World Cup: Carlsen and Arjun score with black

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/16/2023 – Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi both won with black to take a 1-point lead in their quarterfinal matches against Dommaraju Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, respectively. Leinier Dominguez got winning chances but failed to find precise continuations against Fabiano Caruana, while Vidit Gujrathi and Nijat Abasov signed a 109-move draw on Tuesday. In the women’s section, Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated Tan Zhongyi, also with black. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
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A dream start

Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi have excellent chances of reaching the semifinals in the open section of the FIDE World Cup after scoring wins with black against Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa on Tuesday. Needing to win on demand, the fighting Gukesh and Pragg are likely to go for lively variations right out of the opening in the rematches.

While Carlsen showed his well-known mastery in an endgame (more on that below), Arjun was stronger than his good friend Pragg once a tactical sequence led to an extremely sharp position. Arjun’s passed d-pawn gave him an all-important win that gets the 19-year-old closer to qualifying to his first-ever Candidates Tournament.

Arjun Erigaisi

Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

Carlsen’s endgame technique

In an interesting, tense struggle, Carlsen got the upper hand early on despite playing black, as Gukesh’s strongest suit is not deep theoretical preparation. Carlsen ended up getting a superior rook endgame, and showcased his great technique to convert his advantage into a win.

GM Karsten Müller analysed the endgame!

Full-game analysis by IM Robert Ris

Quarterfinals’ games - Open

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1.d4 8 Nf6 50 2.Bf4 15 b6 4:14 3.Nc3 12 Bb7 1:09 4.f3 10 e6 5:29 5.e4 10 a6 3:25 6.Qd2 27 A45: Trompowsky Attack. d5 3:38
7.0-0-0N 1:00 Predecessor: 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Bxd5 9.Bd3 Bd6 10.Bg3 0-0 11.Ne2 c5 12.c3 Bb7 13.0-0-0 1-0 Lantos,A (2038)-Karacsonyi,G (1978) HUN-chT2 Erkel 1617 2016 (1.6) 7...Bb4 9:07 8.a3 22:07 The position is equal. Bxc3 4:38 9.Qxc3 8 dxe4 5 10.d5 3:46 Nxd5 2:01 11.Qxg7 18 11.fxe4? is the wrong capture. Nxc3 12.Rxd8+ Kxd8-+ 11...Qf6 10 12.Qxf6 25 Nxf6 1 13.Be5 6:12 Ke7 2 14.Bxc7 11 Nbd7 2:05 15.Bg3 5:51 Rhg8 1:09 16.Be2 6:47 Ke8 3:43 17.fxe4 7:42 Nxe4 1:02 18.Bf3 42 Nxg3 1:41 19.hxg3 5:09 Bxf3 39 20.Nxf3 6 Rxg3 16:26 21.Rxh7 6 Ne5! is the strong threat. Ke7 1:30 22.Nd4 3:24 Ne5 40 Repels Nc6+ 23.Re1 5:49 Rg4 2:15 24.Rxe5 5:47 Rxd4= 2       Endgame KRR-KRR 25.Re2 15 Rad8 1:48 26.c3 3:08 Rf4 19 27.Kc2 40 Rg8 20 28.b4 4:29 b5 5:10 Black should play 28...Rfg4 29.Kb3 2:00 Rfg4 31 30.Rf2 1:15 R8g7 31 31.Rxg7 15 Rxg7 1 KR-KR 32.a4 1:49 f5 42       33.axb5 1:31 axb5 2 Strongly threatening ...Rg3. 34.Ra2? 3:35
Black continues to play with concentration. 34.c4!= 34...Rg5? 28 34...Kd6!-+ and Black stays clearly on top. And now ...e5 would win. 35.Ra6+ Ke5 35.Ra7+? 6:02       35.Ra5 35...Kf6-+ 1:05 36.Ra2 2:41
36...f4! 1:19 ...e5 would be deadly. 37.Rc2 32 Rg3 1:39 38.Ka2 4 Ke5 5:00 But not 38...e5? 39.c4-+ 39.Kb2 1 Kd5 3:34 40.Rd2+ 3:27 Ke4 4:09 41.Kb3 15:56 e5 47       White must now prevent ...Ke3. 42.Re2+ 18 Kf5 13 43.Rd2 36 e4 1:06 44.Rd5+ 4:24 Kf6 9 45.Rxb5 50 e3 10 Black mates. 46.Rb6+ 38 Kf5 10 47.Rb5+ 23 Ke4 6 48.Rb8 7 e2 1:31 Weighted Error Value: White=0.68/Black=0.13 (very precise) 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gukesh D2744Carlsen,M28350–12023A45FIDE World Cup 20236.1
Dominguez Perez,L2739Caruana,F2782½–½2023C55FIDE World Cup 20236.1
Vidit,S2719Abasov,N2632½–½2023B30FIDE World Cup 20236.1
Praggnanandhaa R2690Erigaisi Arjun27100–12023D78FIDE World Cup 20236.1
Carlsen,M2835Gukesh D2744½–½2023B22FIDE World Cup 20236.2
Caruana,F2782Dominguez Perez,L27391–02023D33FIDE World Cup 20236.2
Erigaisi Arjun2710Praggnanandhaa R26900–12023B22FIDE World Cup 20236.2
Abasov,N2632Vidit,S27191–02023D02FIDE World Cup 20236.2
Erigaisi Arjun2710Praggnanandhaa R2690½–½2023E36FIDE World Cup 20236.3
Praggnanandhaa R2690Erigaisi Arjun2710½–½2023D31FIDE World Cup 20236.4
Erigaisi Arjun2710Praggnanandhaa R26900–12023C22FIDE World Cup 20236.5
Praggnanandhaa R2690Erigaisi Arjun27100–12023D37FIDE World Cup 20236.6
Erigaisi Arjun2710Praggnanandhaa R26900–12023C54FIDE World Cup 20236.7
Praggnanandhaa R2690Erigaisi Arjun27100–12023D35FIDE World Cup 20236.8
Praggnanandhaa R2690Erigaisi Arjun27101–02023A07FIDE World Cup 20236.9

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Women’s: Goryachkina beats Tan

Aleksandra Goryachkina entered the Women’s World Cup as the second seed. The Russian grandmaster has already qualified to the next edition of the Candidates Tournament.

According to the FIDE regulations, unlike in the open section, if Goryachkina finishes among the top-3 in Baku, the spot in the Candidates will not be filled by the next best player in the World Cup, and instead will be decided by the January 2024 ratings list. Thus, Tan Zhongyi, Nurgyul Salimova and Anna Muzychuk are now fighting for two spots at the knockout event.

While Salimova held Muzychuk to a 32-move draw with black on Tuesday, Goryachkina managed to beat Tan with the black pieces.

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Semifinals’ games - Women’s

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1.d4 4 d5 13 2.c4 7 e6 15 3.Nc3 8 Nf6 17 4.cxd5 9 exd5 6 5.Bg5 8 Be7 33 6.e3 9 0-0 39 7.Bd3 11 Re8 39 8.Nge2 36 c6 2:10 9.h3 1:51 Nbd7 1:36       10.Qc2 57 a5!? 4:06       A promising side line. D36: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation: Main line (5 Bg5 c6 6 Qc2). 11.0-0 6:37 Nf8 1:18
12.f3N 4:07 Predecessor: 12.Rae1 Ne4 13.Bf4 f5 14.f3 Nd6 15.Ng3 Bh4 16.Re2 g6 17.Nh1 Ne6 18.Bh2 1-0 Bogdanovich,G (2355)-Gazmaga,S Wuerzburg op 7th 1991 (5) 12...b5 18:32 The position is equal. 13.Rae1 6:43 Ba6 2:50 14.Ng3 4:20 b4 3:28 14...h6!? 15.Bf4 Ne6 15.Na4 5:08 Ne6 4:35 16.Bxf6 23 Bxf6 1:12 17.Bxa6 3:21 Rxa6 2 18.Nf5 50 18.Re2= 18...h5! 7:16 19.Rc1 5:44 19.Nc5 Ra7 20.f4 19...g6-+ 1:37 20.Ng3 19 Qb8? 4:26 Better is 20...Ng7!-+ And now ...Bh4 would win. 21.e4 Bxd4+ 22.Kh1 c5 21.Ne2= 7:38 Qb5 1:55 22.Rcd1 10:58 22.Rfe1= 22...Raa8 7:52       Black is more active. 22...Ra7!? 23.Rd3 Rae7 23.b3 4:26 Rac8 1:45 24.Qd3 6:35 Kg7 3:22 25.Rd2 5:00 Qxd3 4:58 26.Rxd3 4 c5 28 27.dxc5 6 Nxc5 17 28.Nxc5 10 Rxc5 1 29.Nf4 1:26 29.Rfd1= keeps the balance. 29...d4! 5:48 Black keeps a firm grip on the game. 30.e4 5:49 30.exd4 Rc2 31.Rf2 Re1+ 32.Rf1 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 30...Rc2 46 31.Rf2 8:47 Rec8 21 32.Rfd2 5:43 Rxd2 2:15 33.Rxd2-+ 5       Endgame
KRB-KRN 33...Bg5! 12 34.g3 5 h4 16 35.Rxd4 3:55 Rc1+ 3:31 35...hxg3 36.Nd5 36.Kh2 1:15 Rc2+ 1:11 37.Ng2 6 Rxa2 37 38.e5? 1:45 38.Rd1 is a better defense. 38...Bd2 5:47 ...a4 is the strong threat. 39.Rd7 4 a4 7:33 40.e6 20 e7 would be deadly. Kf8 46 40...axb3 41.e7 Be1 42.e8Q 41.bxa4 32:09
41...b3! 7:16       And not 41...fxe6 42.Rb7 42.Rb7 0 b2 3:25 42...Rxa4 43.Nxh4 Ra2 44.Rxb3± Stronger than 42...fxe6 43.Rxb3 hxg3+ 44.Kxg3= 43.f4 0 fxe6 2:28 Not 43...Rxa4 44.Rb8+ Kg7 45.Rxb2 hxg3+ 46.Kxg3 44.Nxh4 0
44...Bb4! 2:24       Promotion 45.Nxg6+ 0 Kg8 49 Weighted Error Value: White=0.60/Black=0.09 (flawless) 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tan,Z2523Goryachkina,A25570–12023D36FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.1
Muzychuk,A2504Salimova,N2409½–½2023B13FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.1
Goryachkina,A2557Tan,Z2523½–½2023A42FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.2
Salimova,N2409Muzychuk,A2504½–½2023D27FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.2
Muzychuk,A2504Salimova,N24090–12023B15FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.3
Salimova,N2409Muzychuk,A25040–12023A87FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.4
Salimova,N2409Muzychuk,A25041–02023D27FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.5
Muzychuk,A2504Salimova,N2409½–½2023B15FIDE Womens World Cup 20236.6

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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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