Russian GM bounces back after painful blunder; finals remain finely poised
Russian GM Andrey Esipenko (Elo 2693) overcomes the challenge of Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (Elo 2689) with a win in the first classical game for the third place anda fight for a spot in the Candidates, at the FIDE World Cup in Arpora on Monday.
PANAJI
Blunders at elite level chess may be uncommon, but it does show the human side of the best of grandmasters. That was evident on Sunday, when Russian GM Andrey Esipenko blundered a rook in the decisive tie-break game against Chinese GM Wei Yi in the semi-finals. Not only he lost out on a potential place in the finals, but in assuring himself of a Candidates spot too.
A day later, refreshed and revitalized, Esipenko overcame those horrors with a win in the first classical game with white over Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev and an opportunity to redeem himself in the third-place clash at the FIDE World Cup at Arpora on Monday.
In a Sicilian Defense game, Yakubboev floundered on his 12th move with Bd5 when a pawn push to c4 was par for the course. From thereon, Esipenko continued to hold the upper hand for a considerable period until the tenacious Uzbek clawed his way back into the contest in the middle phase. On move 24, Yakubboev burnt 16 minutes on the clock that proved detrimental to his cause. Eventually, under time pressure and inaccuracies coming to the fore, the outcome was clear and the Uzbek GM resigned after 38 moves.
Meanwhile, in the other game with an eye on the coveted World Cup title, the seventh-seeded Chinese GM Wei Yi as has been his wont in the tournament responded with the Petrov’s Defense with black against the 19-year-old Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov. Both the players were well prepared in their opening, blitzing out their initial moves, and the game never really gave a clear advantage to either player as it entered into complicated lines. Wei Yi though had a slight edge in the end game, but Sindarov was adept to hold firm. Eventually, with not much to play for, with a bishop on opposite colour squares and less material, a draw was agreed upon after 50 moves.
Results
GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) drew with GM Wei Yi (CHN) 0.5:0.5
GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE) bt GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) 1:0
