Sindarov & Wei Yi enter World Cup final
After 7 grueling rounds, GM Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) and GM Wei Yi (China) entered the final of the $2 million FIDE World Cup 2025 at Hotel Resort Rio, Goa. Caissa smiled at GM Wei Yi who survived a lost position before a heart-breaking rook blunder from GM Andrey Esipenko gave the Chinese a ticket to the Candidates 2026 and a place in the World Cup finals. Having locked the Candidates spot, GM Javokhir Sindarov and GM Wei Yi will now fight for the winner’s cheque of $120,000 and the Viswanathan Anand Cup.
In a tense match, GM Wei Yi showed greater nerves as his opponent GM Andrey Esipenko had a meltdown just when the victory was in sight. For once the saying “fortune favors the brave” proved right. Game after game through the whole event the Chinese Grandmaster was grit personified. After both the classical games ended without result, it all came down to rapid & blitz tie-breaks and Wei Yi has been proving that there’s no better survivor this time around. The all important game GM Esipenko came up with the ancient and time tested opening, the Giuoco Piano. With huge risk of avoiding the loss hanging over their heads both the players were nervous in toto. Into the final minute Wei Yi kept escaping by the skin of his teeth making moves with just one second remaining. With a win around the corner GM Esipenko made an uncharacteristic error, blundering a full rook and the game.
Long after the game winner left, GM Esipenko stayed rooted to the chair letting the world feel the pain of his loss. Time waits for none and GM Esipenko needs to recover from his semi-final collapse to find his moorings on the morrow against GM Yakubboev for a spot in the Candidates.
19-year-old GM Javokhir Sindarov extended his dream run, defeating fellow Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev by a narrow 2.5-1.5 margin. A score good enough to take the teenaged prodigy to the Candidates 2026. History now awaits the door step of Sindarov, but before that he needs to cross the Great Wall of China, Wei Yi.
The first classical game of the 8th & final round starts by Monday, 24th November at 4:30 AM ET / 10:30 AM CET / 3:00 PM IST.
Complete Results (Semi-finals): Nodirbek Yakubboev lost to Javokhir Sindarov 1.5 – 2.5, Wei Yi beat Andrey Esipenko 2.5 – 1.5
Nodirbek Yakubboev (2689) – Javokhir Sindarov (2721) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 h6 8. Bf4 Nh5 9. Be5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 g6 11. Be2 Bb4 12. O-O Qe7 13. Qd4 Ng7 14. a3 Bc5 15. Qd2 Bg4 16. Na4 Bb6 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Qd4 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 b5 20. Bd1 O-O 21. Bc2 Ne6 22. Qc3 Qc5 23. Qxc5 Nxc5 24. f4 Na4 25. Rab1 Nb6 26. Kf2 Nc4 27. Rfd1 Kg7 28. Bb3 f6 29. exf6+ Rxf6 30. Bxc4 bxc4 31. g3 Re6 32. Rbc1 b5 33. Rd4 Rae8 34. Rc3 Kf6 35. Kf3 h5 36. b3 g5 37. fxg5+ Kxg5 38. bxc4 Rf6+ 39. Kg2 dxc4 40. a4 Ra8 41. axb5 Ra2+ 42. Kg1 cxb5 43. e4 Rb2 44. Rd5+ Kg6 45. Rc1 Rc6 46. e5 c3 47. Rd3
47…c2 0-1 (Rapid game)
Wei Yi (2752) – Andrey Esipenko (2681) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. b4 Bb6 7. a4 a6 8. O-O d6 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Bb3 Re8 11. Nc4 Ba7 12. Be3 Be6 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. Re1 Ra8 15. Ne3 Qd7 16. a5 Bxb3 17. Qxb3 Ne7 18. Rad1 Ng6 19. Nf5 d5 20. c4 dxe4 21. dxe4 Qc6 22. Qc2 Kf8 23. g3 Rad8 24. Rd3 Rxd3 25. Qxd3 Kg8 26. Nd2 Qd7 27. Qxd7 Nxd7 28. Nb3 Ngf8 29. Rd1 f6 30. b5 Kf7 31. Ne3 Rc8 32. Nd5 Ke8 33. Nb4 Ne6 34. f3 Ra8 35. Kf2 Ndc5 36. Nxc5 Nxc5 37. Rd5 Ne6 38. bxa6 bxa6 39. Ke3 g5 40. c5 Rb8 41. Nxa6 Ra8 42. Nb4 Rxa5 43. c6 Ra4 44. Rb5 Nd4 45. Rb8+ Ke7 46. Nd5+ Kd6 47. Nxf6 Ra3+ 48. Kd2 Nxf3+ 49. Kc2 Kxc6 50. Rh8 Ra2+ 51. Kd3 Rxh2 52. Ng4 Rg2 53. Nxh6 Rxg3 54. Nf5 Rg2 55. Rh7 Kb6 56. Ne3 c6??
57. Nxg2 1-0
Complete Results
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://worldcup2025.fide.com/
