World Cup News

Ding, Radjabov Advance.
Others Tiebreak Tomorrow

Congrats to both Ding Liren and Timor Radjabov for winning today and advancing to the next round. Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave as well as Yu and Vitiugov must play the tiebreaks tomorrow.

The quality of play today shows that the players are beginning to suffer from fatigue. Xiong played a poor defensive game, and then Radjabov almost threw away his winning advantage towards the end of the session.

Ding Liren played a mature psychological game against Grischuk, but the price was to play a boring opening with no real prospects. However, it worked beautifully when Grischuk played the middle game with as much finesse as he does a blitz game, handing the Chinese superstar a remarkably easy victory.

The ‘Boring Your Opponent to Death’ Strategy

gm Ding Liren – gm Grischuk,Alex
World Cup r5.g2 24.9.2019 (1-0)

The ‘Over Zealous Attack vs Sloppy Defence’ Soap Opera

gm Radjabov,T – gm Xiong,J
World Cup r5.g2 24.9.2019 (1-0)