Amazing Azerbaijani Abasov to face Carlsen in Chess World Cup semi-final insidethegames.biz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insidethegames.biz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Former world champ Magnus Carlsen was this close to going home early, but held on and is one of eight players still in the hunt as the FIDE World Cup reached the quarterfinal stage in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week.
Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana scored wins on Sunday to knock out Ferenc Berkes and Jan-Krzysztof Duda respectively. While Pragg is set to face Arjun Erigaisi in an all-Indian quarterfinal, Caruana will play Leinier Dominguez in a duel of US grandmasters. Gukesh and Magnus Carlsen also secured their spots in the next stage when they will face each other. In the women’s section, three out of four quarterinal matchups will be decided in tiebreaks, as only Tan Zhongyi has secured a spot in the semifinals. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi and Vidit have made it 4 Indians out of the 8 men s quarterfinalists. Meanwhile, Harika lost her quarterfinal match on the women s side.
The temptation to classify the 2023 FIDE Chess World Cup quarterfinal between Magnus Carlsen and D Gukesh as master vs apprentice is almost too great especially after the pair’s spell as teammates for Alpine Warriors in the recently concluded Global Chess League but when the pair sit across.