Women's World Cup: Krush, Yip Bow Out of Baku

Following up on yesterday's halfway report on the 2023 FIDE World Cup, today Chess Life Online is thrilled to share game-by-game annotations from WGM Katerina Nemcova on IM Carissa Yip's second-round match and GM Irina Krush second- and third-round matches. Yip's first-round victory, as well as WGM Jennifer Yu's tight first-round loss, were previously covered here.

Krush during her second game of her round three match (courtesy Stev Bonhage/FIDE)

Overall, there is not much to say that Nemcova does not cover in her colorful, captivating commentary. Yip fought back remarkably after losing the first game of her match (with white, no less) to Chinese GM Zhao Xue, forcing tiebreaks.

In the resulting tiebreaks, she managed to earn a perfectly playable position out of a Benoni, but one slight inaccuracy was enough for her opponent to take over the initiative.

Carissa Yip in the first classical game of her match with Zhao Xue (courtesy Maria Emeliova/Chess.com)

And just when it looked like Yip was going to lose the first of a two-game set yet again, she battled back and tricked Zhao into a drawn endgame.

Unfortunately, the white pieces once again offered little advantage for Yip, and her tournament ended with a loss in the second rapid game.

courtesy Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Krush's second round got off to a much more auspicious start against Canadian WGM Maili-Jade Ouellet.

Only needing a draw to advance, Krush played for a solid, stable position out of the opening. But her space disadvantage proved too great, as her young opponent ground her down with great patience and technique to force tiebreaks.

From here, Krush regained control of the match by winning both rapid games. In the first, her creative handling of a familiar Carlsbad structure provided her with ample opportunities to outclass her opponent.

Then, once again needing to "hold serve" with the black pieces, Krush had to withstand a serious attack beginning with White's aggressive early h-pawn push.

courtesy Anna Shtourman/FIDE

The result was one of the sharpest games of the tournament, all coming down to one fatal moment where one move won for White while another lost.

Krush's next match, against Russian IM Polina Shuvalova, started off quietly enough. Her opponent tried to catch Krush off guard, and got nothing in return.

In sharp contrast to the "pop quiz" Shuvalova gave Krush in the first game, their second encounter proved highly original. Unfortunately, Krush's handling of the bizarre position quickly went downhill.

With this loss, no Americans remained in the Women's World Cup. It was unfortunate not to see any players reach the later rounds, but they produced a number of entertaining games to be proud of.