Spain upsets Azerbaijan
Perhaps the most surprising result of the quarterfinals was Spain’s victory over a strong Azerbaijani squad. After signing four draws in the first set, wins by David Anton and Miguel Santos in the second mini-match gave Spain overall victory, despite Alexei Shirov’s loss against Gadir Guseinov on board 3 — importantly, Jaime Santos held a draw with black against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on the top board.
Facing Rauf Mamedov with white, Miguel Santos had a better pawn structure and a slightly safer king in and endgame with queens, rooks and five pawns per side.
Santos vs. Mamedov - Set #2
Black’s position is falling apart. After 45.Rxa6 Qb2 46.Qe3 Qxb4 47.Rxc6, White had created the queenside passed pawn that would end up giving him a crucial victory in the second set of the match.
The 23-year-old from Sevilla needed nine more moves to convert his advantage into a win.

Miguel Santos Ruiz | Photo: Mark Livshitz
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 Rd8 12.Re1 0-0 13.Bc2 Bf5 14.Qb1 Nxd2 15.Bxd2 Bxc2 16.Qxc2 d4 17.cxd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Qxd4 19.Ba5 Qd5 20.a3 Rc8 21.h3 c5 22.Rad1 Qc6 23.Rd3 Rfe8 24.Qd2 c4 25.Rd5 c3 26.Bxc3 Bxa3 27.Rd1 Bf8 28.Qd4 Qc4 29.Qxc4 Rxc4 30.Rd8 Rc8 31.Rxe8 Rxe8 32.Rd7 h5 33.f4 Rc8 ½–½
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Santos Latasa,J | - | Mamedyarov,S | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Radjabov,T | - | Anton Guijarro,D | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Shirov,A | - | Guseinov,G | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Mamedov,R | - | Yuffa,D | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Mamedyarov,S | 2747 | Santos Latasa,J | 2622 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Anton Guijarro,D | 2633 | Radjabov,T | 2718 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Guseinov,G | 2616 | Shirov,A | 2590 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Santos Ruiz,M | 2480 | Mamedov,R | 2567 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
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India beats France in tiebreaks
Fritz has fascinated the chess world for 30 years. And the success story continues. In Vienna, the most popular chess program ever was once again able to underline its premier position: the newly developed neural engine with NNUE technology won the official Chess Software World Championship!
Both in the preliminaries and in the quarterfinals, a gritty Indian team showcased great fighting spirit to now be among the four squads that still have chances to win the tournament in Israel.
Facing a French team led by the ever-dangerous Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Indians got ahead on the scoreboard by comfortably winning the first set of the match. The Frenchmen bounced back, though, with MVL and Laurent Fressinet scoring with black to take the contest to tiebreaks.
In the blitz, France made a substitution, as Maxime Lagarde, a quick-play specialist, joined to play on board 4 instead of Tigran Gharamian. The strategy worked out for the Europeans insofar Lagarde defeated Sasikiran, but wins for Nihal Sarin and Narayanan meant the Indians had gained a spot in the semifinals.
Narayanan’s bishop was the stronger minor piece in his first-set game against Fressinet.
Fressinet vs. Narayanan - Set #1
When there is action on both sides of the board, bishops are often stronger than knights. Here Black’s bishop defends the passer on a2 from the distant f7 square, allowing 47...Rb1 48.b7 Rxb7, which prompted Fressinet’s resignation. The centralized white knight looks strong, but is too slow in this setup.

India’s Krishnan Sasikiran | Photo: Mark Livshitz
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1.c4 e5 2.g3 d5 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0 h6 8.e3 Bd6 9.d4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Qe7 12.b3 Be5 13.Qd3 0-0 14.Bb2 Rd8 15.Qc2 c6 16.h3 Be6 17.f4 Bf5 18.Qc1 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Be4 20.Rad1 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Qe4+ 22.Kh2 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Qf3 24.Qe1 Ne4 25.b4 b6 26.b5 cxb5 27.Rc1 Rd8 28.Bd4 b4 29.Rc2 a5 30.Qg1 b5 31.Qg2 Qxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Nc3 33.Kf3 f6 34.Bb6 Ra8 35.f5 Ra6 36.Bd4 Rd6 37.g4 h5 38.g5 fxg5 39.Rg2 Rd7 40.Rxg5 Nxa2 41.Ke4 b3 42.Kd3 b4 43.f6 Nc3 44.Rg2 a4 45.Kc4 Na2 46.Be5 Nc1 47.Bb2 Nd3 48.Ba1 b2 49.Bxb2 Nxb2+ 50.Rxb2 b3 51.Kb4 Ra7 52.Rg2 Rb7+ 53.Ka3 b2 54.Rxb2 Rxb2 55.Kxb2 g5 0–1
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Vachier-Lagrave,M | - | Vidit,S | - | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Nihal,S | - | Moussard,J | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Fressinet,L | - | Narayanan,S | - | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Sasikiran,K | - | Gharamian,T | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Vidit,S | 2662 | Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2775 | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Moussard,J | 2634 | Nihal,S | 2616 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Narayanan,S | 2588 | Fressinet,L | 2684 | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Gharamian,T | 2637 | Sasikiran,K | 2577 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Vidit,S | 2662 | Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2775 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 3.1 |
Moussard,J | 2634 | Nihal,S | 2616 | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 3.1 |
Narayanan,S | 2588 | Fressinet,L | 2684 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 3.1 |
Lagarde,M | 2573 | Sasikiran,K | 2577 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 3.1 |
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Uzbekistan gets 2-0 win over Ukraine
Only one of the four matches saw the winning team scoring victories in back-to-back sets. The Uzbek team, despite missing top star Nodirbek Abdusattorov, has impressed since day 2 of the competition — they had a slow start, as they lost to Azerbaijan in the first round of the preliminary round-robin.
Against Ukraine in the quarterfinals, Jakhongir Vakhidov was the hero for the latest Olympiad champions, as he won both his games on Wednesday. Facing Igor Kovalenko with white, Vakhidov chose the correct capture in a superior queenless position.
Vakhidov vs. Kovalenko - Set #1
Black’s 28...Bxb5 was a mistake, but only 29.cxb5 keeps White’s advantage. Much like in Narayanan’s game, the bishop is the stronger minor piece here.
There followed 29...Ne4 30.Re3 Nf6 31.Rxe8+ Rxe8
Vakhidov here found the most straightforward way towards victory with 32.Rxf6 gxf6 33.Bxc7, and Black is doomed. Kovalenko continued fighting until move 56, but the Uzbek never lost control over the position.

Nodirbek Yakubboev twice drew Vasyl Ivanchuk on the top board | Photo: Mark Livshitz
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 e5 8.Be3 Qe7 9.Nd2 exd4 10.Bxd4 Nc5 11.Re1 c6 12.Bf1 Ne6 13.Be3 h5 14.h3 h4 15.Rc1 Nh5 16.Nf3 Nef4 17.Qd2 Be5 18.Rcd1 Be6 19.Nd5 cxd5 20.exd5 Bxh3 21.Bxf4 Nxf4 22.Qxf4 Bxf4 23.Rxe7 Bc8 24.b4 a5 25.b5 b6 26.Nxh4 Bg5 27.Re4 f5 28.Red4 Kf7 29.Nf3 Bf6 30.R4d2 Ra7 31.Nd4 ½–½
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Ivanchuk,V | - | Yakubboev,N | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Sindarov,J | - | Shevchenko,K | - | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Volokitin,A | - | Vokhidov,S | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Vakhidov,J | - | Kovalenko,I | - | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Yakubboev,N | 2563 | Ivanchuk,V | 2686 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Shevchenko,K | 2584 | Sindarov,J | 2554 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Vokhidov,S | 2471 | Volokitin,A | 2659 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Bernadskiy,V | 2544 | Vakhidov,J | 2507 | 0–1 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
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China knocks out Poland
Given their dominant performance in the preliminaries, it is not surprising that China managed to beat Poland in the quarterfinals, despite fielding lower-rated players on three out of four boards.
After winning the first set by a 2½-1½ score — with wins by Lu Shanglei and Bai Jinshi — the Chinese drew on all four boards in the second set to reach the semifinals. The draws were by no means fightless, though, with Bai and Xu Xiangyu playing 90 and 134 moves respectively before getting the all-important half points.
In the game that lasted 90 moves, Poland’s Mateusz Bartel failed to play a pawn break that would have increased his chances of winning the game from a closed position.
Bartel’s 44.g5 was not the most precise here, since 44.d4, using the pin, was the most trying continuation to break up the closed setup. The lost tempo allowed Bai to regroup and keep things under control in the remainder of the encounter.

China versus Poland | Photo: Mark Livshitz
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Qf3 Bg4 16.Qg2 Qh5 17.Be3 Bf3 18.Qf1 f5 19.Nd2 f4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.c4 Rf6 22.Nxf3 Nf4 23.c5+ Kh8 24.Bd1 Nh3+ 25.Kg2 Bxc5 26.d4 Bxd4 27.Nxd4 Qd5+ 28.Nf3 Ng5 29.Re5 1–0
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Lu,S | - | Wojtaszek,R | - | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Piorun,K | - | Xu,X | - | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Bai,J | - | Bartel,M | - | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Gumularz,S | - | Li,D | - | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 1.1 |
Wojtaszek,R | 2636 | Lu,S | 2627 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Xu,X | 2574 | Piorun,K | 2494 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Bartel,M | 2533 | Bai,J | 2498 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
Li,D | 2441 | Gumularz,S | 2530 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE WTC-KO 202 | 2.1 |
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There are few names which, like that of Alexei Shirov, can be associated with fantastically imaginative and tactically influenced play. Now the Latvian grandmaster is presenting a DVD on precisely that element of the game of chess. And one that is completely based on his own games.
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