SundayChessTV
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the Women’s FIDE World Cup final on Monday after drawing her second game vs. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. GM Sergey Karjakin defeated GM Vladimir Fedoseev to qualify for both the World Cup final and the 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
There will be two tiebreak matches on Tuesday: GM Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Krzysztof Duda also drew their second game, and so did GM Anna Muzychuk and GM Tan Zhongyi.
With the 37-year-old Kosteniuk beating 22-year-old Goryachkina, experience prevailed over youth in the all-Russian Women’s World Cup final. Kosteniuk played her first big knockout final in 2001 at the age of 17 and won one in 2008—both full-fledged women’s world championships back then.
She is now the first female player to clinch two of these grueling knockout events. The only other player who achieved this is GM Levon Aronian.
Although Kosteniuk has won so much already, she said this victory means a lot to her: “When you’re young and you win, you don’t really appreciate it that much. When you become older, at least in my case, every victory is like something unbelievable because you start to appreciate these victories much more.”
Needing only a draw, Kosteniuk found herself in quite a tense second game but at the same time, she never lost control and was in fact winning in the final position:
The other game in the women’s tournament was drawn as well. Muzychuk cannot complain there as Tan had the better chances. Just like in 2017, when Tan became world champion against Muzychuk in the knockout final in Tehran, the match will be decided in the playoff.
Finals | Results
| Fed | Player | Rating | Fed | Player | Rating | G1 | G2 | TB | |
| GM Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2596 | – | GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2472 | 0-1 | ½-½ | . | ||
| GM Muzychuk, Anna | 2527 | – | GM Tan, Zhongyi | 2511 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . |
Also in the open section, experience prevailed as 31-year-old Karjakin won an excellent game against 26-year-old Fedoseev. The latter played a new addition to his repertoire, the Zaitsev, which he had played only once before in a classical game but that was in this tournament against GM Velimir Ivic.
Karjakin said he had prepared a bit but even more focused on his sleep, making 10 hours and feeling much fresher. This might have helped him to find the most accurate moves, keep the initiative and win convincingly.
“It’s just great. I’m very happy that I managed to get to the final,” said Karjakin, who also secured himself a spot in the 2022 Candidates Tournament after missing out on the last edition. “Also, I am very happy that I don’t have to play tiebreaks because I played them so much and now I can rest.”
The Russian player also noted that the match for third place is “pointless” according to him and wasn’t looking forward to playing that one. “I wanted to win this match much more than any other match!”
The Carlsen-Duda tiebreak is one to look forward to after the two players once again delivered a wonderful fight. It was the 23-year-old Polish player who gave Carlsen a taste of his own medicine as he avoided a move repetition twice and kept pressing in a slightly better endgame, forcing the world champion to find the most precise moves.
Semifinals | Results
| Fed | Player | Rtg | Fed | Player | Rtg | G1 | G2 | TB | |
| GM Carlsen, Magnus | 2847 | – | GM Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 2738 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . | ||
| GM Karjakin, Sergey | 2757 | – | GM Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2696 | ½-½ | 1-0 | . |
The FIDE World Cup takes place in the Galaxy Leisure Complex in Sochi, Russia, until August 6, 2021. Each round consists of two classical games and, if necessary, a rapid/blitz tiebreak on the third day. The open section began round two with 128 players and the women’s section, 64.
Previous reports:
- FIDE World Cup R7.1: Kosteniuk Dodges Bullet, Takes Lead
- FIDE World Cup R6.3: Karjakin, Goryachkina, Kosteniuk Through
- FIDE World Cup R6.2: Carlsen, Duda, Fedoseev Through; Karjakin Strikes Back
- FIDE World Cup R6.1: Carlsen, Shankland Strike
- FIDE World Cup R5.3: Carlsen Beats Esipenko In Epic Tiebreak
- FIDE World Cup R5.2: Shankland, Vidit Through
- FIDE World Cup R5.1: Kosteniuk, Martirosyan Only Winners
- FIDE World Cup R4.3: Carlsen, Ivic Among Final 16
- FIDE World Cup R4.2: Dzagnidze, Goryachkina Force Tiebreaks; Harikrishna Out
- FIDE World Cup R4.1: Goryachkina, Harikrishna Among 10 Players In Danger Zone
- FIDE World Cup R3.3: Giri, Mamedyarov Out; MVL Survives In Armageddon
- FIDE World Cup R3.2: Caruana Knocked Out
- FIDE World Cup R3.1: Dzagnidze, Mamedyarov, Yu In Trouble
- FIDE World Cup R2.3: Dominguez, Firouzja Out On Wild Armageddon Day
- FIDE World Cup R2.2: Nihal, Praggnanandhaa Among Qualifiers For Round 3
- FIDE World Cup R2.1: Covid-19 Hits, Aronian Withdraws
- FIDE World Cup R1.3: 14-Year-Old Murzin Through
- FIDE World Cup R1.2: 28 Matches Go To Tiebreaks
- FIDE World Cup R1.1: Chilean Brilliance
