World Cup: Caruana advances, Carlsen bounces back

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/10/2023 – Six players have already reached the round-of-16 in the open section of the FIDE World Cup, including Fabiano Caruana, who beat Ray Robson, and Alexey Sarana, who knocked out sixth seed Wesley So. The remaining ten spots will be decided in Friday’s tiebreaks, with Magnus Carlsen reaching that stage after bouncing back in his match against Vincent Keymer. In the women’s section, three players secured their spots in quarterfinals: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi and Polina Shuvalova. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

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A strange tactical recourse, missed

Vincent Keymer only needed a draw to knock Magnus Carlsen out of the FIDE World Cup. It is often noted that playing for a draw is a bad idea in these situations, especially against tough opponents. In Thursday’s rematch, Carlsen managed to get a fighting position on the board, with kings castled on opposite sides and chances for both sides.

In the early middlegame, however, Carlsen played a natural-looking move that gave Keymer a tactical opportunity described by Peter Leko as “a very strange motif”.

Carlsen vs. Keymer

16.a3 allowed 16...Bxc3 17.Qxc3 and 17...Nxe4, a temporary knight sacrifice which was not played by the German prodigy. Instead of spending more time analysing the position after 17.Qxc3, Keymer quickly swapped queens with 17...Qxc3 — he only needed a draw, and was probably very focused on not falling behind on the clock.

The idea behind 17...Nxe4 is that grabbing the knight, either after exchanging queens or immediately, gives way to an indefensible fork of the e2-knight and the h4-bishop — e.g. 18.Qxe5 Rxe5 19.fxe4 Rxe4

Analysis diagram

Strange, indeed. Carlsen noticed that he had just dodged a bullet when Keymer grabbed the queen on c3 instead of the pawn on e4, as he told press officer Michael Rahal after the game. Olimpiu di Luppi clipped the Norwegian’s reaction:

Carlsen also mentioned that he felt his opponent was playing hesitantly throughout. Once the game shifted to an endgame with rooks and bishops of opposite colours, Keymer found himself needing to defend a difficult position against the toughest of opponents. Under these circumstances, it is not very surprising that the 17-year-old faltered eventually.

52...Be2, looking at the c4-pawn, was the best defensive try here. Black’s 52...Bg2, on the other hand, failed to 53.Rf5. Placing the rook on the f-file was the only winning move, and Carlsen was not going to let the chance slip away this time around, as he played the move after thinking for over five minutes.

Nine moves later, Keymer resigned.

Six players through to the round-of-16

Keymer was the only player who won on Wednesday and failed to advance after the second classical game of the round, as the remaining four winners of game 1 drew the rematch and secured a spot in the round-of-16. In addition, two players won game 2 to make it through to the next stage of the event:

  • Alexey Sarana upset Wesley So in their first game and safely drew the second encounter to leave the sixth seed out of contention.
  • Ferenc Berkes eliminated a higher-rated opponent for a third time in a row, as he defeated Ruslan Ponomariov by a 1½-½ score in round 4.
  • Nils Grandelius knocked out Jaime Santos. The Swedish GM had needed tiebreaks to advance in the previous two rounds.
  • Vidit Gujrathi played back-to-back exciting games against Etienne Bacrot, and managed to score 1½ points to reach the next round.
  • Fabiano Caruana achieved an attacking, 27-move victory over Ray Robson in the second game of the all-American matchup.
  • Arjun Erigaisi defeated fellow prodigy Javokhir Sindarov in their second encounter, and is set to face Grandelius in the next round.

Nils Grandelius

Nils Grandelius | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Caruana had 27 minutes to Robson’s 3 — with 21 moves left to be played before the time control — when he confidently opted for 20.Bxh6 in the following position.

Caruana vs. Robson

After 20...gxh6, White should not play the hasty 21.Nxh6 but the precise 21.Qd2 Nf4 22.g3, with a winning position. Seven moves later, time-trouble addict Robson threw in the towel.

Ray Robson, Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana defeated Ray Robson | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Similarly to Robson, Vidit had less than 10 minutes (8 to be precise) 21 moves before reaching the time control in his rematch game against Bacrot. Moreover, the Frenchman, in a must-win situation, had managed to provoke his opponent to enter a completely wild position.

Bacrot vs. Vidit

Engines do not approve of Vidit’s 20...Qxe1 here, but the Indian star nevertheless managed to escape with a draw in the end — overcoming his huge disadvantage on the clock to win a match without needing tiebreaks for the first time in the event.

Vidit Gujrathi

Vidit Gujrathi | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Round 4 games - Open

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 h6 7.Bf4 Bf5 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 c6 10.Nge2 Nh5 11.Be5 Nd7 12.h3 Nhf6 13.Bh2 0-0 14.a3 Ba5 15.0-0 Re8 16.Rac1 Qe7 17.b4 Bd8 18.Ng3 Bc7 19.Nf5 Bxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Qe6 21.Ng3 Qd6 22.Kg1 a5 23.Qb1 Nb6 24.bxa5 Nc4 25.Qb4 Rxa5 26.Nxd5 Nxd5 27.Qxc4 Rxa3 28.Qc5 Qxc5 29.Rxc5 Rea8 30.Nf5 h5 31.g4 hxg4 32.hxg4 Ra2 33.Rb1 Ra1 34.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 35.Kg2 Kf8 36.g5 Nc7 37.Nd6 g6 38.Nxb7 Rb1 39.Nd8 Rb5 40.Rxb5 cxb5 41.Nc6 Ke8 42.Nb4 Ke7 43.f4 Kd6 44.Kf3 Ne6 45.Ke2 Ng7 46.e4 Nh5 47.Kf3 Ng7 48.Nd3 Nh5 49.Ke3 Ng3 50.d5 Kc7 51.Kd4 Kb6 52.Ne5 b4 53.Nxf7 b3 54.Ne5 Ne2+ 55.Ke3 Kb5 56.Nd3 Nc3 57.d6 Kc6 58.e5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2690Carlsen,M28351–02023D35FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Nakamura,H2787Praggnanandhaa,R2690½–½2023A34FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Robson,R2689Caruana,F2782½–½2023E06FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2779Nihal,S2688½–½2023E04FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Svidler,P2688Abasov,N2632½–½2023D35FIDE World Cup 20234.1
So,W2769Sarana,A26850–12023D35FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Grandelius,N2684Santos Latasa,J26561–02023C11FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Gukesh,D2744Esipenko,A2683½–½2023C85FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Wang,H2709Svane,R2625½–½2023C83FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Sindarov,J2659Erigaisi,A2710½–½2023B45FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Wojtaszek,R2676Dominguez Perez,L2739½–½2023E06FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Salem,A2661Vocaturo,D2609½–½2023E04FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Vidit,S2719Bacrot,E26621–02023B47FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Duda,J2732Maghsoodloo,P2719½–½2023C92FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Berkes,F2615Ponomariov,R26641–02023E25FIDE World Cup 20234.1
Ivanchuk,V2667Sanal,V2585½–½2023D43FIDE World Cup 20234.1

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Women’s: Humpy wins tactical skirmish

In the women’s tournament, only one player had managed to gain a 1-point lead in the first game of the round-of-16 — and she was not one of the three players who secured a spot in the quarterfinals after Thursday’s rematches.

Bella Khotenashvili failed to get at least a draw against Humpy Koneru to make it through without needing tiebreaks. In a tension-filled game, Humpy prevailed despite erring at a few critical junctures of the struggle.

Khotenashvili vs. Humpy

Placing either rook on the c-file is best here, while Humpy’s 25...Nxd5 loses Black’s advantage according to the engines. However, Khotenashvili had only 2 minutes on the clock at this point, and failed to find one of the two refutations in this complex position: 26.Rhe1 or 26.Nh5. Of course, noticing why these moves are the best alternatives amid the chaos is all but impossible with so little time on the clock!

There followed 26.Rhd1 Nf4+ 27.Kf1 Qf3 28.Be4 Qxb3

Grabbing the exchange with 29.Bxa8 instead of keeping her attacking chances alive via 29.Nf5 was another mistake by Khotenashvili, who could not recover and ended up getting mated on move 42.

Bella Khotenashvili, Humpy Koneru

On to rapid and blitz tiebreaks — Bella Khotenashvili and Humpy Koneru | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

The three remaining players who won on Thursday — and, unlike Humpy, already gained spots in the quarterfinals — were also rating favourites in their matches:

  • Aleksandra Goryachkina knocked out Nino Batsiashvili and thus won a third consecutive match without needing to play a single tiebreak game.
  • Tan Zhongyi knocked out her compatriot Zhu Jiner. Tan did play tiebreaks in her round-3 match against Mai Narva.
  • Polina Shuvalova knocked out Teodora Injac, who came from upsetting 2021 World Cup winner Alexandra Kosteniuk in the previous round.

Tan Zhongyi

Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Round 4 games - Women’s

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Bxf3 e6 10.0-0 Re8 11.Rc1 a6 12.Re1 Nd7 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.b4 a5 15.a3 Ne5 16.Be2 axb4 17.axb4 Ra3 18.Qd2 Nf7 19.Nb5 Rb3 20.Rb1 Rxb1 21.Rxb1 Bd7 22.Rd1 Bc6 23.Qc2 Qd7 24.Nxd6 cxd6 25.b5 Qc7 26.bxc6 bxc6 27.f4 c5 28.Qa4 Rd8 29.Bg4 Qe7 30.Qa6 h5 31.Bh3 Bd4 32.Bxd4 cxd4 33.Rxd4 e5 34.fxe5 Qxe5 35.Rd1 Qc5+ 36.Kh1 Ng5 37.Qb5 Nxe4 38.Be6+ Kf8 39.Rf1+ Nf2+ 40.Kg1 Ke7 41.Qxc5 dxc5 42.Bd5 Ng4 43.Re1+ Kf6 44.h3 Ne5 45.Rf1+ Kg5 46.Kh2 Rb8 47.Re1 Kf5 48.Rf1+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ju,W2564Paehtz,E2471½–½2023E73FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Batsiashvili,N2474Goryachkina,A2557½–½2023D40FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Koneru,H2553Khotenashvili,B24750–12023D37FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Aulia,M2355Salimova,N2409½–½2023C42FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Injac,T2415Shuvalova,P2496½–½2023A07FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Zhu,J2498Tan,Z2523½–½2023C42FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Roebers,E2419Dronavalli,H2500½–½2023B33FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1
Muzychuk,A2504Muzychuk,M2511½–½2023D35FIDE World Cup Women 20234.1

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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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