BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 22. "The first game was comfortable for me. After Caruana's mistake, nothing could stop me from winning. The opponent made an unexpected mistake. Having made the right moves, I ended the game with a victory. Such mistakes are not typical for such strong chess players as Fabiano Caruana. The World Cup lasts a long time, and most of the participants are tired. The day before, Caruana played in a tie-break, and perhaps fatigue affected him. I didn't play yesterday and was able to recover my strength," Abbasov said.
The Azerbaijani chess player stressed that the return game of the match for third place will take place tomorrow.
"I feel the support of the whole of Azerbaijan; thank you very much for that. The fight for third place is extremely important. I want to formalize my participation in the candidate tournament by entering the top three at the World Cup," he concluded.
The starting list of the Chess World Cup of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Baku included 206 chess players in the open section and 103 in the women's section.
The Chess World Cup is being held in Azerbaijan for the second time. For the first time, three of the best players from both the open and women's sections will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2024.
The games of the FIDE World Cup 2023 will be broadcast on the official website of the competition in Azerbaijani and English. The tournament will continue until August 25. The prize fund for the Cup is set at $2 million.
The Women's Chess World Cup in Baku ended on August 21. It was won by Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE); Nurgul Salimova (Bulgaria) took second place, and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) took third place.
The Chess World Cup is being held at Marriott Boulevard in Baku.