In Baku, India on the backfoot: Magnus Carlsen eliminates D Gukesh; homeboy Nijat Abasov makes Vidit Gujarathi pay for costly slip-up

The silver lining for India is that the winner of the game between Praggnanadhaa and Erigaise will qualify for the 2024 Candidates Tournament after five-time world champion Carlsen confirmed he will not vie for a spot at the World Championship final for the second consecutive time.

Magnus Carlsen succeeds in securing the draw he needed to eliminate Gukesh, despite being a pawn down in the endgame, and will now face the local star of the #FIDEWorldCup, Nijat Abasov, in the semifinals.

📷 Stev Bonhage pic.twitter.com/HiW8YzXYxD

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 16, 2023

“Under the current format (of the World Championships) there is absolutely no chance. I think everybody should operate under the assumption that I will not play at the Candidates and that everybody else who’s in the semifinals is qualified for the Candidates,” said Carlsen after reaching the semifinal where he will take on Abasov.

The top-three finishers of the FIDE World Cup will qualify for the Candidates Tournament, whose winner will challenge current champion, China’s Ding Liren.

Gukesh challenges

After losing with white pieces on Tuesday, Gukesh knew that he would have to come up with something out of this world to perform the impossible– beat Carlsen in an over-the-board Classical chess game.

He did put the Norwegian under pressure, forcing him into time trouble briefly but Carlsen had all the answers to draw the game thereby winning the match.

The 17-year-old Gukesh, seventh in the world in live FIDE ratings, should take solace from that he challenged Carlsen with black pieces. At one point, with Carlsen having to make 11 moves in as many minutes, it looked like Gukesh might just pull off an unlikely victory but Carlsen managed to fight back despite being a pawn down in the endgame. Ultimately, the players decided to call it a draw after 59 moves.

Vidit’s error costs him dearly

It took just a single error from 28-year-old Vidit to destroy his semifinal chances. Playing against the lesser-rated Abasov, he erred on the 17th move by choosing to castle on the queen’s side. Abasov took full advantage and launched a calculated attack on the castled king, brought a second queen on the board, and off the next turn, checkmated the Indian to end the contest in 44 moves.

Watch the interview 👇https://t.co/pEk8ak92A9

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 16, 2023

India’s only world champion Viswanathan Anand said that the 97th-ranked Abasov benefitted from playing at home. “Always a tragedy for a player when a great tournament comes to an end like this, but Abasov on the other hand continues his sensational run! Playing at home has inspired him!” tweeted Anand.

Abasov too said he didn’t expect to come so far in the tournament and the comfort of time gave him the advantage. “I didn’t expect to come this far before the tournament obviously. My play was decent today. It was a nice queen-side attack. Vidit didn’t expect that my pawns will be so quick. And I had a nice advantage on time, that gave me extra chances,” he said.

Irina Krush: “He is sportsmanlike; very nice, Vidit!”
Irene Sukandar: “What a gentleman!”
Vidit Gujrathi plays 43…Bxg8 and allows his opponent, Nijat Abasov, to end the game with checkmate. #FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/kjwelzhWfn

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 16, 2023

Abasov won’t get any such chances against his next opponent Carlsen though and will have to make optimal use of the two rest days. Carlsen, on the other hand, seemed extremely confident of his chances in the last-four.

“I am happy to be in the semifinals not playing the very very top guys. Of course, it will not be easy… I don’t think I have to do anything too unusual; play my game, and hopefully, it will be fine. Now I know for sure that I will play two more matches, so I might as well try to win the tournament!” he said.

Pragg’s push

Playing with black pieces and needing a win to stay in contention, Praggnanandhaa seized advantage on the 38th move but Erigaisi made him grind it out for the victory. He kept the battle alive but could not prevent Praggnanandhaa from converting one of his two extra pawns into a queen on the 75th turn and resigned.

Praggnanandhaa does it! In a must-win situation after yesterday’s loss to his friend Arjun Erigaisi, he manages to strike back and take the match to tiebreaks! #FIDEWorldCup

📷 Anna Shtourman pic.twitter.com/Hu0o5I4VYY

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 16, 2023

The duo are in a highly complex position and as Praggnanandhaa admitted, it’s difficult to play against your best friend in the quarterfinal of such a big tournament. “Even yesterday we went for a walk, but… we were discussing chess but not our game in particular. So yeah it’s definitely harder to play your friend,” Praggnanandhaa said.

The winner of the Erigaise-Praggnanandhaa clash will play Fabiano Caruana in the semifinal. Caruana dominated his American compatriot Leinier Dominguez Perez to win in 94 moves.