Off to the races
One of the most anticipated events in the chess calendar began on Saturday, as the FIDE World Cup kicked off in Goa, in southwestern India. The 26-day competition will determine three qualifying spots for the next edition of the Candidates Tournament. A total of 206 players made the trip to Goa to try their chances in this demanding knockout event.
According to the regulations, the top 50 seeds are automatically qualified for the second round, which meant that 156 participants began their campaigns on Saturday. The world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, is officially listed as the top seed, even though he is not the highest-rated player in the field. Based on the October rating list, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Anish Giri follow him in the ranking.
The lowest-rated players who received byes were Sam Shankland, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Nikita Vitiugov, Nikolas Theodorou and Abhimanyu Mishra. Meanwhile, several strong players narrowly missed out by one or two rating points on the automatic qualification and had to begin their campaigns in round one: Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Jeffery Xiong, Maxim Rodshtein, Vladislav Artemiev and Michael Adams.
Faustino Oro, the 12-year-old Argentine prodigy, held Ante Brkic to a draw with the black pieces | Photo: Michal Walusza
As is often the case in the early stages of the World Cup, most of the rating favourites scored expected victories against lower-rated opponents. Out of the top twenty players who had to play on Saturday, only three were held to draws:
- GM Raunak Sadhwani (India, 2641) was in serious trouble at one point but managed to save a draw with the white pieces against FM Daniel Barrish (South Africa, 2284).
- GM Robert Hovhanissyan (Armenia, 2633) drew with black against FM Kevin Mohan (Malaysia, 2346).
- GM Aryan Tari (Norway, 2631) defended a difficult endgame a pawn down while playing black against IM Reja Neer Manon (Bangladesh, 2369).
Further down the board order, rating differences were smaller, and as a result many encounters ended peacefully. Nonetheless, two players succeeded in defeating higher-rated opponents. One of these results stood out as a genuine upset:
- IM Uurtsaikh Agibileg (Mongolia, 2448) defeated GM Cristóbal Henríquez (Chile, 2594) with the white pieces.
- GM Denis Makhnyov (Kazakhstan, 2525) beat GM Diego Flores (Argentina, 2558), also with the white pieces.
The second games of the first round are scheduled for Sunday. Matches that finish 1-1 after the two classical games will be decided in Monday’s tiebreakers, which will consist of rapid and blitz games if necessary. On Tuesday, the top fifty seeds will enter the competition, signalling the start of the main phase of the chess extravaganza in Goa.
Raunak Sadhwani escaped with a draw in his game against FM Daniel Barrish from South Africa | Photo: Michal Walusza
Tactical highlights
Note that you can move the pieces on our dynamic diagrams
Abugenda 0-1 Erdogmus
The opening did not go all that well for Lybian CM Nagi Abugenda, but his tenth move, 10.g3, only made matters worse. Playing 10.0-0 was bad due to 10…Qxh4 and White lacks compensation, but 10.Kf1 was enough to keep the battle going.
Erdogmus, aged 14, had little trouble finding the killer 10…Nce5 11.dxe5 Nxe5, opening up the position, and White’s defences soon crumbled.
12.Qxd5 Be6 13.Qe4 f5 14.Qe3 Bd5
The bishop both hits the rook and protects the f3-square for a killer check with the knight.
15.Kf1 Bxh1 16.Bxf5 Bc5
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Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
17.Qg5 Qd1# Game over.
Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | Photo: Michal Walusza
Cheparinov 1-0 Roa
Facing experienced GM Ivan Cheparinov, Colombian IM Ángel Roa demonstrated strong theoretical knowledge out of a sharp Arkhangelsk Variation in the Ruy López. However, he failed to sense the danger surrounding his king when he played 28…Rfe8 – granted, he had only 7 minutes on his clock. The correct move was 28…Rf7
Cheparinov spent a bit over one minute before replying with the strong 29.Nxh6, when 29…gxh6, of course, fails to 30.Qg6+. Thus, Roa went for 29…Kf8 30.Qg6 Re7, which was followed by yet another knight sacrifice in 31.Nxe5, the strongest move in the position!
Black was already lost, but Cheparinov got to show a beautiful checkmate on the board. There followed 31…Rc8 32.Qf7+
White gives up the queen to deliver mate! 32…Rxf7 33.Ng6#
A young fan following the action in Goa | Photo: Michal Walusza
Than 0-1 Salem
Out of a Najdorf Sicilian, Emirati star Saleh Salem, as per the setup’s tradition, got a strong attack on the queenside. However, there was no lack of mistakes by both sides amid the tactical struggle – but it was Japanese IM Than Tu Tran who made the last mistake.
Instead of 28.Qh4, White needed to play 28.Bxc3 in the previous move to, in fact, get a slight advantage. After the text move, though, Black has the killer 28…Bxc2, when 29.Rxc2 Rxc2 30.Kxc2 fails to 30…Rc8+, with a deciding attack.
White thus chose 29.Ka1, but Salem continued to find the correct continuations – 29…Bd3 30.Re1 Rec8 31.Rh8+ Kf7 32.Bxc3 was followed by the good-looking 32…Rxc3
Than cannot capture the queen with 33.Rxe3 due to 33…Rc1+ 34.Kb2 Rb1#. And after 33.Qh5+ Ke7 34.Qh4+ Kd7 35.Qh1, Salem found yet another tactical shot to force his opponent’s resignation.
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Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Forcing moves
35…Rc1+ ends the game at once – 36.Rxc1 fails to 36…Qd4+, and only 37.Rc3 delays mate for one more move.
Time trouble was once again the culprit. Before playing his 28th move, the decisive mistake, Than had less than 5 minutes on the clock, while Salem still had 13. Nevertheless, kudos to the Emirati GM, who showcased tactical alertness to score a memorable win.
Saleh Salem | Photo: Michal Walusza
Endgame analyses by GM Karsten Müller
Fun and instructive!
Maksim Chigaev | Photo: Michal Walusza
Andy Woodward | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
All games
Williams Steinitz, 1st World Chess Champion (1886-1894) The match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort in 1886 was the first chess match for the ‘World Chess Championship’. Steinitz won, and has since been considered the first official world champion in chess history.
Free video sample: The Steinitzian method of restriction
Free video sample: Strategy Introduction
