9/27/2019 – After Wednesday's dramatic tiebreaks, things cooled off at the start of the semi-finals in Khanty-Mansiysk. Ding Liren had White against Yu Yangyi but was the one slightly under pressure before finding a repetition, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov played 31 moves before splitting the point. A win in game two will give any of the semi-finalists a spot in the next Candidates Tournament. Round-up show by GM DANIEL KING. | Photo: FIDE
ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Instead of focusing on a rigid repertoire, the course presents key games, important strategic ideas, and opening knowledge to equip you with the essential tools to outmanoeuvre your opponents.
€49.90
The last hurdle
The FIDE World Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk. It is a seven-round knock-out event for 128 players, with a total prize fund of US$ 1.6 million and a first prize of US$ 110,000. The matches consist of two classical games with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move. The finals consist of four classical games. Full schedule.
It's been over two weeks since the start of the World Cup and the biennial event has provided the spectators its usual fair share of drama. Now that the dust has settled, four of the top twelve rating favourites are fighting to reach the final. One semi-final sees the strongest Chinese players in the world fighting each other, while the other sees Maxime Vachier-Lagrave looking to get his first chance to participate in a Candidates Tournament; his rival is Teimour Radjabov, who all but stopped competing in elite events after a bad showing at the second to last stage of the 2013 World Championship cycle.
Teimour Radjabov achieved his peak rating of 2793 in 2012 | Photo: FIDE
Ding Liren arrived in Khanty-Mansiysk as the top seed and is the one player participating without the pressure of needing to reach the final, as he will most likely get a spot in the Candidates in virtue of his rating. The mild-mannered 26-year-old declared after his draw against Yu Yangyi that it is "strange" to face his compatriot and teammate — which does not come as a surprise, given how Chinese players tend to help each other even during individual events.
Ding was the first one spending large chunks of time in Thursday's game, despite having followed a variation that Yu Yangyi himself had explored from the white side in the past. Yu had the upper hand, mainly thanks to his strong e3-knight:
"Occupy the centre!" Let GM Bologan show you move by move why 1...e5 against English (1.c4) is a rock solid and excellent choice.
Ding Liren vs. Yu Yangyi
Position after 24...Ne3
In the commentary booth, Anna Rudolf and Evgeniy Miroshnichenko could not agree on how to depict the strong black knight — they considered calling it either an octopus knight or, strangely, a lobster knight. Notwithstanding, Ding knew he needed to get rid of the dangerous piece and played 25.♘c2 here. After 25...♞f5, the players repeated the position with 26.♘a3 ♞e3 and went on to sign the draw. Yu Yangyi will have the white pieces in game two.
Will we see Yu Yangyi in the 2020 Candidates Tournament? | Photo: FIDE
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave deviated from theory as early as move 7 in his first semi-final encounter against Teimour Radjabov. A strategic struggle ensued, with both players keeping healthy pawn structures and their kings far away from danger in the queenless middlegame. When 'MVL' offered to trade the last pair of rooks, there was little doubt that the game would end up peacefully:
The Rossolimo Variation 3.Bb5 is considered to be one of the strongest replies to 2…Nc6 in the Sicilian Defence. The fact that the move has been played by practically all the top players proves its popularity and strength. But the most interesting aspect of playing 3.Bb5 is that we force sharp, attacking players who love to have the initiative to forget about the Open Sicilian and to adjust themselves to a new world, one full of positional ideas, manoeuvres and nuances.
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Radjabov
Position after 22...Rd8
The game continued 23.♖a8 ♜xa8 24.♘xa8 ♝f8, and the players agreed to a draw seven moves later — draw agreements are only permitted after move 30.
In the post-game interview, Vachier-Lagrave was asked about his games with Black in the competition. The French grandmaster cracked a smile and said: "There have been some awkward moments, but in general it hasn't gone badly". In fact, he scored two wins and drew three times in his classical games with Black, getting perhaps the most uncomfortable position out of the opening in his round four match-up against Peter Svidler.
France's number one Maxime Vachier Lagrave | Photo: FIDE
On a lighter note
The organizers have been asking general questions to chess players and putting together short videos with the responses. If you have ever wondered who are Levon Aronian's favourite authors or which grandmaster is also studying Physics, these clips will surely satisfy your curiosity.
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.
Learn the opening of the masters from one of the world's most popular master trainers! Daniel King shows you a rock-solid and powerful Najdorf repertoire.
GM Daniel King recapped the action of the day
Commentary webcast
Commentary by IM Anna Rudolf and GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
€34.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
The FIDE World Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk. It is a seven-round knock-out event for 128 players, with a total prize fund of US$ 1.6 million and a first prize of US$ 110,000. The matches consist of two classical games with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move. The finals consist of four classical games. Full schedule.
