World Cup Knockout 2019

[JustinHorton]

I hate to criticize MVL as he is a lot better than me, and I may be talking complete rubbish, but Nxc3 doesn't look the principled move

Didn't it get played in some Carlsen games, or am I making that up? It's not exchanging queens that looked odd to me.

[Mick Norris]

Yu-Ding drawn.

That puts Ding's live rating at 2803.8

Given the WC doesn't finish until early next month, are the WC results going to be in the published rating list for this month or next? Ding was 2811 before the WC I think, and his lead in the average ratings probably makes it irrelevant in the race for a Candidates spot

[NickFaulks]

Given the WC doesn't finish until early next month, are the WC results going to be in the published rating list for this month or next?

The entire competition is registered for rating in the November list.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I hate to criticize MVL as he is a lot better than me, and I may be talking complete rubbish, but Nxc3 doesn't look the principled move

Didn't it get played in some Carlsen games, or am I making that up? It's not exchanging queens that looked odd to me.

something certainly went wrong quite quickly, and Radja is now writing Leonard's Guardian copy for him. A nice, if standard, illustration of the attacking power of opposite coloured bishops.

It would be a shame if MVL did not make the Candidates, although I suppose that I think that he is due to play it, rather than that he would be a likely winner.

[JustinHorton]

MVL resigns, having simply dropped a rook in a lost position.

[Mick Norris]

Yes, MVL has other avenues now that he has lost here, although he's not playing in the Grand Swiss, so the Grand Prix looks most likely

[David Sedgwick]

MVL resigns, having simply dropped a rook in a lost position.

It was the kind of blunder than comes from having a lost position. A day to forget for MVL.

Congratulations to Teimour Radjabov

[AustinElliott]

So that's Radjabov into the Candidates, an impressive comeback for him. I'd forgetten he was still quite so young.

Given Ding seems quite likely to qualify for Yekaterinburg on rating, a win for Yu in the semi-final tie-break could likely mean two Chinese players in the Candidates. Though on current rating and form Ding is presumably favourite for tomorrow.

[LawrenceCooper]

So that's Radjabov into the Candidates, an impressive comeback for him. I'd forgetten he was still quite so young.

Given Ding seems quite likely to qualify for Yekaterinburg on rating, a win for Yu in the semi-final tie-break could likely mean two Chinese players in the Candidates. Though on current rating and form Ding is presumably favourite for tomorrow.

A draw with black and a messy win with white suffices for Ding to make the final.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I am rather pleased at this. Partly because it maintains the Ding momentum. He has been off colour most of the event (except in the classical game v Grischuk) and still looks likely to win it! So this maintains the promise of an intriguing 2020 title match; and we know now that he might (might) have the nerves to beat Carlsen. As Lawrence says, that last game today was messy, but still Ding did not falter (much).

But partly something else entirely. Of course there were incentives for the Chinese to rig the result but I am not aware of any recent history suggesting this, no more than there is any evidence of modern-day cheating by Russians. But still, the prospect of a Ding Dive seems to have been all that anyone could talk about (all right, I would be wrong to take comments on Chessbomb as being fully representative, but still …) It would have been heartbreaking if Ding had lost his nerve in the messy game and then been accused of such collusion. And he must have known this. Still he came through. I am very pleased.

[Mick Norris]

Yes, well done Ding, good to see him confirmed in the Candidates, and it also makes the race for the rating slot interesting too

Giri has a 7 point lead on MVL after the October rating list is published, so MVL needs a gain relative to Giri of another 27 rating points, unlikely but not impossible, with Shak just 1 point average behind MVL and Nepo 2 points further back

[Chris Rice]

Ding-Radjabov starts tomorrow with a four game match and tie breaks as usual if necessary. What I didn't know till a few minutes ago was that there will be a third place match between Yu and MVL.
I went to the FIDE site to find out whether there was anything meaningful about the match and discovered the rather baffling:
"As you might know, both finalists of the 2019 FIDE World Cup automatically qualify for the Candidates Tournament, which will take place in spring 2020 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. According to the Regulations, the third place finisher of the World Cup also has a chance to be among the candidates, if he is nominated by the organizers."
I've since heard that Artemiev might now get this place which doesn't feel right at all. Does anyone know if this is correct?

[IM Jack Rudd]

There's a wildcard place, and a limited number of ways to become eligible for it, and among them are "finish in the top non-qualifying place in any of the official qualifying events".

One wild card is selected by the organizer. This player must participate in at least two of the three qualifying tournaments (World Cup, Grand Swiss and Grand Prix), and be either the highest non-qualifier in the World Cup, Grand Swiss or Grand Prix, or in the top 10 by average rating from February 2019 to January 2020.

[JustinHorton]

So in other words, they can't just nominate Some Guy Who Lives Round Here, right? (Or maybe the effect is to say look, if you sponsor the Candidates you can definitely include the wildcard you want to, they're on the list.)

I didn't know about the third-place match either. I will say I find the final of this event a bit after-the-Lord-Mayor's-Show: the real business has been done already, in the qualification for spots in the Candidates.

[NickFaulks]

the real business has been done already, in the qualification for spots in the Candidates.

Except, as you say in your first paragraph, it may not be.