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We can look ahead to three and a half weeks of tense, enjoyable chess battles as the FIDE World Cup has started at the Marriott Hotel Boulevard in Baku, Azerbaijan. For a second time, a women’s knockout event will run concurrently with the now traditional open competition.
Attack like a Super Grandmaster
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM†with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
The open sees 206 players, including world number one Magnus Carlsen, fighting for three spots in the next edition of the Candidates. In the women’s section, 103 contenders, including world champion Ju Wenjun, fight for the same three prizes (in the Women’s Candidates, of course). The top 50 seeds in the open and the 25 top seeds in the women’s received a bye and will join the fray in Wednesday’s second round.
As usual, opening day saw a number of imbalanced pairings (rating-wise) and a few of those favouring the underdog. We list below the most surprising results in both sections (200+ rating difference for draws and 100+ rating difference for wins).
Open section
Women’s section
Mailie-Jade Ouellet from Canada | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
The youngest participant in the open section kicked off the event with a remarkable win. Turkish IM Ediz Gurel, aged 14, defeated Velimir Ivic, rated 90 points higher than him, in a 28-move game which featured a familiar bishop sacrifice.
As Gurel explained afterwards, Ivic apparently was not as prepared for this line as he was. When the youngster felt that something had gone wrong for his opponent (21...Bxc5 was wrong, while the difficult-to-find 21...d3 was the only defence), he looked for the kill and noticed that 22.Bxh7+ is winning.
There followed 22...Kxh7 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24.Qh6 g6 25.Ne4 Be7 26.Rf3 Bf5
Before entering the whole sequence, Gurel needed to foresee that here 27.Rxf5 is winning for White due to Ne4-f6+ next. After 27...Ra6 28.Rf3, Ivic decided to call it a day.
The playing hall in Baku | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
Dutch star Eline Roebers, aged 17, was the highest-rated player in the women’s section on opening day — she kicked off the event with a win | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
Teodora Injac (Serbia) defeated Nurai Sovetbekova (Kyrgystan) | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
Full schedule | Pairings and results
All games with computer analysis: Open | Women’s
