Iran's 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja won his second game against Russian Daniil Dubov to be the first Iranian chess player of all times to advance to the FIDE World Cup's third round. Experts call the match a thriller.
However, Levon Aronian from Armenia won against Iran's Parham Maghsoodloo to bar him from accompanying his fellow countrymen in the games.
Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei drew against American Jeffery Xiong. The Iranian was winning for a while and then had to defend a queen ending material down, in a clash between two 18-year-olds. World Champion Magnus Carlsen Magnus was impressed by the young Iranian.
"He’s a good player. He can play very well dynamically as well, but he’s maybe a bit more positionally inclined than Alireza and Maghsoodloo. The guy’s like 18 and 2650 almost, so what’s not to like?," he said after the match.
The FIDE World Cup 2019 takes place in Khanty-Mansiysk on September 9 – October 4. The competition is a part of the World Championship cycle. 128 players from 47 countries participate in the 7-round elimination tournament. Both finalists of World Cup qualify to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020.
The total prize fund of the tournament is 1,600,000 USD.
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