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Wei Yi Escapes In Style Vs. Esipenko As World Cup Semifinals Begin
Wei Yi found a sparkling finish to make a draw against Andrey Esipenko. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Wei Yi Escapes In Style Vs. Esipenko As World Cup Semifinals Begin

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Colin_McGourty
| 10 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Wei Yi found a brilliant sacrificial line to survive against GM Andrey Esipenko in what GM David Howell called "one of the most fun draws I’ve seen throughout the whole 2025 FIDE World Cup so far." The other semifinal was also drawn, as GM Javokhir Sindarov put his Uzbek colleague GM Nodirbek Yakubboev under heavy pressure. In the end, however, it was Yakubboev who had any chances in the final position, but the 30-move draw was understandable since he was also down to just over a minute on his clock.

The second classical game of the Semifinals is on Saturday, November 22, starting at 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 CET / 3 p.m. IST.

2025 FIDE World Cup Bracket

The Semifinals began with two draws, so that on Saturday any of the four remaining players has a chance to qualify for the Final and, perhaps more importantly, the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.

Games, Results, and Bracket.

Yakubboev ½-½ Sindarov

Sindarov's fast play in the opening applied pressure to Yakubboev. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Remarkably, Uzbek stars Yakubboev and Sindarov have reached the World Cup Semifinals without playing a single player seeded above them, though GM Yu Yangyi had edged above Sindarov on the November rating list before losing their round-four clash. Yakubboev avoided the likes of GMs Wesley So, Anish Giri, and Liem Le, who all fell earlier in the event, while Sindarov, for instance, needed to beat GM Frederik Svane rather than World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

That's just how knockouts work, and means both players have a wonderful chance to qualify for the Candidates Tournament for the first time, with only one of the remaining four players in Goa set to miss out. In the first game of their semifinal, 19-year-old Sindarov had the black pieces, but that didn't stop him from being the one to blitz out the opening and apply pressure to his 23-year-old colleague. 

By move 20, Sindarov had a 40-minute advantage on the clock, with Yakubboev needing to take big strategic decisions. He navigated the difficulties well, however, correctly deciding he could spoil his pawn structure but hold the balance. In fact, if anyone had an edge in the final position it was him, but down to just over a minute against 26 minutes he perhaps wisely accepted a draw in what could still be a double-edged position.

The two friends share a coach, and shared a high-spirited post-mortem. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

The day's other draw came closer to seeing blood spilled. 

Wei Yi ½-½ Esipenko

Esipenko went for the French Defense. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

7th seed Wei is the last man standing among the pre-tournament favorites, but he also found himself under pressure with the white pieces. Esipenko went for the French Defense and blitzed out his moves, soon building up a 30-minute lead on the clock.

Here WGM Anne Haast found herself in a must-win position in the final of the 2024 Dutch Women's Chess Championship against WFM Maaike Keetman and went for 11.Ng5?! and 12.Nxf7??!, a desperate sac that proved to be easily refuted.

Wei instead played the strong 11.0-0-0, but should probably have followed up with the Ng5 move. Instead Esipenko got to capture on e3, play ...f6, and deny the white knight any squares. Soon Black was taking over and looked likely to gain a position a pawn up, but instead Wei reacted sharply and then found 28.Bxa6!!.

It's not too hard to see that Black can't capture as then 29.Rb4+ is lethal, but Wei used up half of his remaining eight minutes before taking the plunge.

We soon got to see why, as 28...e5 29.Rd8 Rxd8 30.Rxd8 Ka7! asked questions you had to have an answer to as White. 

Wei had it under control, however, as he played 31.Qa4!, sacrificing the bishop and then a rook on d7 in order to give perpetual check. A beautiful end to an interesting day at the office.

There was a lot to discuss after the game. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

That's our Game of the Day, which GM Dejan Bojkov will analyze below.


So it remains all square in both matches, with the stakes high in Saturday's second classical games. A winner will reach the World Cup final and also the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, while a draw will mean tiebreaks on Sunday. A loss won't be the end of the world, however, since a third-place match will be played alongside the final, with the last spot in the Candidates up for grabs. 

We're down to just two boards each day until the end of the World Cup. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

How to watch?
You can watch the event on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on Chess24, on Twitch, or YouTube. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by GMs Judit Polgar, David Howell, and IM Anna Rudolf.

The 2025 FIDE World Cup, which takes place from November 1 to 26 in Goa, India, determines three spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament. It is a 206-player single-elimination knockout tournament with eight rounds. Each match consists of two classical games followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaks if needed. The prize fund is $2 million.

Previous reports:

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Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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