Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Dommaraju Gukesh were among the players who advanced to round 4 after two classical games at the FIDE World Cup in Baku. The biggest upset of the round was achieved by Javokhir Sindarov, who knocked out Maxime Vachier-Lagrave by winning with black on Sunday. In the women’s section, world champion Ju Wenjun was inches away from being eliminated however, she not only survived, but ended up winning against Ulviyya Fataliyeva. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
Magnus Carlsen, Leinier Dominguez and Parham Maghsoodloo were the three 2700+ players who kicked off with a win in round 3 of the FIDE World Cup. Meanwhile, Daniele Vocaturo and Ivan Schitco upset higher-rated opponents, and Peter Svidler obtained a good-looking, 27-move win over Jorden van Foreest. Among the women, there were no big upsets, as the Muzychuk sisters had a good day Mariya won and Anna escaped with a draw. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Top grandmasters continue to be left out of contention at the FIDE World Cup in Baku. In the open, Alexander Grischuk and David Anton were knocked out by Bardiya Daneshvar and Abdulla Gadimbayli in Friday’s tiebreaks. Among the women, Mary Ann Gomes defeated Kateryna Lagno, while Klaudia Kulon got the better of Nana Dzagnidze. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Shocking results were seen on the fifth day of action at the FIDE World Cup in Baku. In the open, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov were knocked out by players in the 2500-2600 rating band Vahap Sanal and Tin Jingyao (pictured) respectively while sixth seed Wesley So barely escaped with a draw to take his match against Emre Can to tiebreaks. In the women’s section, Yan Tianqi and Maili-Jade Ouellet surprisingly won on demand to even the score against Alexandra Kosteniuk and Irina Krush. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Dommaraju Gukesh were the highest-rated players to start their participation at the FIDE World Cup with victories. Gukesh’s win prompted him to join the world’s top 10 in the live ratings list, while Praggnanandhaa and Wei Yi scored brilliant wins. In the women’s section, more than half the games ended decisively, as most favourites failed to get more than half points in the first confrontations of round 2. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman