World Cup: Wins for Kosteniuk and Martirosyan

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/26/2021 – Day 1 of the fifth round at the World Cups in Sochi saw Haik Martirosyan and Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) getting off to winning starts in their matches, as they beat Amin Tabatabaei and Valentina Gunina respectively. The remaining 7 matches in the open section and 3 matches in the women’s category finished drawn. | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova

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Esipenko draws Carlsen comfortably

The participants of the World Cup have been playing chess for a bit over two weeks. For the 16 survivors in the open section, the final objective is already in sight, which means nerves and fatigue will play an increasingly bigger role at the Gazprom Mountain Resort in Sochi.

Day 1 of the round-of-16 saw 7 out of 8 matches finishing drawn, with Andrey Esipenko and Jan-Krzysztof Duda perhaps the happiest of the bunch that ended the day with a half point. Both of them got draws with black, and while Esipenko split a point with world champion Magnus Carlsen, Duda drew an opponent (Alexander Grischuk) against whom he had once lost five times in a row, as he noted in a post-game interview.

This was only the second time 19-year-old Esipenko faced the world champion in a classical game. And this was their first draw, as the Russian defeated Carlsen earlier this year in Wijk aan Zee. In Sunday’s game, Esipenko had a very comfortable position out of the opening, but failed to find a way to push for more. Carlsen, understandably, simplified the position and implicitly offered a draw by repeating moves soon after.

The symbolic first move in Carlsen v Esipenko was played by two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist in figure ice-skating Evgenia Medvedeva, who commented before the round began:

I sensed the tension, the silent adrenaline, the concentration in the playing hall. The situation was very unusual — figure skaters usually do more physical work before the start of the competition.

Magnus Carlsen, Evgenia Medvedeva, Andrey Esipenko

Magnus Carlsen, Evgenia Medvedeva and Andrey Esipenko | Photo: Eric Rosen

Happier than Esipenko and Duda, though, must have been Haik Martirosyan, who scored a pivotal win with black against Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei. The Armenian gained a pawn on move 21, and shortly after his opponent strangely rejected a potential threefold repetition.

 
Tabatabaei vs. Martirosyan - Game 1

The contenders reached this position after twice repeating moves with 24.Rc3 Qa1 25.Rc1 Qa3 26.Rc3 Qa1. Had Tabatabaei continued with 27.Rc1, Martirosyan would have repeated and agreed to a draw, as he told Michael Rahal later on. However, the Iranian went for 27.Qc1, a decision which the eventual winner of the game simply could not understand.

After the queens were exchanged, Black was playing for two results with his extra pawn. The conversion was not easy, though, and Tabatabaei missed the best chance to continue fighting for a half point on move 35.

 

As Rahal and Martirosyan noted, 35.Nxe6+ was White’s best alternative at this point — instead, Tabatabaei played 35.Bd5 while in deep time trouble, and went on to lose the game in 61 moves. 

 
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1.d4 4 Nf6 14 2.c4 10 e6 0 3.Nc3 9 Bb4 27 4.e3 12 0-0 1:08 5.Bd2 12 c5 6:13 6.a3 0 Bxc3 6 7.Bxc3 5 Ne4 11 8.Ne2 12 b6 2:44 9.d5 17 Ba6 2:33 10.b3 39 b5 1:40 11.Qd3 25 Nxc3 3:41 12.Nxc3 34 bxc4 52 13.bxc4 10 exd5 3:10 14.Qxd5 2:02 Qa5 0 15.Qd2 41 Nc6 5 16.Be2 14:53 Rab8 3:48 17.0-0 45 Ne5 11:22 18.Rfc1 21 Rb3 7:40 19.f4 25:42 Nc6 0 20.Kf2 16:06 Rd8 18:08 21.Ra2 27 Rxa3 1:44 22.Rxa3 1:50 Qxa3 2 23.Nd5 2:52 d6 1:37 24.Rc3 1:27 Qa1 0 25.Rc1 48 Qa3 55 26.Rc3 18:17 Qa1 8 27.Qc1 4:13 Qxc1 36 28.Rxc1 1 Bc8 5:37 29.Ra1 1 Kf8 0 30.Bf3 21 a6 47 31.Rb1 2:29 Be6 1:08 32.Rb7 3:07 Na5 2:05 33.Ra7 1 Nxc4 7 34.Nc7 38 Nd2 0 35.Bd5 1:27 Bxd5 58 36.Nxd5 1 Rb8 1:53 37.Rxa6 17 Ne4+ 42 38.Ke2 3:05 f5 2:06 39.Kd3 58 Rb7 0 40.Kc4 1:12 Kf7 1:34 41.Ra8 3:15 h5 6:33 42.h4 37 g6 2:47 43.Rh8 0 Nd2+ 2:55 44.Kd3 6 Ke6 7 45.Nc3 6 Nb1 1:07 46.Nd1 3:17 Na3 1:13 47.Rg8 37 Rb3+ 44 48.Ke2 31 Kf7 43 49.Rd8 28 Nc4 0 50.Rd7+ 7 Ke6 19 51.Rg7 1 Kf6 32 52.Rd7 1 Ra3 32 53.g3 17 Ra2+ 1:25 54.Ke1 1:08 Rg2 0 55.Rh7 1:05 Ke6 1:43 56.Rg7 19 Kf6 1:00 57.Rh7 13 Rxg3 34 58.Kf2 1 Rh3 7 59.Nc3 43 Nxe3 0 60.Nb5 11 Nd5 1:01 61.Nxd6 19 Rxh4 1:21 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tabatabaei,M2613Martirosyan,H26320–12021FIDE World Cup 20215.6

Amin Tabatabaei, Haik Martirosyan

Amin Tabatabaei (left) needs a win with black in Monday’s rematch to remain in contention | Photo: Eric Rosen

The player who was closest to joining Martirosyan in the winner’s circle was Vasif Durarbayli, who missed a big chance to upset Vidit Gujrathi — rated 120 points higher than him — with the black pieces.

 
Vidit vs. Durarbayli - Game 1

As GM Karsten Müller explains in his annotations below, Black needed to prioritize defending his d-pawn with 33...Rd6 instead of immediately gaining a piece with 33...Rd8 34.Rxd4 b1Q 35.Rxb1 Bxb1 36.Bd5, etc.

It was a close shave for Vidit, who eventually managed to secure the half point.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6 7.Ne5 Qb6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qd2 Nh5 10.Be3 Nf6 11.a3 Ng4 12.Bg5 e5 13.h3 f6 14.hxg4 fxg5 15.dxe5 Rb8 16.b4 a5 17.b5 d4 18.Ne4 cxb5 19.Qxg5 h6 20.Qf4 Be6 21.g3 b4 22.Bg2 b3 23.Nd6+ Bxd6 24.exd6 b2 25.Rb1 Qc5 26.0-0 Rf8 27.Qe4 Kf7 28.Rbd1 Ba2 29.d7 Kg8 30.Qg6 Rb6 31.Qe8 Re6 32.Qh5 Qxh5 33.gxh5 "The power of the passed pawn". A far-advanced passed pawn is often very important in an endgame: Rd8? This wins a piece, but not the game. After 33...Rd6! Black's b-pawn will decide the day sooner or later, e.g. 34.Be4 Rb8 35.Bf5 35.Bb1 Bxb1 36.Rxb1 Rxd7 37.Rfd1 Rc7 38.Kf1 Rc3 39.a4 Rc4 40.Ke1 Rxa4 41.Kd2 Rc4-+ 35...d3! A beautiful interference. 36.Bxd3 Rxd7 37.Bb1 37.Bc4+ Bxc4 38.Rxd7 b1Q 39.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 40.Kg2 Bxe2-+ 37...Bxb1 38.Rxd7 Be4 39.f3 b1Q 40.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 41.Kf2 Bc6-+ 34.Rxd4! b1Q 34...Rb6 35.Be4= 35.Rxb1 Bxb1 36.Bd5 Kf7 37.Ra4 Rxd7 38.Bxe6+ Kxe6 39.Rxa5 and White's 3 pawns are enough to keep the balance: Rd2 40.Kf1 Ba2 41.Rc5 Rd1+ 42.Kg2 Re1 43.Kf3 Kd6 44.Rc2 Bb3 45.Rb2 Bc4 46.Ke3 Ke5 47.Rc2 Ba6 48.f3 Ra1 49.Rc5+ Kd6 50.Ra5 Bc4 51.Ra7 Ke5 52.Rxg7 Ra2 53.Re7+ Of course not 53.Rg6?? Rxe2# 53...Kf6 54.Re4 Rxe2+ 55.Kf4 Rc2 56.Re3 Bd5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vidit,S2726Durarbayli,V2625½–½2021D13FIDE World Cup 20215.4

Vasif Durarbayli, Vidit Gujrathi

Vasif Durarbayli knocked out David Navara and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the previous two rounds | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova

FIDE Chess World Cup 2021

Source: Wikipedia | Click to enlarge

All games - Round 5, Day 1

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Bc3 E11: Bogo-Indian. c5 9.Nbd2 b6
10.Ne5N Predecessor: 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Ne8 13.f4 Rb8 14.b3 d4 15.Bb2 Nc7 16.Nc4 0-1 (36) Grigoriev,E (2053)-Shigorov,V (1952) Irkutsk 2010 10...Bb7 11.Nxd7 Qxd7 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.cxd5 exd5 next ...d4 is good for Black. 14.e3 Rfd8 15.Re1 a5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Rc1 Qb5 18.Qb3 The position is equal. Qb4 19.Qxb4 axb4 20.Rxc5 Bxb2 21.Rb5 Bc6 22.Rc5 Bb7 23.Rb5 Bc6 24.Rc5 Bb7 Not much happened in this game. Weighted Error Value: White=0.04/ Black=0.04
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2847Esipenko,A2716½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.1
Svidler,P2714Shankland,S2709½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.2
Fedoseev,V2696Ivic,V2582½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.3
Vidit,S2726Durarbayli,V2625½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.4
Grischuk,A2778Duda,J2738½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.5
Tabatabaei,M2613Martirosyan,H26320–12021FIDE World Cup 20215.6
Vachier-Lagrave,M2749Karjakin,S2757½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.7
Bacrot,E2678Piorun,K2608½–½2021FIDE World Cup 20215.8

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Kosteniuk beats Gunina

At this point, the stakes are even higher in the women’s tournament. In addition to the field being half the size than in the open — which means they are already playing the quarterfinals — the event grants not 2 but 3 spots in the next Candidates Tournament.

All 4 of Sunday’s games were hard fought, but only one of them finished decisively, as Alexandra Kosteniuk prevailed against her compatriot Valentina Gunina after a wild 72-move struggle. Gunina, in fact, could have won the game had she found the right continuation on move 42.

 
Kosteniuk vs. Gunina - Game 1

Gunina’s 42...Kh6 was too much of a finesse at this point, as the direct 42...Qg1, threatening mate on e1, was completely winning — both 43.Qb7+ and 43.Qd7+ are insufficient defensive resources for White (you can try your own moves on the diagram above, and find out how Black manages to escape the checks in both continuations!).

After the text, Kosteniuk immediately exchanged the rooks and the position turned into a battle with queens, opposite-coloured bishops and both kings vulnerable to attacks — the perfect recipe for a sharp struggle.

In the end, it was the player dominating the light-squared complex who came out on top.

 

Kosteniuk had a very active king and an extra pawn when she decided to trade queens, as she knew that the opposite-coloured bishop ending was winning: 64.Qxf7+ Kxf7 followed, and the former women’s world champion won the game 21 moves later. (You can go through the full game in the replayer below).

Valentina Gunina

The ever-fighting Valentina Gunina | Photo: Eric Rosen

FIDE Chess World Cup 2021

Source: Wikipedia | Click to enlarge

All games - Round 5, Day 1

 
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1.d4 9 Nf6 8 2.c4 10 e6 0 3.Nc3 37 Bb4 8 4.Qc2 18 d5 31 5.a3 32 Bxc3+ 17 6.Qxc3 6 Ne4 16 7.Qc2 34 c5 35 8.dxc5 1:35 Nc6 1:04 9.Nf3 1:05 Qa5+ 1:28 10.Bd2 33 Qxc5 17 11.e3 0 Nxd2 10 12.Nxd2 19 dxc4 17 13.Bxc4 2:52 Qe7 1:07 14.0-0 3:58 0-0 51 15.b4 1:13 Bd7 11:14 16.b5 0 Ne5 3:53 17.Be2 1:05 f6 6:56 18.Qe4 16:31 Be8 2:10 19.f4 3:11 Bg6 0 20.Qb4 1:00 Qxb4 36 21.axb4 2 Bd3 9:41 22.Kf2 8:20 Bxe2 3:21 23.Kxe2 7 Nf7 1:56 24.Ne4 4:12 b6 0 25.Rfd1 4:46 f5 42 26.Nf2 13:59 e5 6:45 27.Rd7 4:07 Rfe8 4:23 28.g3 1:44 exf4 8:31 29.gxf4 5 Rec8 0 30.Ra2 5:44 h6 1:18 31.Nd3 2:54 Rd8 1:02 32.Rxd8+ 4:17 Rxd8 23 33.Rxa7 24 Nd6 1:36 34.Rc7 7:30 Nxb5 0 35.Rc6 58 g5 6:32 36.Ne5 6:28 gxf4 1:47 37.Rg6+ 16 Kh7 7 38.exf4 2:18 Rd4 3:37 39.Rxb6 1:17 Rxb4 0 40.Kd2 3:28 Rd4+ 1:07 41.Ke3 30:51 Re4+ 30:23 42.Kd3 0 Rd4+ 0 43.Ke3 0 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2596Saduakassova,D2483½–½2021FIDE Womens World Cup 20215.1
Dzagnidze,N2523Muzychuk,A2527½–½2021FIDE Womens World Cup 20215.1
Tan,Z2511Lagno,K2559½–½2021FIDE Womens World Cup 20215.1
Kosteniuk,A2472Gunina,V24371–02021FIDE Womens World Cup 20215.1

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Carlos 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.

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