Round 2 Kicks Off in Baku

Elite players have joined the field.

Wednesday, August 2, Round 2 of the FIDE World Cup began in Baku. The open section has 78 winners of the first round added by another 50 grandmasters, led by Magnus Carlsen. Owing to their high rating they have been admitted directly into the second round to jointly make 64 pairs for Final 128. The Women's World Cup is shorter by one round, so these figures should be divided by two: 39 winners of the first round were joined by 25 "seeded" players, thus resulting in 32 pairs going into Final 64.

Russian players have had a rather good start in both sections. Game results:

Nepomniachtchi – Asadli (Azerbaijan) 1:0

Nesterov – Giri (Netherlands) Draw

Grischuk – Daneshvar (Iran) Draw

Vitiugov – Fridman (Germany) 1:0

Adhiban  (India) – Dubov  0:1

Puranik (India) – Svidler 0:1

Antipov – Grandelius (Sweden) Draw

Esipenko – Safarli (Azerbaijan) Draw

Paravyan – Bluebaum (Germany) Draw

Ordaz Valdes (Cuba) – Goryachkina Draw

Gomes (Inida) – Lagno Draw

Beydullayeva (Azerbaijan) – Shuvalova  0:1

Bivol – Mammadzada (Azerbaijan) 1:0

Olga Badelko defeated Leya Garifullina as White in a battle of compatriots.

Nepomniachtchi – Asadli

Even if White has any edge, it is a very slight one: Black has conterplay following 15...c6 16. R5b3 c5!?. Instead, the GM of Azerbaijan decided to hunt after his opponent's queen.

15…Bg4 16.Qh4 g5?

Only Vugar himself can explain what he was counting on when giving up a pawn.

17. Qxh6 Qe7

In case of 17...Rh8 White can refrain from accepting another sacrifice with 18. Qf6, but can also accept the second pawn offering with 18. Qxg5 Rdg8 19. Qf6 Bh3 20.g3. Neither continuation gives Black any compensation for the material sacrificed.

18. Re1

Stronger is 18. a4! c6 19. R5b4, gearing up for the а4-а5 ram.

18...Be6 19.a4 c6 20. Rb3 Rde8

Black misses an excellent chance: 20...c5 21. Bf1 c4 22. Rb5 Qa3!, e.g.: 23. Bxg5 Rh8 24. Qf6 Qxc3, and the position is no longer as clear as it used to be.

21. Reb1 Bd8 22. Qh5

22…g4

There is no plugging up the b-file: 22...b6 23.Ba6+ Kb8 24. a5 b5 25. Bxb5! cxb5 26. Rxb5+ Kc8 27. c4!, and Black's defensive ramparts collapse.

23. Rxb7 Qxb7 24. Rxb7 Kxb7 25. Bf5 Bc7 26. Bxe6 Rxe6 27. Qxf7 Rge8 28. g3 Rxe5 29. Bg5 Kc8 30. Be3 a5 31. Qg6 Black resigns.

Vitiugov – Fridman

White has just come up with 18. Re2 to double the rooks along the open file. Black reacted in a straightforward manner.

18…Re4?!

Black should instead have covered the f5-square with 18...g6. Now there follows a rather simple but cute tactical sequence.

19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. Nf5 Qe6

It does not look like Fridman, whom we know as a very tenacious, resourceful and hard-to-defeat player. A lot more stubborn is 20...Qf4, and White is only slightly for choice in the endgame following 21. Rxe4 Qxe4 (21...dxe4 22. Qb3+ Kh8 23. Qxb7 is inferior) 22. Qxe4 dxe4 23. g4.

21. Nxg7! Kxg7 22. Rxe4 Qxe4 23. Qg3+ Kh8 24. Qxc7 Rg8 25. g3 Qxd4 26. Re1 Qxb2 27. Re7

Stronger is 27. Qf4!, getting at the f6-pawn right away.

27...Qxc2 28. Qxb7 a5 29. Qc7 a4 30. Qd6

White has come up with the most unpleasant setup for his opponent.

30…Qc1+ 31. Kg2 Qh6

Even if Black is up a pawn, you do not want to be in his shoes as the king is weak and rooks are tethered to the defence. Vitiugov's prophylactic move highlights vulnerability of Black's position.

32. Kh2! Qf8 33. Qe6 d4 34. Rf7 Qd8 35. Rd7 Qf8 36. Qxc6

Reaping the harvest.

36…a3 37. Qd5 Qe8 38. Qxd4 Qe6 39. Rd6 Rg4 40. Rd8+ Rg8 41. Rd7 Rf8 42. Qd3 Rf7 43. Rxf7 Qxf7 44. Qxa3

It lead to the queen ending with two pawns to the good for White.

44…Kg7 45. Qa6 f5 46. Qe2 Qa7 47. Qe5+ Kg8 48. Qd5+ Kg7 49. Kg2 Black resigns.

Puranik – Svidler

Black got a very favorable position in the opening by grabbing space in the center and weakening the opponent's king. To turn the tables, the Indian chess player decided to sacrifice a pawn.

22.b5!? cxb5 23. Nxb6 Nxb6 24. Rb1 Re5 25. e4 Na4 26. Qb3 Qh3!

A subtle manoeuvre: the Re5-h5 threat forces White to expose the second rank.

27. f3 Rc5 28. Rbc1 Nc3 29. e5

There is no regaining the pawn: 29. Bxc3 Rxc3 30. Rxc3 dxc3 31. Qxc3 Ra2.

29...Qe6!

The queen has done her duty, let her go! Not in a sense of letting her go entirely, but move her to the center instead.

30. Qb4 Qd5 31. Bxc3 Ra4!

An important intermezzo that allows Black to take control over the d4-square.

32. Qb2 dxc3 The pawn is vulnerable (33.Rxc3 Qd4+), and White resigns.

Bivol – Mammadzada

White gave up two pawns to weaken Black's kingside and lock up the rook on g6 in return.

33…Rxf6?

However, Black needed to get rid of the f6-knight, but he needed to do it softly with 33...Bg7, and if 34. Nxh5, then 34…d5. However, the player of Azerbaijan counted on carrying out her attack faster than her opponent.

34. gxf6 d5 35. Rg3 Ne4 36. Rg2 d4 37. Rdg1 Bxa3 38. Ka2 d3

Now 39. Qxc4 Bxb2 justifies Black's plan, but there followed the unforeseen 39.Bh6!! dxc2 40.Bg7+ Kg8 41. Bf8+!, and Black resigned because of the inevitable checkmate.

And, of course, it' would be a shame to unmention the following mind-boggling game.

Lagarde – Praggnanandhaa

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxd4 exd4 7. Qxd4 c6 8. Be2 Qb6 9. Qd3 Be7

10. f4

Calmer is 10.0-0-0 with a very pleasant position, but the French chess player got carried away into the abyss of complications.

10...0-0 11. h4 d5

Just as they used to teach us in the old days: a flank offensive should be met by the central counteroffensive.

12. h5 dxe4 13. Qg3 Nh4!

White must have counted on 13...Nh8 14. h6 g6 15. Nxe4, but Black sacrifices a piece instead.

14. Rxh4 Qg1+ 15. Bf1 e3!

It is not for the sake of a boring recapture on h4 that Black has embarked on this adventure!

16. Nd1

16.Ne2 Qf2+ loses the game, whereas 16. Rh2 Bc5 17. Ne2 Qf2+ 18. Qxf2 exf2+ 19. Kd2 Rd8+ 20. Kc3 Rd1 finds White's pieces completely paralyzed.

16... Re8 17. Ke2 Be6 18. b3 Rad8 19. Nxe3 Bf6 20. Rb1 Bf5 21. Qf2

What about forcing your opponent into trading queens? 21…Qxf2+ 22.Kxf2 Bxh4+ 23.g3 Rxe3! 24.Bxe3 allows White to escape nearly unscathed. However, this is not to be!

21…Bxh4! 22. Qxh4

The queen is not to be touched: 22.Qxg1 Bg4#.

22... Bxc2 23. Qxd8

This sacrifice is only good enough to stave off the worst.

23…Rxd8 24. Nxc2 Qc5 25. Ne3 Re8 26. Kf3 Qd4 27. Ke2 Qc5 28. Kf3 Qxh5+ 29. g4 Qh1+

The black pieces are still rampant in the enemy's camp as if at home. Black would never manage to coordinate his forces.

30. Kg3 Re6 31. Bd2 h5 32. gxh5 Qxh5 33. Re1 Rg6+ 34. Kf2 Qh4+ 35. Kf3 Qg3+ 36. Ke4 Rd6 37. Re2 f5+ White resigns.

There happened no special upsets on the first day of the second round as the favorite players either won (M. Carlsen, F. Caruana, A. Giri) or drew their games. We are in for return games on Thursday. 

Tournament page 

Official website 

Text and photo credit: Vladimir Barsky