FIDE WORLD CUP R4 preview – Caruana and Giri are out!
The third round of the FIDE World Chess Cup cut the battlefield to only 32 players in Open section and 16 players in Women’s section! As the stakes started to be high, the games became sharper, bringing more surprising results!
That everything is possible in the FIDE World Cup, we could have seen already after the second game of the third round. Having White pieces in his hands, the World No.2 Fabiano Caruana (USA 2806) suffered a loss to Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan 2637). The first game ended in a draw, meaning that Fabi is out.
Read more: FIDE World Cup 2021 – Top seeds join the fights
With the same 1.5-0.5 result, Serbian prodigy Velimir Ivic (Serbia 2582) again surprised and defeated Bluebaum Matthias (Germany 2669). Convincingly winning the first game, Ivic accepted a draw in the game 2 to take the seat in Round 4.
With both victories in the classical part of the Round 3, Brkic Ante (Croatia 2592) advanced to the next round, defeating Salem A.R. Saleh (Egypt 2682) with the final result of 2-0.
Another World-class player suffered an upset in the Round 3. Anish Giri (Netherlands 2776) and 16 years old Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Kazakhstan 2634) drew both classical games proceeding to tiebreaks. Abdusattorov convincingly won two rapid games to expel Giri from the event.
Read more: Anish Giri takes home 0.6 rating from the FIDE World Cup
A similar scenario happened to Mamedyarov Shakriyar (Azerbaijan 2782) who lost the tiebreaks against Armenian youngster Martirosyan Haik (Armenia 2632). Martirosyan led in the classical part of the match, winning the first game, but Mamedyarov managed to stay in the match, winning the second game as White. However, the tiebreaks started with a Martirosyan’s victory who hold a drew in the second rapid game to reserve the seat for the 4th round.
A little bit of less drama was seen in Women’s section. Maybe the most interesting match was the one between Ukrainian players: Muzychuk Mariya and Ushenina Anna. They started with two draws in the classical games, and then both players won the rapid games with White pieces. The clash proceeded to blitz games after 3-3 score. Muzychuk managed to win the first game as White and hold a draw in the second game to advance in the next round.
Another interesting clash of two compatriots happened in a match between Shuvalova Polina (Russia 2489) and Garifullina Leya (Russia 2390). The two young girls started with two draws in the classical part and the first two games of rapid match were decisive. However, the result was still equal. Shuvalova took the lead in the 3rd rapid game, winning with White pieces, and with a draw in the fourth game, she booked the spot in the Round 4.
Round 4 of the FIDE World Cup brings more exciting matches. Today is the free day and the games start on July 22nd from 14:00 CEST. Top games will be broadcasted through chessdom.com:
Wojtaszek Radoslaw – Magnus Carlsen
Esipenko Andrey – Dubov Daniil
Jumabayev Rinat – Shankland Sam
Svidler Peter – Vitiugov Nikita
Stefanova Antoaneta – Goryachkina Aleksandra
Sadukassova Dinara – Kashlinskaya Alina
Lagno Kateryna – Assaubayeva Bibisara
Khademalsharieh Sarasadat – Tan Zhongyi
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FIDE WORLD CUP 2021 – Round 3 underway