World Cup: Pragg and Caruana win, reach quarterfinals

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/14/2023 – Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana scored wins on Sunday to knock out Ferenc Berkes and Jan-Krzysztof Duda respectively. While Pragg is set to face Arjun Erigaisi in an all-Indian quarterfinal, Caruana will play Leinier Dominguez in a duel of US grandmasters. Gukesh and Magnus Carlsen also secured their spots in the next stage when they will face each other. In the women’s section, three out of four quarterinal matchups will be decided in tiebreaks, as only Tan Zhongyi has secured a spot in the semifinals. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
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Gukesh to face Carlsen

A much-anticipated encounter between rising star Dommaraju Gukesh and Magnus Carlsen will be the marquee confrontation in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup. After winning their games on Saturday, Gukesh safely drew Wang Hao in their rematch, while Carlsen got to obtain a second consecutive victory over Vasyl Ivanchuk.

The other three contenders who won in the first game of the round-of-16 also secured a spot in the next round, as Nijat Abasov, Arjun Erigaisi and Leinier Dominguez will all get a rest day on Monday after knocking out Saleh Salem, Nils Grandelius and Alexey Sarana, respectively.

Besides the aforementioned five quarterfinalists, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Fabiano Caruana advanced to the next stage by scoring wins in the round-of-16’s classical rematches. Pragg defeated Ferenc Berkes’ French Defence, while Caruana got to leave defending champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda out of contention from the black side of a Nimzo-Indian Defence.

The one match of the round-of-16 in the open section that will be decided in tiebreaks is the one pitting Vidit Gujrathi against Ian Nepomniachtchi. If Vidit manages to beat the 2-time Candidates winner, he will remarkably be the fourth Indian player to reach the quarterfinals — even if Vidit loses, having three representatives (out of eight) in the quarterfinals is nonetheless an outstanding feat by the Indians.

Nijat Abasov

Nijat Abasov | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

Vasyl Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen

Vasyl Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Ivanchuk 0 - 1 Carlsen

Endgame analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Ivanchuk, Vasyl26670–1Carlsen, Magnus2835
FIDE World Cup 2023
Baku12.08.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.c3 d6 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 d5 13.e5 Ne4 14.Nc3 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bf5 16.h3 Qd7 17.Be3 Nd8 18.Nd2 b4 19.c4 dxc4 20.Bxc4 c6 21.Qa4 Rb7 22.Nf1 Ne6 23.Ng3 Bg6 24.Red1 Nc7 25.Qb3 Nd5 26.Ra5 Ra7 27.Rda1 Rfa8 28.Rxa7 Rxa7 29.Rxa7 Qxa7 30.Ne2 Qa3 31.Bc1 Qxb3 32.Bxb3 Bd3 33.Nf4 Nxf4 34.Bxf4 c5 35.dxc5 Bxc5 36.e6 Kf8 37.exf7 Bg6 38.Kf1 Bxf7 39.Bxf7 Kxf7 40.Ke2 Bd4
King inroads. Same-colored bishop endings have a drawish tendency: 41.Kd3?! This is playable, but makes matters more complicated. 41.Be3 is easier, e.g. Bxe3 42.Kxe3 Ke6 43.Kd4 Kf5 44.Kc4 Ke4 45.Kxb4 Kd3 46.Kc5 Ke2 47.f4= 41...Bxf2 42.Bd2 Bc5 43.Kc4 Bf8 The computer claims that 43...Bf8 44.g4
still defends, e.g. Of course not 44.Bxb4? Bxb4 45.Kxb4 Ke6 46.Kc4 Ke5 47.Kd3 Kf4 48.Ke2 Kg3 49.Kf1 Kh2 50.Kf2 g5 51.Kf3 h5 52.Kf2 g4 53.hxg4 hxg4 54.g3 Kh3 55.Kf1 Kxg3 56.Kg1 Kh3!-+ 44...Ke6 45.Kd4 b3 46.Bc1 Kf6 47.Kc3 Ke5 48.Kxb3 Ke4 49.Kc4 Kf3 50.Kd3 Kg3 51.Ke4 Kxh3 52.Kf3= 0–1

Full-game analysis by IM Robert Ris

Round-of-16 games - Open

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Women’s: Shuvalova bounces back

Only one player has secured a spot in the semifinals of the women’s section, as Tan Zhongyi knocked out Bella Khotenashvili in the classical portion of their match.

The remaining three quarterfinals will go to tiebreaks, including the confrontation between Nurgyul Salimova and Polina Shuvalova. Salimova had upset her higher-rated opponent in game 1, but failed to get at least a draw in the rematch to avoid needing rapid and blitz tiebreakers to reach the next round.

The Bulgarian IM actually had a winning position according to the engines, but she failed to find an incredible tactical recourse in a double-edged endgame.

Shuvalova vs. Salimova

33...a1Q+ here, forcing simplifications, wins for Black. Incredibly, after 34.Rxa1 Rxa1 35.Kxa1 hxg4 36.hxg4, Black counts with 36...Nh5

Analysis diagram

Black is quicker to promote in all the ensuing lines! This was surely hard to see from afar, though. Unfortunately for Salimova, she not only missed this chance to win the match in style but also failed to maintain the balance after 33...Ke7 (in the first diagrammed position), as Shuvalova managed to get a 55-move win to remain in contention.

Polina Shuvalova

Polina Shuvalova played bravely and defeated Nurgyul Salimova in a must-win situation | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Quarterfinals’ games - Women’s

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Full schedule | Pairings and results

All games with computer analysis: Open | Women’s

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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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