Chess World Cup | Weiholds firm againstEsipenko

As Wei Yi stormed out of the playing hall as darkness began to fall on Resort Rio on Friday, there were a couple of children waiting for his autographs. He stopped, obliged them, and even bent down to pose for a photograph with the boy. The girl, after clicking the photo, said, beaming, “Congratulations.”

One is not sure if she actually saw how the seventh seed from China managed to get half-a-point from Andrey Esipenko in the first game of the semifinals at the World Cup, but she was certainly right to congratulate him.

It was some superb piece of defending, under time pressure, that answered the questions posed by his Russian rival.

The other semifinal, featuring the two young Uzbeks, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Jovakhir Sindarov, was also drawn.

So none of the four players can afford a defeat in the second classical game on Saturday: that will mean losing the semifinal match, though one could still remain in contention for a place in the Candidates (a win in the playoff for the third place would do).

Of course, victory in the semifinals is the easier way. And Esipenko looked the likeliest to take what could have been a crucial lead, and that too with black pieces.

The Russian played French Defence and succeeded in giving some headache to his Chinese rival. But on the 28th move, Wei equalised with a fine bishop move, and continued to find more right ones.

Wei then found the perfect square for his queen on the 31st move, to settle the issue more or less. A couple of moves later, the two men agreed to split the point.

There wasn’t as much drama in the other game, in which Yakubboev and Sindarov signed peace after 30 moves from a Semi-Slav Defence that reached a rook-and-knight ending.

The results (semifinals, game one): Wei Yi (Chn) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Rus); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb) drew with Jovakhir Sindarov (Uzb).