GM Sam Sevian achieved a spectacular upset against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to kick off the round of 32 matches in the Chess.com Global Chess Championship. Additionally, GM Dmitry Andreikin defeated GM Gata Kamsky in armageddon while GM Fabiano Caruana knocked out GM Jose Martinez.
The round of 32 continues on Thursday, September 21, starting at 9 a.m. PT / 18:00 CEST.
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Twenty-one-year-old grandmaster Sevian faced one of the favorites to win the entire event, Vachier-Lagrave. Community bracket predictions gave Sevian a 10% chance to win the match against the seventh-highest-rated player in history. Even with the odds against him, Sevian came ready for a fight, and these two exceptional players had an absolutely fascinating duel.
After getting into trouble on the board and the clock in the first game, Sevian struck back with incredible attacking play in the second. Vachier-Lagrave kept the pressure on the younger grandmaster throughout, playing quickly and mopping up free pawns all over the board. Yet, Sevian successfully followed through with his attack, aiming all his resources at the kingside and finding a decisive winning tactical sequence.
The score was tied after four games when Sevian won the match in armageddon with the stunning d6!! to support his kingside breakthrough.
This game is our Game of the Day.
Sevian shared his thoughts on the fantastic game finish in the post-match interview: “I just had to find the breakthrough at the end.”
“I had this position with Black about a month ago … When I had this with White, it was just absolutely amazing,” shares @SamSevian in his post-game interview.#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/S9sHeDyUqS
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 21, 2022
After two draws, Andreikin gained the lead vs. Kamsky in a dynamic battle that took place on all sides of the board.
In the next game, Kamsky came back to win a hard-fought ending and tie the match.
Kamsky shows great resilience and wins on demand in a close endgame vs. Andreikin.
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Sevian will also be decided by an armageddon game.#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/mpLGBNpHaT
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 21, 2022
Andreikin won the playoff with queenside play that outpaced his opponent’s kingside pressure.
Caruana vs. Martinez also began with two draws. In game three, Caruana took the lead by breaking through on the kingside and converting a rook ending.
Round of 32 Scoreboard
Round of 32 Bracket
The 2022 Chess.com Global Championship (CGC) is the first Chess.com global championship cycle open to all Chess.com verified players. Players compete in official Chess.com verified events for their share of the $1,100,000 prize fund and the Chess.com Global Champion title.
Chess legends, such as GMs Viswanathan Anand, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, and Veselin Topalov, compete against today’s best (online) players, including GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, Levon Aronian, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and more.
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