Giri jested that his “babysitting experience” was helpful for Saturday’s match as he took down the 15-year-old world-beater Sadhwani in just three games. High hopes were dashed for Sadhwani who was seen as one of Giri’s biggest contenders on his side of the draw.

Babysitting experience paying off!😅🙈 https://t.co/PJjLqQZCLO

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) September 24, 2022

Giri played some of the most impressive chess seen in the championship thus far en route to a 3-0 drubbing, including a bruising Sicilian Defense where he blasted open Sadhwani’s kingside with perfectly timed dual bishop sacrifices. GM Rafael Leitao has unpacked our game of the day.

Ding looked to be in trouble early against GM Andrey Esipenko who cleanly outplayed his opponent in the first game but was able to clap back in the third as the two steamed towards a 2-2 result. Needing to be split by an armageddon game, Ding embraced the chaos and emerged from the “deep dark forest” with a match win.

Although Ding won his round-of-16 encounter, the world rapid champion Abdusattorov was not as fortunate in his match against Ponkratov. The first four games were positional struggles, and the two traded blows until they also reach an armageddon decider. Ponkratov opted for the Vienna Game: Max Lange, Vienna Gambit and went for the throat. The game was a messy one but ultimately ended in favor of the underdog.

The anticipated match between Kramnik and Sarin did not disappoint. A picture of solidity, the two seamlessly liquidated complex positions into drawn ones. After two draws, the third game seemed to be heading for the same result before the former world champion made an inexplicable blunder on move 59. 

Kramnik was left shaking his head and let his time run down to zero.

Nakamura continued in his bid to become the inaugural Chess.com Global Champion with a 2.5-0.5 win against Czech GM David Navara. The victory was one of the most comfortable of the day, and the tournament’s top seed will feel confident heading into his round-16 match against GM Leinier Dominguez.

Aronian was also a class above his opponent of GM Maxim Matlakov and squeezed him in two consecutive endgames to take the match 3-1.

Aronian squeezes water from stone, winning a game that was inches away from a threefold repetition! 😮#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/NZjkI48zBv

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 24, 2022

Three draws began one of the most exciting matchups of the day and by game four with few cracks appearing, Nepomniachtchi and Svidler satisfied the fans and agreed to a quick draw in order to settle the match in the most exciting way possible, armageddon.

Svidler surprised Nepomniachtchi early with the Great Snake, Adorjan Defense against the English Opening, a defense played just over 100 times in historical master games. At multiple points throughout the game, Svidler found himself with reasonable advantages but was unable to break through Nepomniachtchi’s staunch defense. With time dwindling and no increment to save him, Svidler desperately tried to secure a draw by threefold repetition but ran out of time. 

The match was a close save for Nepomniachtchi who will now face the winner of GMs Teimour Radjabov and Arjun Erigaisi in the round of 16.

Round of 32 Scoreboard

Round of 32 Bracket