FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 24, 2021

Round Four 1/16 Final

Tie-Breaks

Results

Wojtaszek-Carlsen 0.5-1.5
Esipenko-Dubov 2.5-1.6
Bacrot-Ponkratov 1.5-0.5
Korobov-Grischuk 0.5-1.5
Abdusattorov-Durabayli 1-3
Andreikin-Ivic 0-2
Karjakin-Artemiev 2.5-1.5
Svidler-Vitiugov 1.5-0.5

Round Five ¼ Final Pairings

Carlsen-Esipenko
Bacrot-Piorun
Grischuk-Duda
Vidit-Durabayli
Fedoseev-Ivic
Tabatabaei-Martirosyan
MVL-Karjakin
Svidler-Shankland

(8 matches)

Selected Games

Game 2, July 24
Carlsen, Magnus – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
E47 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 c5 6.Ne2 d5 7.cxd5 cxd4 8.exd4 Nxd5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Nf4 Bd6 12.Be3 Bxf4 13.Bxf4 Qf6 14.Be3 Nb4 15.Bb1 Bf5 16.Qb3 Bxb1 17.Raxb1 Qd6 18.a3 Na6 19.Rbc1 Qd7 20.Bf4 Rac8 21.Qg3 f6 22.h4 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.Rxc8+ Qxc8 25.b4 b5 26.h5 Qd7 27.Qf3 h6 28.Qc3 Qf5 29.g3 Qd7 30.Qc2 Kf8 31.Qh7 Nc7 32.Bxh6 Qg4 33.Be3 Ne6 34.Qh8+ Kf7 35.Qc8 Qe4 36.Qd7+ Kg8 37.Qxa7 Ng5 38.Bxg5 Qe1+ 39.Kg2 Qe4+ 40.Kh2 fxg5 41.Qb8+ Kf7 42.Qc7+ Kf6 43.Qd6+ Kf7 44.Qg6+ Qxg6 45.hxg6+ Kxg6 46.g4 Kf6 47.Kg3 Ke6 48.Kf3 1-0

No more dynamic tactical play from the world champion. Instead, a good old-fashioned positional squeeze against a badly placed knight at the edge of the board.

Game 3, July 24
Esipenko, Andrey – Dubov, Daniil
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.Nc3 d6 7.a3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nd4 10.Qd1 c6 11.Ba2 Ne6 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Be3 Rad8 14.Qf3 g6 15.Rad1 Kg7 16.Ne2 d5 17.Ng3 Nd4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Ne2 dxe4 20.dxe4 Bd6 21.Nxd4 Rfe8 22.c3 Bc5 23.b4 Bb6 24.Bb1 a5 25.Qe3 Kg8 26.e5 Nd5 27.Qg3 axb4 28.axb4 Nxb4 29.Nf5 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Nd5 31.Nd6 Re6 32.Bf5 Re7 33.c4 Nb4 34.Nc8 Qxe5 35.Nxe7+ Qxe7 36.Bg4 Qe4 37.Qb8+ Kg7 38.Qxb7 Bc5 39.Qb8 Nc2 40.Bf3 Qxc4 41.Qe5+ Kg8 42.Rd8+ Bf8 43.Qe7 1-0

19-year-old Andrey Esipenko beats Daniil Dubov and will face Magnus Carlsen in the Last 16! That's just one of two matches that are as predicted before the tournament — the other is Grischuk vs. Duda

Game 2, July 24
Bacrot, Etienne – Ponkratov, Pavel
C02 French, Advance, Milner-Barry Gambit

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Nh6 7.Bxh6 gxh6 8.Qd2 Rg8 9.O-O Bd7 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.b4 Bf8 12.Re1 Rg4 13.Bd3 d4 14.a3 dxc3 15.Nxc3 Nd4 16.Qe3 Bc6 17.Be4 O-O-O 18.Rad1 Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Nc6 20.Rxd8+ Nxd8 21.Rc1+ Nc6 22.Nf6 Qxe3 23.fxe3 Rg6 24.b5 Bxa3 25.Rc2 Be7 26.bxc6 Bxf6 27.exf6 Rxf6 28.cxb7+ Kxb7 29.Rb2+ Kc6 30.Ne5+ Kd5 31.Ng4 Rg6 32.Nf2 Kc6 33.Nd3 Rg5 34.e4 a5 35.Kf2 a4 36.Ke3 Ra5 37.Kd4 a3 38.Ra2 Ra4+ 39.Ke5 Kb5 40.Ne1 Kc4 41.Nc2 Ra5+ 42.Kf6 Rg5 43.Rxa3 Kb5 44.Rg3 1-0

Game 1, July 24
Grischuk, Alexander – Korobov, Anton
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.d3 d6 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.c3 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.h3 Bd7 13.Be3 Nc6 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 Nb4 16.Nc3 Nxc2 17.Qxc2 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Rc8 19.a3 Qc7 20.Rad1 h6 21.Qd3 Qb7 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.exd6 Bd8 25.Re7 Bxe7 26.dxe7 Rfe8 27.Qxd7 Rxe7 28.Qf5 Rce8 29.Nd5 Re6 30.Ne3 Qc7 31.Qd5 Rc6 32.Qd2 Rc8 33.Nd5 Qd6 34.Nh4 Rc2 35.Qd3 Qc5 36.Qg3 Rc1 37.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 38.Kh2 Rd8 39.Qe5 g6 40.Nf6+ Kf8 41.Nh7+ Kg8 42.Nf6+ Kf8 43.Nd5 Kg8 44.Nxg6 1-0

Game 1, July 24
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek – Durarbayli, Vasif
C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Ne7 6.Nxe5 Qd4 7.Qh5 g6 8.Nf3 Qxe4 9.Nc3 Qf5 10.Qh4 Bg7 11.d3 Qg4 12.Bf4 Qxh4 13.Nxh4 Kd8 14.Nf3 h6 15.Rfe1 Re8 16.h4 Bg4 17.Ne5 Be6 18.Ne4 b6 19.Re2 Kc8 20.Nc4 Nf5 21.Rae1 Rd8 22.Ne5 Kb7 23.Nf3 Bxa2 24.b3 a5 25.Be5 Bxe5 26.Nxe5 a4 27.bxa4 Be6 28.Rb1 Ra5 29.f4 Nxh4 30.c4 g5 31.c5 f5 32.Nd6+ cxd6 33.Rxb6+ Kc7 34.Rxc6+ Kb7 35.cxd6 Ka8 36.Rb2 Bd5 37.Rcb6 Nxg2 38.d7 Ka7 39.Rb8 Rxd7 40.Nxd7 Nxf4 41.Rc8 Ne6 42.Nb6 Bb7 43.Ra8+ 1-0

Game 2, July 24
Durarbayli, Vasif – Abdusattorov, Nodirbek
C02 French, Advance, Milner-Barry Gambit

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be2 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nh6 8.Bxh6 Qxb2 9.Nbd2 gxh6 10.O-O Bd7 11.Nb3 Rc8 12.a3 Bxa3 13.Ne1 Nb4 14.Nc5 Nc6 15.Ned3 Qc3 16.Na4 Qa5 17.Rxa3 Nxd4 18.Bh5 b5 19.Ndc5 Qb4 20.Rd3 Nc6 21.Nxd7 Kxd7 22.Nc3 Ne7 23.Qd2 Ng6 24.Bxg6 hxg6 25.Rb1 Qc4 26.Rxb5 Rb8 27.Ra5 Rb7 28.g3 Rhb8 29.Ra4 Qc6 30.Rf3 Ke8 31.Qxh6 Qc5 32.Kg2 a5 33.Qh8+ Qf8 34.Qxf8+ Kxf8 35.Rxa5 Rc8 36.Ne2 Rc4 37.Rf4 Rbc7 38.h4 Kg7 39.Nd4 Rc1 40.Nf3 R1c2 41.Nd4 Rc1 42.Ra2 Re1 43.Re2 Rd1 44.Nb5 Rd7 45.Nd6 Kf8 46.Ra2 f5 47.Ra8+ Kg7 48.Re8 d4 49.Rxe6 d3 50.Rd4 Ra7 51.h5 d2 52.Rxg6+ Kh7 53.Nxf5 1-0

Game 3, July 24
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek – Durarbayli, Vasif
C44 Green’s Opening

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 Nf6 4.Be2 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 O-O 7.Nbd2 a5 8.b3 Re8 9.a3 d5 10.Bb2 d4 11.Qc2 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 dxc3 14.Bxc3 Qd6 15.Bb2 Nh5 16.Nxe5 Rxe5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Bxh5 Qxh5 19.b4 Bd4 20.Rab1 axb4 21.axb4 Bb6 22.Kh1 Nd4 23.Qd2 Rd8 24.f4 h6 25.Rbe1 Qb5 26.e5 Nf5 27.Rf3 Qd5 28.Kh2 h5 29.e6 fxe6 30.Re5 Qd6 31.Qa2 Nd4 32.Rfe3 Rf8 33.g3 Rf6 34.Qa8+ Rf8 35.Qa2 Rf6 36.Qa8+ Qf8 37.Qxb7 h4 38.Rg5 Nf5 39.Re4 hxg3+ 40.Kg2 Nd6 0-1

Game 4, July 24
Durarbayli Vasif – Abdusattorov, Nodirbek
B40 Sicilian, Anderssen variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.g3 Bc5 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nd5 9.Ne4 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.c4 Ne7 12.Bc3 O-O 13.Qd2 Nf5 14.Bg2 a5 15.O-O Bb4 16.Rfd1 Rb8 17.Bxb4 axb4 18.c5 Qc7 19.f4 Qa7 20.Qf2 Ba6 21.b3 Ne7 22.Rd4 Nd5 23.Rc1 Bb5 24.Nd6 Nc3 25.Rd2 f6 26.exf6 Rxf6 27.a4 Ba6 28.Re1 Rbf8 29.Qd4 Nd5 30.Ne4 Rh6 31.Nd6 Qc7 32.Re5 Qd8 33.Bxd5 cxd5 34.Qxb4 Qf6 35.Qd4 Qg6 36.Rg5 Qf6 37.b4 Qe7 38.b5 Bc8 39.a5 Rhf6 40.h4 h6 41.Re5 Rg6 42.Rg2 Qd8 43.h5 Rgf6 44.Qd2 1-0

No draws yet in Abdusattorov vs. Durarbayli, with the 16-year-old needing to win on demand again!

93rd seed Vasif Durarbayli is through to a Round 5 match against Vidit!

Round 1, July 24
Andreikin, Dmitry – Ivic, Velimir
A05 Reti, Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 g6 3.Bb2 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 a5 7.c4 a4 8.Nbd2 a3 9.Bc3 c5 10.O-O Nc6 11.e3 Bf5 12.Qe2 Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Rfd1 e6 15.Rac1 Qe7 16.Ne1 Bxg2 17.Nxg2 cxd4 18.exd4 d5 19.Ne3 Rfd8 20.c5 b6 21.Qb5 Na7 22.Qxb6 Rdb8 23.Qa6 Nb5 24.Qc6 Qd8 25.Ba1 h5 26.Ng2 Bf8 27.Ne3 Nc7 28.Nc4 dxc4 29.bxc4 Na6 30.Qf3 Qg5 31.c6 Qf5 32.Qxf5 gxf5 33.d5 exd5 34.cxd5 Bd6 35.Rc4 Rb4 36.Rc3 Nc7 37.Rf3 Rab8 38.Kg2 Rb1 39.Rxb1 Rxb1 40.Bf6 Rb5 41.Rxf5 Rxd5 42.Rf3 Ne6 43.h4 Kh7 44.Ba1 f5 45.Re3 Nc7 46.Bf6 Rc5 47.Be7 Nb5 48.Bxd6 Nxd6 49.Re7+ Kg8 50.c7 Kf8 51.Rd7 Ne8 52.Rh7 Rxc7 53.Rxh5 Rc2 54.Rxf5+ Kg7 55.Ra5 Rxa2 56.g4 Nd6 57.g5 Nc4 58.Ra7+ Kg6 59.Kg3 Rb2 60.Kg4 Ne5+ 61.Kf4 Nd3+ 62.Ke3 Rb3 63.Ra6+ Kf5 64.Ra5+ Ke6 65.f4 a2 66.f5+ Kd6 67.f6 Nc5+ 68.Ke2 Rb2+ 69.Kf3 Ke6 70.Kg4 Rb4+ 71.Kh5 Ra4 72.Rxc5 a1=Q 73.Rc6+ Kd5 74.f7 Qh8+ 75.Rh6 Qf8 76.Rf6 Ke5 77.Kg6 Rxh4 78.Re6+ Kf4 79.Re8 Qd6+ 80.Kg7 Kxg5 81.f8=Q Qg6# 0-1

What a pretty final position!



(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 24, 2021

Round Four 1/16 Final

Tie-Breaks (continued)

Game 2, July 24
Ivic, Velimir – Andreikin, Dmitry
B46 Sicilian, Taimanov variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Qd3 d5 8.Qg3 h5 9.h4 d4 10.Nb1 Nf6 11.e5 Ng4 12.Bf4 c5 13.Nd2 Bb7 14.O-O-O Bd5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Nh6 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Nc4 Nf5 19.Qd3 Be7 20.g3 O-O 21.f3 Rfd8 22.g4 Nxh4 23.Bg3 Nxf3 24.gxh5 Bg5+ 25.Kb2 Bh6 26.Rdf1 Ng5 27.Bf4 Qe4 28.Rhg1 Qxd3 29.cxd3 Nh3 30.Bxh6 Nxg1 31.Rxg1 Kh7 32.Bxg7 Rg8 33.h6 1-0

Game 1, July 24
Artemiev, Vladislav – Karjakin, Sergey
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O e5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.e4 d4 8.Ne2 O-O 9.c3 a5 10.Qc2 a4 11.cxd4 exd4 12.Bd2 h6 13.b4 axb3 14.axb3 Rxa1 15.Rxa1 Qd6 16.Bf4 Qd8 17.Ra8 g5 18.Bc1 Nb4 19.Qc4 c5 20.Ba3 g4 21.Nfxd4 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 cxd4 23.e5 Bxe5 24.Qe4 Qc7 25.Bxe7 Qxe7 26.Rxc8 1-0

Game 2, July 24
Karjakin, Sergey – Artemiev, Vladislav
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.O-O a6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.Nb3 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nxc5 Nxc5 11.Be3 Nd7 12.Nd4 Ne7 13.f4 O-O 14.c3 Rc8 15.Qe1 Be4 16.Rd1 Nc6 17.g4 Qe7 18.Qg3 f6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.g5 hxg5 22.fxg5 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 e5 24.h4 a5 25.h5 Rf8 26.Rxf8+ Nxf8 27.g6 Qf6 28.Bg5 Qe6 29.a4 c5 30.Bd8 Qd7 31.Qg5 Qh3 32.Kf2 Qh2+ 33.Ke1 Qh1+ 34.Bf1 Bd3 35.Qg2 Qxg2 36.Bxg2 e4 37.Bxa5 Ne6 38.Bb6 Nf4 39.Bf1 e3 40.Bxd3 Nxd3+ 41.Ke2 Nxb2 42.a5 Nc4 43.Bc7 Na3 44.a6 Nb5 45.Bb6 Nxc3+ 46.Kxe3 d4+ 47.Kd3 Na4 48.Ba5 1-0

Game 3, July 24
Artemiev, Vladislav – Karjakin, Sergey
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nb5 Na6 6.c3 Be7 7.h3 O-O 8.Nf3 Bd7 9.a4 c4 10.Be2 Bxb5 11.axb5 Nc7 12.Qa4 Bd6 13.Bg5 a6 14.bxa6 Rxa6 15.Qd1 Rxa1 16.Qxa1 Qa8 17.O-O Ne4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.exf4 Qxa1 20.Rxa1 Ra8 21.Rxa8+ Nxa8 22.Kf1 b5 23.Bd1 Nb6 24.Ne1 f6 25.Bc2 Kf7 26.Ke2 Nd6 27.Nf3 h6 28.h4 Ke7 29.Nd2 Kd7 30.Nb1 Kc6 31.Na3 Nbc8 32.Bb1 Nb6 33.Bc2 Kb7 34.Kd2 Ka6 35.Bh7 Ka5 36.Nc2 Ka4 37.Nb4 Kb3 38.Kc1 f5 39.Na6 Na4 40.Nc5+ Nxc5 41.dxc5 Ne8 42.Bg6 Nc7 43.Bh5 Ka4 44.Kd2 b4 45.Ke3 Kb3 46.cxb4 Kxb2 47.Kd4 Nb5+ 48.Ke5 c3 49.Bd1 d4 0-1

Sergey is through to play MVL in the Last 16

Game 1, July 24
Svidler, Peter – Vitiugov, Nikita
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.O-O a6 7.Ba4 e6 8.c4 Be7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.f4 Nb6 12.Bb3 e5 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.exf5 Rfe8 15.g4 d5 16.cxd5 Nfxd5 17.Bxd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Qc5+ 19.Ne3 exf4 20.Rxf4 Bg5 21.Rf3 Rad8 22.Kf1 Qd4 23.a4 Qe4 24.Ra3 Rc8 25.Rc3 Rxc3 26.bxc3 Qxa4 27.Kg2 Qe4 28.Qf2 a5 29.h4 Bf6 30.Qc2 Qc6 31.g5 Bxc3 32.Nd1 Bb4 33.Qxc6 bxc6 34.Rd3 Kf8 35.Kf3 Re1 36.Bb2 Rf1+ 37.Kg4 Rg1+ 38.Kh5 Kg8 39.Rd8+ Bf8 40.Bxg7 Kxg7 41.f6+ Kg8 42.Ne3 h6 43.Nf5 hxg5 44.Ne7+ Kh7 45.Rxf8 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 25, 2021

Round Five 1/8 Final

Results Game One

Carlsen-Esipenko 0.5-0.5
Bacrot-Piorun 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Duda 0.5-0.5
Vidit-Durabayli 0.5-0.5
Fedoseev-Ivic 0.5-0.5
Tabatabaei-Martirosyan 0-1
MVL-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Svidler-Shankland 0.5-0.5

All the Games

Game 1, July 25
Carlsen, Magnus – Esipenko, Andrey
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Bc3 c5 9.Nbd2 b6 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Nxd7 Qxd7 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.cxd5 exd5 14.e3 Rfd8 15.Re1 a5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Rc1 Qb5 18.Qb3 Qb4 19.Qxb4 axb4 20.Rxc5 Bxb2 21.Rb5 Bc6 22.Rc5 Bb7 23.Rb5 Bc6 24.Rc5 Bb7 1/2-1/2

Magnus is playing slowly and has an unpleasant position against Esipenko!

Andrey Esipenko loses his 100% record against Magnus Carlsen, but he won't be too upset at making a draw from a position of strength with Black!

Game 1, July 25
Bacrot, Etienne – Piorun, Kacper
C70 Ruy Lopez, Classical Defence deferred

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d4 Ba7 8.dxe5 Nxe4 9.Qd5 Nc5 10.Bc2 Ne7 11.Qd1 d5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Qxd6 cxd6 14.Rd1 Bg4 15.Rxd6 Bf5 16.Na3 Ne4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Rd1 Nf5 19.Bf4 Rfe8 20.Nc4 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Re2 22.Rd2 Bxf2+ 23.Kf1 Rxd2 24.Nxd2 Ba7 25.Ne4 Rd8 26.Ke2 f6 27.Rd1 Rxd1 28.Kxd1 Kf7 29.a4 Ke6 30.Ke2 h5 31.h3 Ne7 32.Bd2 Ke5 33.Ng3 g6 34.f4+ Ke6 35.Ne4 Nf5 36.b4 Bg1 37.Kd3 b6 38.c4 Ne7 39.Bc3 Kf5 40.Ng3+ Ke6 41.Ke4 Bf2 42.Ne2 Nf5 43.Kf3 Be3 44.Ke4 Bf2 45.Kf3 Be3 46.Ke4 1/2-1/2

Game 1, July 25
Grischuk, Alexander – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D24 QGA

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.O-O Nf6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Bg5 Bxc3 10.bxc3 h6 11.Bh4 O-O 12.Rad1 Ne7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qc2 Rb8 15.a4 a6 16.Rfe1 b5 17.Ba2 Kg7 18.Nh4 Qd6 19.Rd3 f5 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rg3+ Kh7 22.Qe2 Bb7 23.Qh5 Ra8 24.Bb1 Qf4 25.h3 Kh8 26.Rxe6 fxe6 27.Ng6+ Nxg6 28.Qxg6 Rg8 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.Qf6+ Kh7 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Qf6+ 1/2-1/2

Grischuk-Duda is the 3rd draw of the day, with excellent defence from Jan-Krzysztof:

Game 1, July 25
Vidit, Santosh – Durarbayli, Vasif
D13 QGD Slav, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6 7.Ne5 Qb6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qd2 Nh5 10.Be3 Nf6 11.a3 Ng4 12.Bg5 e5 13.h3 f6 14.hxg4 fxg5 15.dxe5 Rb8 16.b4 a5 17.b5 d4 18.Ne4 cxb5 19.Qxg5 h6 20.Qf4 Be6 21.g3 b4 22.Bg2 b3 23.Nd6+ Bxd6 24.exd6 b2 25.Rb1 Qc5 26.O-O Rf8 27.Qe4 Kf7 28.Rbd1 Ba2 29.d7 Kg8 30.Qg6 Rb6 31.Qe8 Re6 32.Qh5 Qxh5 33.gxh5 Rd8 34.Rxd4 b1=Q 35.Rxb1 Bxb1 36.Bd5 Kf7 37.Ra4 Rxd7 38.Bxe6+ Kxe6 39.Rxa5 Rd2 40.Kf1 Ba2 41.Rc5 Rd1+ 42.Kg2 Re1 43.Kf3 Kd6 44.Rc2 Bb3 45.Rb2 Bc4 46.Ke3 Ke5 47.Rc2 Ba6 48.f3 Ra1 49.Rc5+ Kd6 50.Ra5 Bc4 51.Ra7 Ke5 52.Rxg7 Ra2 53.Re7+ Kf6 54.Re4 Rxe2+ 55.Kf4 Rc2 56.Re3 Bd5 1/2-1/2

A crazy game, but Vidit escapes against Vasif Durarbayli and it looks as though Haik Martirosyan will pick up the only win of Round 5!

Game 1, July 25
Fedoseev, Vladimir – Ivic, Velimir
D80 Grunfeld Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bd2 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 O-O 8.Qd2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.Bc4 exd5 11.Bxd5 Nc6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Bxc6 Bxf3 15.gxf3 bxc6 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.Rc1 Rab8 18.Rc2 Rd4 19.Ke2 Ra4 20.b3 Ra3 21.Rd1 a5 22.Rdd2 a4 23.bxa4 Rxa4 24.Rxc5 Rba8 25.Rcc2 c5 26.h4 c4 27.Kf1 c3 28.Re2 Kf6 29.f4 Ra3 30.Re3 R8a4 31.Kg2 Rb4 32.Kg3 Rb2 33.Rcxc3 Rxc3 34.Rxc3 Rxa2 35.h5 Ra1 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.Rc7 Re1 38.f3 Re2+ 39.Kg3 Re1 40.e5 Rh1 41.e6 Kf6 42.Kg2 Re1 43.exf7 Kg7 44.h6+ Kf8 45.Rc8+ Kxf7 46.Rh8 Re2+ 47.Kg3 Re1 48.Rxh7+ Kf6 49.Kf2 Rh1 50.Ke3 Rh4 51.Rh8 Rh1 52.Ke2 Rh2+ 53.Kd3 Rh1 54.Rh7 Rh4 55.Rh8 Rh1 56.Rh7 Rh4 57.Ke4 Rh5 58.Kd4 Rh4 59.Kd5 Rxf4 60.Ra7 1/2-1/2

Game 1, July 25
Tabatabaei, M. amin – Martirosyan, Haik
E46 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd2 c5 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Ne4 8.Ne2 b6 9.d5 Ba6 10.b3 b5 11.Qd3 Nxc3 12.Nxc3 bxc4 13.bxc4 exd5 14.Qxd5 Qa5 15.Qd2 Nc6 16.Be2 Rab8 17.O-O Ne5 18.Rfc1 Rb3 19.f4 Nc6 20.Kf2 Rd8 21.Ra2 Rxa3 22.Rxa3 Qxa3 23.Nd5 d6 24.Rc3 Qa1 25.Rc1 Qa3 26.Rc3 Qa1 27.Qc1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Bc8 29.Ra1 Kf8 30.Bf3 a6 31.Rb1 Be6 32.Rb7 Na5 33.Ra7 Nxc4 34.Nc7 Nd2 35.Bd5 Bxd5 36.Nxd5 Rb8 37.Rxa6 Ne4+ 38.Ke2 f5 39.Kd3 Rb7 40.Kc4 Kf7 41.Ra8 h5 42.h4 g6 43.Rh8 Nd2+ 44.Kd3 Ke6 45.Nc3 Nb1 46.Nd1 Na3 47.Rg8 Rb3+ 48.Ke2 Kf7 49.Rd8 Nc4 50.Rd7+ Ke6 51.Rg7 Kf6 52.Rd7 Ra3 53.g3 Ra2+ 54.Ke1 Rg2 55.Rh7 Ke6 56.Rg7 Kf6 57.Rh7 Rxg3 58.Kf2 Rh3 59.Nc3 Nxe3 60.Nb5 Nd5 61.Nxd6 Rxh4 0-1

Game 1, July 25
MVL – Karjakin, Sergey
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Rd8 15.Rxd8+ Kxd8 16.g4 hxg4 17.hxg4 Nd4 18.Rd1 c5 19.Nxe6+ Rxe6 20.Ne2 Kc8 21.Nxd4 cxd4 22.Rxd4 g5 23.Bg3 Ra6 24.a4 Rc6 25.c3 Rb6 26.b4 Rc6 27.Rd3 Rc4 28.Rf3 Kd7 29.Rxf7 Ke6 30.Rh7 Rxc3 31.b5 Rc4 32.Rh6+ Kd5 33.Rh7 Ke6 34.Rh6+ Kd5 35.Rh7 Ke6 1/2-1/2

MVL 1/2-1/2 Karjakin is the first result of the Last 16 — a very easy day for Sergey!

Game 1, July 25
Svidler, Peter – Shankland, Sam
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 7.c3 Be7 8.Bc2 b5 9.d4 Bb7 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Nf1 O-O 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bd2 Rfc8 14.Rc1 Qb6 15.Ng3 cxd4 16.cxd4 b4 17.Qe2 a5 18.Bd3 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Qxa6 21.Qxa6 Rxa6 22.Rc8+ Kh7 23.Kf1 Ra7 24.Ke2 Nb6 25.Rc6 Rb7 26.Kd3 Kg8 27.b3 Nfd7 28.Nf1 Kf8 29.Ne3 Nb8 30.Rc2 Ke8 31.g4 Kd7 32.h4 Na6 33.h5 Nc7 34.Rc1 Rb8 35.Ne1 d5 36.f4 dxe4+ 37.Kxe4 Ncd5 38.Nd3 Bd6 39.f5 Nxe3 40.Bxe3 Nd5 41.Ne5+ Bxe5 42.dxe5 Nxe3 43.Kxe3 Rb5 44.Ke4 f6 45.exf6 gxf6 46.fxe6+ Kxe6 47.Rc6+ Kf7 48.Rc7+ Kg8 49.Rc8+ 1/2-1/2

Laurent & Loek are surprised how easily Shankland gave up the c-file and think he'll have to suffer against Svidler

[Hans Jung]

A save by Sam Shankland.

[Brad Thomson]

I loved listening to Anand's analysis. It is amazing how his mind works, he is so fast, doing his calculations in his mind "trying to make it work." Especially amusing was his suggestion that an immediately mating line was "boring" because a very similar mate could be accomplished with the inclusion of a Q-sac. I myself once had a game with White where the "boring" Rd1 would have mated. Luckily I found 0-0-0 instead.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021...ntosh_Gujrathi The entombed bishop. Can black make it stick? (sick, stuck etc.)

[Hans Jung]

Sam Shankland big win against Peter Svidler. Sam had the best placed pieces and it led to a sparkling win.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021...ntosh_Gujrathi The entombed bishop. Can black make it stick? (sick, stuck etc.)

Yes that bishop did it - total liability. Now if I had that position I would have probably taken the bishop right away and schmucked it up - Vidit has the elegance of a 2700 player and the bishop got surgically removed at the right time.

[Hans Jung]

Some nice endgames this round - Ivic-Fedoseev and Martirosyan -Tabatabaei, for example.

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 26, 2021

Round Five 1/8 Final

Results Game Two

Carlsen-Esipenko 0.5-0.5
Bacrot-Piorun 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Duda 0.5-0.5
Vidit-Durbayli 1-0
Fedoseev-Ivic 0.5-0.5
Tabatbei-Martirosyan 1-0
MVL-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Svidler-Shankland 0-1

Going Home

Durarbayli
Svidler

Going to Tie-Break

Carlsen-Esipenko
Bacrot-Piorun
Grischuk-Duda
Fedoseev-Ivic
Tabatbei-Martirosyan
MVL-Karjakin

Selected Games

Game 2, July 26
Esipenko, Andrey – Carlsen, Magus
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 Bb6 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.a4 c6 11.d4 Ng6 12.Bf1 Re8 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Qc2 Be6 16.Nc4 Bxc4 17.Bxc4 a5 18.Qe2 Qe7 19.Bd2 Rad8 20.Red1 Rd7 21.Be1 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Rd8 23.Rb1 g6 24.Kh2 Kg7 25.Bb3 h5 26.Rd1 Rxd1 27.Bxd1 h4 28.Qd3 Qe6 29.b3 Qe7 30.Kg1 Nd7 31.Be2 Nc5 32.Qc2 Qf6 33.Bf3 Qd8 34.Be2 Qf6 35.Bf3 Qd8 36.Be2 1/2-1/2

Carlsen and Esipenko made a draw in their second game and will play tiebreaks tomorrow!

Game 2, July 26
Piorun, Kacper – Bacrot, Etienne
B56 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Nd5 Be7 9.Be3 O-O 10.c4 a5 11.Bd3 a4 12.Nc1 Nd7 13.O-O Bg5 14.Bf2 Bxd5 15.cxd5 Nd4 16.Ne2 Nxe2+ 17.Qxe2 Qc7 18.g3 Nc5 19.Bb5 Bh6 20.Kg2 Rfc8 21.Rab1 Qa5 22.Rfd1 Na6 23.Be1 Qc7 24.Bxa4 Nc5 25.Bb5 Rxa2 26.Bc4 Raa8 27.Ra1 g6 28.Rxa8 Rxa8 29.Bb5 Nb3 30.Qc4 Qxc4 31.Bxc4 Nd4 32.Bf2 Ra4 33.Bxd4 Rxc4 34.Bc3 Ra4 35.Kf2 f5 36.exf5 gxf5 37.Ke2 Kf7 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 26
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Grischuk, Alexander
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 O-O 9.Bd3 h6 10.Bh4 Nc6 11.Qa4 Bd7 12.Qd1 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 d4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Bg5 17.e4 Qa5+ 18.Kf1 Ne5 19.Qe2 f5 20.h4 fxe4 21.hxg5 Nxd3 22.Qxe4 Qd2 23.Qe6+ Rf7 24.Ne7+ Kf8 25.Ng6+ Kg8 26.Ne7+ Kf8 27.Ng6+ Kg8 28.Ne7+ 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 26
Durabayli, Vasif – Vidit, Santosh
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangel variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4 d6 11.Bf4 c5 12.Qe3 c4 13.Ba2 Nh5 14.Nc3 Nxf4 15.Qxf4 O-O 16.axb5 axb5 17.Rad1 Be6 18.Bb1 b4 19.Ne2 Qb6 20.h3 c3 21.bxc3 Bc4 22.Rfe1 Bxe2 23.Rxe2 bxc3 24.Ree1 Ra8 25.Qg3 Rfc8 26.Kh2 Ra3 27.Re3 Qb4 28.f4 Nc4 29.Qg4 Rb8 30.Rg3 g6 31.f5 Nd2 32.Qf4 Qd4 33.fxg6 hxg6 34.Rg5 Ra1 35.Rd5 Qxe4 36.Qxd6 Raxb1 37.Rd4 Qe6 38.Qc7 Qb6 0-1

Position after Black’s 26…Ra3



Game 2, July 26
Ivic, Velimir – Fedoseev, Vladimir
C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Flohr-Zaitsev System

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.h3 d6 9.c3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a4 h6 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 c5 16.d5 Nd7 17.Ra3 c4 18.Ree3 Nc5 19.b3 Rc8 20.axb5 axb5 21.bxc4 bxc4 22.Bb2 Nbd3 23.Nxc4 Nxb2 24.Nxb2 g6 25.Na4 Nd7 26.Bd3 Bg7 27.Bb5 Re7 28.Rab3 Nf6 29.Bf1 Nxe4 30.Rxe4 Rxe4 31.Rxb7 Rb8 32.Rxb8 Qxb8 33.Bd3 Rb4 34.Bc2 Qb5 35.g3 Bf6 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.h4 Qc4 38.Qd2 Rb8 39.Qd3 Qxd3 40.Bxd3 Rb4 41.Bc2 Rb5 42.Kf1 Rxd5 43.Nb6 Rc5 44.Bd3 Bd8 45.Nc4 d5 46.Ne3 Bb6 47.g4 Ra5 48.h5 Ra1+ 49.Ke2 Ra2+ 50.Kf1 Ra1+ 51.Ke2 Ra2+ 52.Kf1 Ra1+ 53.Ke2 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 26
Martirosyan, Haik – Tabatabaei, M.
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.g3 O-O 6.Bg2 d5 7.Qc2 Be7 8.O-O c6 9.Bf4 Nbd7 10.Rd1 Nh5 11.Bc1 f5 12.b3 Nhf6 13.Ng5 Nb8 14.Ba3 Bxa3 15.Nxa3 Qe7 16.Qb2 b6 17.Rac1 Ba6 18.Nb1 h6 19.Nf3 Nbd7 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.Rc7 Rfc8 22.Rdc1 Qd8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.e3 g5 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 26.Qc3 Qxc3 27.Nxc3 Ne4 28.Nxe4 fxe4 29.Nd2 g4 30.h3 h5 31.hxg4 hxg4 32.Bf1 Bxf1 33.Kxf1 b5 34.Nb1 b4 35.a3 Kf7 36.axb4 axb4 37.Ke2 Nb8 38.Nd2 Kf6 39.Nf1 Nc6 40.Kd2 e5 41.dxe5+ Nxe5 42.Ke2 Nd3 43.Nd2 Ke5 44.Kf1 Nc5 45.Ke2 Ne6 46.Nf1 Ng5 47.Nd2 Ne6 48.Nf1 Nc5 49.Nd2 Nb7 50.Nf1 Na5 51.Nd2 d4 52.Ke1 Kd5 53.Ke2 Nb7 54.Nc4 Nc5 55.Nd2 Nd3 56.Kf1 Ne5 57.Ke2 Nf3 58.Nxf3 gxf3+ 59.Kd2 d3 60.Ke1 Ke5 61.Kd1 Kf5 62.Kd2 Kg4 63.Kd1 Kh3 64.Ke1 Kg2 65.g4 d2+ 66.Kxd2 Kxf2 67.g5 Kg1 0-1

A bitter end to a game where Martirosyan needed just to do nothing at the end to seal a place in the World Cup Quarterfinals — instead he entered a losing pawn ending & Tabatabaei's 67...Kg1! showed he'd seen the winning plan

Game 2, July 26
Karjakin, Sergey – MVL
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 O-O 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.O-O Bg4 13.Rxb7 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Bxd4 15.e5 Na6 16.Rxe7 Rad8 17.e6 fxe6 18.Qe1 Nc5 19.Be3 Nd3 20.Bxd4 Nxe1 21.Rg7+ Kh8 22.Rd7+ Kg8 23.Rg7+ Kh8 24.Rd7+ Kg8 25.Rg7+ 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 26
Shankland, Sam – Svidler, Peter
E60 King’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nc6 6.Nge2 O-O 7.f3 e5 8.d5 Nd4 9.Be3 c5 10.dxc6 bxc6 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Bxd4 Rb8 13.Qc2 c5 14.Bf2 Be6 15.O-O-O Nd7 16.Rxd6 Qa5 17.Be1 Ne5 18.f4 Nxc4 19.Bxc4 Bxc4 20.e5 Rfd8 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.h5 Bxa2 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Ne4 Qb6 25.Bh4 Rd4 26.Nf6+ Kf8 27.Bf2 Bxf6 28.exf6 Qxf6 29.Qxc5+ Rd6 30.Qc8+ 1-0

Position after Black’s 24….Qb6



If Shankland finds 25.Bh4! it seems he's winning against Svidler!

And he's played it!

Sam Shankland is the first player through to the #FIDEWorldCup quarterfinals and qualifies for the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix — after a single blunder there was no way back for 2011 Champion Peter Svidler!

[Hans Jung]

Entertaining back and forth in the Piorun - Bacrot playoff match. The veteran from France Etienne Bacrot has been able to win on demand.

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 27, 2021

Round Five 1/8 Final

Tie-Breaks

Results

Carlsen-Esipenko 4-2
Bacrot-Piorun 3-1
Grischuk-Duda 0.5-1.5
Fedoseev-Ivic 2-0
Tabatbei-Martirosyan 1.5-0.5
MVL-Karjakin 1.5-2.5

Going Home

Esipenko
Grischuk
Ivic
Martirosyan
MVL

Round Six Matches

Carlsen-Bacrot
Duda-Vidit
Fedoseev-Tabatabaei
Karjakin-Shankland

Selected Games

Games 1-2 25+10, 3-4 10+10, 5-6 5+3, 7 Armageddon

Game 1, July 27
Carlsen, Magnus – Esipenko, Andrey
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.b4 dxc4 9.Qc1 Nb6 10.a4 Bd7 11.a5 Nbd5 12.Qxc4 Ne4 13.Ne5 Nxd2 14.Nxd2 Be8 15.b5 c6 16.bxc6 Rc8 17.Qb3 bxc6 18.Nd3 c5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.Rfc1 Rb8 22.Qc3 Be7 23.Qc7 a6 24.Qxd8 Bxd8 25.Rc5 Bb5 26.Rxd5 Bf6 27.Rc1 Rfd8 28.Rdc5 h6 29.Ne4 Bd4 30.R5c2 Bxd3 31.exd3 Rb5 32.Ra2 Rdd5 33.Rc6 Rxa5 34.Rxa6 Rxa2 35.Rxa2 f5 36.Nd2 Bc3 37.Nf1 Rxd3 38.Ra3 g5 39.Kg2 f4 40.gxf4 gxf4 41.h4 Kf7 42.Nh2 Kg6 43.Nf3 Kf5 44.Ra6 Bf6 45.h5 Rd5 46.Kh3 Rd3 47.Kg2 Rd5 48.Kh3 Rd3 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 27
Esipenko, Andrey – Carlsen, Magnus
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.h3 Bb6 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 c6 10.Bb3 Ng6 11.Nf1 d5 12.Ng3 dxe4 13.dxe4 Qxd1 14.Rxd1 h6 15.Re1 Rd8 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.Rxe3 a5 18.a4 Kf8 19.Ree1 b6 20.Rad1 Ba6 21.Bc2 Bc4 22.Nf5 Be6 23.g3 Ne8 24.h4 f6 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Ne3 Ne7 27.b4 Nd6 28.bxa5 bxa5 29.Rb1 Nc4 30.Nxc4 Bxc4 31.Rb7 g5 32.hxg5 hxg5 33.Rb1 Nc8 34.Rd1 Rxd1+ 35.Bxd1 Bd3 36.Nd2 Nd6 37.f3 g4 38.Nb3 Nb7 39.Nd2 gxf3 40.Kf2 Nc5 41.Kxf3 Ke7 42.Ke3 Kd6 43.Bb3 Kc7 44.Bd1 Ba6 45.Bc2 Bc8 46.Bd1 Be6 47.Bc2 Kd6 48.Ke2 Ke7 49.Kf3 Kf7 50.g4 Kg6 51.Kg3 Nb7 52.Nf3 Bc4 53.g5 Be2 54.Ng1 Bh5 55.gxf6 Kxf6 56.Nh3 Nc5 57.Nf2 Be2 58.Ng4+ Bxg4 59.Kxg4 Kg6 60.Kh4 Ne6 61.Kg4 Nf4 62.Bd1 Kf6 63.Kh4 Ng2+ 64.Kh5 Ne1 65.Be2 Ng2 66.Bd1 Nf4+ 67.Kh6 Nd3 68.Kh5 Nc1 69.Kh6 Na2 70.c4 Nc3 71.Bc2 Ne2 72.Kh5 Ng3+ 73.Kh4 Nf1 74.Kh5 Nd2 75.Bd3 Nb3 76.Bc2 Nc5 77.Kh6 Nd7 78.Kh5 Nc5 79.Kh6 Ne6 80.Kh5 Kg7 81.Bd1 Kf7 82.Bc2 Kf6 83.Bd1 Nf4+ 84.Kh6 Ne6 85.Kh5 Ng7+ 1/2-1/2

Game 3, July 27
Carlsen, Magnus – Esipenko, Andrey
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qb3 Nb6 9.c5 Nc4 10.Bc3 b6 11.c6 a5 12.Nbd2 Ba6 13.Nxc4 Bxc4 14.Qc2 a4 15.Ne5 Bb5 16.Rfe1 Bd6 17.Bd2 a3 18.b3 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nd7 f5 21.Nxf8 Qxf8 22.Bf4 Rd8 23.Be5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 h6 25.Rad1 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qb4 27.Kf1 e3 28.f3 h5 29.Rd7 h4 30.Rxc7 h3 31.Rd7 1-0

Game 4, July 27
Esipenko, Andrey – Carlsen, Magnus
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qb3 Nb6 9.c5 Nc4 10.Bc3 b6 11.c6 a5 12.Nbd2 Ba6 13.Nxc4 Bxc4 14.Qc2 a4 15.Ne5 Bb5 16.Rfe1 Bd6 17.Bd2 a3 18.b3 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nd7 f5 21.Nxf8 Qxf8 22.Bf4 Rd8 23.Be5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 h6 25.Rad1 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qb4 27.Kf1 e3 28.f3 h5 29.Rd7 h4 30.Rxc7 h3 31.Rd7 1-0

He's done it! Andrey Esipenko inflicts the first loss of the #FIDEWorldCup on Magnus Carlsen to take their match to 5-minute games

Game 5, July 27
Carlsen, Magnus – Esipenko, Andrey
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.O-O a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 c5 9.Nc6 Qd7 10.Na5 Qa4 11.Bd2 Bg4 12.f3 Be6 13.Bc3 Be7 14.b3 Qd7 15.Nd2 d5 16.Qe1 O-O 17.Rd1 Rad8 18.Ndc4 Qe8 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Bb2 Kh8 21.Qg3 f6 22.Rfe1 Qf7 23.Nc6 Rde8 24.Nxe7 Rxe7 25.Qf2 Rfe8 26.Qxc5 h5 27.Ba3 Rd7 28.Re4 Bf5 29.Rxe8+ Qxe8 30.Qf2 Nc3 31.Re1 Qg6 32.Ne3 Be6 33.Bb2 Nd5 34.Nxd5 Bxd5 35.Qe2 Kh7 36.Bc1 Bc6 37.Bf4 h4 38.h3 Qf5 39.Be3 Re7 40.Qd2 Qg6 41.Qf2 Kg8 42.Bd2 Rxe1+ 43.Bxe1 Bd7 44.Kh2 Bf5 45.c4 Bb1 46.Qa7 Bd3 47.Qxc7 Bf1 48.Qd8+ Kh7 49.Qd2 Qh5 50.Qc2+ Kg8 51.Qe4 Qg5 52.Qd5+ Qxd5 53.cxd5 g5 54.a4 Kf7 55.Bc3 Bd3 56.b4 Bc2 57.b5 axb5 58.axb5 Bb3 59.d6 Ke6 60.b6 Bd5 61.d7 Kxd7 62.Bxf6 1-0

It became a crazy time scramble, but Magnus Carlsen manages to beat Andrey Esipenko in the 1st 5-minute game.

Game 6, July 27
Esipenko, Andrey – Carlsen, Magnus
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 a6 9.a4 Ba7 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.b4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 d5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Nxe3 Ne7 17.Rab1 Rd8 18.a5 Ng6 19.c4 c6 20.Red1 Nf4 21.Nf5 g6 22.Nxh6+ Kg7 23.Ng4 Nxg4 24.hxg4 Ree8 25.Nh2 Rh8 26.f3 dxe4 27.dxe4 Qe7 28.Rxd8 Qxd8 29.g3 Qd4+ 30.Kh1 Nd3 31.Qe2 Qxc4 32.Rd1 Rd8 33.Rf1 Qxb4 34.f4 exf4 35.gxf4 Qxa5 36.g5 Nc5 37.Qb2+ Kg8 38.Ng4 Nxe4 39.Nh6+ Kh7 40.Qh2 Rd2 41.Qh4 Kg7 42.f5 Qd5 43.f6+ Nxf6+ 0-1

Magnus Carlsen is hugely relieved as he beats Andrey Esipenko and now faces Etienne Bacrot in tomorrow's quarterfinals!

19-year-old Andrey Esipenko may be out, but he's enhanced his reputation again by putting up a huge fight!

Game 1, July 27
Bacrot, Etienne – Piorun, Kacper
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nd7 3.d4 Nb6 4.a4 a5 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bf4 c6 8.O-O Bg7 9.Ne5 O-O 10.Qc1 Bf5 11.Rd1 Qc8 12.Re1 Rd8 13.Nd3 Nfd7 14.e3 Re8 15.h3 h5 16.Qd1 Nf8 17.Kh2 Nbd7 18.Qd2 Ne6 19.h4 Nxf4 20.Nxf4 e5 21.Nfe2 Nf6 22.Kg1 e4 23.Nf4 Bg4 24.Nce2 Qf5 25.Rec1 g5 26.hxg5 Qxg5 27.c4 h4 28.cxd5 cxd5 29.Nh3 Qf5 30.Nef4 Bf3 31.Rc7 Qg4 32.Kh2 Ra6 33.Rac1 Bxg2 34.Nxg2 hxg3+ 35.fxg3 Qf3 36.Rc8 Rxc8 37.Rxc8+ Bf8 38.Qe1 Rb6 39.Qxa5 Ng4+ 40.Kg1 Nxe3 41.Nhf4 Qf1+ 42.Kh2 Rh6+ 0-1

Game 2, July 27
Piorun, Kacper – Bacrot, Etienne
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bd3 d6 5.c3 Nd7 6.O-O e5 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.Re1 O-O 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.a4 Nc5 11.Bc4 Nd3 12.Re3 Nxc1 13.Rxc1 Qe8 14.Qb3 Bh6 15.Rd3 Nc6 16.Bd5 Nd8 17.a5 Ne6 18.Bxe6 Qxe6 19.Rd1 f6 20.Nc4 Qf7 21.Rd8 Rb8 22.Rxf8+ Bxf8 23.Rd8 Kg7 24.Qa4 Be7 25.Rd3 Be6 26.Nfd2 Qg8 27.Ne3 Rd8 28.Qc2 Bc5 29.Ndc4 Be7 30.Nd2 h5 31.Nf5+ Kf8 32.Rg3 Bc5 33.h3 Qf7 34.Ne3 Kg7 35.b4 Ba7 36.Ndf1 Qd7 37.c4 Bxe3 38.Nxe3 Qd2 39.Qb1 Kf7 40.Nd5 c6 41.Rd3 Qg5 42.Nb6 Rd4 43.Rxd4 exd4 44.Qd3 Qc1+ 45.Kh2 Qc3 46.Qe2 h4 47.Na4 Qxb4 48.Nb2 Qxa5 49.f4 Qc3 50.Nd3 Bxc4 51.Qg4 Qxd3 52.Qd7+ Kg8 53.Qe8+ Kg7 54.Qe7+ Bf7 55.e5 Qf5 0-1

Game 3, July 27
Piorun, Kacper – Bacrot, Etienne
B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Margate variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Bb5 Qb6 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Be2 a6 10.g4 h6 11.Qd2 b5 12.a3 Be7 13.f4 Bb7 14.O-O-O Na5 15.Qd3 Rc8 16.g5 Nd7 17.g6 Nc5 18.gxf7+ Kxf7 19.Qd2 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Bxe4 21.Bd3 Bxh1 22.Rxh1 Bf6 23.Kb1 Nc4 24.Qe2 Nxe3 25.Qxe3 Rhe8 26.Rg1 Qc5 27.c3 e5 28.fxe5 dxe5 29.Bg6+ Kf8 30.Nf5 Qxe3 31.Nxe3 Red8 32.Kc2 Bg5 33.Rf1+ Bf4 34.h4 Ke7 35.Nf5+ Kf6 36.h5 Rd2+ 37.Kb3 a5 38.Ng3 a4+ 39.Ka2 Ke7 40.Ne4 Rg2 41.Bf5 Rd8 42.Bh3 Rh2 43.Bg4 Rd3 44.Bf5 Rxh5 45.Bg6 Rh2 46.Bf5 g5 47.Rg1 Rd8 48.Kb1 h5 0-1

Game 4, July 27
Bacrot, Etienne – Piorun, Kacper
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.h3 a6 6.a4 Nf6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Bc4 Nbd7 9.O-O Ne8 10.Bf4 Rb8 11.Qd2 Nc7 12.a5 b5 13.axb6 Rxb6 14.Bh6 f6 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.b3 g5 17.Nd1 Rg8 18.Ne3 Nf8 19.Qa5 Rb7 20.Qc3 Kh8 21.Bxa6 Nxa6 22.Rxa6 g4 23.hxg4 Bxg4 24.Nxg4 Rxg4 25.Nd2 Ng6 26.Qh3 Rh4 27.Qg3 Rb8 28.Rfa1 Qc8 29.Qf3 Ne5 30.Qf5 Qxf5 31.exf5 Rf4 32.Ra8 Rg8 33.Rxg8+ Kxg8 34.Ra8+ Kf7 35.Rh8 Rd4 36.Nf1 Rxd5 37.Ne3 Rd2 38.Rxh7+ Ke8 39.Kf1 Rd4 40.Rh8+ Kd7 41.Ra8 Rh4 42.Ra7+ Ke8 43.Ra8+ Kf7 44.Rc8 Ng4 45.Ke2 Nxe3 46.Kxe3 Rh1 47.Ra8 Re1+ 48.Kf3 Kg7 49.g4 Rc1 50.Ra7 Kf7 51.Ra2 Rb1 52.Ke2 Rg1 53.Ra4 Ke8 54.Ra8+ Kf7 55.Ra4 Rh1 56.Kd2 Rh3 57.Ke2 Rh7 58.b4 cxb4 59.Rxb4 Rh8 60.Re4 Rc8 61.Kd3 Ra8 62.Kd2 Ra7 63.Kd3 Kg7 64.f4 Kf7 65.Re2 Ra4 66.Re4 Ra3+ 67.c3 Ra1 68.Ke2 Rg1 69.Kf3 Kf8 70.Re2 Rf1+ 71.Kg3 Ke8 72.c4 Rc1 73.Re4 Kf7 74.g5 Rg1+ 75.Kh4 Rf1 76.g6+ Ke8 77.Kg3 Ra1 78.Re2 Rg1+ 79.Rg2 Rc1 80.Rh2 Rg1+ 81.Kf2 1-0

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 27, 2021

Round Five 1/8 Final

Tie-Breaks (continued)

Game 1, July 27
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Nd7 7.Nc4 f6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.Nxe3 Nc5 10.O-O O-O 11.Kh1 a5 12.a4 Be6 13.Qe1 Bf7 14.Nh4 Ne6 15.g3 Qd6 16.f4 Qc5 17.Qd2 Rfd8 18.Rf2 Rd7 19.Raf1 b6 20.b3 Rad8 21.Nhf5 Bg6 22.fxe5 Qxe5 23.Nc4 Qc5 24.g4 Ng5 25.Qe1 Re8 26.h4 Nf7 27.Nfe3 h6 28.Rf4 Ne5 29.Qg3 Nxc4 30.Nxc4 b5 31.Ne3 Qe5 32.Qe1 Qc5 33.R1f3 bxa4 34.bxa4 Rd4 35.Qa1 Rb8 36.Kg2 Rdb4 37.Qa2+ Bf7 38.Qa3 Be6 39.Rg3 Qe5 40.Rf2 c5 41.g5 fxg5 42.hxg5 h5 43.Nf5 Rb1 44.Rgf3 Ra1 45.d4 Rxa3 46.Ne7+ Kh7 47.dxe5 Rxf3 48.Rxf3 Rb4 49.g6+ Kh6 50.Nf5+ Kxg6 51.Rg3+ Kf7 52.Rxg7+ Kf8 53.Rg6 Bf7 54.Rf6 Rb6 55.Kf3 Rxf6 56.exf6 Be8 57.e5 Kf7 58.Kf4 Bxa4 59.Nh6+ Ke6 60.f7 Ke7 61.e6 Be8 62.Nf5+ Kf8 63.fxe8=Q+ Kxe8 64.Ke5 1-0

Game 2, July 27
Grischuk, Alexander – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nd7 3.Bg2 e5 4.O-O Ngf6 5.d4 e4 6.Ne5 Bd6 7.Nxd7 Bxd7 8.c4 h6 9.cxd5 O-O 10.Qb3 Re8 11.Nc3 b5 12.a4 a6 13.Qc2 Bf5 14.axb5 axb5 15.Rxa8 Qxa8 16.Nxb5 Qxd5 17.Nxc7 Bxc7 18.Qxc7 Qxd4 19.Qf4 Bg4 20.Re1 Rc8 21.Qe3 Qb4 22.Rd1 Rc2 23.Bf1 Qc4 24.b3 Qb5 25.Rd2 Rxd2 26.Bxd2 Be6 27.b4 Bc4 28.h3 Qa6 29.g4 Bb5 30.Kg2 Qc6 31.Kg1 Qa6 32.h4 Nxg4 33.Qxe4 Nf6 34.Qe5 Nd7 35.Qd4 Nf8 36.f3 Bxe2 37.Bg2 Ne6 38.Qe5 Qd3 39.Qe3 Qc4 40.Bc3 Bd3 41.Bd2 Nd4 42.Kf2 Nc2 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Qe7 Bg6 45.Kg3 Nd4 46.Qc5 Nf5+ 47.Kf2 1/2-1/2

Game 1, July 27
Fedoseev, Vladimir – Ivic, Velimir
A15 Reti, Bremen

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c6 5.b3 Ne4 6.d4 d5 7.O-O O-O 8.Bb2 Bf5 9.Nh4 Be6 10.Qc2 Nd7 11.Bxe4 dxe4 12.Qxe4 b5 13.Nd2 c5 14.Rad1 cxd4 15.Bxd4 Nf6 16.Qd3 bxc4 17.Nxc4 Qd5 18.Ng2 Qb5 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Nf4 Bf5 21.e4 Bg4 22.f3 Bc8 23.Qd5 Qb8 24.Qa5 Bb7 25.Nd5 Bxd5 26.Rxd5 Qc8 27.Kg2 e6 28.Rd3 Qc6 29.Rd6 Qb7 30.Rfd1 a6 31.Qb6 Qc8 32.Qc6 a5 33.Qb5 Qb8 34.Rb6 Qe8 35.Rd7 Rd8 36.Rbb7 Rxd7 37.Qxd7 Qxd7 38.Rxd7 a4 39.e5 Bg7 40.bxa4 Rc8 41.Rd4 f6 42.exf6 Bxf6 43.Re4 Bc3 44.Kf2 Ra8 45.Nd6 e5 46.Nb5 Bb2 47.Ke2 Kf7 48.Kd3 Bc1 49.Kc2 Rc8+ 50.Kb3 Bd2 51.Nd6+ 1-0

Game 2, July 27
Ivic, Velimir – Fedoseev, Vladimir
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 O-O 8.Nbd2 Re8 9.Re1 Bf8 10.Nf1 h6 11.Ng3 b5 12.Bc2 d5 13.Qe2 Be6 14.h3 Qd7 15.Nh4 d4 16.Nhf5 dxc3 17.bxc3 b4 18.Ba4 bxc3 19.Be3 Reb8 20.Rac1 Rb2 21.Qf3 Rxa2 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Nxh6+ Kh7 24.Nhf5 g6 25.Bg5 Nd7 26.d4 exd4 27.Nxd4 Qc4 28.Ngf5 Bxf5 29.exf5 Qxd4 30.fxg6+ fxg6 31.Qf7+ Bg7 32.Qxa2 Ne5 33.Rcd1 Qb4 34.Qc2 Rf8 35.Be3 Rf5 36.Qe2 a5 37.Kh1 Qc4 38.Bd4 c2 39.Rc1 Qxd4 40.Rxc2 Nd3 41.Rf1 c5 42.f3 c4 43.Qe6 0-1

Game 1, July 27
Martirosyan, Haik – Tabatabaei, M.
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 O-O 9.Be2 h6 10.Bh4 Nc6 11.Qd1 Qb6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qxa2 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.O-O b6 17.Bb5 Qe6 18.Rc1 Ne5 19.Nd4 Qg4 20.f3 Qh5 21.Be2 Qg6 22.Rf2 f5 23.f4 Ng4 24.Rc6 Qh5 25.Bxg4 fxg4 26.f5 Qg5 27.Rf4 h5 28.Qb3 Kh8 29.Qc3 Kg8 30.Qc4 Kh8 31.Rc7 Qf6 32.Re4 a5 33.Rc6 Qg5 34.Rxb6 Bd7 35.Qc3 Kg8 36.Rd6 Rfc8 37.Qd2 Be8 38.g3 a4 39.Qa2 Kh8 40.Qa1 Qg7 41.Rd5 Rab8 42.f6 Qg6 43.Nf5 Rc2 44.Ne7 Qxe4 45.Rxh5+ Qh7 46.Ng6+ Kg8 47.Ne7+ Kh8 48.Ng6+ Kg8 49.Ne7+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 27
Tabatabaei, M. – Martirosyan, Haik
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Ne8 10.c4 Bf6 11.Re1 d5 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Be3 Qd8 14.Nc3 Nd6 15.Bf4 Be6 16.Be5 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Nf5 18.Bd3 c5 19.Be4 Nd4 20.Ne2 Nxe2+ 21.Qxe2 Qc7 22.f4 g6 23.Qf3 Rae8 24.b3 b5 25.h4 c4 26.bxc4 Bxc4 27.h5 Qe7 28.Qg3 f5 29.Bf3 Kg7 30.Rad1 Rd8 31.Qf2 a5 32.Qb2 gxh5 33.Bxh5 Kg8 34.Rxd8 Rxd8 35.e6 h6 36.Qe5 Rd5 37.Qb8+ Kg7 38.Qe8 Qxe8 39.Bxe8 Kf8 40.Bc6 Ke7 41.Bxd5 Bxd5 42.Re5 Bc4 43.Kf2 h5 44.g3 a4 45.a3 b4 46.axb4 a3 47.Ra5 a2 48.Ke3 Kxe6 49.Kd4 Bb3 50.Kc5 Kd7 51.Ra7+ Kc8 52.b5 Kb8 53.b6 Bf7 54.Kd6 Kc8 55.Ke5 Bc4 56.Kxf5 Kb8 57.Kf6 1-0

Game 1, July 27
MVL – Karjakin, Sergey
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qe2 Nd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.h3 Be6 11.Rd1 Qc4 12.Rd3 Rd8 13.b3 Qh4 14.Rxd8+ Qxd8 15.Be3 Be7 16.Nc3 O-O 17.Rd1 Qc8 18.f4 Rd8 19.Rf1 g6 20.Ne4 Bf5 21.Bc5 Bxc5+ 22.Nxc5 h5 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.Qxe4 Qf5 25.Qxf5 gxf5 26.Rf3 Rd1+ 27.Kh2 h4 28.Rd3 Rxd3 29.cxd3 c5 30.Kg1 a5 31.Kf2 Kg7 32.Ke3 b6 33.Kf3 c6 34.g3 hxg3 35.Kxg3 Kg6 36.Kf3 Kh5 37.Kg3 Kg6 38.Kf3 Kh5 39.Kg3 1/2-1/2

Game 2, July 27
Karjakin, Sergey – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe2 a6 9.d4 cxd4 10.exd4 b5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Bd3 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 14.g4 Bg6 15.Ne5 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 f6 17.Nf3 Qd7 18.Bf4 Nc6 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Rfe1 Bb4 21.Re2 Ne7 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Kg2 Ng6 24.Bg3 Bd6 25.Qf5 Qxf5 26.gxf5 Nf4+ 27.Bxf4 Bxf4 28.Re6 Rc2 29.Ne1 Rd2 30.Kf3 Rxd4 31.Rxa6 Be5 32.Ra8+ Kf7 33.Ra7+ Kf8 34.Rb7 b4 35.Nc2 Rd2 36.Ne3 Rxb2 37.Nxd5 Rxa2 1/2-1/2

Game 3, July 27
Karjakin, Sergey – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe2 a6 9.d4 b5 10.Bxd5 exd5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Rd1 Be6 13.b3 Nc6 14.Bb2 Rc8 15.Qd2 Ne7 16.Ne2 f6 17.a4 bxa4 18.Rxa4 Qb6 19.Rda1 Bd7 20.Rxa6 Qxb3 21.Ba3 Bxa3 22.R6xa3 Qc2 23.Qxc2 Rxc2 24.Ra7 Rd8 25.Nfd4 Rcc8 26.Nf4 Nc6 27.Nxc6 Bxc6 28.h4 Ra8 29.R1a6 Rxa7 30.Rxa7 Rd6 31.Ne2 Bd7 32.f3 Kf8 33.Kf2 Ke8 34.Ra5 Kf7 35.g4 h6 36.Nd4 Ke7 37.h5 Kf7 38.Kg3 Ke7 39.Kf4 Kf7 40.Rc5 Kg8 41.Ra5 Kf7 42.Ra7 Kf8 43.Rb7 Kg8 44.Rc7 Kf8 45.Ra7 Kg8 46.Rb7 Kf8 47.Ne2 Kg8 48.Kg3 Kf8 49.Nd4 Ke8 50.Ra7 Kf8 51.Kf2 Ke8 52.Ra5 Kf7 53.Ke2 Be6 54.Kd3 Rb6 55.Ra7+ Kf8 56.Kc3 Kg8 57.Re7 Bf7 58.Rc7 Rb8 59.Nf5 Kf8 60.Nd4 Re8 61.Kd2 Ra8 62.Ke2 Ra2+ 63.Ke1 Ra1+ 64.Kf2 Ra2+ 65.Kg3 Ra8 66.Nf5 Rd8 67.f4 Be6 68.Nxg7 Bd7 69.Nf5 Bxf5 70.gxf5 d4 71.exd4 Rxd4 72.Rh7 Rd1 73.Rxh6 Kg7 74.Rg6+ Kf7 75.Kf3 Rf1+ 76.Ke3 Re1+ 77.Kf2 Rh1 78.h6 Rh5 79.Kg3 Rh1 80.Kg2 Rh5 81.Kf3 Rh1 82.Rg7+ Kf8 83.Rh7 Kg8 84.Rg7+ Kf8 85.Ke4 Rxh6 86.Rg6 Rh1 87.Rxf6+ Ke7 88.Ra6 Re1+ 89.Kf3 Rf1+ 90.Kg4 Rg1+ 91.Kh5 Kf7 1/2-1/2

"The French School of Suffering is back!" says Laurent of MVL's difficult ending vs. Karjakin

Game 4, July 27
MVL – Karjakin, Sergey
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 cxd4 6.exd4 Bg4 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Ne5 Bxe2 9.Nxe2 e6 10.c3 Be7 11.h4 h5 12.Nd3 Ne4 13.Ng3 Bxh4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nc5 Be7 16.Rxh5 Rxh5 17.Qxh5 Qd5 18.Qxd5 exd5 19.Nxb7 g5 20.Bd6 Ra7 21.Bxe7 Rxb7 22.Ba3 f5 23.Ke2 Rh7 24.Bc5 f4 25.b4 Rh2 26.a4 Rxg2 27.Kf1 f3 28.b5 e3 29.fxe3 Na5 30.Ba3 Nb3 31.Rd1 axb5 0-1

Round Six starts tomorrow. The interesting news is that Anish Giri will be one of the commentators!

[Wayne Komer]

FIDE World Cup Open Sochi 2021

July 28, 2021

Round Six 1/4 Final

Game One

The commentators are Anish Giri and Sopiko Guramishvili

Results

Bacrot-Carlsen 0-1
Vidit-Duda 0.5-0.5
Tabatabaei-Fedoseev 0.5-0.5
Shankland-Karjakin 1-0

Game 1, July 28
Bacrot, Etienne – Carlsen, Magnus
C88 Ruy Lopez Closed, anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Bd2 Qd7 11.Nc3 Na5 12.Ba2 c5 13.Ne2 Nc6 14.Ng3 d5 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.c3 Rad8 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Bd6 20.Re1 Nf4 21.Bxf4 Bxf4 22.Ne4 Qc7 23.g3 Be5 24.f4 Bd6 25.Qh5 Qc6 26.Qh3 c4 27.d4 Rde8 28.d5 Qxd5 29.Rad1 Rxe4 30.Rxd5 Rxe1+ 31.Kf2 Rfe8 32.Re5 Bxe5 33.Kxe1 Bxc3+ 34.Kf1 Bc8 35.Qg2 Bf5 36.Qd5 Be6 37.Qc5 Bxb2 38.Kg2 Bd7 39.Qd5 Rd8 40.Qc5 Bf6 41.Bb1 g6 42.g4 Bxg4 43.Qxb5 c3 44.f5 g5 0-1

Position after Black’s 38…Bd7



Magnus probably didn't expect to have another insanely complicated position with no time so soon after the tiebreaks yesterday!

35...Rd8!! would have been beautiful from Magnus, but he didn't play it:

Bacrot was so close to getting to move 40 with an equal position and lots of time to think, but instead he slipped and Magnus is completely winning again!

And Magnus beats Etienne Bacrot in Game 1! Another display of how deadly Carlsen is with a pair of bishops at any stage of the game.

Magnus Carlsen takes the lead in the quarterfinal as Etienne Bacrot resigns after an amazing game! Etienne now has to try and win with Black tomorrow

Game 1, July 28
Vidit, Santosh – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
E06 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.Qc2 b6 8.Rd1 Bb7 9.Bf4 Nbd7 10.Ne5 Nh5 11.Bd2 Nhf6 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Nc6 Bxc6 14.Qxc6 Rc8 15.Qa4 Qc7 16.Nc3 Qb7 17.e3 a6 18.Qb3 Rc7 19.Rdc1 b5 20.Ne2 Nb6 21.Rxc7 Qxc7 22.Rc1 Nc4 23.Bb4 Rb8 24.Nf4 Bxb4 25.Qxb4 a5 26.Qe1 Qb6 27.Nd3 b4 28.b3 Nd6 29.Nc5 Rc8 30.Na4 Qd8 31.Bf1 Rxc1 32.Qxc1 g5 33.a3 1/2-1/2

Game 1, July 28
Tabatabaei, M. – Fedoseev, Vladimir
D31 QGD, Charousek variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nge2 Nf6 8.Ng3 Be6 9.Bd3 g6 10.h4 Nbd7 11.h5 Rg8 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.Nge2 Nh5 14.Qc2 Nxf4 15.Nxf4 Nf8 16.O-O-O Bd6 17.Kb1 Qa5 18.a3 O-O-O 19.Na4 Qc7 20.g3 Bg4 21.Rc1 Bf3 22.Rhe1 Nd7 23.b4 Kb8 24.Qb3 Nb6 25.Nc5 Qe7 26.a4 g5 27.Ne2 Rh8 28.Nc3 Rh2 29.Rc2 Nc4 30.e4 Bxc5 31.bxc5 Bxe4 32.Nxe4 1/2-1/2

Game 1, July 28
Shankland, Sam – Karjakin, Sergey
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nd4 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.e3 Bc5 7.Nc3 Qe5 8.d3 exd3 9.Qxd3 Nf6 10.Bg2 O-O 11.O-O Rd8 12.Nf3 Rxd3 13.Nxe5 Rd8 14.b3 Be6 15.Bb2 Na6 16.Rad1 Be7 17.Ne2 Nb4 18.Nd4 Bd5 19.a3 Na6 20.b4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 c5 22.Nf5 Bf8 23.b5 Nc7 24.a4 Nfd5 25.Nc4 g6 26.Nh4 Nb6 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Nxb6 axb6 29.Nf3 Ra8 30.Be5 Ne8 31.Ra1 f6 32.Bc3 Kf7 33.Nd2 Bd6 34.Kf1 Ke6 35.Ke2 h5 36.Kd3 Bc7 37.f4 Nd6 38.e4 f5 39.e5 Nf7 40.Kc4 Ke7 41.Nf1 Nd8 42.Ne3 Ne6 43.a5 bxa5 44.b6 Bd8 45.Rd1 Nd4 46.Nd5+ Kf7 47.Bxd4 cxd4 48.Rxd4 Rc8+ 49.Nc7 Bxc7 50.Rd7+ Ke6 51.Rxc7 Rxc7+ 52.bxc7 Kd7 53.Kb5 Kxc7 54.Kxa5 Kc6 55.Kb4 Kb6 56.Kc4 Kc6 57.Kd4 b5 58.h3 1-0

Position after Black’s 51…Rxc7+



Sam Shankland also looks to be winning! "I don't expect Sergey to hold this, it's way too bad!" (Giri)

"Sam is one of those guys who looks beautiful with or without his beard... He says they say, I look like Tom Cruise's ugly brother!"

Sam Shankland knows he's winning a pawn ending against Sergey Karjakin!

"Sam is so excited! Sam has everything figured out. Sam will say he's really happy with the way he calculated everything... Sam's like in that movie, he knows the ship has come to save him. I'm here, I've been here for too long!"

Sam Shankland wins the first game against Sergey Karjakin, who now needs to hit back tomorrow to force tiebreaks!

[Hans Jung]

Sam Shankland did a brilliant job of outplaying Karjakhin in the endgame! a5 and then b6! Wow - love it.