THE second games in the quarterfinals matches of the FIDE Open World Cup in Sochi, Russia, were hard-fought and the underdogs – Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev – gave all they’ve got to thwart respective opponents, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin, to secure a finals slot.
However, only Duda managed to fend off Carlsen and got the draw after 65 moves of a Ruy Lopez Marshall albeit in a somewhat favorable rook versus minor piece and pawn ending. Fedoseev didn’t get the same luck, erred in a toe-to-toe middlegame slugfest and lost to Karjakin who advanced to the finals. Carlsen and Duda will dispute the second finals slot in a tiebreak rapid match.
Meanwhile, former world women’s champion Alexandra Kosteniuk (2472) crowned herself the FIDE Women’s World Cup by drawing her second finals game against the highly-rated Aleksandra Goryachkina (2596). The 37-year old Kosteniuk, the world champion from 2008 to 2010, was up to the task against the 23-year old Goryachkina and offered the draw after 59 moves of a French Tarrasch in a clearly winning position which the latter accepted. Goryachkina, incidentally, lost in the 2020 women’s world championship match against current champion Wenjun Ju on tiebreak.
Duda, J-K (2738)- Carlsen, M (2847) [C88]
Krasnaya Polyana (7.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Rb8 9.c3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.axb5 axb5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 c6 14.d4 Bd6 15.Re1 Qh4 16.g3 Qh3 17.Re4 g5 18.Qf1 Qxf1+ 19.Kxf1 Bf5 20.Nd2 Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Be7 22.Bxg5 Bxg5 23.Nxg5 Ra8 24.Rd1 Nb6 25.Re1 Nc4 26.Bxc4 bxc4 27.Nf3 Rfb8 28.Ne5 Rxb2 29.Nxc4 Rc2 30.Re3 Ra1+ 31.Kg2 Rac1 32.Re8+ Kg7 33.Ne5 Rxc3 34.Re7 R3c2 35.Rxf7+ Kg8 36.Rc7 h5 37.Nd7 Rd1 38.Nf6+ Kf8 39.Nxh5 Rdd2 40.h4 Rxf2+ 41.Kh3 Rf7 42.Rc8+ Ke7 43.Nf4 Kd6 44.h5 Rd2 45.Kg4 Rg7+ 46.Kf3 Rxd4 47.h6 Rh7 48.Rd8+ Ke5 49.Re8+ Kd6 50.Rd8+ Ke5 51.Re8+ Kd6 52.Re6+ Kd7 53.Rg6 Ke7 54.Rxc6 Rd6 55.Ng6+ Kd7 56.Ne5+ Ke6 57.Rxd6+ Kxd6 58.Kf4 Ke6 59.Ng4 Ra7 60.Kg5 Kf7 61.Ne3 Kg8 62.g4 Kh7 63.Kh5 Ra3 64.Nf5 Ra5 65.Kg5 ½-½
Karjakin, S (2757)- Fedoseev, V (2696) [C92]
Krasnaya Polyana (7.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a3 h6 13.Bc2 d5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Rxe5 16.Nf3 Re8 17.e5 Ne4 18.Bf4 c5 19.a4 f5 20.h4 Be7 21.h5 Rf8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Bxa8 24.e6 Re8 25.Ne5 Bg5 26.Ng6 d4 27.cxd4 Nxf2 28.Kxf2 Bxf4 29.Nxf4 Qh4+ 30.Kg1 Qxf4 31.d5 Qg3 32.Re2 Qg5 33.Qd2 1-0
Kosteniuk, A (2472)- Goryachkina, A (2596) [C07]
Krasnaya Polyana (7.2) 2021
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Qxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.0-0 b6 10.Ne4 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Be4 Rc8 13.Bf4 Qxf4 14.Bxb7 Rc7 15.Ba6 Bc5 16.Rad1 Ke7 17.c3 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 19.Qd3 Bd6 20.f4 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Rd7 22.Qe2 h5 23.Bc4 Rc8 24.Bb3 Qf5 25.Rd4 Rdd8 26.Rfd1 Bc7 27.Bc2 Qg4 28.Qa6 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rd8 30.Qa3+ Bd6 31.Qxa7+ Rd7 32.Qa6 h4 33.Qd3 f5 34.b4 h3 35.gxh3 Qg8 36.Bb3 Qa8+ 37.Kg1 Rd8 38.Kf2 Bxf4 39.Rxd8 Qxd8 40.Qxd8+ Kxd8 41.Ke2 Ke7 42.a4 Bc7 43.h4 Kf6 44.Kd3 Kg6 45.Kc4 f4 46.Kb5 f3 47.a5 bxa5 48.bxa5 e5 49.a6 Bb8 50.Kb6 e4 51.Bd1 f5 52.Kb7 f2 53.Be2 f4 54.Kxb8 f3 55.Bc4 e3 56.a7 f1Q 57.Bxf1 e2 58.Bxe2 fxe2 59.a8Q ½-½
Muzychuk, A (2527)- Tan, Z (2511) [C42]
Krasnaya Polyana (7.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Be7 7.h3 0-0 8.c3 Nbd7 9.Bc2 Ne5 10.Nh4 Ng6 11.Nf5 Re8 12.d4 Bf8 13.Nd2 d5 14.Ng3 Bd6 15.Re1 Bd7 16.Ndf1 Rxe1 17.Qxe1 Qf8 18.Nf5 Re8 19.Qd1 Ne4 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.a4 h6 22.Be3 f5 23.f3 Ng5 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Qd2 Qe7 26.g3 Qe2 27.Bd1 Qe7 28.Bc2 Qe2 29.Bd1 Qa6 30.Bb3 c6 31.Re1 Qb6 32.Rxe8+ Bxe8 33.Bd1 f4 34.g4 c5 35.dxc5 Qxc5+ 36.Qf2 b6 37.Nd2 Ne5 38.Qxc5 bxc5 39.b4 c4 40.Nb1 Kf8 41.Na3 Ke7 42.Kf1 a6 43.Ke2 Bc6 44.Kd2 Kd6 45.a5 Be8 46.Nc2 Nc6 47.Nd4 Bd7 48.Bc2 Nxd4 49.cxd4 Bb5 ½-½
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qe2!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Ne6 2.Nb4#; 1…bxc4 2.Nc3#; 1…Kxc4 2.Nd2#; 1…Ke6 2.Ng3#./PN
