Congrats to Teimour Radjabov (2758) on becoming the first finalist of the #FIDEWorldCup2019 and securing a place in the 2020 Candidates tournament. #FIDEWorldCup

Teimour Radjabov 🇦🇿 defeats Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 🇫🇷 with White and becomes the first finalist of FIDE World Cup and qualifies to the FIDE Candidates 2020!

In a hopeless position Vachier-Lagrave blundered a rook and resigned on the 45th move.

He's 3,500 miles away from Paris, in an empty conference hall in the cold Siberian wasteland, one step away from the final, in a horrible position after just 10 moves. Yet, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave calmly sips some hot tea and digs himself out inch by inch.

Cheers in 🙌🇦🇿🙌

Tears in 😢🇫🇷😢

Teimour Radjabov wins a great game and eliminates Maxime Vachier-Lagrave , becoming the first #FIDEWorldCup finalist!

Radjabov: "I don’t even know if I will play the Candidates, but to get the place, an invitation for a nice party, is always good"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlNLSgnTkKw

Yu Yangyi and Ding Liren made a second draw in their #FIDEWorldCup semifinal match and move on to the playoff tomorrow.

Ding Liren improved Yu Yangyi's game against Vitiugov (second one with the classic time control) with 18.... Rd5, after which the position became equal.

"We played many rapid and blitz games recently," smiled Ding Liren, answering the question on the chances in the tiebreak. "Sometimes I win and sometimes he wins, the results are balanced."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcrWXd6cxFY

🔸Tata Steel India Rapid 2018
🔸Round 6
⚪️Harikrishna,P (2729)
⚫️Aronian,L (2765)
🔸1-0

41.Be6! [A multi-purpose move: 1. clearing the d7 square for the knight. 2. defending the important d5–pawn. 3. in the case of exchange on e6, White obtains a powerful passed pawn.]

[41.Nc8?! Bxd7! 42.Nxd6 Bxh3 43.Nxb7 Kxd5 44.Nd8 Bc8 45.Nf7 g4 46.f4 Kc6 47.Ne5+ Kb5 48.Kg3 Kxa5 49.Nxg4 Kb6=]

41...Bxe6 42.dxe6 Ke5 43.Nd7+! [43.e7!? Ke6 44.Na4 Kxe7 45.Nc5! △N×b7 45...Nf5 46.Nxb7 Kd7 47.Nc5+ Kc6 48.a6 Kb6 49.Ke2 g6 50.Kd3 Nh4 51.Ke4+–]

43...Kxe6 44.Nc5+ Kd5 45.Nxb7! [△a6]

45...Nc4 46.a6 Kc6 47.Nd8+! Kb6 48.Ne6 g6 49.Nxg5+–

Alekhine Memorial, 1971? So far, all three have approximately equal chances. But the fate of all three will turn out differently ... Vladimir Savon and Yuri Balashov clearly could not fully realize their creative potential ... But Anatoly

@UnityChess

"My study of chess was accompanied by a strong attraction to music, and it was probably thanks to this that from childhood I became accustomed to thinking of chess as an art, for all the science and sport involved in it."

🔸 Vasily Smyslov

@UnityChess

In the left: 8-year-old Teimour Radjabov at the Groningen chess festival in December 1995. Rated 1931, he played in one of the minor tournaments for players rated below 2200 and finished 20th.

@UnityChess