Russia’s Esipenko becomes third Candidates qualifier; FIDE WC final to be decided in tiebreak

Panaji, Nov 25: Grandmaster Andrey Esipenko of Russia registered crushing back-to-back wins over Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev in the third-place match, while China’s Wei Yi will fight it out against the other Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov in the tiebreak on Wednesday to decide the FIDE World Cup champion.
Esipenko, representing the FIDE flag here, continued his dominant performance after a major hiccup against Wei Yi in the semifinals, where he blundered a rook in a winning position in the second tiebreak game. Showing commendable composure, he recovered to beat Yakubboev twice, booking his spot in the Candidates and earning USD 60,000 compared to Yakubboev’s USD 50,000.
The entry of Esipenko in the Candidates is significant as currently there are no Russians in the top ten of the world. Esipenko had to fight tough games and stayed firm to make it to the last eight that will decide the challenger to World champion D Gukesh in the next world championship cycle.
The only Indian in the mix is going to be R Praggnanandhaa for the ultimate crown of world champion, while the likes of American duo of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri of Holland, Matthias Bluebaum and the two finalists here Wei Yi and Sindarov are already in the fray.
Esipenko was preparing to crush Yakubboev, while Wei Yi had other thoughts as he decided to play it ultra safe as white in the second game of his contest in the match against Sindarov.
The opening choice by the Chinese already indicated by the fifth move itself that he was happy to go home with a draw and come back with a renewed energy to fight Sindarov in the games under faster time control.
The winner of the final will take home USD 120,000, while the runner-up pockets USD 85,000. More importantly, both players are fighting for the coveted berth that keeps their world championship aspirations alive. (PTI)