FIDE World Cup 2023 Round 2 Tiebreaks: Grischuk and Lagno eliminated
A tough day at the World Cup in Baku as another group of strong players were eliminated, including the chess power couple and three-time World Blitz Champions, Alexander Grischuk and Kateryna Lagno Despite their strong reputation, the duo found themselves ousted by opponents rated lower than them. Lagno was eliminated in the first rapid match of the playoff after losing the second game to more than 200 points lower-rated Mary Ann Gomes. Grischuk’s fate was sealed after a gruelling six-hour battle across four playoff rounds, ultimately succumbing in the final game against Iranian Bardiya Daneshvar after missing a winning move. Among the favourites in the Open, Nakamura, So, and Giri are through after winning their rapid tiebreaks. In the Women’s tournament, the World Champion Ju Wenjun, as well as the 2021 World Cup winner (and former World Champion) Alexandra Kosteniuk, are through after winning their rapid tiebreaks. The Open tournament highlights: Alexander Grischuk’s day turned tragic as he navigated through four stages of tiebreaks, only to be eliminated in the final blitz game while playing as White. Iran’s 2577-rated Bardiya Daneshvar proved to be a formidable adversary to Grischuk. The two drew both of their classical games in the second round. Then came the first rapid match: After drawing both classical games in the second round, the first rapid match saw Daneshvar clinching a win after losing the initial game in the playoffs. The second rapid match saw the same thing happen again. Then came the Blitz – where Grischuk was the favourite as the three-time World Champion in this category. The first game ended in a draw, but in the second, Grischuk had a lucky escape in the endgame where Daneshvar did not find the best continuation due to time trouble, despite winning. In the final tiebreak blitz game Grischuk was leading the white pieces and grabbed the initiative early on. At some point, Alexander was one move away from victory. However, he misplayed and allowed Black to escape a mating threat, while at the same time advancing his runners on the queenside. A tragic end for Grischuk and a heroic victory for the 17-year-old Iranian chess champion. He will be facing Salem Saleh in round three. Among other favourites, Hikaru Nakamura qualified for the third round after clinching victory in the second rapid game against India’s Venkataraman Karthik after their draw in the first one. The 2565-rated Indian GM was winning as White before he, first, dropped the advantage, and then got into trouble where he had to give up an exchange, ending up in a lost position. Speaking after the match, Nakamura said that it was “very tough” for him. Nakamura, who is currently the world’s second highest-rated player, complemented his opponent by noting that “Karthik defended ridiculously well, like a 2700 player” in game one. “It’s very clear he’s under-rated” Nakamura added. Wesley So’s luck continued as he overcame a seemingly lost position in the first rapid game against Emre Can due to the time trouble-induced errors. With a draw in game two, So was through to round three. Super GM Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Andrey Esipenko, Vladimir Fedoseev, and Amin Bassem were also through after the first rapid playoffs. In a big surprise, Azerbaijan’s Abdulla Gadimbayli (rated 2483) knocked out Spain’s 2691-rated GM David GM Anton. Following two draws in the classical part of round two, Gadimbayli won the first rapid game. Despite being lost in the middlegame in the second encounter, the Azeri GM put on stiff resistance and managed to take over the initiative from David Anton in time trouble and win. The second game ended in a draw. Andrei Volokitin was knocked out after two crushing defeats in the endgame at the hands of Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo. One of India’s top players, Vidit Santos Gujrathi, had to go through three rounds of the tiebreaker. Vidit was evenly matched by the Greek GM Dimitrios Mastrovasilis, as all of their classical and rapid games ended in a draw. In the Blitz Mastrovasilis finally broke: after a mistake in the middlegame, he allowed Vidit to get his rooks to the seventh rank and then create a passer on the b-file, which secured White the victory. The Greek GM could not make a comeback in the second blitz game, which ended in a draw. Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk qualified after finally defeating Chile’s Cristobal Henriquez Villagra in the second round of the rapid with 2:0 (finishing the second rapid game with an effective rook sacrifice). India’s Arjun Erigaisi is also through but only after the second round of the rapid. The Women’s Tournament: In the Women’s Tournament, the biggest upset of the day is the elimination of Kateryna Lagno – one of the strongest women players in the world (three-time world blitz and one-time world rapid champion, and two-time world champion candidate). After a draw in the first rapid game with Mary Ann Gomes, Lagno had a slightly better position in the second. However, she blundered in the middlegame, trapping her queen, and was completely lost. The knockout comes as a shock, given that Lagno was seen as one of the favourites for winning the World Cup. The Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun is through after her opponent Eva Repkova blundered a piece in an even position in the first game. The second rapid game ended in a draw which sent Ju to the next round. The 2021 World Cup Winner and former Women’s World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk, is also through, having dominated Yan Tianqi in the first rapid game and finishing the second with a comfortable draw. Bibisara Assaubayeva won her rapid match against Qianyun Gong. In game one, despite dominating from the start, the Women’s World Rapid champion blundered in the endgame, entering an even position. Luckily for her, Gong also blundered soon after, ending a rook down. Bibisara also won the second rapid, despite being weaker in the first part of that game. Irina Krush and Dejsi Kori qualified after the first rapid. Nana