"VAN" (Sports Desk - 25.11.2025) :: After seven gruelling rounds and twenty-three days of intense chess, the FIDE World Cup reached its final stage with Wei Yi and Javokhir Sindarov battling for first place and the 120,000 USD first prize, and Andrey Esipenko and Nodirbek Yakubboev fighting for third place and the final Candidates qualification spot. Both matches carry enormous weight, creating a tense atmosphere throughout the hall.
In the match for the title, a complex opening led to a position where Wei Yi had chances to push for more, but with the Black pieces he steered the game toward a more balanced continuation and an eventual draw. On the other board, Andrey Esipenko successfully recovered from yesterday’s loss and struck first in his match against Yakubboev.
A notable change in the hall today was the arrival of the official trophy, the Vishwanathan Anand Trophy, displayed on the stage for the first time. Glistening under the overhead lights, it immediately drew the attention of media, spectators, and the players themselves.
The ceremonial first move was made by Indian sporting icon Abhinav Bindra, an Olympic gold medalist in shooting who made history by winning India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold. A fitting choice for the board of Wei Yi – Sindarov, as both players are Olympiad gold medalists themselves in 2014, 2018, and 2022 respectively.
Let’s take a look at the two games today:
Game 1 results
Andrey Esipenko 1-0 Nodirbek Yakubboev
Javokhir Sindarov ½ – ½ Wei Yi
Andrey Esipenko (2693) vs Nodirbek Yakubboev (2689)
Emotionally, the battle for third place may be even more demanding, as both players entered today still carrying the weight of semifinal losses. Yakubboev was coming off a ½–1½ tiebreak defeat to his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov, while Esipenko had experienced an equally painful ½–1½ loss defined by one final, decisive blunder that turned a winning position into a loss.
As our commentator GM Peter Leko noted during the broadcast, the best way to recover from a loss is simply to play good moves the next day, and that is exactly what Esipenko did to take the lead in the match.
An Open Sicilian that soon transposed into the Four Knights Variation set the tone. The game quickly entered a sideline chosen by Yakubboev, who then spent considerable time on his ninth move, raising questions about his level of preparation and confidence. Esipenko achieved the better position out of the opening, and an important moment soon arose:
Here, 15.Nd6 is a strong knight jump that plants a thorn in Black’s camp. After 15…Bxd6 16.exd6, the pawn cannot be captured by the queen straight away due to the threat of c4 hitting the pinned bishop. And after 16…Bxf3 17.Rxf3 Qxd6 18.f5, White is clearly better. In his post-game visit to the studio, Esipenko explained that he had seen this line but did not evaluate it as favorably for White as the computer suggests.
Instead, he opted for 15.Be3 and the game continued. Eventually, the players transitioned into an endgame that chess engines evaluate as equal. Still, it required a great deal of accuracy from Black. After making a couple of inaccuracies, Sindarov should have gone for a rook endgame down a pawn with drawing prospects, but he chose otherwise.
White was already slightly better on both the board and the clock. For better or worse Black should have traded his knight for the bishop and work hard for a draw after 32…Nxc1 33.Kxc1 cxb3 34.axb3 Rd3 35.Rf2+ Ke7 36.Rf3 Rd5. However, with only a few minutes remaining, Black played 32…h5?, allowing Esipenko to keep the bishop with 33.Bd2 (although Be3 was even stronger).
After that, Black’s position collapsed rapidly: 33…Ra5 34.Be3 a6 35.bxc4 Re5 36.Bd4 Rg5 37.Kf2 Rxg3 38.Be3 and Yakubboev resigned.
Aside from playing good moves, Esipenko described how he recovered after yesterday’s heartbreak: dinner at his favourite restaurant, time relaxing with his second, and switching off from chess by watching the Arsenal vs Tottenham football match,.made even sweeter by his favourite team, Arsenal, winning and lifting his mood.
Now the momentum shifts to Yakubboev, who must regroup and strike back with the White pieces today.
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