2019 World Cup Kicks Off in Khanty-Mansiysk

The 2019 FIDE World Cup kicked off today at the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, with 128 players from around the world vying for two spots in the 2020 Candidates Tournament and a 1.6 million dollar prize fund. The tournament is a knockout format, with the first six round whittling the field down to the final two players via two game mini-matches at classical time controls. If the mini-matches are tied, players play a third day of games at increasingly rapid time controls, culminating in an Armageddon blitz game if necessary. The Final (and the match for 3rd place) consists of four classical games, followed by rapid playoffs if required. Six Americans – Leinier Dominguez, Hikaru Nakamura, Sam Sevian, Sam Shankland, Wesley So, and Jeffery Xiong – are in the field. In today’s first round, Dominguez, Sevian, So, and Xiong were able to win, while Nakamura and Shankland had to content themselves with draws.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Duran Vega, Sergio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2387"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8.
d3 O-O 9. Be3 Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 Be6 13. Nd2 Rb8 14. Nb3 Qc8
15. Bc5 Bh3 16. Bxh3 Qxh3 17. Nb5 Qc8 18. Nxa7 Nxa7 19. Bxb6 Nc6 20. Bc5 Qh3
21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Nc5 Kh8 23. e3 Ne7 24. Rc4 c6 25. Qg4 Qxg4 26. Rxg4 Rfd8 27.
Rd1 Rd5 28. Rc4 Ra8 29. Ra4 Rb8 30. Nb3 Rbd8 31. Kf1 Kg8 32. Ke2 Kf7 33. d4 Nf5
34. f3 exd4 35. e4 Re5 36. Kf2 Ne7 37. Rdxd4 Rxd4 38. Nxd4 f5 39. Ra7 fxe4 40.
Rxb7 Kf6 41. Rb6 exf3 42. Nxc6 Re2+ 43. Kxf3 Rxh2 44. Nxe7+ Kxe7 45. a4 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Escobar Forero, Alder"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2504"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8.
Ne4 f5 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Nd6+ Bxd6 11. Qxd6 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qxa6 14.
f3 Kf7 15. a3 Rhe8 16. O-O-O Rab8 17. Bc3 Rb7 18. Rhe1 Qb6 19. Qf4 Kg8 20. Qg5
Qd8 21. f4 Qe7 22. Bb4 Qf7 23. Bd6 Rb5 24. Qg3 Rd5 25. Qe3 a5 26. a4 Qg6 27.
Qf3 Rxd1+ 28. Kxd1 Qg4 29. Qxg4 Nxg4 30. f5 Kf7 31. fxe6+ dxe6 32. Bc7 Ra8 33.
Kd2 Ra7 34. Bb6 Ra6 35. Bg1 Nf6 36. Kd3 Nd7 37. Bd4 Ra8 38. Kc4 Rb8 39. b3 Rb4+
40. Kd3 Rb8 41. Bc3 Ra8 42. Re3 Nb6 43. Rf3+ Kg8 44. Kd4 Nd7 45. Kc4 Ra7 46.
Rd3 Nb6+ 47. Kc5 Nd5 48. Bd2 Ra6 49. Kd6 Nf6 50. Kc7 Ra8 51. Rd8+ Rxd8 52. Kxd8
e5 53. Bxa5 e4 54. Be1 {A lovely endgame by Dominguez.} 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Bellahcene, Bilel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2745"]
[BlackElo "2540"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. e3 Rb8 8. Qe2
b5 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 Bd6 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Rd1 Nb4 13. e4 Be7 14. Nc3 Bb7 15.
Rac1 Qe8 16. e5 Nd7 17. Ne4 Qd8 18. h4 Bd5 19. Rc3 a5 20. Nfg5 h6 21. Nh3 a4
22. bxa4 bxa4 23. Nf4 Bb3 24. Ra1 Nd5 25. Nxd5 exd5 26. Nd2 Bb4 27. Rf3 Bc2 28.
Nf1 Be4 29. Rf4 Bxg2 30. Kxg2 Re8 31. Rxa4 Nf8 32. Rf3 Ne6 33. Ne3 Qd7 34. Ra1
Bf8 35. Qd2 Red8 36. Bc3 Ra8 37. Rd1 Ra4 38. Nf5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Lysyj, Igor"]
[Black "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D26"]
[WhiteElo "2596"]
[BlackElo "2707"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. dxc5
Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bxc5 10. Nd2 Be7 11. Be2 O-O 12. Nb3 e5 13. Bf3 Be6 14. Bxc6 bxc6
15. Na5 Rfc8 16. Bd2 Rab8 17. b3 Ba3 18. Be1 Bb4 19. Nc4 Bxc4 20. bxc4 Kf8 21.
Rab1 Ke7 22. Kf1 a5 23. f3 Nd7 24. Ke2 Nc5 25. Rdc1 Ke6 26. Rc2 Rd8 27. Ra1 f5
28. Rd1 Rxd1 29. Kxd1 e4 30. fxe4 fxe4 31. Ke2 Rb7 32. Bd2 Rd7 33. Nb1 Nd3 34.
a3 Rf7 35. axb4 Rf2+ 36. Kd1 axb4 37. Bc1 Rf1+ 38. Kd2 Rf2+ 39. Kd1 Rf1+ 40.
Kd2 b3 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Shankland, Sam"]
[Black "Safarli, Eltaj"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2593"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4
Bg4 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. Bd2 (10. e4 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 e5 12. d5 cxd5 13. exd5 Re8 {
1/2-1/2 (53) Aronian,L (2756)-Yu,Y (2736) Riga 2019}) 10... Bxf3 11. Bxf3 e5
12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 Nd5 14. Qb3 Qb6 15. Na4 Qxb3 16. axb3 Nd7 17. Rfd1 b5 18.
Nc3 Nxc3 19. Bxc3 Bxc3 20. Rxd7 (20. bxc3 Nc5 21. b4 Na4 22. Rdc1 $1 $16 {
wti c3-c4} (22. Rac1 $6 Rab8 $1 23. Rd6 c5 $11)) 20... Bxb2 21. Raxa7 Rxa7 22.
Rxa7 Rd8 23. g3 Rd2 24. Kf1 Rc2 25. Bf3 Kg7 26. Rb7 $6 (26. Ra6 $1 c5 27. Ra7)
26... Rc3 27. Kg2 Ba3 28. h4 h5 29. Rb6 Rxb3 30. Bxc6 Be7 31. Rb7 Kf8 32. Bxb5
Rb2 33. Kf3 Bc5 34. Bc6 Rxb7 35. Bxb7 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Black "Tari, Aryan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2630"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Qc2 Re8 8. Bd2
Bf8 9. Rd1 a6 10. a3 h6 11. Bc1 Bd7 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 14. f4 Bc5 15.
Qe2 h5 16. g3 c6 17. Bh3 f6 18. Bxg4 hxg4 19. exf6 Qxf6 20. Ne4 Qe7 21. Ng5 Rf8
22. h3 Rf5 23. hxg4 Rxg5 24. fxg5 Qxg5 25. b4 Bd6 26. Qh2 Re8 27. Qh7+ Kf7 28.
O-O+ Ke7 29. Qh4 Qxh4 30. gxh4 dxc4 31. e4 Be5 32. Be3 Rh8 33. Bc5+ Ke8 34. h5
Bf6 35. Kg2 e5 36. Kf3 Bg5 37. Rf2 Rh6 38. Rd6 Be6 39. Kg3 Bf4+ 40. Rxf4 exf4+
41. Kxf4 Rf6+ 42. Kg3 c3 43. e5 c2 44. Be3 Rh6 45. Kh4 Ke7 46. Rd3 Rh8 47. Rc3
Bd5 48. Rxc2 Ke6 49. Rf2 Kxe5 50. Bc1 Ke6 51. Bb2 Rg8 52. g5 Ke7 53. g6 Be6 54.
Bd4 Ke8 55. Re2 Kd7 56. Kg5 Bd5 57. Bxg7 Rxg7 58. h6 Rg8 59. h7 Rh8 60. Kh6 Bg8
61. Kg7 1-0

[/pgn]

One of the most interesting games, at least from my perspective, was the matchup on board one, where top seed Ding Liren faced 1954-rated Shaun Press, an IA and FM from Papau New Guinea who also blogs about his chess adventures. In his entry about today’s game, Press writes:

In his post match comments Ding thought that 21.Nb2 was better than 21.Re1, although GM Ian Rogers thought 14.Rb1 (he means 13.Rb1 - ed) was unnecessary, and 18.b3 was where my troubles really started. For me both 17...Be6 and 19...Nd4 caused me a lot of trouble. I also did not expect 22...Ne3, but decided I had little choice but to take the offered pawn, knowing the open lines were bad for me. Nonetheless I found it quite an enjoyable experience. I was incredibly nervous leading up to the game, but once the game started, it was about playing moves, even if they weren't the best ones.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.10"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Press, Shaun"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B26"]
[WhiteElo "1954"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Be3 Rb8 {Not the most
popular move in this position, but statistically speaking one of Black's
better responses.} 7. Qd2 b5 8. Nge2 b4 9. Nd1 h5 $5 (9... e6 10. O-O Nd4) (
9... Nd4) (9... e5) 10. h3 ({We see Black's idea after} 10. f4 $6 h4 $1 {
and it's not clear that the White king will feel comfortable castled to either
side.}) 10... e6 11. O-O Nge7 12. f4 a5 (12... h4 $6 {is poor now due to} 13.
g4) 13. Rb1 O-O 14. g4 hxg4 15. hxg4 f5 16. exf5 exf5 17. g5 Be6 18. b3 Nd5 (
18... Bd5 $5) 19. Bf2 Nd4 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Re1 (21. Nb2 $5) 21... Bf7 22. Nb2
Ne3 $5 23. Bxe3 $2 (23. Nc4 Nxg2 24. Kxg2 Bd5+ 25. Kg3 $11) 23... dxe3 24. Qxe3
Re8 25. Qf2 Rxe1+ 26. Qxe1 Qb6+ 27. Kh2 Re8 {Black's pieces are springing to
action, and Ding will find a neat repositioning idea (...Bf8, ...Qh8+) to make
quick work of his opponent.} 28. Qf1 d5 (28... Bxb2 29. Rxb2 Qe3 {and Black
can think of playing ...Kg7 and ...Rh8+!}) 29. Na4 Qd4 30. Kh1 Bf8 31. Rc1 Bd6
32. c3 bxc3 33. Nxc3 Bxf4 34. Rc2 Qh8+ 0-1

[/pgn]

Tomorrow sees the second game of the first round matches. Will the Americans be able to avoid playoffs and enjoy a rest day? Will Ding give Press a draw to close out the match and give the amateur the memory of a lifetime? (Unlikely.) Check back with CLO to find out!