Abdusattorov beats Tabatabaei and Pranav
The knockout stage of the Freestyle Chess World Championship Play-In decided the final participant for the main event in Weissenhaus and ended with Nodirbek Abdusattorov emerging as the overall winner. By winning the knockout, Abdusattorov claimed the last available qualification place for the championship in February.
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The knockout brought together the four players who had advanced from the Swiss stage. All matches were played with a time control of 15 minutes for the game plus 3 seconds per move. Each match consisted of two games, with an Armageddon tiebreak scheduled only if the score was level. As in the Swiss, every game (and not every match) began from a newly drawn starting position – i.e. in a single match, the same contenders received different positions with each colour.
In the semifinals, Abdusattorov was paired against Amin Tabatabaei. The match was settled within the two scheduled games. Abdusattorov first drew with black and then won with white to take the match 1½–½. The second semifinal saw Pranav Venkatesh face Grigoriy Oparin. Pranav won the match by the same 1½–½ score, also winning with white and avoiding the need for a tiebreak.
The final between Abdusattorov and Pranav proved one-sided. Abdusattorov won both games to record a 2–0 victory and complete an unbeaten run through the knockout stage. Across his two matches, he collected three wins and one draw, showing consistent control throughout.
On the other hand, an Armageddon decider was required in the match for third place. After the regular games ended level, Tabatabaei and Oparin proceeded to a decisive game, where Tabatabaei held the black pieces and successfully defended his position to hold an 87-move draw and thus secure third place (there was no difference in prize money for places third and fourth, though).
Following the event, Abdusattorov remarked that the most demanding part of the Play-In had been qualifying for the knockout rather than the knockout itself. With the online qualifier concluded, he now joins the field for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, scheduled for 13–15 February.
Semifinals
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The starting positions
Both semifinals followed the same pattern. The eventual winner of each match first comfortably held a draw with black and then scored a win with white. Abdusattorov was the one closest to score with black, in fact, as he got an extra pawn in a major-piece endgame in the first encounter against Tabatabaei.
While the Pranav v. Oparin game saw the Indian GM outplaying his opponent in a four-rook endgame, the Abdusattorov v. Tabatabaei clash turned out to be more of a tactical struggle.
Abdusattorov got a clear advantage after playing the strong 15.Nxe7+, temporarily giving up a knight to create mating threats on the dark-squared long diagonal. The Uzbek GM found a few more tactical tricks to convert his advantage into a win. For example, his 34.Qxd5+ was the most straightforward path to victory in the following position.
34.Qxd5+ Rxd5 35.c7 Rxg2+, setting up a trap, 36.Kxg2 h3+
But Abdusattorov does not fall for it – 37.Kxh3 fails to 37…Qxf3+ 38.Kh2 Rd2+, with checkmate upcoming. Instead, there followed 37.Kg3 Qd6+ 38.f4 gxf4+ 39.Kf3
Tabatabaei resigned. Again, capturing the pawn with 39.exf4 would have led to a perpetual check starting with 39…Qg6+. Abdusattorov was not going to miss this simple line, though.
Finals
The starting positions
In the match for third place, Tabatabaei first failed to make the most of a clearly superior middlegame position with the white pieces and then comfortably held a draw with black. In the Armageddon decider, the Iranian GM played with the black pieces and survived an inferior rook and knight endgame a pawn down to finish third in the knockout.
Meanwhile, in the final, Abdusattorov got a major advantage in the clock in what turned out to be a hard-fought first encounter. Though the Uzbek star, playing black, had achieved a superior position in the early middlegame, Pranav showed remarkable resourcefulness and seemed en route to escape with a draw. However, with little time on the clock, he stopped playing precisely in the endgame and ended up losing.
Commentator David Howell praised Abdusattorov’s coolness to play 26…Bg5 in the following position.
This is the best move in the position, preparing to place the bishop on the dominating e3-spot. However, it is not at all trivial not to leave the bishop on the h4-d1 diagonal, as that would keep White from moving the rook away from the first rank due to the threat of mate from d1.
This was only one of many demonstrations of Abdusattorov’s ability to keep a cool head in critical situations, certainly a useful skill in Freestyle Chess. The Uzbek GM finished the day with a 26-move victory with the white pieces.
