POLAND’S top grandmaster, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, defeated a desperate Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the second game of their finals match to win in great fashion the 2021 FIDE World Cup Open, which ended before the weekend in Sochi, Russia.
The 23-year-old Duda also made World Cup history by remaining unbeaten in 18 games against world-class opponents, including the world champion Magnus Carlsen, whom he ousted in the semifinals. En route to the championship, the former World Under-10 Champion in 2008 and European Under-14 Champion in 2012 also eliminated Paraguay GM Guillermo Vazquez, United States Grandmaster (GM) Samuel Sevian (2647), Iran GM Pouya Idani, Russian GM Alexander Grischuk, and India’s number two player GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit.
In the second finals game, Duda – playing with the white pieces, achieved a slight edge in the endgame and pressed Karjakin for a while. The burden of defense apparently exhausted the 31-year old Russian who fell short on time. Slowly, Karjakin’s position deteriorated until it reached a point where salvation is no longer possible, and he resigned after 30 moves of a Semi-Tarrasch. Duda and Karjakin had a short draw in the first game of the finals. Both earned a slot in the 2022 World Championship Candidates Tournament.
In the battle for third place, Carlsen completed his domination of Vladimir Fedoseev by beating the Russian in 49 moves of a Caro-Kann Advance Variation. The world champion crushed his foe in the first game.
Karjakin, S (2757)-
Duda, J-K (2738) [D37]
Krasnaya Polyana (8.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Ne5 Rb8 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Rd1 Bd7 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Qxa7 Ra8 14.Qb7 Rb8 15.Qa7 Ra8 16.Qb7 Rb8 17.Qa7 ½-½
Fedoseev, V (2696)-
Carlsen, M (2847) [E60]
Krasnaya Polyana (8.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.Be2 h5 8.Bf4 0-0 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 c6 11.Qd2 cxd5 12.cxd5 Kh7 13.a4 Nd7 14.a5 f5 15.Ra3 Ne5 16.Be3 f4 17.Bxf4 Bd7 18.Nd1 Rxf4 19.Qxf4 Bh6 20.Qg3 Qf8 21.Ne3 Bf4 22.Qg2 Rc8 23.Rc3 Rxc3 24.bxc3 Qc8 25.c4 b5 26.axb6 axb6 27.Qg1 Qa8 28.Kf1 Qa2 29.Ng2 Qa1+ 30.Ne1 Qb2 31.Ng2 Qc1+ 32.Ne1 Qd2 33.Qg2 Kg7 34.Rg1 Kf8 35.Qh1 e6 36.Rg3 exd5 37.exd5 Bf5 38.Rg1 Kf7 39.Rg3 Nd7 40.Rg5 Bxg5 41.hxg5 Ne5 0-1
Duda, J-K (2738)-
Karjakin, S (2757) [D41]
Krasnaya Polyana (8.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Qa4 Be6 11.Bb5 Qb6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Rxd5 Bxb2 15.Ke2 Bf6 16.Rhd1 Rac8 17.Bc4 Qb4 18.Qb3 Qxb3 19.Bxb3 Nb8 20.g4 h6 21.h4 g6 22.g5 hxg5 23.hxg5 Be7 24.Re5 Nc6 25.Rd7 Bd8 26.Rb5 Na5 27.Bd5 Rc7 28.Bxf7+ Kg7 29.Rxc7 Bxc7 30.Bd5 1-0
Carlsen, M (2847)-
Fedoseev, V (2696) [B12]
Krasnaya Polyana (8.2) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.cxd5 Qxd5 7.Nge2 Qd8 8.a3 Ba5 9.Ng3 Ne7 10.Bc4 Bg6 11.h4 h6 12.h5 Bh7 13.Qg4 Kf8 14.0-0 Nd7 15.Nce4 Bc7 16.Ba2 Nf5 17.Nxf5 Bxf5 18.Qf3 Qe7 19.Ng3 Bh7 20.Qg4 c5 21.Bd2 Rd8 22.f4 Nb6 23.Bc3 Nd5 24.f5 Ne3 25.Qf3 Nxf5 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 27.d5 Bb6 28.Bc4 Kg8 29.d6 Qh4 30.b3 Rd7 31.Qe2 Qg4 32.Rxf5 Qxf5 33.Rf1 Qg5 34.Bd2 Qd8 35.Qg4 a6 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Qxe6+ Kf8 38.Qf5+ Ke8 39.Qg6+ Kf8 40.Qf5+ Ke8 41.Qg6+ Kf8 42.e6 Qf6 43.exd7 Qxg6 44.hxg6 Bd8 45.Be6 h5 46.Kf2 h4 47.Bg4 b5 48.Kf3 b4 49.axb4 cxb4 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qb3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Kxf5 2.Be4#; 1…gxf5 2.Ra6#; 1…Qxf5 2.Be7#; 1…Nxf5 2.Ne4#./PN
