“Don’t put Karjakin in a must-win situation,” joked someone on the internet after the second classical game of the FIDE World Cup quarterfinal. Shankland did that anyway (of course!) as he won the first rapid game on Friday, but he had to pay the price.

Karjakin is now the first chess player in history to reach the semifinals of a World Cup four times: he had done it before in 2007, 2009, and the year he won, 2015.

“I was very unhappy, not because I lost in the first rapid game today but the position was very safe, I could make almost any move and the position would be very drawish but somehow I managed to blunder,” said Karjakin when joining the Chess.com live broadcast. “I was very upset after this game. Fortunately, I managed to hold my nerves and to play more or less fine in the second game, and then it was good.”

For the second time in the match and the third time in this World Cup, Karjakin was in a must-win situation. And he survived it again.

Shankland didn’t repeat the French, which he had used the other day, but returned to his more usual Sicilian. That didn’t mean there were no traces of GM Bobby Fischer this time: it became a Najdorf, and Karjakin chose 6.h3.

Shankland didn’t seem to be as much prepared in that line as in other openings, because his Dragon setup didn’t work so well and out of the opening he already lost a piece:

Next on the program were two 10+10 games, where Karjakin got to play as White again in the first. Shankland repeated the line but Karjakin was the first to deviate on move 10 with an interesting pawn sacrifice that his second GM Denis Khismatullin had found during the previous game.

“If the opponent doesn’t know it, it’s very difficult to play for Black,” said Karjakin.

This time it was Shankland who had to win, and there was enough reason to continue California dreaming when he got a much better endgame with major pieces. “I tried to play safe but somehow I made some mistakes. It became very unpleasant, but fortunately, he blundered 28…Rd8 and after the rooks are [traded] it’s just a draw,” said Karjakin.

Scenes from a tiebreak #FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/oXZysA2TI7

— Eric Rosen (@IM_Rosen) July 30, 2021

And so a tremendous match came to an end, and one that saw only decisive games—similar to that famous World Cup final in 2015. Despite the bitter aftertaste of getting so close to a World Cup final, Shankland can only have positive feelings from this event.

He chose a quote from the final scene of Terminator 2 to reflect upon getting “terminated” from the tournament:

“I know now why you cry.”

The Terminator

— Sam Shankland (@GMShanky) July 30, 2021

Quarterfinals | Results

The women’s tournament saw two decisive results, which means Saturday will be a rest day in both tournaments. Coincidentally, both winners Goryachkina and Kosteniuk missed quicker wins in otherwise well-played games where they went on to score the full point anyway.

First, it was Goryachkina who got a chance to win material but that was one of those lines that the computer spits out immediately but is hard to see. She kept the pressure on Muzychuk anyway and won a good game. Over 20 games, it was the first time ever that Goryachkina managed to beat one of the Muzychuk sisters.

Kosteniuk could have won a healthy pawn combined with a dominating position. Her own solution was nice as well: a positional exchange sacrifice with an ongoing initiative where Tan missed the most tenacious defense.

A “tired but happy” Kosteniuk said it was “an interesting game, but not so flawless, as I’ve heard.” She admitted that the exchange sacrifice was tempting but not necessary. “I tried to resist it for 10 minutes but then I thought it’s worth a try.”

Kosteniuk was in her third consecutive Women’s World Cup semifinal. After she missed out on the finals in 2017 and 2018, she will now finally play her second final after the one in 2008 where she became world champion by beating a young GM Hou Yifan.

Tan had reached the two previous finals: in 2017 when she became world champion, and in 2018 when she lost to Anna Muzychuk.

Semifinals | Results

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 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