Best Games of FIDE World Cup Round 2.1
As promised, I'm continuing to offer my notes and analysis as I prepare videos for our YouTube and Twitch channels during the 2019 FIDE World Cup. In Round 2 we, once again, saw fighting chess (the kind only a knockout event with stakes like the World Cup has can offer), and I had a field day trying to decide which were right to cover...
As most logical people do when they need sound advice 
I went to social media and got the following results:
It turned out, many wanted me to review Anton's win over Wei Yi that round as well!
Anyway, while I ultimately made up my own mind and ignored the social media vote 
in the end (again, as most sane people do) -- I still really appreciate everyone who voted!
Moving on, as I said in the video, I really loved this game and thought it was a borderline perfect effort by Nihal Sarin. Obviously he was eventually outed in the second round by Eltaj Safarli, but that doesn't change my view that this kind as a HUGE future and I was more than excited to analyze and record a video about his Lopez masterpiece.
The game:
The video:
The second game/video of round 2.1 was undoubtedly the more "talked about" battle. It's always news when an elite GM and celebrity like Hikaru Nakamura loses in the fashion he did; however, for me, this next game was much close to being a well-prepared draw by Hikaru (given he had the black pieces) than most realized.
The simple truth is you lose games at a high level when you confuse your preparation. While the queen sacrifice was optically pleasing for all, and Nisipeanu deserves full credit for the victory, I think it was one move away (...Qa5) from being one of the more boring games of the round.
Either way, I hope you enjoy...
The game:
The video:
Peace to the people.
Danny
Danny Rensch is an international master and Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. After a successful scholastic chess career, Danny joined Chess.com as a co-founder in 2009. He directs the company's content, media partnerships, and professional chess events. Danny is an accomplished commentator and broadcaster, which he used to establish Chess.com's streaming and creator programs. He has channeled his lifelong passion for playing and teaching chess to advance Chess.com's mission of growing the game and helping people enjoy their lives through chess. With over 200 million registered users, Chess.com is the leading platform for playing and learning chess.
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