Russia Seeks Redemption Over The Board: Esipenko On The Brink And 'Team FIDE' Win World Title

Russian chess was back making headlines over the weekend, for incidents over the board this time as well as off it.

Firstly, to the FIDE World Cup where GM Andrey Esipenko was the last Russian left standing in the semi-finals.

On Sunday, Esipenko lost out to Chinese star GM Wei Yi in a dramatic semi-final that denied him—for the time being—a place in next year's FIDE Candidates. Yi now faces GM Javokhir Sindarov in the final.

Esipenko's defeat was painful. He made blunder that lost his rook, and which GM Susan Polgar described as 'collosal'.

However, the 23-year-old Russian's status as his nation's last hope playing in the event under a FIDE flag did not afford him much sympathy among some.

It led to this exchange between GM Peter Heine Nielsen, a frequent critic of Russia's involvement in chess, and Polgar, who rushed to Esipenko's defence.

But while Yi advanced to the final and took the all-important Candidates place on offer, Esipenko did have the consolation of another chance to bag the ticket attached to third-place in Monday's third-place playoff.

Yakubboev (2689) and Esipenko (2681) went into the match rated just 7 FIDE points apart. But it was Yakubboev who buckled first, collapsing in the first game.

In the final itself, GM Javokhir Sindarov and Yi drew. Both matches will resume on Tuesday when the winner and the last Candidates place will be decided. But as it stands, Esipenko is in pole position to save Russia's blushes.

At the start of the World Cup we described Russian chess as being in the doldrums, partly due to its on-going exclusion from international sport.

But events at the FIDE Women's World Team Championship in Linares, Spain, have challenged that.

The first point is that a Russian team was admitted—which was a victory for Russian in itself, and highly controversial. We examined that here.

The second point is that the Russian team was victorious, in perhaps the only Russian team triumph since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started and restrictions on Russian involvement began. It made the Women's World Teams no ordinary event.

We say the team was Russian, it was technically a supposedly neutral "Team FIDE" squad. Although everyone in it was Russian. That was fully understood, by everyone.

The stacked Team FIDE went undefeated, while the Ukraine team—placed conveniently on the other side of the draw and much weaker than its Olympiad-winning side—exited at the first stage.

Everything went to plan, it seems.

The final saw Team FIDE dominate Azerbaijan with an impressive 5.5–2.5 overall score. IM Polina Shuvalova (gold on board three), IM Leya Garifullina (silver on board four), and WGM Anna Shukhman (gold on board five), drove them to victory.

Even the presence of GM Hou Yifan couldn't challenge Team FIDE as China finished third.

Next month, GMs Volodar Murzin and Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Russian number-one, are back on the big stage defending their titles at the World Rapid & Blitz in Doha.

Reports of the death of Russian chess, under the guise of the FIDE flag, have clearly been exaggerated.