Stalemates continue in FIDE World Cup semifinals

The stakes have risen substantially and the ‘safety first’ approach was all the more noticeable in the second game of the semifinal of the FIDE World Cup which is at the concluding and most intense stage at Resort Rio in Goa.

Uzbek compatriots Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakkubboev were the first to finish their game with a speedy draw while Alexey Esipenko toiled to extract some advantage with the White pieces before settling for a draw against Wei Yi of China.

Both the semifinal games had ended in deadlock on Friday as well and the tiebreak under faster time controls on Sunday will decide the two finalists and also the players who will qualify for the elite eight player Candidates.

The two semifinal losers will also fight it off in a playoff to decide the third place as the player finishing third also seals a spot to the Candidates.

The tie-breaks on Sunday promise to be exciting and thrilling as players cannot seek the safety of draws as there are sets of two tie-breaks in rapid, followed by blitz and finally the Armageddon with two players advancing to the finals.

Wei Yi opted for the Petroff defence, the one which enjoys the reputation of being a ‘drawing’ defence at the highest level of the game. Incidentally this was also the defence which had knocked out Arjun Erigaisi in the quarterfinals.

It was a slow paced game where the players castled on the Queen-side. Esipenko did make some attempt at attack but never went full out.

At this point, Esipenko proposed to split the point but Wei decided to continue, trying to figure out an attack with his queen.

After a while there was no headway possible for both without taking desperate risks. Left with queens and two minor pieces each with identical number of pawns the players drew on the 37th turn by repetition of moves.

Childhood companions Javokhir and Yakubboev have often travelled the world together for chess tournaments either as  team-mates or competitors. Today’s game they preferred to go the Spanish way, one of the oldest Openings in Chess, strictly adhering to Opening book theory for most part.

What followed was a spate of exchanges without much ado, an indication that the players had mentally decided to test each other in the tie-breaks. Not surprisingly the game ended in a draw after 31 moves with each having a bishop and seven pawns each.

Semifinal Game 2 results: GM Javokhir Sindarov  drew with GM Nodirbek Yakubboev 1-1; GM Andrey Esipenko drew with GM Wei Yi 1-1.