Work to Do in Round Two for Team America

After Wednesday’s tiebreak round, where Hikaru Nakamura advanced to the second round of the 2019 FIDE World Cup while Sam Shankland was knocked out by Bilel Bellahcene, there remained five American players alive heading into today’s first leg of the second round. It was a bit of a rough day for the home team. Three players – Leinier Dominguez, Wesley So, and Jeffery Xiong – drew, while Hikaru Nakamura and Sam Sevian both lost. The result is that Nakamura and Sevian must win tomorrow to move to the second round playoff, although the good news is that both will take the White pieces when trying to even their mini-matches. Nakamura made a critical mistake in the opening after Nisipeanu sacrificed his queen for a knight and rook. His 14. … e5 gave Nisipeanu two ways to gain a significant advantage, and soon White had both material and positional advantage. The game ended in 30 moves with Nakamura’s resignation.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.13"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.09.10"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 dxc4 7. Ne5 Qd6 8. O-O Qa6 9. a4 Nc6 (9... Rd8 10. Nb5 Ne8 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. Qxc4 Nxd4 13. Be3 Nf5 14. Bc5 Bxc5 15. Qxc5 {1-0 (49) Meier,G (2628)-Nisipeanu,L (2672) Dortmund 2018}) 10. Nb5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Rd8 12. exf6 (12. Qc2 Nd5 13. Qxc4 Bd7 14. Bd2 Bc6 15. Rfc1 Rd7 {1/2-1/2 (35) Ni,H (2674)-Li,Y (2432) China 2019}) 12... Rxd1 13. Rxd1 Bd6 14. Bf4 e5 $2 (14... Qa5 $11) (14... c3 $5) 15. Nxd6 $1 (15. Bxe5 $1) 15... cxd6 (15... exf4 16. Ne8 Bg4 17. Nxc7 Qxf6 18. Nxa8 Bxe2 19. Re1 f3 20. Nc7 $18 ) 16. Bxe5 Qa5 17. Rxd6 Bg4 18. Bc3 Qc7 19. Rad1 g6 (19... Bxe2 20. Rd7) 20. Bxb7 Rf8 21. Bf3 Bxf3 22. exf3 h5 23. Kg2 Re8 24. h4 Qc8 25. a5 a6 26. Rd7 Qa8 27. R1d6 Rc8 28. Bd4 c3 29. bxc3 Re8 30. Bb6 1-0 [/pgn]

For his part, Nisipeanu was pleased in the post-game interview, saying that he was worried after the queen sac because Nakamura responded quickly in the following moves. Tomorrow Nisipeanu “hopes to survive” against a motivated “beast” of an American champion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X06c1-hjj5s Sevian fell to 2016 World Championship Challenger Sergey Karjakin in a long minor-piece endgame.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.13"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2654"] [PlyCount "141"] [EventDate "2019.09.10"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 c6 5. cxd5 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 cxd5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. e3 Rc8 11. Bd2 O-O 12. Qe2 Ne8 13. Rfd1 Nd6 14. Rac1 Qd7 15. Be1 f5 16. Bg2 Bf6 17. Na4 b6 18. b3 Rc7 19. Nb2 Rfc8 20. Nd3 Nd8 21. Bf1 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Rxc1 23. Nxc1 Qc8 24. Nd3 Nc6 25. Kg2 Be7 26. h3 g6 27. Qc2 Nd8 28. Qd1 Nc6 29. a4 Kg7 30. Qc2 Nb8 31. Qxc8 Nxc8 32. Ne5 Nd6 33. g4 Nb7 34. f3 Na5 35. b4 Nac6 36. Nd3 Nd7 37. Bc3 Kf7 38. Kf2 Bd6 39. b5 Na5 40. Nb4 Ke7 41. g5 f4 42. e4 dxe4 43. fxe4 e5 44. Nd5+ Kf7 45. dxe5 Bxe5 46. Bxe5 Nxe5 47. Nxf4 Nb3 48. Ke3 Nc5 49. Be2 Nxa4 50. Kd4 Nd7 51. Bc4+ Kf8 52. e5 Ndc5 53. h4 Nb7 54. Nd5 Nac5 55. Nf6 Kg7 56. Kd5 Na5 57. Bf1 Nab7 58. Bh3 Kf7 59. Bc8 Nd8 60. Nxh7 Ke7 61. Nf6 Nde6 62. Ng8+ Kf7 63. Bxe6+ Nxe6 64. Kd6 Nc5 65. Nh6+ Ke8 66. e6 Nb7+ 67. Ke5 Ke7 68. h5 Nc5 69. hxg6 Nxe6 70. Nf5+ Kd7 71. g7 1-0 [/pgn]

In the three remaining games, the Americans drew with varying degrees of difficulty. Dominguez’s game was ‘in book’ for 25 moves against Nijat Abasov, reaching a fairly lifeless position at theory’s end.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.13"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2019.09.10"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Ne5 Bc6 10. Nxc6 Nxc6 11. e3 Na5 12. Nd2 c5 13. dxc5 Rc8 14. b4 cxb3 15. Nxb3 Nxb3 16. Qxb3 Nd7 17. Ba3 Nxc5 18. Bxc5 Rxc5 19. Qxb7 a5 20. Rfd1 Qc7 21. Qxc7 Rxc7 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. Rxc7 Rxc7 24. Bf1 g6 25. Bb5 Bb4 (25... Kg7 26. Rd7 Rxd7 27. Bxd7 Bb4 28. f4 {1/2-1/2 (43) Delorme,A (2513)-Gharamian,T (2626) Bastia 2016}) 26. Kg2 h5 27. h4 Rc2 28. Kf1 Kg7 29. Rd7 Rc1+ 30. Ke2 Rc2+ 31. Kf1 Rc1+ 32. Ke2 Rc2+ 33. Kf1 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

So neutralized (and then some) Demchenko’s London System, but after passing up a potential central break on move 22, pieces were swapped and the game was agreed drawn on the 34th move.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.13"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Demchenko, Anton"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2019.09.10"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 7. Ne5 c5 8. c3 ( 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. c3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 {0-1 (41) Tang,A (2487)-Carlsen,M (2835) St Petersburg 2018}) 8... Ba6 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. h4 Qc7 11. h5 Nd7 12. h6 g6 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Qe2 Nb8 16. Rd1 cxd4 17. exd4 Nc6 18. Nf3 f6 19. O-O Rae8 20. g3 Nd8 21. Kg2 Nf7 22. Rh1 Kh8 (22... e5 $5) 23. Qe3 g5 24. Nh2 Nxh6 25. Qf3 Qd7 26. Qh5 Qg7 27. Rde1 Re7 28. Ng4 Nxg4 29. Qxg4 Rfe8 30. Rh5 Qg6 31. f4 Qf5 32. Qxf5 exf5 33. Rxe7 Rxe7 34. fxg5 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Jeffery Xiong survived an Exchange-down middlegame against M.amin Tabatabaei, forcing his opponent to return the material on move 36. The resulting queen and pawn ending was complex, and while Xiong tried to win with his extra pawn, Tabatabaei always had enough counterplay to hold.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.13"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Tabatabaei, M.amin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2642"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2019.09.10"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 a6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. d4 Bb6 10. Re1 h6 11. Be3 exd4 12. Bxd4 c5 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nbd2 c6 15. e5 dxe5 16. Rxe5 Be6 17. Qa4 Bc7 18. Re2 Bd5 19. c4 Be6 20. Rae1 Qxb2 21. Nb3 Qf6 22. Rxe6 fxe6 23. Nxc5 Qc3 24. Qxc6 Qxc4 25. Re4 Qd5 26. Qxc7 Rac8 27. Qe7 Rfe8 28. Qa7 Rxc5 29. Rd4 Rc1+ 30. Kh2 Qc5 31. Qxa6 Rc2 32. Kg3 e5 33. Qg6 Rf8 34. Rd7 Rxf3+ 35. Kh2 Qf8 36. Qxc2 Rxf2 37. Qd3 Qf4+ 38. Kg1 e4 39. Rxg7+ Kxg7 40. Qd4+ Kg6 41. Qxf2 Qc1+ 42. Kh2 e3 43. Qf4 Qd2 44. a4 Qf2 45. Qg3+ Kh7 46. a5 Qa2 47. Qc7+ Kg6 48. Qc6+ Kg7 49. Qc3+ Kh7 50. Qd3+ Kg7 51. Qd4+ Kg6 52. Qg4+ Kf6 53. Qf4+ Kg6 54. Qe4+ Kg7 55. Qe5+ Kg6 56. h4 e2 57. Qg3+ Kf7 58. Qf3+ Kg8 59. Qg3+ Kf7 60. Qe1 Kg8 61. Kg3 Qf7 62. Qxe2 Qc7+ 63. Kg4 Qd7+ 64. Kf4 Qf7+ 65. Ke3 Qa7+ 66. Kf3 Qxa5 67. Qe6+ Kg7 68. Kg4 Qb4+ 69. Kf5 Qxh4 70. Qg6+ Kh8 71. g3 Qh3+ 72. Ke5 Qh1 73. Qe8+ Kh7 74. Qd7+ Kh8 75. Qc8+ Kh7 76. Qc7+ Kg6 77. Qb6+ Kh7 78. Qc7+ 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Tomorrow sees the following pairings for the American players: So-Demchenko Dominguez-Abasov Sevian-Karjakin Nakamura-Nisipeanu Tabatabaei-Xiong Both Nakamura and Sevian must win to tie their mini-matches and advance to the rapid playoff day. The round starts at 6am EDT. Live coverage is available at the FIDE YouTube channel.

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