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GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Jeffery Xiong, and Alexey Sarana have been the three victorious gamers of their spherical of 32 matches on Friday because the Chess.com Global Championship continued. Favorites Duda and Xiong needed to shake off the nerves early in opposition to their respective opponents, however each stabilized the matches and received with 2.5-0.5 scores.
Sarana’s path to development was much less simple and a wild match in opposition to GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov went deep after tying 1.5-1.5 after three video games. The match was determined in favor of Sarana after a fast “immortal,” needing solely 30 strikes to dispatch the world number-14.
The spherical of 32 continues on Saturday, September 24, beginning at 4 a.m. PT / 13:00 CET and can characteristic gamers together with GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik, and Anish Giri.
Former Manchester United soccer coach Sir Alex Ferguson stated that “assault wins you video games, protection wins you titles,” and this proved true on the chess board at this time for Duda, who miraculously saved himself from being squashed by GM Wang Hao of their opening sport. After defending the notorious rook and bishop in opposition to rook ending for 50 strikes, every thing rotated for Duda, who by no means appeared doubtful past the primary sport and received the match with a 2.5-0.5 rating.
A single exterior handed pawn was all of the Polish GM wanted to resolve the match and exemplary conversion approach was on full show as Duda marched onward to his spherical of 16 match in opposition to event darkish horse Sarana.
Meanwhile, a tragic blunder with 4 seconds on the clock left GM Benjamin Bok rueing what might have been if he had secured a draw with the black items in sport one. Xiong’s harmful preparation was the catalyst for the clock drainage however Bok managed to maintain issues below management till the deadly blunder compelled a queen change, permitting Xiong’s a-pawn to advertise.
Xiong’s expertise within the Grunfeld Defense shone by way of within the following sport and he was in a position to safe his second full level within the match, courtesy of a strong bishop pair. Needing to win on demand with black in sport three, Bok’s King’s Indian Defense gave him small probabilities early, although Xiong tightened the screws and drew the sport, knocking out the Dutch commentator and streamer.
Mamedyarov’s match in opposition to Sarana was undoubtedly the conflict of the day and the 2 required 4 video games to be separated. Sarana was the underdog within the match, however is well-known as an enormous killer and maintained his fame, successful a messy first sport with the black items.
The second sport was extra one-sided and Sarana discovered himself attempting to interrupt down Mamedyarov’s fortress with a queen and a dream. Unable to discover a method by way of because the clock dwindled, Sarana had the choice of taking a draw however wished extra. Eventually, Sarana subjected himself to one of the crucial heartbreaking moments of the event to this point, incorrectly sacrificing his queen for Mamedyarov’s rook, forgetting his opponent might cease his handed pawn.
Tragic! Sarana’s response is totally 💔.#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/QAzj4i5GlU
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 23, 2022
A tame draw within the third sport allowed Sarana to settle the nerves earlier than he took the white items within the fourth. With every thing on the road, Sarana saved one of the best for final and performed probably the greatest video games of the event, leaving commentator Hess to proclaim the sport as “Sarana’s immortal.”
Pretty good end from Sarana (White) to upset Mamedyarov in an excellent, match-winning, remaining sport! 🤩#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/YPULOndkUq
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 23, 2022
This excellent efficiency is our Game of the Day under.
The elimination of an elite participant like Mamedyarov could come as a shock, however make no mistake: I’ve been following Sarana’s profession in on-line tournaments and he is bought extraordinary outcomes on this format.
Round of 32 Scoreboard
The 2022 Chess.com Global Championship (CGC) is the primary Chess.com world championship cycle open to all Chess.com verified gamers. Players compete in official Chess.com verified occasions for his or her share of the $1,100,000 prize fund and the Chess.com Global Champion title.
Chess legends, resembling GMs Viswanathan Anand, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, and Veselin Topalov, compete in opposition to at this time’s finest (on-line) gamers, together with GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, Levon Aronian, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and extra.
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