World Cup: Round of 16 starts on Friday
The Round 3 tiebreaks were played on September 18. Three matches were decided in rapid games. Peter Svidler (Russia) proved his strength by stopping Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Germany). In the first game, the Russian GM had no particular problems equalizing with black, whereas in the second encounter he seamlessly carried out a pawn-roller on the queenside. “I can’t say that this World Cup goes that smooth for me, but I am still participating in it, which can’t be considered anything but positive,” commented Svidler, who won this competition in 2011 and was very close to the second title in 2015. Ding Liren (China) won both games against Alireza Firouzja (Iran). First, the Chinese GM demonstrated an excellent technique in a drawish rook endgame, and then refuted Alireza’s attempts to get something going in a clinical fashion. Yu Yangyi (China) beat his compatriot Wei Yi. Other matches took more time. The 18-year-old American Jeffrey Xiong sensationally defeated the second seed player of the tournament, Anish Giri (Netherlands). The match was a very exciting affair, with Xiong narrowly escaping on a couple of occasions. Finally, after several fighting draws Jeffrey won the second 10-minute game and the match. The young American was very humble after his triumph: “In the final game, I was also lucky because my position out of the opening was probably dubious. But was able to find a couple of tricks, he blundered something and that was it.” Vladislav Artemiev (Russia) lost the first 10-minute game to Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) and was unable to come back in the second one. The Vietnamese grandmaster advances to the fourth round. The last three qualifiers were determined in blitz. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia) exchanged blows in rapid games, then made two draws in 10-minute games, but in blitz the Frenchman was superior. In the Russian closely contested derby, Ian Nepomniachtchi won the first 10-minute game, but Evgeny Tomashevsky, the reigning Russian champion, managed to level the score in the second one. In blitz, however, Nepomniachtchi had a clear edge and won both encounters. The match between Wang Hao (China) and Lenier Dominguez (USA) was a close-fought battle: each player made a comeback after losing a starting game, first in rapid, then in 10-minute chess. However, in blitz it was all Dominguez who made it to the next round. September 19 is a rest day. Fourth Round starts on September 20. Pairings of Round 4: Ding Liren – Alekseenko Duda – Xiong Vachier-Lagrave – Svidler Vitiugov – So Nepomniachtchi – Yu Yangyi Le Quang Liem – Aronian Mamedyarov – Radjabov Grischuk – Dominguez The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. Official website: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/ General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC.Official airline – Utair.Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft.FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”.General media partner – News Agency TASS.Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRC “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru News of Ugra regional newspaper, AIF-Ugra newspaper.
WGP: Feisty Round 7, Ju Wenjun keeps the lead
The leader of the tournament Ju Wenjun (2576) scored an important victory in the 7th round, with the Black pieces, against Valentina Gunina (2502). In a Neo-Catalan Defense, the World Champion solved the problem of c8 bishop in the early stage of the opening, managed to demolish white’s center with the well-known c5 idea, and soon achieved equality. Black took control of the central open columns and that allowed her, first to gain a pawn, and then to launch a decisive attack against Gunina’s king. Humpy Koneru defeated Antoaneta Stefanova in Gruenfeld Exchange Variation. The Indian Grandmaster came out from the opening with a slight advantage, and little by little she improved her position. Stefanova decided to sacrifice an exchange in order to create some counterplay, but this left her king very exposed. As a result, the former World Champion got trapped in a mating net later on. With this win, Humpy jumps to the clear second position; she is just half-point behind the leader Ju Wenjun. The sharp Kmoch Variation of Nimzo Indian Defense was played in the game between the Russian duel of Alina Kashlinskaya and Alexandra Kosteniuk. In a double-edged position, Kashlinskaya sacrificed an exchange to get rid of one of Kosteniuk’s knights, which had penetrated her position. It was probably the right decision in order to play for a win, but a few moves later, 38.Bd4 instead of 38.Nd4 turned the tables and allowed Kosteniuk to launch a decisive counterattack. It was a good day for the Indian players since Harika Dronavalli also won against Pia Cramling in 70 moves. The former world number one female player lost many tempi with her queen, while her king was still placed in the center. Harika rapidly opened the position and went for a typical set up with an isolated central pawn, but in which she had control of the open columns and diagonals. Cramling followed the textbook and blocked the pawn with her knight; she then managed exchange rooks and kept bishop and knight against Harika’s pair of bishops. The position equalized, but then Pia became ambitious and decided to break through with 58…f5, an advance that got her in trouble. She lost a pawn, and Harika quickly took the opportunity and grabbed the whole point, inflicting the third consecutive defeat to the Swedish legend. The World Champion Challenger, Aleksandra Goryanchkina, chose Fianchetto Defense against Marie Sebag’s Ruy Lopez. Sebag obtained a slightly better position out of the opening, forcing Goryachkina to play with precision. The game came down to an equal endgame, and the players shook hands on the move 41, adding half a point to their scores. The clash between Elisabeth Paethz and Kateryna Lagno turned out to be the shortest game of the event. A very sharp variation of Tarrasch Defence arose on the board, but both players seemed to be following their preparation, maybe all the way up to the final position. The game ended in a perpetual check, in just 25 moves. Standings after 7 rounds:1. Ju Wenjun – 5.5; 2. Humpy Koneru – 5; 3-4. Alexandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno – 4.5; 5. Elisabeth Paehtz – 4 6-8. Valentina Gunina, Harika Dronavalli, Alexandra Kosteniuk – 3.5 9. Marie Sebag – 2.5; 10-11. Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya – 2; 12. Pia Cramling – 1.5. The eighth-round will be played on September 19, at 3 pm local time (GMT +3). Spectators can follow the games with English and Russian commentaries: www.youtube.com/fidechannel Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.com