In a day marked by underdog dominance, GMs Teimour Radjabov and Nihal Sarin defeated the 2 2023 World Championship challengers Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren within the 2022 Chess.com Global Championship spherical of 16, introduced by Brave. clinching matches in three video games and never needing the fourth. The world number-two and number-three weren’t solely the favorites of their matches however had been predicted by many to be finalists and even winners of the whole CGC.

This was the final day of the CGC Knockout. The CGC Finals happen in Toronto, from November 2 to November 7.

Game one couldn’t have been extra stunning as Radjabov and Nihal received, every with the black items. Under regular circumstances, that will be essentially the most stunning information of the day, however then they received once more in spherical two—taking a 2-0 lead every. No participant has come again from a 2-0 deficit within the CGC this season, and though there was a glimmer of hope for Nepomniachtchi within the final recreation, this truth remained true at present nonetheless.

“This is an astounding scoreline. I’m shocked,” Rozman stated after the second recreation. At the top of the printed, he exclaimed about at present’s surprising storyline: “I imply, what extra would you like!”

I imply, what extra would you like!

—Levy Rozman

Commentator Naroditsky, who scored 24.5-30.5 in a six-hour blitz match vs. GM Magnus Carlsen he’ll “in all probability not neglect anytime quickly” the day prior, summed it up: “It will take me a while to course of what we simply noticed right here at present.”

Nepomniachtchi was the clear favourite in his match in opposition to Radjabov. Having received the Candidates Tournament this yr, although, he in all probability would have been the favourite in opposition to any participant on this discipline. To additional mount the chances in opposition to the Azerbaijani grandmaster, their head-to-head encounters favored the Russian number-one as effectively. 

But recreation one was a chilly bathe for Nepomniachtchi, who experimented with the Nimzo-Indian Defense, a gap he is performed only a handful of occasions. The 4.f3 variation he performed within the recreation, he is solely performed that twice—however a kind of occasions was in opposition to Radjabov himself within the 2020 Airthings Masters. Unlike that recreation, nevertheless, this one didn’t finish in a draw. 

Instead, Radjabov’s spectacular play earned him the Game of the Day distinction, analyzed by our GM in residence under.

After a convincing first-game win, Radjabov had the white items within the second recreation. The gamers entered a symmetrical Queen’s Gambit Accepted, however after mass trades, the Azerbaijani grandmaster received a pawn. With 4 vs. three pawns on the identical facet of the board (which later grew to become three vs. two), the technical job of profitable was removed from trivial, however when Black erred most importantly with 47…Bh5, he was in a position to lure a bit and win. 

Can you discover the win for White?

The last recreation was slippery, removed from a clear affair. For a lot of the endgame, the engine gave Nepomniachtchi an amazing benefit regardless of materials equality, however changing it in a speedy recreation proved too laborious a job. Radjabov, who at one level performed a transfer with lower than one second on his clock, managed to carry issues collectively barely, and finally survived a knight and rook vs. rook endgame in a rollercoaster encounter totaling 143 strikes.

His expression within the clip under is one in all aid and pleasure.

GM @rajachess wins his match vs. Nepomniachtchi, with pure pleasure after the sport. 😊#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/NJBcpk9MvI

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) October 12, 2022

The match between Ding and Nihal was a conflict between the current and future, with the world number-two in opposition to a burgeoning Indian prodigy. They hadn’t performed a single recorded recreation in any time management earlier than. 

The 18-year-old grandmaster got here swinging in recreation one and took down the one 2800-rated participant on the earth moreover Carlsen, having the more serious pawn construction however making up for it with dynamic piece play. After correct maneuvering by each side for many of the recreation, Ding erred with 31.Nd4?, which appeared to have misplaced the sport on the spot.

When it rained it poured for at present’s favorites, as Ding additionally by no means regained his steadiness after the primary recreation. Having the luxurious of enjoying the white items in recreation two, Nihal performed the reliably-solid London System, and even acquired a crushing assault after an uncharacteristic blunder by Ding on transfer 34.

The third and last recreation was, frankly talking, essentially the most underwhelming of all of the video games at present. In a Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Ding acquired zero possibilities the whole recreation with White, and solely Black was higher for many of the recreation, stirring the commentators to surprise if Nihal would possibly actually win 3-0 in opposition to the world number-two. Pragmatically, the rising star agreed to a draw on transfer 29, needing solely that for his ticket to Toronto.

“I hardly ready truly,” says @NihalSarin after defeating Ding Liren, in opposition to whom he had by no means performed a single recreation till at present.#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/B93AATnhco

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) October 12, 2022

Radjabov and Nihal every earned $25,000 for profitable this stage, with the prospect to win extra in Toronto. Nepomniachtchi and Ding obtained $15,000 every.

As I wrote in a earlier report, no participant will get this far within the CGC accidentally. Radjabov defeated former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan and GM Arjun Erigaisi (one other promising younger Indian participant) earlier than at present, whereas Nihal took down GM Rauf Mamedov and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, arguably among the finest gamers of the sport. The CGC Finals are certain to be an unpredictable affair.

Round of 16 Scoreboard

Round of 16 Bracket