ChessKid Cup: Abdusattorov wins the Winner's Bracket

by Johannes Fischer
5/25/2023 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov continues to impress in the ChessKid Cup: he defeated Jorden Van Foreest in the final of the Winner's Bracket to qualify for the Grand Final, where he will meet the winner of the Loser's Bracket. In addition to Van Foreest, Fabiano Caruana, who beat Alireza Firouzja in round 2 of the Loser's Bracket, and Jules Moussard, who beat Dmitrij Kollars in the same round, are also in the running. | Photo: Screenshot of the live transmission
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ChessKid Cup, Day 4

The final of the Winner's Bracket of the ChessKid Cup went over four games, and after two draws at the start, Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the third game after a tactical blunder by Jorden Van Foreest.

After this defeat Van Foreest had to win the last game, but for a long time it looked as if Abdusattorov, playing with White, would be able to draw without too much difficulty. But then he missed a counterattack by Black and was suddenly in danger of losing. But then Van Foreest played too hastily and gave away his winning position again and had to settle for a draw in the end.

The games of the match

In the Loser's Bracket, Fabiano Caruana surprisingly won 2-0 against Alireza Firouzja (the matches in the Loser's Bracket only go over two games), but in both games he benefited from tactical mistakes by Firouzja.

In the first game, Firouzja was better almost throughout the game, but eventually he lost the thread.

In the second game, Firouzja made a serious tactical error in a complicated position with an unusual material balance, which cost him a piece:

In the semi-finals of the Loser's Bracket, Caruana will meet Jules Moussard, who won against Dmitrij Kollars in Armageddon - but with a bit of luck, as Kollars missed a good opportunity at the crucial moment.

The winner of the match between Caruana and Moussard will play Van Foreest in the Loser's Bracket final. And the winner of that match will play Abdusattorov in the Grand Final.

Games of the Loser's Bracket

Games Division II

Games Division III

Brackets

Division I

Division II

Division III

Live commentary day 3 with Tania Sachdev, David Howell, James Canty III and Daniel Naroditsky

Links

Topics: Champions Chess Tour 2023, ChessKid Cup
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".