Russian GM Andrey Esipenko beat Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev to finish third, thus booking his place in the Candidates.
IMAGE: Tie-break games, to be played between China’s Wei Yi and Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov on Wednesday, will determine the FIDE World Cup champion. Photograph: Michal Walusza/FIDE
Grandmaster Andrey Esipenko of Russia registered crushing back-to-back wins over Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev in the third-place match, while China’s Wei Yi will fight it out against the other Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov in the tiebreak on Wednesday to decide the FIDE World Cup champion.
Esipenko, playing under the FIDE flag, continued his dominant performance after a major hiccup against Yi in the semifinals, where he blundered a rook in a winning position in the second tiebreak game.
Showing commendable composure, he recovered to beat Yakubboev twice, booking his spot in the Candidates and earning $60,000 compared to Yakubboev’s $50,000.
The entry of Esipenko in the Candidates is significant as currently there are no Russians in the top ten of the world. Esipenko had to fight tough games and stayed firm to make it to the last eight that will decide the challenger to World champion D Gukesh in the next world championship cycle.
The only Indian in the mix is going to be R Praggnanandhaa for the ultimate crown of world champion, while the likes of American duo of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri of Holland, Matthias Bluebaum and the two finalists here Wei Yi and Sindarov are already in the fray.
Esipenko was preparing to crush Yakubboev, while Yi had other thoughts as he decided to play it ultra safe as white in the second game of his contest in the match against Sindarov.
The opening choice by the Chinese already indicated by the fifth move itself that he was happy to go home with a draw and come back with a renewed energy to fight Sindarov in the games under faster time control.
This also means a little more fun for the chess buffs across the globe as they get to witness a day of high tension drama before the champion of the FIDE world cup is announced.
The winner of the final will take home $120,000, while the runner-up pockets $85,000. More importantly, both players are fighting for the coveted berth that keeps their world championship aspirations alive.
Results
Final Game 2: Wei Yi (Chn) drew with Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb) 1-1 goes to tiebreak.
Third-place match: Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb) lost to Andrey Esipenko (FID) 0-2.
