Martinez stuns Abdusattorov, Gukesh held @ Goa
GM José Martínez Alcántara (2644) stunned GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2750) in the first game of the third round of the FIDE World Cup at Hotel Resort Rio, Goa. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju playing with black pieces drew with German Grandmaster Svane Frederik. Other higher seeds viz., GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer, Wei Yi, MVL, Shakriyar Mamedyarov drew their games and will work to win their reverse encounter.
GMs Levon Aronian, Le Quang Liem, Wojtaszek Radoslaw, Sarana Alexey, Idani Pouya, Bluebaum Matthias, Peter Leko and Shant Sargsyan won their games and would be looking forward to wrap up their spots in the fourth round with a good result under reversed colors.
Responding to the ancient Philidor GM José Martínez Alcántara did enough to provoke the Uzbek star into an early exchange sacrifice. The ensuing middle-game was full of complications and for once the higher rated Nodirbek fell short. Under-estimating the calculation and survival skills of a lower rated opponent can backfire, as GM Martinez proved today with some electrifying counter-play. Faced with a must win situation, the former World Rapid Champion from Uzbekistan would now have to come up with something special with black pieces. For now, the Peruvian-Mexican Grandmaster can savor his huge scalp while hoping to progress to the next round with some steady solid play.
The qualification of the top three finishers for the next Candidates tournament, is the key for the intense round-by-round battle, in addition to a handsome prize money. All eyes will be on the top boards starting with World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who has been steady so far. Winning the long drawn classical games would help seeded players avoid the risk of playing the tie-breaks under rapid and blitz format.
The 2nd classical game of round three starts by Saturday, 8th November at 4:30 AM ET / 10:30 AM CET / 3:00 PM IST.
Results: (Round 3 Game 1): Svane Frederik drew with Gukesh Dommaraju, Erigaisi Arjun beat Vokhidov Shamsiddin, Hovhannisyan Robert drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Anish Giri drew with Alexander Donchenko, Pranav Venkatesh beat Stremavicius Titas, Vincent Keymer drew with Pranesh M, Gledura Benjamin drew with Wei Yi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov lost to José Martínez Alcántara, Diptayan Ghosh drew with Gabriel Sargissian, S L Narayanan drew with Yu Yangyi, Sam Shankland drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Karthik Venkataraman drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel, Pentala Harikrishna beat Daniel Dardha, Salem A R Saleh lost to Levon Aronian, Fedoseev Vladimir lost to Wojtaszek Radoslaw, Alexey Sarana beat Jorden van Foreest, Idani Pouya beat Andrey Esipenko, Peter Leko beat Kirill Alekseenko, Yilmaz Mustafa lost to Shant Sargsyan.
Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2750) – José Martínez Alcántara (2644) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5 3. Nf3 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 Nc6 8. O-O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 a6 10. f3 b5 11. g4 c5 12. Qe3 b4 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Rxd5 Be6 15. Bc4 Bxd5 16. Bxd5 Rc8 17. g5 c4 18. Kb1 Qa5 19. h4 Rc5 20. Qd4 Rfc8 21. h5 Rxd5 22. exd5 Bf8 23. h6 Qc5 24. Qe4 g6 25. Be3 Qb5 26. Bd4 Re8 27. Qf4 f5 28. gxf6 Qxd5 29. b3 Kf7 30. Qg4 Qf5 31. Qg2 c3 32. a4 bxa3 33. Ka2 a5 34. Rh4 a4 35. Bxc3 axb3+ 36. Kxb3 Rb8+ 37. Rb4 Qe6+ 38. Kxa3 d5 39. Qf1
39…d4 0-1
Complete Results
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://worldcup2025.fide.com/
