Russians Andrey Esipenko and Daniil Dubov, both playing under the FIDE flag, used to wish each other well just before the start of each game at Chess World Cup in Goa. Though Dubov’s strategy to leave the matches to tiebreaks back fired as he lost to Sam Shankland in the pre-quarterfinals, Esipenko will leave the country after accomplishing his mission.
Despite losing to Wei Yi of China in the tiebreak of semi finals, 23-year-old and world No. 41 Esipenko managed to regroup himself and beat Nodirbek Yakubboev 2-0 in the classical phase of the third place playoff.
The win ensured that Esipenko, who was a part of the 40-plus Russians who had written an open letter against Russia’s war on Ukraine, clinched the sixth of the eight slots for the Candidates tournament. The winner of that double round-robin event in Cyprus next March & April, will take on D Gukesh — most likely in November — for the world crown. It was heartbreak for Yakubboev as he lost out on Candidates after getting two clear shots at it. He lost first to compatriot Javokhir Sindarov in the semis.
The Uzbek could spend only a week with his wife after getting married as he had to join the national camp. His mother accompanied him for this tournament. Despite probably putting his best foot forward, he would have to swallow the bitter pill. But he may take solace from the $50,000 won for this effort. Esipenko would bag $60,000
Sindarov and Wei Yi extended their title clash to tie breaks of shorter time control after drawing the second of their two classical games. “I am happy,” said Esipen ko on the FIDE webcast. “This is probably the best moment of my chess career.”
He said he was extremely exhausted after playing 30 games (including tiebreaks) in this knockout event. “I wanted it to be over finally.”
He had faced a must-win situation in the second game of the classical phase against Pouya Idani of Iran in the third round and did that on demand. Esipenko, who became a GM at age 16 and touched Elo 2700 three years later, had shot into the limelight after he defeated Magnus Carlsen in the second rapid game of their 2021 World Cup pre-quarterfinals after losing the first. And though he went on to lose the next set of tiebreaks, he beat Carlsen at Wijk aan Zee earlier that year, their only faceoff so far in classical chess.
No player has been able to oust Esipenko from the 18 World Cup matches in the classical phase across four editions starting with 2019. Esipenko lost out on an opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Candidates tournament after coming agonisingly close. He was the co-leader with just one round to go in the FIDE Grand Swiss. After uncorking a nice idea against Anish Giri in the last round, he forgot his preparation and lost.
Esipenko had also lost the last round of the 2024 Aero flot Open despite leading it with a round to go. “I really had this problem with key games,” he said, “I am extremely happy that finally I played a good match when it mattered the most.”
Field for Candidates 2026 1. Fabiano Caruana (2024 FIDE circuit leader); 2. Anish Giri (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss winner); 3. Matthias Blubaum (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss runner-up); 4. Wei Yi (2025 World Cup finalist); 5. Javokhir Sindarov (2025 World Cup finalist); 6. Andrey Esipenko (2025 World Cup third spot); 7. R Praggnanandhaa* (2025 FIDE circuit leader); 8. Hikaru Nakamura* (Highest rated player not qualified from the above routes)
* Both Pragg and Nakamura are expected to qualify but not 100 percent certain yet.
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