Round one of the World Cup finished without huge upsets on top boards, but some significantly lower-rated players managed to spring a surprise and knock out strong Grandmasters

The opening move on the second day of the World Cup was made by the former World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. With just two more days before the top-world players play their first games, many have started arriving in Baku and were seen inspecting the playing hall and getting ready for the matches.

The top favourites in this early stage of the World Cup secured the pass to the next round, but there were some upsets: Chile’s Pablo Salinas Herrera (rated 2468) proved that it was no surprise as he defeated the significantly higher-rated Montenegrin GM Denis Kadric (rated 2601) in the first game, and repeated it in the second, this time with black pieces. Herrera will now go up against Iran’s Amin M. Tabatabaei in the second round. Also, after a draw in game one, Moldova’s Schitco defeated the higher-rated Azeri Grandmaster Nidjat Mamedov in the second game and will now be playing against the 2018 US Champion, Sam Shankland, in the second round.

After a surprising draw in the first game, Croatia’s Ivan Saric (rated 2657) dominated the Namibian IM Dante Beukes (rated 2180), who caused him a lot of problems on day one. Saric took the initiative early on and eventually won the game to qualify for the second round.

There were two notable draws on the top boards on day two. Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov drew with 663 points lower-rated Yousef A Alhassadi from Libya. Despite being better on time, Cheparinov decided not to force the position as he had already won in their first game. One of the top-rated players in round one, Gadir Guseinov (rated 2661), was having a tough challenge against Rupesh Jaiswal (rated 2122) from Nepal in game two. After more than six hours of play, the game ended in a draw on move 68, with just the kings left on the board. Guseinov moves on thanks to his victory in the first game, but the resistance showed by Jaiswal in both games is impressive. Guseinov will be facing Jonas Bjerre in the second round, who won the first but drew in the second game with IM Al Qudaimi from Yemen.

Among the other top favourites of the first round, Etienne Bacrot, Saleh Salem, Javokhir Sindarov, Aleksandr Predke, and Arjan Tari all came out victorious, winning both games and proceeding comfortably to round two. Predke will take on local and strong Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov, who won both games.

The Women’s Tournament:

When it comes to surprises in the women’s section, Natalya Buksa failed to qualify – she lost her first game against 140 points lower-rated Turmunkh Munkhzul from Mongolia and then failed to achieve more than a draw in the second game. Munkhzul will be playing Grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz in round two.

The women’s top seed in round one, Eline Roebers, continued confidently and scored a second victory against Yamama Asif Abdula Al-Fayyadh. In Round 2, she will be playing Egypt’s Mona Khaled. Irina Bulmaga also won both games and comfortably moved to Round 2.

Serbia’s Teodora Injac (pictured below) won against Nurai Sovetbekova, despite being weaker as the two transitioned to the endgame. With two victories, she will be playing against France’s Sophie Millet (who also won both of her games) in the second round.

Among the other favourites from round one – Olga Badelka and Alina Bivol won their games and advanced to the next stage with a 100 per cent score.

Round two will see the strongest women players enter the field, making it a real test for the qualifiers from round one. Slovakian IM Eva Repkova will go against the freshly-confirmed four-time Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun. WGM Qianyun Gong will play the two-time Women’s World Blitz Chess Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Round one tiebreaks will be played on Tuesday, 1st of August at 3 PM.

Here follows a closer look at some of the games and positions in the second match-day of round one of the World Cup:

In the Open section, Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov drew his second game against 633 points lower-rated Yousef A. Alhassadi. The player from Libya posed problems to Cheparinov in the first game but lost. Now in the second game, playing as White, Alhassadi opted for the Vienna Game, creating a solid position in the opening where neither side had much chance. Despite making a mistake in the middlegame, Cheparinov did not choose the most optimal continuation, but the position was still comfortable for Black. In the end, following a lot of exchanges on the board, the two transitioned to a knight and bishop endgame. Cheparinov was significantly better on time but decided not to force and accept a draw in the following position:

FM Rupesh Jaiswal from Nepal sprang a huge surprise as he managed to hold Azerbaijan’s Gadir Guseinov to a draw, with Black pieces. In the Sicilian, Jaiswal came equal out of the opening but made an imprecision in the middlegame. Guseinov was slightly better, but following an exchange of queens, the game was even. But gradually, Black was beginning to take the initiative.

Guseinov went for a promising exchange sacrifice 34.Rxe5, which was the best move he had in this position. In the endgame that transpired, the FM from Nepal showed great technical skills and comfortably held the position. Guesinov was trying everything to unsettle his opponent, but after more than six hours of playing and with just the kings left on the board, the GM from Azerbaijan had to settle for a draw.

After a stunning loss in the first game to 14-year-old Ediz  Gurel, Velimir Ivic of Serbia won his second game and made it to the tiebreaks. In the Caro-Kann, slightly better after the opening, Ivic gradually outplayed his young opponent and emerged with two extra passers on the queenside in the end.

This was the final position where Black had no option but to surrender.

Day two saw some notable comebacks: Serbia’s 2590-rated Grandmaster Velimir Ivic recovered after a surprising defeat in game one to Turkish 14-year-old EdizGurel, and has secured a playoff for the second round. Seasoned Israeli GM Illa Smirin made a comeback after losing in game one to 19-year-old Colombian Santiago Avila Pavas and will have to win in the tiebreaks to secure the pass to the second round. Mongolia’s Ganzorig Amartuvshin (rated 2407), who defeated the top Spanish Grandmaster Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli (rated 2612) with Black pieces, made a slip in the second game, and the two will now face each other in the tiebreaks. Also, Hungary’s Ferenc Berkes (rated 2615) defeated Iran’s Pouria Darini (rated 2412) after losing in the first game. All of the above-mentioned players will have a chance to decide their fate in the tiebreaker on Tuesday.

The Women’s Tournament:

Serbia’s Teodora Injac (rated 2415) faced many difficulties with Nurai Sovetbekova from Kyrgistan (rated 1823). In The Queen’s Indian, Black came out with more concrete options for play. However, Injac’s advantage evaporated as she allowed White to counter on the Kingside. 

White has four pawns for a bishop but will soon lose the one on e4. Also, Black has some attacking threats on the Kingside. The best option for White in this position was to continue boldly with 48.h7 and play on the initiative. Instead, Sovetbekova opted for 49.Qh3? and after 49…Rxd2 50.Rxd2 Qf4 the position is even. White played the important move 51.h7 Rh8, but now blundered with 52.Rd1? 52…Qxe4 – pinning the g2 and h7 points. 

53.Qg3. Now Injac erred – taking on h7 with the rook instead of taking with the queen. 53…Rxh7? Now White had a potential saving chance with 54.Qg5+. Instead, she blundered with 54.Qc7+?? and was completely lost. Injac still made some imprecisions, but her position was dominant and she won. However, to move further, more precision will be needed from the top-rated Serbian woman player.

Text: Milan Dinic

Photo: Stev Bonhage, Anna Shtourman and Maria Emelianova (chess.com)

About the event

The FIDE World Cup 2023 is taking place from 29 July to 25 August 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In the Open tournament, 206 players were eligible to take part and 103 in the Women's event.

There will be eight rounds in the Open and seven in the Women's tournament. Each round will be played under a knock-out system, consisting of a 2-game match. In the case of a tie, the players will play a rapid and, if necessary, a blitz tiebreak until the winner is determined.

The winners of the top-three places in both sections will qualify for the 2024 Candidates tournament.

In both events, the time control for each game is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

The prize fund for the entire event is 2,5 million US Dollars, with $1,834,000 in the Open and $676,250 in the Women's tournament. The 2023 FIDE World Cup has the largest prize fund for any chess tournament ever played.

More information about the event: worldcup2023.fide.com/

Regulations: 

Open tournament: handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/WorldCup2023Regulations.pdf 

Women's event: handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/WWorldCup2023Regulations.pdf

Schedule: worldcup2023.fide.com/schedule