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Firouzja Accepts Gift As MVL, Arjun, Praggnanandhaa Join Him In Semifinals
Firouzja had the easiest path to the final when Raunak missed the first game. Photo: WR Chess.

Firouzja Accepts Gift As MVL, Arjun, Praggnanandhaa Join Him In Semifinals

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
Staff
| 20 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Alireza Firouzja was gifted a win when GM Raunak Sadhwani overslept their first game, before a draw in the second secured a spot in the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup Semifinals. Firouzja will play GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who beat GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while the other Semifinal sees GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who defeated mentor GM Viswanathan Anand, take on GM Arjun Erigaisi, who beat GM Vidit Gujrathi.  

The Semifinals of the WR Chess Masters Cup start on October 16 at 5 a.m. ET/11:00 CEST/2:30 p.m. IST.

WR Chess Masters Cup Bracket After Quarterfinals

Firouzja 1.5-0.5 Raunak

18-year-old Raunak, the conqueror of GM Parham Maghsoodloo, was the last remaining underdog in the WR Chess Masters Cup field. The only player rated under 2700 and facing the formidable Firouzja, he needed any help he could get. And what happened? He forfeited the first game of the day—played in the same hotel the players were sleeping—as he didn't make it to the board on time. 

The organizers reported that "both of the alarms he had set didn’t ring due to his AirPods being connected, and as a result, he couldn't show up for the game."

An impromptu experiment conducted by commentator GM Jan Gustafsson cast some doubt on the AirPods explanation, but the damage was done.

Going into the evening game, Raunak needed to win on demand with the black pieces, but the way the opening developed that soon looked like a complete impossibility.

Sure enough, a draw was soon agreed, with Raunak at least able to bank another 1.5 rating points for the draw, while Firouzja advanced to the Semifinals. All the remaining matches were full-blooded fights.

Arjun 1.5-0.5 Vidit

Arjun is two wins away from a 2800 rating. Photo: WR Chess.

The first of the all-Indian battles was a clash of Olympiad teammates, with Arjun initially having everything his own way with the black pieces. On the time-control 30th move, he won a pawn with the trick 30...Nxa3+! 31.bxa3 c4.

It seemed like just a matter of time until Arjun clinched victory, but instead Vidit first found the only path to survive, next won an exchange, and then briefly had real winning chances before the game ended in a draw by repetition. 

That was a great fight, but Arjun just keeps on getting better, and in the second game he made no mistake. He applied pressure from the start and then exploited each one of Vidit's inaccuracies with relentless precision. As at the Olympiad, you were left wondering how beating a top grandmaster can look so effortless.

Jan Gustafsson had assistance during the commentary on Arjun's win.

The remaining two matches both went to armageddon.

Praggnanandhaa 2-1 Anand

For most of the first classical game between mentor and student, it was experience that looked to be taking over. Anand player perfectly to build up a close-to-winning advantage.

All it took, however, was a queen exchange at slightly the wrong moment, and Praggnanandhaa held the endgame with ease.

The roles were reversed in the second classical game, as this time it was the 19-year-old who had complete control, again with the black pieces, but while still pressing he stumbled into a draw by three-fold repetition, with Anand correctly claiming the draw.

That meant armageddon, with Anand winning the black pieces with a bid of just over six minutes, while Praggnanandhaa had 10 minutes and needed to win with the white pieces. As we would see, however, this was a day when White was alright in the sudden-death games. Praggnanandhaa played the Scotch, went for a sideline with 5.Ne2, 6.Nf4, and crushed his illustrious opponent in just 26 moves!  

If that was a triumph for youth, it was experience that won out in the remaining quarterfinal.

Vachier-Lagrave 2-1 Abdusattorov

Vachier-Lagrave looks to have come with a plan to take his matches to armageddon, and it's hard to argue with results. With the white pieces, he made a draw by repetition against Abdusattorov in just 21 moves, while the fireworks in the second game were over by move 30.

For the armageddon game, Abdusattorov won with a bid of seven minutes and 30 seconds, meaning that Vachier-Lagrave had to win on demand with the white pieces. He did, with the game turning on 37...Rf4? in a difficult but still defendable position.

We're now going to get an all-French semifinal between Vachier-Lagrave and Firouzja, and an all-Indian semifinal between Praggnanandhaa and Arjun. 

How to watch?
You can watch commentary on the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup on the WR Chess YouTube Channel. You can also follow the games on our Events Page: 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Jan Gustafsson.

The 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup is a 16-player knockout held in the Langham Hotel, London, that runs October 14-18. Each match features two games using the shortest possible classical time control: 60 minutes for 30 moves, 30 minutes for 20 moves, then 30 minutes to the end of the game, with no increment. A 1-1 tie is decided by bidding armageddon, with 10 minutes for White. The prize fund is €58,000, with €20,000 for top place.

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Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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