Chess: teens shine as top seeds eliminated from $1.9m World Cup
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The $1.9m, 206-player World Cup in Sochi has this week witnessed a brilliant exhibition by a galaxy of teenage talents, while in contrast the top seeds who have become familiar faces online have been decimated. Of the top four in the rankings, only world champion Magnus Carlsen survived into Thursday’s fourth round.
The pandemic played its part. The No3 seed, Levon Aronian, withdrew before the start, citing a fever. The No2 seed Fabiano Caruana’s first round game was interrupted after an hour because his Indonesian opponent had tested positive for Covid -19, but the Russian health agency responsible for testing had delayed notifying the Fide organisers. Caruana won that match by default and stayed free of virus symptoms, but next round he was knocked out by the little-known No1 from Kazakhstan, Rinat Jumabayev.
The No4 seed, Anish Giri, lost 2-0 to Nodibirek Abdusattorov, as the Uzbek 16-year-old calmly eliminated the highly rated Dutchman. Abdusattorov was among five teenagers to qualify for the last 32. Youngest of them all is another Uzbek, Javokhir Sindarov, 15, who brought off an early sensation by knocking out the ex-Iranian turned Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, 18, who has been widely named as Carlsen’s heir apparent for the global crown.
The major significance of this week’s results is that, allowing for age, Firouzja is now by no means assured of remaining as the leader of the new generation. Sindarov’s round two win against him has been highly praised. After four draws, he struck as Black in a King’s Indian by a thematic pawn sacrifice 22...f4-f3! gaining f4 for his knight and dominating the rest of the game.
The round of the last 32 takes place over three days from Thursday to Saturday. Play starts at 1pm BST and can be followed, including commentaries by Nigel Short, at the official site, worldcup.fide.com.
Puzzle 2428
Vasiliy Korchmar v Dmitry Kokarev, Moscow Open 2019. White to move. White has allowed Black’s knights the run of the queen’s side and lined up his own army against the black king. Can you find White’s winning move?
Click here for solution
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