At the cellular level: how did Esipenko reach the semifinals of the World Cup

The names of all the semifinalists of the 2025 World Chess Cup have become known. Representatives of Uzbekistan Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev will compete in the first semi-final, while Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko will compete for the second place in the finals (and a guaranteed place in the candidates' tournament). In his quarterfinals, the Chinese grandmaster defeated arguably the main favorite of the tournament, Arjun Erigaisi from India, and the Russian beat the Olympic champion in the US national team, Sam Shankland. The fights turned out to be very nervous and demonstrated the beauty of the knockout system. At the same time, the women's World Team Championship is taking place in Spain, where our national team started brilliantly.

Until the end

According to the results of the classic part of the quarterfinals, only Nodirbek Yakkuboev advanced, beating the German Alexander Donchenko. In the remaining pairs, the winner was determined by a tie-break, which started superbly for our compatriot. Esipenko managed to beat Shankland with black pieces. This meant that it was enough for Andrey to make a draw with white in the second leg. However, it seems that not the most difficult task has turned into a real test. Sam immediately seized the advantage and was able to put the squeeze on Esipenko in the Caro-Kann system.

Sindarov was able to win back the order from Jose Martinez Alcantara (better known as Jospem). But Wei Yi, who failed to realize the extra quality against Erigaisi in the first game, managed to beat the Indian grandmaster in the return match. So the seventh seed became the second semi-finalist of the World Cup.

In the shorter control, Esipenko was considered the clear favorite. Before the start of the match, Andrey was on the 40th line in the blitz rating, Sam was only on the 87th. And despite the disappointing defeat by the whites in rapid, the Russian showed his class. The grandmaster learned from the first rapid part: after winning in black, Andrey chose a rare line against Philidor's defense and was in full control of the situation. Considering that Shankland was not satisfied with the draw, Sam went all-in, but Andrey was accurate in his implementation.

As a result, Esipenko won the match in a tiebreak, stopping the American player. Earlier, Shankland passed Vasily Ivanchuk, Vidit Gujrati, Richard Rapport and Daniil Dubov.

— I am glad that I managed to win the quarterfinals against Sam Shankland, — the Russian noted on his social networks. — Now I'm staying in India until the very end of the tournament. There are two more matches ahead. Thank you all so much for your support. I see a lot of messages, it's very nice. We will continue to work.

Goa from the shoulders: victory in the quarterfinals will bring Esipenko closer to the candidates tournament

The Russian is successfully playing at the World Cup in India, and our women's national team went to the World Cup in Spain.

Andrey will face Wei Yi in the semi-finals of the World Cup. In another match, Yakubboev will face his compatriot and partner in the victorious Olympics, Javokhir Sindarov. The latter still beat Jospem out of the fight. The first 10-minute rapid game between them ended in a draw. In the second game, a peculiar swing turned out: Sindarov then gained the upper hand, then gradually released it. As a result, the Mexican was the last to make a mistake — Javokhir put a pawn in the queen and recorded the victory in the match.

Thus, one finalist will definitely represent Uzbekistan and secure a historic entry into the 2025 Candidates Tournament. The loser in the semifinals will be able to compete for the last place in the contender's match for the third place. That is, of the remaining four people, only one will leave Goa with nothing.

So all participants will have a double opportunity to solve the main task in this championship cycle. Yes, Wei Yi looks like the favorite not only for his semifinal pair, but for the entire tournament. But it is quite possible to beat him.

The tournament is closed on Thursday, November 20th. The first games of the 1/2 finals stage will start on November 21 at 12:30 Moscow time.

Four out of four

At the World Cup in Linares, our women's national team is going without losses so far. On the opening day, the Russian chess players won both matches and took the lead in Group A.

In the first round, the Russian team beat Kazakhstan with a score of 2.5:1.5 (Polina Shuvalova won, Alexandra Goryachkina, Ekaterina Lagno and Leia Garifullina drew).

In the second round, the Russians defeated the USA with a score of 3:1 (Polina Shuvalova and Anna Shukhman won their games, Alexandra Goryachkina and Leia Garifullina drew).

On Wednesday, November 19, Sergei Rublevsky's team left no chance for the hosts of the tournament, beating the Spaniards with a score of 3.5:0.5. Olga Girya, Leia Garifullina and Polina Shuvalova won their games. Ekaterina Lagno's game ended in a draw. Our team was the only one in the tournament to win four in a row. In the fourth round of the group stage, Russia managed to beat Azerbaijan. The match ended with a score of 3:1. Anna Shukhman and Olga Girya won their games. Alexandra Goryachkina and Ekaterina Lagno played a draw.