Four Americans Advance in FIDE World Cup

Four Americans are through to the second round of the 2019 FIDE World Cup, while two have work to do in Thursday’s rapid playoffs. After their wins Tuesday, Leinier Dominguez, Sam Sevian, Wesley So, and Jeffery Xiong have all advanced in the 128 person knockout event. Jeffery Xiong was first out of the gates, defeating Igor Lysyj in just 17 moves.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Black "Lysyj, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2707"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. c4 Nf6 6. c5 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
b6 9. Be3 a5 10. cxb6 cxb6 11. Nc3 Ba6 12. Ne5 h6 13. Rc1 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 a4 15.
a3 Bd6 16. Qd1 Ne4 17. Nxd5 {It may seem early to resign here, but a pawn (and
maybe more) down, and needing a win to tie the match, Lysyj decides to call it
a day.} 1-0

[/pgn]

Leinier Dominguez and Wesley So also won the second leg of their first round mini-matches, and in a curious coincidence, both had neat tactical shots with Black’s 39th move. Dominguez found the key move in his position, while So went with a different, but still winning, idea.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Escobar Forero, Alder"]
[Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B53"]
[WhiteElo "2504"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Be2 Nc6 6. Qe3 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. h3
O-O 9. Rd1 Be6 10. c4 Qb6 11. Nc3 Rfc8 12. Ng5 Nd7 13. Qg3 Nce5 14. b3 Nc6 15.
Be3 Qa5 16. Bd2 Qa3 17. Rab1 a6 18. h4 Nd4 19. Bf1 (19. Nxe6 $5 Nxe6 20. Bg4)
19... b5 20. h5 bxc4 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Nxe6 Nxe6 23. Bxc4 {White threatens to
take on e6 and then pick up the g6 pawn.} Nd4 ({Sac'ing the exchange doesn't
help:} 23... Rxc4 24. bxc4 Ne5 25. Bc1 $1 Qa5 26. Nd5 Re8 $16) 24. Qg5 {
Escobar Forero misses his chance.} (24. Bc1 $1 Qc5 25. Be3 $1 {(with the
threat of 26.Bxd4 Bxd4 27.Qxg6+!)} e6 26. Rd3 {and after Rbd1 the knight isn't
long for this world.}) 24... e6 25. Be1 Nc2 26. Bd2 Nb6 $2 (26... Ne5 27. Bf1 (
27. Bc1 $6 Qc5) 27... Rc5 28. Qg3 Rac8) 27. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 28. Qxg6 Qc5 29. Qxe6+
Kh7 30. Nd5 $2 (30. Rbc1 Rf8 31. Rf1 Nd4 32. Qg4 $1 {and with e2 defended,
White can bring the knight into the attack with Nd5, which also hits the queen
on the open file.}) 30... Nxd5 31. exd5 {Needing a win to tie the match,
Escobar Forero passes up a perpetual and plays on. Unfortunately Black is
simply better here.} (31. Qf5+ Kg8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Qh3+ Kg8 {etc}) 31... Rf8
32. Qh3+ Kg8 33. Qe6+ Rf7 34. Be3 (34. Rf1 Nd4 $17) 34... Nxe3 35. fxe3 Be5 36.
Rf1 (36. Re1) 36... Qxe3+ 37. Kh1 Raf8 38. Rxf7 Rxf7 39. Rf1 $2 Qh6+ $1 (39...
Qh6+ 40. Kg1 (40. Qxh6 Rxf1#) 40... Qh2#) 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Duran Vega, Sergio"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2387"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Qc1 Nbd7 12. Nc3 Qe7 13. Re1 Bxf3 {So chooses
the main line, passing up the chance to repeat his own game vs Harikrishna.} (
13... Bxf4 14. Qxf4 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 c6 16. a5 Rfe8 17. Red1 e5 18. d5 e4 19. Qf5
g6 20. Qf4 cxd5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rxd5 Nf6 23. Rd6 Kg7 24. Rad1 Rad8 25. Rxd8
Rxd8 26. Rxd8 Qxd8 27. Bxe4 Nxe4 28. Qxe4 Qxa5 29. Qxb7 {1/2-1/2 (29)
Harikrishna,P (2734)-So,W (2763) Riga 2019}) 14. Bxf3 c6 (14... Bxf4 15. Qxf4
c6 16. a5 e5 17. Qe3 Rfe8 18. d5 e4 19. dxc6 exf3 {1/2-1/2 (35) Ding,L (2777)
-Leko,P (2691) Riadh 2017}) 15. a5 Rad8 16. Bg2 (16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Rd1 {
1-0 (87) Bogner,S (2557)-Movsesian,S (2658) Germany 2016}) 16... Bxf4 17. gxf4
(17. Qxf4 e5 18. dxe5 Nxe5) 17... Kh8 $5 {So chooses an aggressive plan that
seems justified given the half-open g-file.} 18. e3 Rg8 19. Qc2 g5 20. f5 g4
21. fxe6 $6 fxe6 $15 {Now the f-file is available for the other rook.} 22. Qb3
Rb8 (22... Nf8 {with the idea of ...Ng6}) 23. Ra4 Nf8 24. Qb4 Qf7 25. Qc5 Ng6
26. Qg5 Rbf8 27. Rf1 Qg7 28. Kh1 h6 29. Qc5 Nh4 30. Raa1 Qc7 31. Ne4 (31. Qe5
$5 Qxe5 32. dxe5 Nd7) 31... Nxg2 32. Nxf6 (32. Kxg2 $2 Nxe4) 32... Rxf6 33.
Kxg2 Rg5 34. Qc3 Rh5 35. Rh1 Qd7 (35... Qh7 $5 {(heading for e4 instead)}) 36.
Qd3 Qd5+ 37. Kg1 $2 (37. e4 $142 Qg5 38. Qe3 Rf4 {and Black is almost, but not
quite, breaking through}) 37... Qf3 38. Rf1 Rxa5 39. Qb3 Rh5 (39... Ra1 $1 40.
Qc2 (40. Rxa1 Qxf2#) (40. Qd3 Qxf2#) 40... Rxf1+ 41. Kxf1 Qxh1+ 42. Ke2 Rxf2+
43. Kxf2 Qxh2+ $19) 40. Qd3 a5 41. b3 Rg5 42. Qd1 Qh3 0-1

[/pgn]

Sam Sevian followed up yesterday’s win over Aryan Tari with a draw today. Tari tried to mix things up in the opening, but Sevian kept control of the position and the result was never in doubt.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Tari, Aryan"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2630"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qc2 $5 (6. d4 {
has been seen more in GM practice.}) 6... a6 7. g4 $5 {Amazingly there's one
game in the database here!} h6 (7... e6 8. g5 Ng8 9. h4 b6 10. d4 Bb7 {1-0 (46)
Roeder,M (2404)-Vega Gutierrez,B (2091) Santa Cruz de la Palma 2005}) 8. d4 e6
9. g5 {In for a penny, in for a pound! Objectively this seems a bit too loose,
but while Sevian gets a slight edge for many moves, he never comes close to a
dominant advantage.} hxg5 10. Nxg5 Qc7 11. f4 b5 12. Bd3 Rh6 13. Bd2 Nb6 14. b3
Bd7 15. Nd1 Qxc2 16. Bxc2 Rc8 17. Bd3 Bc6 18. O-O Bd6 19. Nf2 Ke7 20. Ba5 Nbd7
21. Rfc1 Rhh8 22. a4 Nb8 23. Bd2 Nfd7 24. e4 dxe4 25. Nfxe4 Bxe4 26. Nxe4 Rxc1+
27. Rxc1 Rh3 28. Ng3 Rh4 29. axb5 axb5 30. Rc8 Nb6 31. Rg8 N8d7 32. Bxb5 (32.
Rxg7 Bxf4 33. Bb4+ (33. Bxf4 Rxf4 $11) 33... Bd6 34. Bxd6+ Kxd6 35. Bxb5 Rxd4
36. Rxf7 $11) 32... Bxf4 33. Bb4+ Bd6 34. Bxd6+ Kxd6 35. Rxg7 Rxd4 36. Rxf7 Rb4
37. Be2 Nc5 38. Kf2 Nxb3 39. Bf3 Nc5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Having drawn both legs of their mini-matches, Hikaru Nakamura and Sam Shankland will play in tomorrow’s tiebreak round. Nakamura preferred to save his energy, drawing in just 16 moves against Bilel Bellahcene.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Bellahcene, Bilel"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2745"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8.
Qc2 Re8+ 9. Ne2 h5 10. Be3 Nd7 11. O-O h4 12. h3 Nf8 13. Qd2 Ng6 14. Qc2 Nf8
15. Qd2 Ng6 16. Qc2 Nf8 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Eltaj Safarli tried the Exchange Ruy Lopez against Sam Shankland, and the game fizzled out to a draw in 33 moves.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Safarli, Eltaj"]
[Black "Shankland, Sam"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "2593"]
[BlackElo "2705"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Qf6 6. d4 exd4 7. Bg5 Qd6 8.
Nxd4 Bd7 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. Nde2 O-O-O 12. Qxd6 $6 {Something of a
strange decision. Why undouble the pawns?} (12. Qc1 Ng6 13. Qe3 Kb8 14. Rad1
Qe7 15. f4 Bc8 16. Nc1 Rxd1 17. Rxd1 {0-1 (39) Naiditsch,A (2695)-Svidler,P
(2735) Karlsruhe/Baden Baden 2019}) 12... cxd6 13. Rad1 Kc7 14. Rfe1 Rhe8 15.
f3 Ng6 16. Ng3 Nf4 17. Kf2 Be6 18. Nce2 Nxe2 19. Rxe2 g6 (19... Bxa2 $4 20. b3
{and the bishop is lost}) 20. a3 b5 21. Red2 a5 22. Ne2 f5 23. exf5 Bxf5 24.
Ng3 Re5 25. Nxf5 Rxf5 26. Re1 b4 27. axb4 axb4 28. Re4 Rb5 29. c3 bxc3 30. bxc3
Rd7 31. c4 Rb3 32. Red4 Rc3 33. h4 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

The tiebreak round consists of two G/25+10 games, followed by two G/10+10 games and then two G/5+3 games. If the score remains level after these six games, an Armageddon game is on tap, where White receives 5 minutes to start the game, and Black receives 4. Both sides get an increment of 2 seconds after move 60. White has to win in the Armageddon round to advance, while a draw is sufficient for Black to move on. Around the Brackets Yesterday we wondered whether Ding Liren would coast to the second round with a quick draw against the 1954-rated Shaun Press. Today we have our answer. Ding won out, and with the 1.6 rating points gained in these two games, he moves into the World #2 position on the live rating list.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Press, Shaun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A18"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "1954"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 Nfd7 $6 (4... d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 {
is well-known to theory.}) 5. d4 dxc4 6. Bxc4 Nb6 (6... c5 $5) 7. Bd3 c5 8.
dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O {White has a huge development edge, and Black has
to figure out what to do with his light squared bishop.} h6 (10... Nb4 11. Be4
Qxd1 12. Rxd1 O-O 13. a3 N4d5 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. Rxd5 $16) 11. Qe2
Bd7 12. a3 Nd5 13. Ne4 Be7 14. b4 Qb8 15. Bb2 Nf4 16. Qe3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 O-O $6
{Press sets a trap, but Ding does not oblige.} 18. b5 ({If} 18. Qxd7 $4 Rd8 {
traps the queen.}) ({But after} 18. b5 $1 {there's no more trap, i.e.} Na5 19.
Qxd7 Rd8 20. Qxe7) 1-0

[/pgn]

Press, for his part, was clear eyed about the loss. https://twitter.com/shaunpress/status/1171778898427879424 Perhaps the biggest upset of the first round was Johan-Sebastian Christiansen’s 2-0 victory over World #22 Radoslaw Wojtaszek. The 21-year-old Norwegian won in the first leg, and today he bravely spurned opportunities for a clinching draw, preferring to try and eventually win with his superior position. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40DaOkET7eU

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian"]
[Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B94"]
[WhiteElo "2558"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qe2 h6 8.
Bh4 g6 9. f4 e5 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. O-O-O Qc7 12. Nb3 b5 13. Rxd7 Nxd7 14. Nd5
Qb8 15. Na5 Bc5 16. Qd2 g5 17. Bg3 Qd6 18. Be2 O-O 19. Rf1 f6 20. h4 Kg7 21.
hxg5 fxg5 22. Rxf8 Nxf8 23. b4 Ba7 24. Qc3 Ng6 25. Nc6 Bb8 26. Nxe5 Nxe5 27.
Qxc8 Ra7 28. Bf2 Rf7 29. Bc5 Rf8 30. Qb7+ Rf7 31. Qc8 Rf8 32. Qh3 Qc6 33. Bxf8+
Kxf8 34. Kb1 Kg7 35. Bd3 Ba7 36. Qf5 Bd4 37. a3 Qd6 38. Be2 Qc6 39. Bd3 Qd6 40.
Be2 Qc6 41. Bh5 Qd6 42. Qc8 Nc4 43. Nc7 1-0

[/pgn]

Peter Svidler, who is no stranger to the commentary booth, spelled American GM Alex Yermolinsky for a bit and analyzed (among other games) his quick win over Carlos Albornoz Cabrera with Evegny Miroshnichenko. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ZeinB13KM

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2019.09.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2581"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 Bg4 8. d4
Bxf3 9. gxf3 cxd4 10. cxd4 d5 11. e5 Nh5 12. e6 g6 13. Nc3 f5 14. Qb3 Nxd4 15.
Qxb7 Rb8 16. Qxa6 Nxf3+ 17. Kh1 Qc7 18. Qa4+ Kd8 19. Bf4 Nxf4 20. Nb5 Qb6 21.
Nd4 1-0

[/pgn]

Tomorrow’s playoff round starts at 6am EDT. Live commentary is available on the FIDE YouTube channel in English, Russian, and Spanish.

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