Chess World Cup: Watch out for surprises and young masters

Nijat Abasov and R Praggnanandhaa (2023), Jan Duda and Vladimir Fedoseev (2021), Teimour Radjabov and Yu Yangyi (2019). These names from the last three World Cups are indicative of the surprise element that the biennial tournament offers.

The above players had made it to the minimum semifinal stage of the knockout event which acts as a qualification event for the eight-player Candidates tournament. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The latest edition begins in Goa on Saturday. As the 64-square cerebral game becomes younger and younger, TOI looks at some of these yet-to-be-18s in the 206-player draw of the $2m prize money event...ABHIMANYU MISHRA, USAAGE 16, ELO 2652The youngest GM ever at 12 years, 4 months and 25 days, the American of Indian origin is a path-breaking player in every sense.

The FIDE has now mandated at least one GM norm via the Swiss League for the title requirement.Mishra, known for his intense calculation and tactics, finished an impressive fifth in the FIDE Grand Swiss with rating performance of 2825-plus. He is expected to meet Levon Aronian in the 3rd round.YAGIZ KAAN, TURKEY AGE 14, ELO 2651GM before age 13, Kaan played the endgame of the FIDE Grand Swiss when he checkmated Aditya Mittal in the fourth round.

Kaan, the highest rated player to miss out on the first-round bye, could bump into Ding Liren’s Polish second Richard Rapport in the third round. He won’t be short on confidence, having already held D Gukesh to a draw in Classical chess and beating Carlsen in shorter time controls. Kaan’s Azerbaijani mentor Mamedyarov is also playing here.ANDY WOODWARD, USAAGE 15, ELO 2590Was seeded 108th at FIDE Swiss Grand but finished seventh with scalps of Raunak Sadhwani, Levon Aronian and Parham Maghsoodloo.He also drew the last round against Yu Yangyi. With one surprise win in Goa, he could face Erigaisi Arjun in the fourth round. FAUSTINO ORO, ARGENTINAAGE 12, ELO 2509The boy who became IM The boy who became IM before turning 11 (like Pragg), is already attracting big sponsors, having got an exhibition match with fivetime world champion V Anand earlier this year. The highest rated 11 year old in chess history, Oro has beaten Carlsen in online games and also seems to be in good Classical form with a 2850-plus performance recently. He could face Vidit Gujrathi in the second round in Goa.THE OTHERS...Ediz Gurel (Turkey), age 17, Elo 2634 and Ivan Zemlyanskii (Russia), age 15, Elo 2596 are the other notable young dark horses in the field.