Abdusattorov
Fedoseev
Abdusattorov
 
Fedoseev
 
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
1
2
3 turns without comments
2

Fedoseev plays his favorite petroff defense

-04:-22 Nf6
3
11
17 turns without comments
11

Black opts for an interesting pawn formation!

Fedoseev seems to be aiming for an active game, and he doesn't mind accepting an isolated pawn in the center.

-01:-41 c5
12
15
8 turns without comments
16

The game has acquired shades of a French Defense now

This is a common position from the Tarrasch varaition, with almost all the pieces for White and Black in similar setups. Traditionally, Black looks at a long defense of his isolated pawn in the center.

01:09 Bd3
16
17
2 turns without comments
17

A committal exchange of minor pieces

Fedoseev doesn't mind exchanging his dark-colored bishop - one of the assets of the position - for the opponent's knight. In the process, his pawn weakness disappears, but White acquires a pair of bishops now..

-02:-58 Bxd4
18
20
6 turns without comments
21

??MISTAKE??

A puzzling decision from Abdusattorov - he voluntarily surrenders the bishop pair and enters the game into a late middlegame with opposite-colored bishops. It is a long shot to aim for any advantage in the resultant positions. Of course, he will gain a pawn in the process, but this doesn't seem to be a significant advantage for White.

01:38 Bxe4
21
33
24 turns without comments
33

Black has achieved equality!

With the advance of the pawn in the knight file in the queenside, Black seems to have achieved equality.

01:24 b3
34
40
13 turns without comments
40

Even closer to a draw!

With an ending with opposite-colored bishops on the board, the game moves firmly close to a draw now.

00:32 bxc2
41
48
16 turns without comments

A strange game by Abdusattorov

In a calm game arising out of a Petroff Defense, just when the middlegame was heating up, Fedoseev gave up his bishop and preferred to get his pawn weakness to vanish. But, surprisingly, Abdusattorov gave up his bishop pair to win a pawn. He couldn't make much headway in the resultant positions with opposite-colored bishops.

Impressive matchup at the Champions Chess Tour today!

Impressive track record vs. credentials of a rising star!

Fedoseev has done well in the event so far: wins against world champion Gukesh, Caruana, and Artemiev, all in regular games, and a loss to Nepomniachtchi through tiebreaker. This run, combined with his win at the Poland Superbet Rapid & Blitz just a couple of weeks ago, makes him a formidable competitor.

On the other hand, we have Abdusattorov, a global rising star, billed to be a future world champion. His victims in the event so far have been comparatively not as strong as Fedoseev's, and he ran into Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket.

BTW, if it is a factor, Abdusattorov is currently playing in the Sharjah Open too, at UAE 😊

Thus, we may prefer Fedoseev formwise, while choosing Abdusattorov for his promise! All in all, an exciting match is on the cards...