Wei Yi eludes Esipenko, Sindarov held @ Goa
GM Wei Yi escaped with an elegant perpetual check sequence against GM Andrey Esipenko in the 7th round (semi-finals) of the $ 2 million FIDE World Cup at Hotel Resort Rio, Goa. The other semi-final game between the two Uzbeks GM Nodirbek Yakubboev and GM Javokhir Sindarov also ended in a draw. All the four players have a chance to make it outright to the World Cup finals if they can win their second classical semi-final games with reversed colors.
The ceremonial first move on the board between GMs Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko was made by Mr. Anup Shah, Managing Director of Resort Rio Goa and Mrs. Alpa Shah, Director of Resort Rio Goa, the two people who have provided the hospitality to the chess world right through the whole month.
In the game of the day, the highest remaining World Cup seed GM Wei Yi, faced the French Defense Rubinstein Variation from GM Andrey Esipenko, who showed that his home preparation out paced his opponent by a considerable distance. Into the middle game, the multiple time Chinese Champion found that his discomfort was slowly on the rise even as black kept increasing the pressure. At a critical juncture, Wei Yi found a saving grace, rather a bolt from the blue, by way of a bishop sacrifice. It ripped open the defences of the black king and a natural rook sacrifice that followed eventually saved the day for the former Asian Champion. GM Esipenko, a Qatar Masters 2024 winner, emerged the moral victor having landed a preparatory blow that Wei Yi ducked just in time. Much will hinge on the next classical game where the winner goes to the World Cup final along with an assured Candidates spot.
The first game to conclude for the day was the one between Uzbek GMs Nodirbek Yakubboev and Javokhir Sindarov that ended in just about 20 minutes. Both the players went racing out of the Semi-Slav opening before calling it a day after the mandatory 30 moves. The final position, that of a double rook, knight and pawns held no apparent weaknesses for either side when peace was agreed.
The last four players left have everything to fight for viz., prize money and a spot in the Candidates for the top three. The winner will receive the newly christened Viswanathan Anand Cup along with a Champion’s check of $ 120,000. The Runner-up shall receive $ 85,000 while the third and fourth placed players take home $ 60,000 & $ 50,000 respectively. The month-long FIDE World Cup, a qualifier for the next World Championship cycle, comes to an end on 26th November, 2025.
Results: Semi-final (Round 7 Game 1): Nodirbek Yakubboev drew with Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi drew with Andrey Esipenko.
The 2nd classical game of the 7th round (Semi-final) starts by Saturday, 22nd November at 4:30 AM ET / 10:30 AM CET / 3:00 PM IST.
Nodirbek Yakubboev (2689) – Javokhir Sindarov (2721) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Qd3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qd3 Bb7 8. e4 b4 9. Na4 Qa5 10. b3 c5 11. Qb5+ Qxb5 12. Bxb5+ Bc6 13. Bxc6+ Nxc6 14. e5 Nd7 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. Bd2 O-O-O 18. Rc1 Rd5 19. Be3 Bxe3 20. fxe3 Kb7 21. O-O h6 22. Rc4 a5 23. Rfc1 Rc8 24. Kf2 Rdd8 25. Ke2 Rd5 26. h4 Rc7 27. h5 Rdd7 28. Rg4 f6 29. exf6 gxf6
30. Rcc4 1/2-1/2
Wei Yi (2752) – Andrey Esipenko (2681) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Bd3 c5 8. Be3 Qc7 9. Qe2 a6 10. h4 Nd5 11. O-O-O Bd7 12. Kb1 Nxe3 13. fxe3 f6 14. g4 O-O-O 15. g5 Kb8 16. Rhf1 Bc8 17. gxf6 gxf6 18. c3 Rg8 19. Nd2 f5 20. Nb3 Rg4 21. h5 Rh4 22. Nxc5 Bxc5 23. dxc5 Qxc5 24. Rf4 Rh3 25. Rd4 Rg8 26. e4 fxe4 27. Qxe4 Qxh5 28. Bxa6 e5 29. Rd8 Rxd8 30. Rxd8 Ka7 31. Qa4 bxa6 32. Rd7+ Bxd7 33. Qxd7+
33…Kb6 1/2-1/2
Complete Results
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://worldcup2025.fide.com/
