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丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov
8th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 5 (5+3); Khanty-Mansiysk, October 4, 2019
4B3/4n3/5kp1/p1K4p/8/6PP/4P3/8 w - - 2 52

Position after 51. ... Ke5-f6

Against all odds, Azerbaijani Grandmaster Teimour Radjabov has won the Chess World Cup 2019, by defeating the top seed, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) from China, in both the last two tie-break blitz games. The first one undoubtedly paved the way towards match victory: 52. Kb5? It does not lose itself, but it goes very near it. Correct was 52. Bd7 Nf5 53. g4 hxg4 54. hxg4 Ne3 55. Kb5 Kg5 56. Be8 with a draw by exhaustion of material inevitable. 52. ... Nf5. The double threat of ... Nf5-d6+ and ... Nf5xg3 may well have its psychological effect. 53. Kxa5 Nxg3 54. Bb5? Best (but not easy to spot) was 54. e3! Nf5 55. Kb4! Nxe3 56. Kc5 with a draw in sight. 54. ... g5!? An inversion of moves. 54. ... Ke5!−+ was now easy and facile (and if 55. Kb4 then 55. ... Kd4). 55. Kb4 Ke5? (55. ... Ne4! 56. e3 Ke5−+) 56. Kc3 Kf4 57. Kd2? The losing move! Both 57. Kd4 Nf5+ 58. Kd3 Kg3 59. Bd7 and (even more elegantly) 57. Kd3 Nf5 58. e3+! Nxe3 59. Be8! h4 60. Ke2 would have secured a draw. Now it’s over: 57. ... Ne4+ 58. Ke1 Kg3 59. Bd7 h4−+ 60. e3 Nf2 61. Kf1 Nxh3 62. e4 Nf4 63. e5 h3 64. Bc6 h2 65. Bb7 g4 66. Bc6 Kh3 67. Bb7 g3 68. Bc8+ Kh4 69. Bb7 Kg5 70. Be4 Kg4 71. e6 Nxe6 72. Kg2 Nf4+ 73. Kh1 Nh3 74. Bf3+ Kf4 75. Kg2 Nf2 76. Kf1 Kxf3 0 : 1.

Today Caïssa wanted to return something of her holiness to Radjabov, as “what is dear to the gods” cannot be discouraged. Photo: FIDE World Cup 2019.