Humpy Koneru wins and overtakes Ju Wenjun
Humpy Koneru wins her fourth game in a row and takes the lead at Skolkovo Women’s Grand Prix after the previous leader Ju Wenjun is defeated by Kateryna Lagno and drops to the second position. Kateryna Lagno beat the tournament’s leader Ju Wenjun, in their first clash since their World Championship match played last November. The Chinese went for a Petrov’s Defense, in which Lagno managed to surprise her opponent with 20.h4. The critical moment appeared when Ju Wenjun broke up in the center with 23…e5, a dubious move that allowed Lagno to gain the initiative. The weaknesses in Ju Wenjun’s camp made her king very vulnerable and Lagno carried out a mating attack with a firm hand. Humpy Koneru accepted Valentina Gunina’s Blumenfeld Gambit, giving up the right to castle in return. To her credit, Humpy came up with an imaginative plan to activate her trapped kingside rook via h4 and Rh3. The position was very unbalanced but about equal, when Gunina made a blunder with 17…c4, which forced her to sacrifice an exchange. With precise play, Humpy converted the material advantage into a full point and became the new leader of the tournament with 7 points out of 9 games (+5 =4). A very sharp position in the French Defense arose in the Russian derby between the namesakes Alexandra Kosteniuk and Aleksandra Goryachkina. The former World Champion obtained a significant advantage out of the opening, but in the middle game, Kosteniuk allowed her young opponent to get a dangerous counterplay going on the kingside. Goryachkina didn’t let the opportunity slip and won some material, which later on became the decisive factor. With 6 points, she is clear third, just behind the leaders. The encounter between Alina Kashlinskaya and Pia Cramling took a dramatic turn in the very end. The game started with 1.d4 and later transposed into a Hedgehog Sicilian. Cramling achieved a small edge, despite playing with black, and held the initiative for an extended period of time. However, being under time pressure, Pia blundered a piece with 40…Bh4, and resigned two moves later. Harika Dronavalli, from India, and Elisabeth Paethz, from Germany, also went for a hedgehog set up in their game but quickly wrapped it up after a threefold repetition on the move 25. Another draw was agreed in the game between Marie Sebag and Antoaneta Stefanova. Sebag opted the Ruy Lopez Opening but the former World Champion equalized with relative ease and at some point even made her opponent demonstrate some accuracy to reach a safe heaven. Standings after 9 rounds:1. Humpy Koneru – 7; 2. Ju Wenjun – 6.5; 3. Alexandra Goryachkina – 6; 4. Kateryna Lagno – 5.5; 5-7. Valentina Gunina, Elisabeth Paehtz, Harika Dronavalli – 4.5; 8-9. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alina Kashlinskaya – 3.5; 10-11. Marie Sebag, Antoaneta Stefanova – 3; 12. Pia Cramling – 2.5. The tenth round will be played on September 21, 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
World Cup: White dominates in the round of 16
The contest resumed after a day off at the Ugra Chess Academy on September 20. Curiously, all victories of the day were achieved with White. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Peter Svidler. White got a comfortable game in the opening and won a pawn in the middlegame. Approaching the control move, Black, being in a difficult position, sacrificed a piece but did not manage to get any compensation, as Vachier-Lagrave found the most accurate defensive moves. The Russian GM resigned on the 42nd move. Jan-Krzysztof Duda had White against Jeffrey Xiong. Soon after the opening, the Pole captured a poisoned pawn, missing a strong reply from his opponent, and ended up an exchange down. However, in the subsequent play, the American first allowed White to achieve dynamic equality and then tripped up on the 34th move. Duda capitalized on it with an impressive pawn thrust 35.e5, got an overwhelming advantage and won the game. “Obviously, I am playing very good here. So far, I have 100% with White pieces. Usually, I play with White in the first game and then manage a draw or an even better result in the second,” commented Jan-Krzysztof after the game. Nikita Vitiugov outplayed Welsey So in an attractive positional style. The Russian GM was slowly increasing the pressure and ended up with a dangerous passed pawn on b7. Black managed to block the pawn, but it cost him two of his own. So defended tenaciously, but on the 58th move his king got caught into a mating net. Black resigned on the 60th move. In the longest game of the day, Alexander Grischuk defeated Lenier Dominguez. The Russian GM gained the upper hand in a dry ending with rooks and opposite-colored bishops and won a pawn. Black retained good drawing chances after the rooks were exchanged, however, being under the strong time pressure, Dominguez committed a fatal mistake and lost the battle. Four encounters – Le Quang Liem – Aronian, Mamedyarov – Radjabov, Nepomniachtchi – Yu Yangyi, and Ding Liren – Alekseenko – ended peacefully. The return games with the colors reversed will be played on Saturday, September 21. Results: Ding Liren – Alekseenko: 1/2 Duda – Xiong: 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave – Svidler: 1-0 Vitiugov – So: 1-0 Nepomniachtchi – Yu Yangyi: 1/2 Le Quang Liem – Aronian: 1/2 Mamedyarov – Radjabov: 1/2 Grischuk – Dominguez: 1-0 Photos Videos 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.
Presidential Board in Budapest: Key decisions
List of the main decisions taken at the 2019 Third Quarter Presidential Board meeting in Budapest (7-8 September): 1) The joint bid of Shanghai (China) and Vladivostok (Russia) to hold Women’s World Championship match in January of 2020 has been approved. Thanks to the consolidated effort of two cities the guaranteed prize fund of the match reached €500,000 (2.5 times as much comparing to the previous classical World Championship match in the spring of 2018). The match will be played in both participants’ native countries, thus ensuring full equality for the opponents. 2) The bid of Yekaterinburg (Russia) to hold FIDE Candidates Tournament in the spring of 2020 has been approved. Yekaterinburg is known for its long chess traditions – it is sufficient to recall that in 2006 the city hosted the knockout Women’s World Championship; the local team has won the European Chess Club Cup. FIDE expects the highest level of organization of the upcoming event. 3) The deadline for submission of bids to hold the World Championship match has been extended to November 1, 2019. We reaffirm that several potential organizers are showing strong interest to host the match, although for some operational reasons the formal bids are yet to be submitted. We are confident that the extended period of bids submission will help up us to provide the best conditions for the participants of the upcoming match. FIDE is aiming to take the match to an entirely new level – both in terms of its organization and global visibility, as well as from a financial standpoint. 4) The Presidential Board has adopted new revolutionary rules for the FIDE World Cup 2021. Under the new rules, the number of participants will be substantially increased from 128 to 206 players which will make the event more representative and enhance overall interest to chess. Dozens of federations will get a chance to nominate their best players – and that is for the first time in history. All extra expenses will be covered by FIDE. 5) After considering the suggestions to reduce fees, FIDE Presidential Board recommended submitting for approval by General Assembly a substantial reduction in fees, including: 40% reduction on youth competitions fees; waiving all veteran fees; waiving all fees for the developing countries (levels 4-5); 50% reduction for level 3 countries; a quota for additional 30% tournaments to be rated for free (countries level 1-2). We consider such a substantial reduction as the fulfillment of the obligations we had committed to during the electoral campaign. 6) The Presidential Board essentially approved the draft of a new FIDE Charter developed by the Task Force and requested to finalize it by incorporating the comments made at the meeting. This project is aimed to improve FIDE’s functioning in the current context given all the modern managerial challenges. Needless to say that FIDE is open to all constructive suggestions and comments from National Federations, which keep coming. 7) To implement FIDE’s fee reduction and to adopt new FIDE Charter as soon as possible, the Presidential Board decided to hold an unscheduled FIDE Assembly later this year. All the related materials will be published in strict conformity to the Statutes, no later than a month before the start of the Assembly. Official documents: List of Q3 2019 Presidential Board Decisions FIDE Resolution on Financial Regulations
2019 3rd quarter FIDE Presidential Board: List of Decisions
LIST OF Q3 2019 PRESIDENTIAL BOARD DECISIONS Q3PB-2019/01 To call an Extraordinary GA and Executive Board in the second half of December 2019. Q3PB-2019/02 To encourage the CCA and NCF to propose a longer term (up to three years) development plan within their jurisdictions. Q3PB-2019/03 To approve a motion of non-disclosure related to the 2014-2018 Forensic Audit. Q3PB-2019/04 To approve the bid of Yekaterinburg (RUS) to organize the 2020 Candidates’ Tournament. Q3PB-2019/05 To extend a bid deadline for the 2020 World Chess Championship Match until November 1, 2019. Q3PB-2019/06 To approve a split venue – Shanghai (China) and Vladivostok (Russia) – for the 2020 Women World Championship Match. The event will be organized in January 2020. Q3PB-2019/07 To confirm а filing of a report to the Ethics Commission in a so-called Morgunov case on behalf of the Board. To investigate ethical incidents reported by the President and to confirm the authority of the FIDE President to sign all necessary documents in this regard on behalf of the Board, including the subsequent filing of a report to the Ethics Commission. Q3PB-2019/08 To consider a ban on smoking in FIDE tournaments. Q3PB-2019/9 To approve holding consultations with EXPO 2020 organizers in Dubai regarding hosting one of the FIDE events at EXPO facilities. Q3PB-2019/10 The Board approved the regulations of the World Cup 2021, conditional on the confirmation of the Belarus Government for the proposed changes, regarding final dates and length of the event. Q3PB-2019/11 To approve the Euro as the main currency for the FIDE tournaments from 2022. Q3PB-2019/12 To instruct the Task Group headed by the FIDE Constitutional Commission Chairman Mr. Roberto Rivello to summarize and consider all the suggested amendments by the end of October 2019. Q3PB-2019/13 To approve a resolution on fee reduction that builds upon the Q2PB decision taken in Baku. Q3PB-2019/14 To approve the federation name change from FYROM to North Macedonia. Q3PB-2019/15 To ask the Constitutional Commission to review the membership status of Netherlands Antilles. Q3PB-2019/16 To continue monitoring the situation in the Ivory Coast CF until the local elections are over. Q3PB-2019/17 To approve an agreement with SILA International Lawyers. Q3PB-2019/18 To study further a possibility of organizing the World Club Cup. Q3PB-2019/19 To approve the following members of the panel for the Gligoric Fair Play Award, as proposed by its Chairman Mahir Mamedov: GM Judith Polgar and GM Eugenio Torre. Q3PB-2019/20 To approve new QC titles. Q3PB-2019/21 To note that a work of Arbiters’ Commission, Rules Commission and Technical Commission requires a serious improvement. To acknowledge that a report of the Technical Commission was poorly structured and a report of the Rules Commission did not contain proposals on a number of topical issues. To call upon all Commission Chairmen to present their reports and annexes in a clear way. Q3PB-2019/22 To approve new ARB titles. Q3PB-2019/23 To draw the ARB Chairman’s attention to such crucial areas as arbiter training, retraining, recertification and nomination. Q3PB-2019/24 To demand the ARB Chairman to produce by October 01, 2019 pools of arbiters to assist GSC in choosing arbiters for FIDE major events scheduled for the next few months based on evaluation criteria reported on Board meeting. Q3PB-2019/25 To demand the Arbiters’ Commission to establish a comprehensive system of arbiter retraining and recertification based on successful initiatives already tested by continents and national federations. Q3PB-2019/26 To organize training events in all continents and large FIDE zones in order to guarantee high quality of arbiters that will serve in the 2020 and the 2022 Olympiads. Q3PB-2019/27 To approve new TRG titles. To invite eligible voters to cast their votes for nominees for five FIDE Trainer Awards 2018. Q3PB-2019/28 To approve new EVE titles. Q3PB-2019/29 To acknowledge qualified bids for the 2021 World Amateur 2021, World Seniors and 2021 World Senior Team Championships from Russia, Germany, Malta and Italy. To instruct EVE to follow up with the regular inspection process. Q3PB-2019/30 To approve a request from the Medical Commission concerning details of emergency medical response protocols (including personnel). Q3PB-2019/31 To ask the GDPR Committee to report on the actions necessary in order to ensure FIDE compliance with the GDPR. Q3PB-2019/32 To delay any decision on Grenada membership until more information on the setup of the federation is provided. Q3PB-2019/33 To approve new Legal Regulations concerning the FIDE Moscow office. Q3PB-2019/34 To not approve the proposals of the Fair Play Commission that sought to establish a new, parallel, system of titles for Anti-Cheating Officers, Lecturers and Experts. Q3PB-2019/35 To acknowledge that the Czech Chess Federation expelled Mr. Igors Rausis. To remove Mr. Rausis’s affiliation from the FIDE rating list once the Czech Chess Federation submits all documents that were pertinent to its decision. Q3PB-2019/36 To approve in principle the regulations for the 2024 Olympiad. After minor adjustments are made, to open a bidding procedure in October 2019.
WGP: Ju Wenjun wins again, Humpy Koneru stays in the race
After the 8th round, the first leg of the Women’s Grand Prix in Skolkovo is starting to feel like a two women race: both Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru won, and they are 1½ and 1 point ahead of the rest of the field respectively. The clash between the current World Champion Ju Wenjun and the former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk was won by the Chinese player. Ju came out of the Catalan opening with a slight advantage and improved her position with caution. When given a chance to take the game to a rook endgame with a better pawn structure, she went for it without hesitation. The Ju Wenjun demonstrated excellent technique, getting a passed pawn and avoiding any counterplay from her opponent. She achieved her third victory in a row, raising her score to 6½ out of 8 games. Humpy Koneru also won her game, with black pieces, inflicting Elisabeth Paehtz her first defeat in this tournament. Humpy once again played the Petroff Defence, and after an inaccuracy by Paehtz, she got a better endgame and converted her advantage into a full point. With this victory, the Indian record holder manages to keep the pace with the tournament leader, and will probably maintain the excitement until the last moment, since she will play Ju Wenjun in the last round. The third one in the standings is Aleksandra Goryachkina, with 5 out of 8, a full point behind Koneru and 1½ behind Ju. Goryachkina went for a standard Variation of the King’s Indian Defense against Alina Kashlinskaya. The position was double-edged: Kashlinskaya launched a pawn attack on the kingside; however, Goryachkina came up with an effective way to gain space advantage on the other side. The opponents settle for a draw after a threefold repetition on the move 40. Two players, namely Valentina Gunina and Pia Cramling managed to put themselves together and come back after having suffered several defeats in a row. Gunina, who had capitulated in seventh and eighth rounds, played Bishop’s Opening with white pieces against Kateryna Lagno. The game came down to a rook endgame in which White had an extra pawn, but with accurate play, it should have probably been a draw. However, Lagno made some dubious moves by her rook and found herself in a losing position. It took Pia Cramling 50 moves to take down Marie Sebag. The French Grandmaster played Slav Defence with black pieces but somehow allowed Pia Cramling to grasp the initiative. This time around, the Swedish legend displayed her proverbial excellent technique and converted her advantage into a flawless victory. The Ragozin was played in the game between former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova and Harika Dronavalli. Stefanova started a kingside attack with g4 but Harika countered this aggression by opening up the center and targeting white’s king on e1. However, Stefanova found a rook sacrifice that allowed her to seal the draw with a perpetual check. Standings after 8 rounds:1. Ju Wenjun – 6.5; 2. Humpy Koneru – 6; 3. Alexandra Goryachkina – 5; 4-5. Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina – 4.5; 6-7. Elisabeth Paehtz, Harika Dronavalli – 4; 8. Alexandra Kosteniuk – 3.5 9-12. Marie Sebag, Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya, Pia Cramling – 2.5. The 9th round games will be played on September 20, 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
First Saturday September event Budapest: 3 IM norms
FIDE Vice president Adeyemi Olalekan visited the event Another monthly tournament festival First Saturday is completed in Hotel Berlin in Budapest, Hungary. The organizers of the event Nagy László and his wife Mrs.Nagy Ilona Borbély see their mission in providing alternatives for achieving GM, IM, WGM, WIM norms as well as getting or improving FIDE-ratings. To that end, they hold small tournament festivals monthly that usually attract 40-80 players representing 10-15 national federations. This time around the participants competed in GM and IM groups won by Song Raymond from Taiwan and Robert Stein from Germany respectively. All in all, three norms were completed at First Saturday by FM Robert Stein from Germany (his first IM norm), the Indian WCM Isha Sharma (her fourth WIM norm) and WFM from Israel Michal Lashav (her fourth WIM norm). Official site: www.firstsaturday.hu
Welcome to the new FIDE.com!
Dear members of the chess family, On behalf of FIDE, I am pleased to welcome you to our new website, which is now live and functional. Since my appointment almost one year ago, we have done a great effort to renew this organization and its spirit. Many areas, and FIDE’s structure itself, have been rebuilt from scratch. Some of those changes, although deep, are not always obvious from the outside. Others, like reactivating our social media channels or launching a new website, are much more visible for anyone. The latter was long due as we always have to adapt to the new technologies. Now, the new site will look much better on devices such as smartphones and tablets. We have tried to keep intact the main assets of the “old” website, like the players’ database and rating list, just improving the way they look and navigation tools as well. And we are planning to revamp the tournament’s calendar, turning it into one of the most important sections on our web. An important novelty will be our blog. On a regular basis a member of our team – management, secretariat, representatives of the commissions or members of the Presidential Board – will be given this space to share with the chess community our ideas, projects, and dreams. Of course, like most internet projects, this is a work in progress. This is just a beta version, and new functional elements will be added in the forthcoming months. Corrections will be needed; suggestions are always welcome. The whole purpose of a website is to establish a line of communication between an institution and its members, and we want this communication to go both ways. You can reach our team at website@fide.com; help us to make this a better website for us all. Arkady Dvorkovich – FIDE President
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
World Cup: Eight players advanced to Round 4
The return games of round 3 of the FIDE World Cup were played on September 17. None of the players who had lost in the first game managed to level the score today. The tournament’s sensation Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) defeated the higher-rated Pentala Harikrishna (India) for the second time in a row. The Indian GM sacrificed the knight for two black central paws transposing into an unbalanced position that suited his aggressive agenda very well. However, in the ensuing complications, Kirill was up to the challenge. The Russian GM timely sacrificed an exchange and got excellent compensation in the form of two bishops and the advanced pawn on c3. One inaccuracy from Pentala shortly thereafter was enough to dash his hopes to advance into the next round. Alexander Grischuk (Russia) also won both games against Xu Xiangyu (China). In their second encounter, he obtained a very comfortable position with substantial space advantage and gradually strangulated his opponent. Levon Aronian scored a very important victory over Maxim Matlakov that paved his way into the fourth round. As the Armenian GM pointed out in his post-game interview, Maxim committed a blunder with 17.Nh5, most likely missing that after 18.d5 Nb8 19.Rxe5 Nd7 Black’s knight quickly comes back into play. Out of many ways to improve his position Aronian took the most practical and safest approach which eventually yielded dividends. All other games were drawn but for Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Nikita Vitiugov (Russia), Welsey So (USA), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) who had won their first encounters these draws were equal to a victory. Probably Vitiugov’s task out of these five was the most difficult one as he faced his higher-rated compatriot Sergey Karjakin with black pieces. To Nikita’s credit, he reached the desired outcome in a sharp tactical skirmish on the kingside forcing a perpetual check. As a side note, So, Duda, Mamedyarov, and Aronian haven’t yet played a single tiebreak at this World Cup. Since a winner was not determined in the matches Yu Yangyi – Wei Yi, Ding Liren – Firouzja, Svidler – Nisipeanu, Nepomniachtchi – Tomashevsky, Artemiev – Le Quang Liem, Vachier – Lagrave-Jakovenko, Wang Hao – Dominguez, and Giri – Xiong, the opponents will sort things out in a tiebreak on September 18. Tiebreak pairings Video 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.