World Cup Baku 10 September to 4 October 2015

[Tim Harding]

Wojtaszek just lost. Ding may draw especially with time advantage.

[John McKenna]

Wojt has gone then.

Andreikin is out.

Eljanov looking good so Jako going out, too, it seems.

Gimme dat Ding!

[Tim Harding]

Ding-Dong struggle heading for Armageddon??

[LawrenceCooper]

Eljanov through and perpetual in the Ding game so that will need at least another two games for a winner to emerge.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Eljanov through. As someone mentioned elsewhere, Jakovenko just became "the biggest Nakamura fan"!

[John McKenna]

I hope that Ding will survive even Armageddon and that Wei will be going dong ('east' to China).

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Even if Ding Liren advances, only 3 of the top 8 seeds (2 if Wei Yi wins) will have got to the quarter-finals. Is this about right for an event like this, or would you expect more of the top seeds to get this far? From the other end, the lowest seeded player is 26 (Eljanov), which is pretty good for an event with 128 players (Adams was seeded number 15).

[LawrenceCooper]

In the third rapid game I liked the move 12 Qg3 which looked like a beginner's blunder at first glance but was a trap (admittedly forced) albeit one which a player of Ding's strength easily avoided.

[Mick Norris]

Even if Ding Liren advances, only 3 of the top 8 seeds (2 if Wei Yi wins) will have got to the quarter-finals. Is this about right for an event like this, or would you expect more of the top seeds to get this far? From the other end, the lowest seeded player is 26 (Eljanov), which is pretty good for an event with 128 players (Adams was seeded number 15).

Eljanon now above Jakovenko in the live ratings at number 17, having gained 26.8 rating points so far at the WC

CBTN gives the following:

Throughout our reports on the second round we’ve assured you that it was likely you’d see at least one player in the top ten upset, and Aronian proved to be the victim. That being said, 24 of the 32 remaining players are supposed to be here, as top-32 seeds, where before the tournament began we expected to see just 21 or 22 such “chalk” results at this point.

The third round of the World Cup again saw relatively few upsets; this tournament so far has been an impressive showing by the top players. We did lose two of our top eight seeds, with Grischuk being eliminated yesterday in the classical games and Kramnik knocked out today in tie breaks.

Three of yesterday’s victors, Nakamura, Svidler, and local favorite Mamedyarov, did convert today, drawing their games to clinch berths in the quarterfinal round. This of course means that two of the top three seeds, Topalov and Caruana, failed to mount comebacks and are now gone from the tournament! Also eliminated, although less shockingly, was Michael Adams.

I think we are probably about par, and there isn't much between the players in this format once we get to this stage

[LawrenceCooper]

In the third rapid game I liked the move 12 Qg3 which looked like a beginner's blunder at first glance but was a trap (admittedly forced) albeit one which a player of Ding's strength easily avoided.

Another draw but full of interest ending in black sacrificing a piece to force perpetual.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Ding Liren may have missed a chance in the sixth game - 20.f3 was winning according to the online engines. Looks like another draw now.

[LawrenceCooper]

Ding Liren may have missed a chance in the sixth game - 20.f3 was winning according to the online engines. Looks like another draw now.

Ding has just rolled the dice, perhaps with an eye to his opponent's lack of time.

[LawrenceCooper]

Wei won, possibly due to Ding overpressing but an end to an interesting match.

[AustinElliott]

And.. the kid stays in the picture.

Amazing performance in that last game, given that at one point (? c. move 19-20 when Deng missed 20. f3!) Wei Yi had about 70 sec on his clock to something like 5 or 6 minutes for Deng.

[NickFaulks]

In the third rapid game I liked the move 12 Qg3 which looked like a beginner's blunder at first glance but was a trap (admittedly forced) albeit one which a player of Ding's strength easily avoided.

This is a known line of the Bishop's Opening, and I expect it appears in Gary Lane's book. Tragically I have lost my copy, but I'm sure that the Chinese players have been more careful and have studied it in depth.