THE 2021 FIDE World Cup Open got underway July 13 at Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi, Russia, with 206 of the world’s best players competing for the opportunity to challenge for the world title. Running simultaneously with the Open is the Women’s World Cup with 103 participants.
The Open is a classic knockout event with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with a 30-second increment per move. Players paired will play a two-game match, where the winner advances to the next knockout round.
Sadly, the three Filipino players representing FIDE Zone 3 and the Asian Continental – IMs Daniel Quizon, Paolo Bersamina, and Michael Concio Jr. – were all booted out by clearly superior opponents in Round 1. Quizon was ousted by veteran Russian GM Evgeny Bareev, 1½-½; Bersamina was eliminated by GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2608), 1½-½; while Concio got the exit boot from GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2641), 2-0. Another Filipino, Elmer Prudente – an Ilonggo from Molo – also got booted out in the opening round when he ran into a brick wall named GM Sanan Sjugirov (2661). Prudente represented Guam, where he now works and resides.
No Filipina qualified to play in the Women’s World Cup.
Bareev, E (2638)-Quizon, D (2319) [D11]
Krasnaya Polyana (1.1) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 Nbd7 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.e3 0-0 10.Qe2 Ne4 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.b3 a5 13.Bb2 a4 14.Nfd2 Nef6 15.e4 Bg4 16.f3 Bh5 17.Na3 b5 18.Nc2 e5 19.b4 exd4 20.Bxd4 Ne5 21.g4 Bg6 22.h3 Ned7 23.Rac1 Bd6 24.Be3 Be5 25.Nd4 Bxd4 26.Bxd4 Rac8 27.a3 Rfe8 28.Qf2 h6 29.Rc3 Qd6 30.Re1 Qf4 31.Rec1 Qd6 32.Nf1 Nh7 33.Be3 Nhf8 34.Qd2 Qf6 35.Qd4 Qe6 36.Bf4 Red8 37.Qe3 Nf6 38.Bg3 N8d7 39.Qf2 Bh7 40.Qe3 Ne5 41.Bxe5 Qxe5 42.f4 Qe8 43.Ng3 Rc7 44.Qb6 Rdc8 45.e5 Nd7 46.Qd4 Nf8 47.f5 Rd8 48.Qe3 Rdc8 49.Qf4 Qd7 50.Kh2 Qe8 51.Ne4 Qe7 52.Nd6 Rd8 53.Bxc6 1-0
Quizon, D (2319)-Bareev, E (2638) [C08]
FIDE World Cup 2021 Krasnaya Polyana RUS (1.2), 13.07.2021
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nf6 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.0-0 Be7 9.Re1 0-0 10.Nf1 Re8 11.c3 Qb6 12.Qc2 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Bc5 14.Be3 Ne5 15.b4 Bf8 16.Nf5 Qc7 17.Bd4 g6 18.N5e3 Bg7 19.Rad1 Rad8 20.h3 Re6 21.Qb3 a6 22.b5 axb5 23.Qxb5 Qc6 24.Qb3 Nc4 25.Rb1 Ne4 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Nxc4 dxc4 28.Qxb7 Qxb7 29.Rxb7 Rd3 30.Rc7 Rxc3 31.Ne3 Nd6 32.Nf5+ Kf6 33.Ne3 Kg7 34.Nf5+ Kf6 35.Ne3 ½-½
Aravindh, C VR (2641) – Concio, M (2297) [A28]
Krasnaya Polyana (1.1) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Be2 Bc5 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.d4 Bb4 8.dxe5 Nxe4 9.Qd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.Qg3 g6 12.Bh6 Bf8 13.Bg5 Be7 14.h4 h5 15.Rd1 Bxg5 16.hxg5 Qe7 17.Rh4 0-0 18.Rdd4 Re8 19.Rde4 b6 20.Bxh5 d5 21.cxd5 Bf5 22.Bd1 Bxe4 23.Rxe4 Rad8 24.Bb3 Qc5 25.e6 fxe6 26.dxe6 Re7 27.Kf1 a5 28.Re5 Qd6 29.Qf4 Qd3+ 30.Kg1 Rf8 31.Qe4 Rd8 32.f4 Kg7 33.Qe1 b5 1-0
Concio, M (2297)-Aravindh, C VR. (2641) [B10]
Krasnaya Polyana (1.2) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.c3 d5 3.Bd3 e5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Bc2 cxd5 6.d4 e4 7.Ne2 Bd6 8.Bf4 Bg4 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.h3 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nc6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Nd2 Rae8 14.Rfe1 Re7 15.Nf1 g6 16.Ne3 a6 17.a4 Rd8 18.Bb3 h5 19.Red1 h4 20.Ba2 Qf4 21.b4 Red7 22.b5 axb5 23.Qxb5 Ne7 24.Rd2 Nf5 25.Qe2 Kg7 26.Rb1 Rc7 27.Rc2 Qd6 28.Nxf5+ gxf5 29.Rcb2 Qf4 30.Rc2 Qg5 31.Kh1 Nh5 32.Rg1 Rd6 33.c4 Rg6 34.Rc3 Kh6 35.Qe3 f4 36.Qc1 e3 37.Rc2 Re7 38.Re2 exf2 39.Rxf2 Ng3+ 40.Kh2 Ne2 0-1
Bersamina, P (2462)-Praggnanandhaa, R (2608) [B40]
Krasnaya Polyana (1.1) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Qe2 e5 6.0-0 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.Na3 Re8 9.d3 d6 10.Nc4 h6 11.h3 Be6 12.Kh2 Bf8 13.Bd2 g6 14.a4 Bg7 15.b4 cxb4 16.cxb4 d5 17.Na5 Nxa5 18.bxa5 Bd7 19.Bc3 Qc7 20.Rfc1 Bc6 21.Nd2 a6 22.Qd1 Rad8 23.Qb3 h5 24.Bb4 Qd7 25.Ra2 Bh6 26.Re1 h4 27.exd5 Bxd5 28.Bxd5 Qxd5 29.Qxd5 Nxd5 30.Rb1 hxg3+ 31.fxg3 Nxb4 32.Rxb4 Rxd3 33.Ne4 Re7 34.Nc5 Rd5 35.Rxb7 Rxb7 36.Nxb7 Be3 37.Re2 Ba7 38.Rc2 e4 39.Kg2 Rd7 40.Rc8+ Kh7 41.Nd8 Kg7 42.Nc6 Rd2+ 43.Kf1 Bf2 44.Re8 f5 45.g4 Bg3 46.g5 f4 47.Rxe4 f3 48.Rd4 Rh2 0-1
Praggnanandhaa, R (2608)-Bersamina, P (2462) [E73]
Krasnaya Polyana (1.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 Na6 7.Nf3 e5 8.0-0 Qe7 9.Qc2 Nb4 10.Qd2 c5 11.d5 Ng4 12.Bg5 f6 13.Bh4 g5 14.h3 Nh6 15.Nxg5 fxg5 16.Bxg5 Rf6 17.f4 Nf7 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.a3 Na6 20.Bh5 Nh8 21.fxe5 Qxe5 22.Qe2 Bd7 23.Bg4 Bxg4 24.Qxg4 Ng6 25.Nb5 Rd8 26.Rad1 Kh8 27.Rf7 Rg8 28.Rdf1 Nb8 29.R1f5 Qxb2 30.Nxd6 Nd7 31.Rxd7 Bd4+ 32.Kh2 Be5+ 33.Kg1 Bd4+ 34.Kh2 Be5+ 35.Kg1 Bd4+ 36.Kh2 ½-½
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa66!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…N7e5 2.Qxd6#; 1…Kd5 2.Qc4#; 1…N3e5 2.Nb3#; 1…Nd2 2.Nc6#; 1…Rc2, Ba2/d3 2.Q(x)d3#./PN
