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Fedoseev, MVL, Rapport, So, Svidler To Quarterfinals

Fedoseev, MVL, Rapport, So, Svidler To Quarterfinals

PeterDoggers
| 116 | Chess Event Coverage

Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Richard, Rapport, Wesley So and Peter Svidler have joined yesterday's qualifiers to reach round five of the FIDE World Cup in Tbilisi.

The deciding moment where MVL eliminates Grischuk. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

And then there were only eight.

After Aronian, Ivanchuk and Ding Liren had already qualified yesterday, Thursday's tiebreaks decided the other five matches. On what was a relatively short day, four of the matches were decided after the two games in the normal rapid time control, and one match went to the 10+10 games, but not further.

Tomorrow the quarterfinals start, and we'll see these matches: Svidler-MVL, Ivanchuk-Aronian, So-Fedoseev and Rapport-Ding.

2017 World Cup | Round 4 Results

Fed Player Fed Player Classical Rapid Blitz Score
Svidler (2756) Bu Xiangzhi (2714) ½-½, ½-½ 2-0 3-1
Vachier-Lagrave (2804) Grischuk (2788) ½-½, ½-½ ½-½, ½-½, 1-0, ½-½ 3½-2½
Ivanchuk (2727) Giri (2777) 1-0, ½-½ 1½-½
Dubov (2666) Aronian (2802) ½-½, 0-1 ½-1½
So (2792) Jobava (2702) ½-½, ½-½ 1-0, ½-½ 2½-1½
Rodshtein (2695) Fedoseev (2731) 0-1, 1-0 0-1, 0-1 1-3
Rapport (2675) Najer (2694) ½-½, ½-½ ½-½, 1-0 2½-1½
Wang Hao (2701) Ding Liren (2771) ½-½, 0-1 ½-1½

"Genna Sosonko cannot keep up with Maia Chiburdanidze's train of thought."

He had defeated the world champion, but today was not Bu Xiangzhi's day. He lost both his rapid games to Peter Svidler.

In the first game the Chinese player got slowly outplayed as White, lost an exchange and then allowed a mate in one.

"The first was played reasonably well by both of us," said Svidler, who thought that he could have won easier. When Bu had little time on the clock, Svidler could bring him out of balance by playing moves that his opponent probably didn't look at.

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The start of the tiebreaks. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

Bu had to win the second game, but his opening play completely backfired, which sometimes happens in these situations. The opening went 1.Nf3 f5 2.d3 d6 3.e4, which isn't that strange, and in fact a good way to avoid the Dutch Defense.

But after 3...e5 4.Nc3 Be7 Svidler went 5.d4!?, which led to a Philidor with ...f5 (which Morphy has played, and is mentioned in this recent blog by Arne Moll) where Black has the extra move ...Be7! But that was all there is to mention because in no time Svidler was completely winning.

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This wasn't Bu's day. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

Here's how the winner explained this game: "He's an extremely strong classical player. His forte is playing correctly, you know, putting the pieces on good squares and doing this, the basics, very, very well. But he had to play for a win as Black, he mixed up and missed a tactical short very early. He missed Ne4-g5."

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Svidler's reply to the question whether he prefers Grischuk or MVL as his next opponent: "Can I move to the other side of the bracket, please?" | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova. 

The hope that local fans put on Baadur Jobava has evaporated. In this round the Georgian number-one ran into Wesley So, who struggled somewhat in the classical games but today found his mojo. There was a draw in the second, but here's how So impressively won the first:

"Well, it proved to be a very tough match," said So. "Baadur proved to be really inspired; he wants to bounce back and got the home court advantage. He's got a lot of fans rooting for him.

"Yesterday I had a very suspicious position but I'm very glad to be able to save that game. Today it went better and I would like to thank the lord to let me win the match."

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Wesley So stops the clock to claim a draw. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

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It was a correct claim so the game ended here. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

To Chess.com, So pointed out that it was the first time ever for him to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup. He also revealed that he arrived in Tbilisi six days before the tournament to get rid of the jet lag.

Evgeniy Najer, another dragon slayer (he kicked out Fabiano Caruana), had his chances in the first rapid game, but Richard Rapport got away with the draw. In the second (crazy!) game, the Hungarian grandmaster was in his element. He managed to outplay his opponent in a jungle of tactical possibilities, although right at the end there was still a moment where Najer could draw.

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The 51st seed Richard Rapport is among the best eight. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

Maxim Rodshtein yesterday came back from a loss, and this tends to give you a psychological advantage in the tiebreak. But Vladimir Fedoseev seems to be a tough guy who is not disturbed by such considerations. He won both rapid games. In the first he got some help from his opponent right at the end.

This game, by the way, saw the third illegal move incident. Fedoseev got two minutes extra on the clock, which is the penalty when it happens the first time. A second illegal move loses.

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Fedoseev said that he was nervous, especially in the first game. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

In the second game, Rodshtein seemed to get some chances. Well, at least he managed to create an unbalanced position, but Fedoseev was strong here as well. He described his opening as "how to play as bad as possible when you must make a draw."

The Russian grandmaster explained that he had learned from the day before, as he blamed this on for playing a draw. "I should always play for a win. If I change my style I have a problem."

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The tournament ends for Maxim Rodshtein. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

The high-profile match between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Grischuk was also the longest of the day. The two rapid games ended in draws, and then MVL was the first to score in the first 10+10. (Look at those pawns!)

"My preparation went well, I finally managed to put huge pressure on Sasha," said MVL. "After I managed to exchange queens and I could push my pawns in the center I felt that it should win."

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So watching the MVL-Grischuk match. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.

Remarkably, after Aronian-Dubov yesterday, the second 10+10 between Grischuk and MVL saw an endgame with the exact same material distribution. This time it was rook vs dark-squared bishop, with an h-pawn for White and a g-pawn for Black.

It was a theoretical win for a long time, but unlike Aronian, Grischuk couldn't find the winning plan while playing on increment:

Vachier-Lagrave: "I was confident I would hold in this endgame but then I blundered something, I got in real trouble and made this draw by miracle; I got a fortress I probably shouldn't have got."

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The Frenchman was modestly optimistic about the remainder: "The intensity of the match was like we were playing the final match," said MVL. "There are three very difficult steps ahead of me but if I keep this level of intensity I think I could go well."

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(Click for bigger version.)

Games from TWIC.

The World Cup takes place September 3-27 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Each round consists of two classical games (four in the final), and possibly a rapid and blitz tiebreak on the third day. The total prize fund is $1.6 million, including a first prize of $120,000. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2018 Candidates' Tournament. 

Chess.com relays the games at Chess.com/Live. You can watch also live commentary on Chess.com/TV provided by the Chessbrahs, which includes some of the best commentators on the planet: GM Eric Hansen, GM Robin van Kampen, GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Aman Hambleton.


Previous reports:

PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

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