Welcome to Sportstar highlights of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023, played in Baku, Azerbaijan. Four Indians - Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh were in action for their second-set match of the quarterfinals.
GUKESH vs CARLSEN LIVE MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
After 1. d4Nf62. Nf3d53. Bf4 both players have gone for London system.
ARJUN vs PRAGGNANANDHAA LIVE MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
Arjun starts with e4 and Praggnanandhaa responds with c5 and we are going for a Sicilian defence. With c3 Nf6 and e5, it is a traditional Alapin Sicilian defence.
VIDIT vs ABASOV LIVE MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
Abasov starts the game with the queen’s pawn opening 1. d4 and after Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 and 3. Bf4 the game transposed to an accelerated London system.
DOMINGUEZ PEREZ vs FABIANO CARUANA LIVE MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
FIDE CHESS WORLD CUP QUARTERFINAL ROUND 6.2 REPORT
Fabiano Caruana beat his countryman Dominguez Leinier Perez to reach the semifinal, where he’ll face the winner of the Arjun vs. Praggnanandhaa match.
Carlsen confirms that he won’t play the Candidates 2024 tournament!
D Gukesh drew with Magnus Carlsen. | Photo Credit: FIDE Chess/Youtube
Gukesh drew against Carlsen in a hard-fought game, which means India no. 1 has been eliminated from the tournament, and Magnus goes through the semifinal where he’ll face Nijat Abasov!
Praggnanandhaa is threatening to win the connected pawns in g and h file after trading dark-squared bishop on c7, which will put him closer to the win.
Even though Gukesh has an extra pawn. However, the position makes it quite difficult to convert the game from here. Magnus is primed to hold this game and move to semifinal.
Same coloured bishop and rook on the board, and Praggnanandhaa is objectively much better and expected to struck-back to force a tiebreak.
Praggnanandhaa grinds his way out against compatriot Arjun and is in a much better position after 40 minutes. Both players will get an additional 30 minutes each so Pragg will have an ample amount of time to find deeper lines in the endgame to convert this must-win game.
Vidit let Abasov checkmate him and this marks the end of his campaign in the tournament. A brilliant run ended by local hero Abasov who becomes the first player to confirm a semifinal berth.
Vidit and Abasov after the game. | Photo Credit: Chess.com
Vidit Gujrathi vs Nijat Abasov Match Report
It is only a matter of time before Abasov confirms his spot in the semifinal. He is a full piece and a pawn up with an active queen and a save king. Vidit has no chance for any comeback here.
Praggnanandhaa has made some serious progress and now has a slight advantage in the position, with his king eyeing the centre of the board. He’ll try to squeeze it from here in a must-win situation.
Vidit is in a completely lost position against Abasov, and the local hero is grinding his way to get a semifinal spot and possibly a Candidate’s ticket!
Is giantslayer Abasov reaching the semifinal or can Vidit turn around under severe time pressure?
The time gap continues to increase and Vidit meanwhile traded both rooks from the board. A slight positional imbalance is working in the favour of Abasov at the moment.
Arjun and Pragg trade knight and light-squared bishop, and now the rooks are on offer with an important b2 pawn hanging for white but a c6 pawn is on offer for white (Arjun) here.
Vidit is under huge time pressure as he only has 24 minutes on the clock in comparison to Abasov’s 59 minutes and will have to move 19 more moves before getting 30 extra minutes after the 40th move.
Abasov’s queen to d2 is an inaccuracy, and after Vidit moved the queen to c7 and the knight to c5, the position looked more equalised according to the engine. However, it is still Abasov who is pushing from white.
Position after bishop to c5.
Magnus winning fifth game in row?
Gukesh took almost 14 minutes to play bishop to d8, and after a3, he retreated his queen back to the eighth rank and the bar still favours Magnus in this position.
Vidit under some trouble after Abasov manages to get the better of Indian in the opening.
Tournament Table
Stage 1 result
D. Gukesh 0.0-0.5 Magnus Carlsen
Vidit Gujrathi 0.5-0.5 Nijat Abasov
Arjun 1.0-0.0 Praggnanandhaa
Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5 Leinier Domínguez Perez
Quarterfinal stage 1 report
Arjun Erigaisi played bravely and executed his plan brilliantly to overpower R. Praggnanandhaa in 53 moves in the first game of their clash in the FIDE World Cup quarterfinals in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
A little earlier, Magnus Carlsen recorded his fourth successive victory in classical time-format by punishing D. Gukesh for an error of judgement.
Vidit Gujrathi held a small advantage during the first half of his game against local hope Nijat Abasov but could not enlarge it enough. The game eventually ended in a marathon 109–move draw.
The all-American encounter too unfolded similarly, where Leinier Dominguez Perez tossed away a massive advantage and let World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana escape with a 71-move draw.
Arjun Erigaisi played bravely and executed his plan brilliantly to overpower R. Praggnanandhaa in 53 moves in the first game of their clash in the FIDE World Cup quarterfinals in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
A little earlier, Magnus Carlsen recorded his fourth successive victory in classical time-format by punishing D. Gukesh for an error of judgement.
Vidit Gujrathi held a small advantage during the first half of his game against local hope Nijat Abasov but could not enlarge it enough. The game eventually ended in a marathon 109–move draw.
The all-American encounter too unfolded similarly, where Leinier Dominguez Perez tossed away a massive advantage and let World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana escape with a 71-move draw.
CHECK OUT THE FULL REPORT HERE - READ
- Rakesh Rao
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