FIDE World Cup 2017: The super seven Indians!
Seven Indians have reached Tbilisi, Georgia to fight for the two spots at the World Cup 2017. After a long time we will see Vishy Anand and Pentala Harikrishna participating in the same event. The new entrant in 2700+ group Vidit Gujrathi will be looking to prove himself here and so would the FIDE President's wild card nomination Adhiban Baskaran. Sethuraman would like to keep up his form of 2015 World Cup, while Karthikeyan Murali and Deep Sengupta will try and send as many higher rated opponents back home packing as possible. Here's an article that familiarizes you with the chances that Indian players have.
The biggest chess festival of the year 2017 is just about to begin. The World Cup 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia. It is a 128-player knockout event where the two finalists qualify for the Candidates 2018. The format is two mini-matches of classical chess. If they end in a tie, then the players will shift to rapid and blitz section. Indian fans have a lot to cheer about at this event as seven of our best players have qualified to the tournament. This will also be the first time after one and a half years that our top two players Anand and Harikrishna will be playing in the same event. The last time they crossed swords was in Bundesliga 2016. Let's have a look at the seven Indian players and their chances.
Viswanathan Anand:
Anand has never really needed to play at the World Cup since he started winning World Championships from 2007 onwards. This is the first time in nearly a decade and a half that he doesn't have a direct qualification to the Candidates tournament. Hence, this event means a lot for the five-time World Champion. Anand has played three World Cups in the past and won two of them. The first one was in China in 2000 and the second one in Hyderabad, India in 2002.
Anand has a relatively easy opponent in the form of Yeoh Li Tian (rated 2480) in the first round of the World Cup. Of course, the Malaysian is young and talented, but if Anand plays on top of his game, the 300 Elo point difference should tell. If things go as planned Anand will face GM Varuzhan Akobian in round two. But that's where playing against sub elite players ends. In the pre-quarter finals Vishy will be upmost prioobably be up against English GM Michael Adams and winning that will put him up against Hikaru Nakamura!
Pentala Harikrishna:
Harikrishna begins his journey at the World Cup against Cuban Yuri Gonzalez Vidal. His opponent is a grandmaster rated 2543 and no pushover. But I have a feeling that this format of mini-matches with 2 classical games followed by rapid and blitz is very suitable for a practical player like Harikrishna. In 2015 Hari was one of the favourites, but his journey was cut short by our very own S.P. Sethuraman. The interesting part is that if Hari and Sethu both win their round one they will once again be playing each other in round two!
If Harikrishna wins his round one, he faces the winner of Ponomariov and Sethuraman. If he does win the second round, he faces a stiff challenge in the form of Anish Giri. And if Hari manages to stun the Dutch GM, he will most probably face Vladimir Kramnik. Once again, not an easy quarter to be in.
Vidit Gujrathi:
After Vidit crossed the 2700 Elo mark, his good friend and colleague Adhiban said, "I always used to call him the immovable object because he is not easy to beat. And now, he has managed to retain that quality while also becoming strong enough to beat the best!" This is exactly the reason why we are so excited to see how Vidit will perform at the World Cup 2017. Apart from being super solid, he has the added venom to his game and can really prove that he has made his arrival in the big league.
Vidit is up against Neuris Delgado Ramirez (2614) in round one. The Paraguayan GM has been in 2600+ range for nearly seven years now. That makes him an experienced campaigner and Vidit must tread carefully. If he manages to win against Delgado Ramirez, he faaces Le Quang Liem and then perhaps Ding Liren and if all goes well a quarter-final match against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov or Boris Gelfand.
Adhiban Baskaran
Adhiban had not made it for the World Cup 2017 through the qualifying events like National Premier or Asian Continental. However, he was destined to play this event as he got the FIDE President's wild card entry. And the grandmaster from Chennai is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to perform well at the event. He has come to Tbilisi two days in advance to acclimatize himself to the conditions and has got with himself the experienced trainer Elizbar Ubilava. Also his father is here to take care of all the things that are necessary to make him feel comfortable.
Adhiban has a tough round one opponent Nguyen Ngoc Truongson. The Vietnamese GM has been one of the top players of his country for quite some time now. He had a rating of 2650+ since 2011 and once upon time his blitz rating was 2791! Adhiban would do well to finish off the match in the classical section, as his opponent clearly seems like a well trained rapid and blitz player.
S. P. Sethuraman
Sethuraman played a phenomenal tournament at World Cup 2015. He beat his higher rated opponent Sanan Sjugirov 2-0 and then eliminated Pentala Harikrishna. In fact this was the first tournament that ChessBase India covered back in 2015. This year he begins his campaign against former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov. It will be interesting to see if Sethu is able to replicate the success he achieved two years ago.
Karthikeyan Murali:
Karthikeyan Murali is the reigning National Champion of India, a title that he has won both in 2015 and 2016. He is just 17 years old, but already has a wealth of experience of playing in top tournaments. He was part of the team in the Baku Olympiad and also at World Teams 2017. Such exposure has ensured that he has seen the way top players like Harikrishna, Sasikiran, Vidit, Adhiban, Sethu and others function. He has learned a lot from them and would be eager to implement all of that in this World Cup. His first round opponent is GM Francesco Vallejo Pons, a 2700+ player.
Deep Sengupta:
Deep has been one of our best GMs for quite some time now. He has won many international events in the past and has worked with top players and trainers. He has all the qualities required to make it to the 2600+ league. However, he has always fallen short of that mark. This World Cup is a perfect moment for the West Bengal GM to rise up to the occasion and show what he is capable of. He begins his first round against Chinese GM Wang Hao. Not an easy opponent, but then in this event absolutely no one is going to have it easy!
Schedule:
Time control:
Two games of 90 minutes for 40 moves and additional 30 minutes after that with 30 seconds increment for the game.
If the mini match ends in a draw, the tiebreaks will be held on the third day in the following format:
1) 2 games of 25'+10"
2) 2 games of 10'+10"
3) 2 games of 5'+3"
4) Armageddon with five minutes to white player and four for the black with no increment until move 60. Three second increment after that. White must win the game to qualify, while draw favours black.
ChessBase India coverage of World Cup 2017:
Pairings for World Cup 2017 released
ChessBase International coverage:
Magnus Carlsen plays in World Cup 2017
The most interesting match-ups for World Cup 2017