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.
WGP: Ju Wenjun surges ahead of the field
The game between Ju Wenjun (2576) Alina Kashlinskaya (2487) was a French Winawer with 7. Qg4 Kf8. The World Champion wasted no time on launching the attack on the kingside, a standard plan in this variation. Alina looked for counterplay on the queenside, grabbed two pawns, and tried to create some threats, but in the end, she had to sacrifice her queen for minor pieces. It was an ingenious try, but the main problem for the Russian player was the position of the h8-rook was trapped at the initial position for most of the game. When this heavy piece finally came into play when it was already too late. Ju Wenjun carried out the attack with precision and scored a full point that takes her to the top of the table. Valentina Gunina (2502) drops from the co-leadership, after losing to Elisabeth Paethz (2479). Gunina run into Paehtz’s home preparation in the Two Knights Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense, where the German IM sacrificed a pawn on move 11 in order to open lines. When time pressure started creeping on Valentina, Elizabeth added more fuel to the fire with an exchange sacrifice that, even if not completely correct according to the engines, it was a great practical decision. Just when frustration was starting to build up for her, Paethz finally got her first victory in the tournament to reach a plus score (3½/6). Quietly, the World Championship Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina (2564) climbed to the second position in the standings, thanks to her victory over Harika Dronavalli (2503). In one of the most exciting games of the round, the Indian GM met the Saemisch Attack in the King’s Indian Defense with an aggressive play on the kingside. Goryachkina reacted opening up the center right on time, and managed to bring a pawn to the seventh rank that gave her a decisive advantage. Pia Cramling (2487) tried to avoid the main lines in the Catalan Defence against Indian top seed Koneru Humpy (2560), but the position transposed into a reverse Benoni Defense, where Black was able to increase the positional edge gradually. In order to keep the material balance, Pia was forced to concede the e-file and that, along with an exposed king, became a decisive factor. The Swedish legend had to resign on move 40. Kateryna Lagno (2545) played the Gruenfeld defense against Antoaneta Stefanova (2491). White came out from the opening with the upper hand, but from then on, Stefanova was outplayed by Lagno, especially in the transition to the endgame. The Russian player took the whole point and is still unbeaten in the tournament. The only draw of this feisty round happened in the game between Alexandra Kosteniuk (2495) and Marie Sebag (2450). Kosteniuk achieved a slightly better position in the Neo-Gruenfeld Defense, and with precise play, she could have gotten a nice edge. But after a couple of inaccuracies from her part, the position went into a drawish rook endgame in which the opponents agreed to a draw on the move 30. Standings after 6 rounds:1. Ju Wenjun – 4.5; 2. Alexandra Goryachkina – 4; 3-5. Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno, Elisabeth Paethz – 3.5; 6. Valentina Gunina – 3; 7-8. Harika Dronavalli, Alexandra Kosteniuk – 2.5; 9-11. Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya, Marie Sebag – 2; 12. Pia Cramling – 1.5. Today, September 17th, is a rest day. The seventh-round games will be played on September 18, 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: Round 3 kicks off in Khanty-Mansiysk
The starting games of the Round 3 of FIDE World Cup were played in the Ugra Chess Academy on September 16. Seven encounters ended with a victory for one side. The biggest upset of the day was Kirill Alekseenko’s (Russia) beating the higher-rated Pentala Harikrishna (India). The Russian GM broke through on the queenside and despite Black’s counterplay in the center infiltrated with his rooks into the opponent’s camp and took total control over the position. Alexander Grischuk (Russia) defeated Xu Xiangyu (China) demonstrating superior calculation of variations in a very complicated position. It should be noted though, that after 24…Be7? he could have found himself on the brink of defeat. Alexander confessed that in the variation 25. Rxh7+ Bxh7 26. Nxh7 Qxh7 he completely missed 27.Qe4! with a decisive advantage for White. Luckily for the Russian GM, the Chinese player opted for 25. Qc6? which left him high and dry. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) obtained a very comfortable position in his encounter with Daniil Yuffa (Russia) and despite an early queen exchange shattered Black’s defense combining the threats on both wings. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) bested his compatriot Eltaj Safarli although the capitulation of the latter in the final position looks premature. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) was very close to equality in his game with Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) but several inaccuracies snowballed into a disaster in a four-rook endgame. Nikita Vitiugov (Russia) won one of the most important games in his chess career, beating Sergey Karjakin (Russia). “Sergey was defeating solidly, and after the time control, it seemed to me that the biggest part of my advantage has disappeared,” said Nikita in a post-game interview. “However, Black’s problems were bigger than they seemed at first sight. I am not sure about his decision to take a pawn on b3, maybe he could just stay. After the capture, it is sad for Black.” If Vitiugov makes a draw in the second game of the match against Karjakin, he will at least repeat his best result at the World Cups so far (Round 4 in 2009). Welsey So (USA) “squeezed water from a stone” winning a drawish rook endgame against Santosh Vidit (India). Other games – Tomashevsky – Nepomniachtchi, Jakovenko – Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren – Firouzja, Aronian – Matlakov, Dominguez – Wang Hao, Yu Yangyi – Wei Yi, Le Quang Liem – Artemiev, Giri – Xiong, and Nisipeanu – Svidler – ended peacefully. The second games of the third round with the colors reversed will be played on Tuesday, September 17. 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.
WGP: Ju Wenjun and Gunina still in the forefront
The first game to come to an end was the clash between Elisabeth Paethz (2479) and the tournament co-leader Ju Wenjun (2576). The World Champion went for a Petrov defense, and some early exchanges quickly lead to a dull position, in which the players found no better option than a threefold repetition on move 23. The German IM seemed to be particularly unsatisfied with the outcome of the game (her fifth consecutive draw in the tournament), while Ju Wenjun took it as a good result: the top-seeded is playing quite solid, avoiding unnecessary risks. A much more dramatic turn took the game of the other co-leader, Valentina Gunina (2502), against the former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova (2491). The Russian Grandmaster went wrong in the opening and soon found herself under the fire of heavy artillery. Her King was cornered in the open h-file, and it looked like if she was about to get checkmated in spectacular fashion. In a hopeless situation, Gunina found the most aggressive ways to complicate the position. Stefanova started to consume lots of time in her moves, so much so that this was the last game to finish. Thanks to her opponent’s time trouble, Gunina found a way to save the game with a perpetual check being a rook down. By adding half-point to her tally Valentina managed to keep pace with Ju Wenjun (each has 3,5 points). The only decisive game of the round five was the victory of Kateryna Lagno (2545) over Pia Cramling (2487). In Rauzer Variation of Sicilian Defense pieces were quickly traded, and the position came down to an endgame with one rook and knight per side. Lagno had a majority of pawns on the queenside, but it looked completely equal until Cramling blundered with 36…Nc6. A simple tactic left Kateryna with two connected passed pawns, that eventually costed Pia her knight, and the game. Indian number one female player Humpy Koneru (2560) made a short draw with the World Championship Challenger, and this Women’s Grand Prix youngest participant, Aleksandra Goryachkina (2564). In one the lines of Slav Defense with symmetrical pawn structure the rooks were quickly traded in the open c-file, and a draw was agreed on move 27. Harika Dronavalli (2503) achieved a significant advantage in a Scotch Game against former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk (2495). Harika tried to convert the positional edge into a material advantage, but Kosteniuk’s energetic counterplay forced a massive piece exchange. Players agreed on a draw with only rooks, opposite color bishops, and three pawns each on the kingside. The Classical Variation of the Petrov Defense was played between Marie Sebag (2450) and Alina Kashlinskaya (2487). Both opponents chose a risk-free approach, and the game ended with a draw on move 27. The sixth-round games will be played on September 16, at 3 pm local time (GMT +3). Standings after 5 rounds:1-2. Ju Wenjun and Valentina Gunina – 3.5; 3-5. Alexandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno – 3; 6-7. Elisabeth Paethz, Harika Dronavalli – 2.5; 8-10. Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya and Alexandra Kosteniuk – 2; 11-12. Marie Sebag, Pia Cramling – 1.5. Spectators can follow the games with English and Russian commentaries: www.youtube.com/fidechannel Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.com
World Cup: Second round is over
Fifteen tie-breaks were played on September 15 in the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. The overwhelming majority of matches ended after rapid 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) downed Boris Gelfand (Israel), Peter Svidler (Russia) knocked out his compatriot Andrey Esipenko, Alexander Grischuk (Russia) vanquished 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) threw in the towel in his match with Wei Yi (China). Giri – Najer and McShane – Yuffa matches were much closer affairs. Luke McShane (England) and Daniil Yuffa (Russia) exchanged blows first in rapid chess and then in 10+10 games. In blitz, however, the Russian won both encounters and advanced to the third round. One should note that in both starting rounds Daniil Yuffa was a big underdog (based on the ratings), and his performance is nothing short of sensational. Equally commendable are achievements of Safarli and Xiangyu Xu who along with Yuffa became the only players outside of top-100 in FIDE rating list to qualify for the third round. 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 worked a miracle coming back in the second game with black pieces and brought the match into an Armageddon. In the sudden death game Anish Giri got the black pieces, won outright and advanced to the third round of the World Cup. The first games of the third round will be played on September 16. Round 3 pairings 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.