 "Chess World Cup: Wei Yi, Javokhir Sindarov to clash in final after duo seals Candidates spot with semis win")
China’s Wei Yi and Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov won their respective semifinals on Sunday to set up a clash against each other in the final of the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Panaji, Goa. With their semifinal victories, Yi and Sindarov also booked a spot in next year’s Candidates.
Yi defeated Russia’s Andrey Esipenko after his opponent blundered his rook in the endgame to lose an advantageous position in the second tie-break game. Sindarov emerged victorious in the first game of the tie-breaker and then held off his Uzbek compatriot Nodirbek Yakubboev in the second to move into the final.
Esipenko pays for his blunder
Esipenko and Yi had settled for draws in their two classical games and then the first tie-breaker also ended in a stalemate. In the final tie-breaking game, Yi pressed early before the Russian took control of the game.
Yi was two pawns behind when Esipenko missed a win in the endgame, and the Chinese GM then played the saving move with just a second on his clock. Esipenko followed it with an epic blunder as his pawn push left his rook undefended, and Yi quickly made a capture to effectively end the game.
Esipenko resigned in disbelief and then sat for a moment with his hands on his head.
Sindarov beats Yakubboev
The other semifinal was not as dramatic. The two Uzbek GMs had both drawn on the last two days to send the match into tie-breakers. Sindarov gained a massive advantage in the tie-breaker as he won the first of the two games with black.
Sindarov had used a passed pawn to his advantage to get a victory in the opening game and then got a draw in the second to enter final.
Both Sindarov and Esipenko also sealed a spot in the Candidates with their wins. One of Esipenko and Yakubboev will take the remaining spot with the winner of the third-place match getting entry to the eight-man tournament that will decide the challenger for D Gukesh’s world title.
Chess World Cup results semifinals results
Wei Yi (China) beat Andrey Esipenko (Russia) 1.5-0.5
Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) beat Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzbekistan) 1.5-0.5
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