf2 Qg2+ 32.Ke1 Qxg3+ 33.Bf2 Qxa3 34.Rxc8 Rxc8 35.Rg1 Rc1+ 36.Bd1 Bf3 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Bd4+ Kg8 0-1

Giri to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
Xiong, Jeffery – Tabatabaei, M.
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.a3 Nbd7 7.Nb5 Ne8 8.e3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd6 10.Nxd6 Bxd6 11.Bxd6 cxd6 12.O-O b6 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.d5 e5 15.Bb5 Nf6 16.Bc6 Qe7 17.Nxe5 dxe5 18.d6 Qe6 19.Bxb7 Rad8 20.Qa4 a5 21.Rfd1 Rxd6 22.Rc6 Rxc6 23.Qxc6 Qb3 24.Rd2 h5 25.h3 h4 26.Ba6 Qa2 27.Qxb6 Qb1+ 28.Kh2 Qe1 29.Re2 Qd1 30.Qxa5 Ne4 31.Qb4 Ng5 32.Qxh4 Ra8 33.Bc4 Ra4 34.b4 Ne6 35.Ra2 Qd6 36.Qe4 Ng5 37.Qd5 Qc7 38.Ra1 g6 39.Bb3 Ra6 40.Qc4 Rc6 41.Qg4 e4+ 42.Qg3 Qe7 43.Bd5 Rc2 44.h4 Nh7 45.Qxg6+ Kh8 46.Qxe4 Qc7+ 47.Qf4 Qe7 48.Rd1 Rc8 49.Bxf7 Rf8 50.Qd4+ Nf6 51.Bg6 Qg7 52.h5 Rc8 53.Kg1 Rf8 54.b5 Qe7 55.a4 Kg7 56.b6 Qb7 57.Rc1 1-0

Xiong to Round 3

Round 2, Game 3, Sept. 15
25+10
Safarli, Eltaj – Nihal Sarin
C53 Giuoco Piano, Bird’s Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.b4 Be7 6.d3 O-O 7.O-O d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Re1 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.b5 Na5 12.Rxe5 Nf6 13.Nbd2 Bd6 14.Re1 Re8 15.g4 Bg6 16.d4 Nxc4 17.Nxc4 Qd7 18.Nce5 Qxb5 19.c4 Qa6 20.Be3 Rad8 21.Qb3 c5 22.Nxg6 cxd4 23.Bxd4 hxg6 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Qb5 Rc8 26.Rd1 Bf4 27.Qxa6 bxa6 28.Be5 Bxe5 29.Nxe5 Kf8 30.Rd6 a5 31.Ra6 Rc5 32.f4 Rc7 33.Rxa5 Ne4 34.Kg2 g5 35.fxg5 Nxg5 36.c5 Ne6 37.Kf3 Ke7 38.Nd3 Kd7 39.h4 f6 40.Ke4 Ke7 41.a3 Nd8 42.Nf4 Kf7 43.Nd5 Rd7 44.Ra6 Ne6 45.Rc6 g6 46.Rc8 Rb7 47.c6 Rb1 48.Ra8 Re1+ 49.Ne3 f5+ 50.gxf5 gxf5+ 51.Kd3 Nf4+ 52.Kd2 Re2+ 53.Kd1 Rxe3 54.c7 Rc3 55.c8=Q Rxc8 56.Rxc8 Kg6 57.Ra8 Kh5 58.Rxa7 Kxh4 59.a4 Nd5 60.a5 f4 61.Ke2 1-0

Safarli to Round 3

(to be continued)

[Hans Jung]

Najer - Giri series started slow and quiet as gentlemen should until Anish Giri stepped into a minefield with his king caught in the center in game two. Unfortunately his pponent couldnt put him away and so lucky Anish survived and the battle continued thru 4 more games before being decided in Anish's favor in armageddon.

[Hans Jung]

The McShane - Yuffa playoff series provided much entertainment with many long games and a fair number of mistakes. After two long losses just when I thought Luke McShane had run out of gas he came up with a must win (not easy to do!) before finally losing two straight. A lot of moves were played in total.

[Hans Jung]

In Jones - Jakovenko tragedy struck. Jones was winning but with some imprecise moves allowed a perpetual. In trying to escape the perpetual his king went on a walk of no return which led to his doom.