The FIDE World Cup 2023 began on July 29 at the Baku Convention Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, and will run till August 25. At the end of Day 12, two games of the fourth round have been done, with quite a few shocking results greeting fans, including a Magnus Carlsen loss to rising star Vincent Keymer and Wesley So getting outplayed by Alexey Sarana.
The World No 1 — who has never won this coveted competition in a glittering career — did keep his hopes alive after winning Game 2 to take his series to a tiebreaker. However, while the Dane lived to fight another day, his fellow American top-five player in the rankings was unable to salvage his tournament, drawing his second game to see his World Cup sojourn end early.
World Cups are said to be brutal events, with even the best players and top seeds not having it easy in any round, especially in a sport like Chess. At this event, the field gets cut in half every three days, and the difficulty level is reflected in the fact that of the top 20 seeds, half had already been knocked out before round four began.
Another game that was much-anticipated among fans and aficionados was the battle between world number two Hikaru Nakamura and the fast-rising Praggnanandhaa R. The teenager took the early lead before his star content creator opponent was able to mount a comeback and almost sneak a win. However, in the end, the latter was more than happy to shake hands on a draw, remarking in his recap video:
"I was already not very happy here, but I told myself that at this point of the game, I just need to keep playing moves and not blunder, and maybe, I'll survive!"
The big names to be ushered towards the exit door include Anish Giri, Wei Yi, and Teimour Radjabov. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana was the first top seed to enter the last-16, clinching a 27-move miniature against his Ray Robson. Interestingly, the American has made the pre-quarters of the World Cup for the third time but has never made it past the quarterfinals, which he will look to rectify this time around.
Among the women, too, the competition has not been easy, with the section set for at least five tiebreaks after third seed Koneru Humpy hit back on demand against Bela Khotenashvili. Only Aleksandra Goryachkina, Polina Shuvalova, and Tan Zhongyi managed to go through to the quarterfinals without the need for tiebreaks.
Where is the FIDE World Cup 2023 being broadcast?
This ultra-tough Chess event is being broadcast on Chess.com's official Twitch and YouTube handles. Users can find more details for the Open and Women's sections on its live events platform. Moreover, the participants who have channels on platforms like Twitch, Kick, and YouTube will also upload videos of their games, while former players like Garry Kasparov have been following it online, with a few even broadcasting matches live on their accounts.
Viewership stats from the FIDE World Cup 2023
This biennial Chess tournament has hit 1.7M Hours Watched, 73K Peak Viewers, and 32K Average Viewers around halfway through its runtime. Considering the rate at which it has grown and the demand for it within the online community, including among prominent streamers, there is a good chance it could break the viewership record among Chess World Cup events.
With the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Vidit Gujrathi, Fabiano Caruana, and defending champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda still alive, there could be a lot more action in store for fans at the FIDE World Cup 2023. Chess has never been bigger than it is today, and with such events drawing massive viewership numbers, it can only get better.
