FIDE World Cup – Round 4 Started
The fourth round of the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup was held today at the Fairmont Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, with 16 players that remained in the competition.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov delighted the local fans by winning a brilliant game against Fabiano Caruana. The American was late with his queenside counterplay and white was able to deliver a decisive punch on the other flank of the board.
The dozens of spectators that used Sunday to visit the playing venue enthusiastically greeted Mamedyarov with applause and ovations.
Ding Liren defeated his younger compatriot Wei Yi with white pieces. It was an open and sharp Anti-Gruenfeld game where the players kept coming with beautiful tactical shots and resources. All three results were in play until black rushed to grab the b4-pawn and lost a crucial tempo after which white broke through.
The two players that were involved in the longest tie-break matches yesterday, Hikaru Nakamura and Michael Adams, fought hard in the complex middlegame arising from Catalan structure. Nakamura handled the double-rook ending better and took the full point home.
In the longest game of the day former World Cup winner Peter Svidler defeated former World Champion Veselin Topalov. In the extremely complicated middlegame with heavy pieces the defended passed pawn on c6 was a huge asset for white. On the other hand, black’s own passer on e3 was safely blocked by white rooks. After a kingside breakthrough the Russian launched the winning attack.
The remaining four games were drawn.
Full set of results and pgn files can be found on http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/content/27
Photo gallery is available at http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/product/64
Interview with Radoslaw Wojtaszek
The total prize fund of the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup is 1,6 million USD. In addition, the tournament also awards two places in the 2016 Candidates Tournament, part of the FIDE World Championship cycle.