Grandmasters do not, as a rule, overlook one-move threats. But when they do, there is a good chance that a retreating knight is the culprit. Take the 1956 Candidates tournament, where Tigran Petrosian (a future world champion), attained an overwhelming strategic advantage as his opponent David Bronstein shuffled his knight back and forth, waiting for the axe to fall. One of these jumps just happened to attack Petrosian’s queen, who failed to notice and moved a different piece forward. Bronstein’s knight moved back again, snapping off the queen, and Petrosian resigned.
The curse of the cavalry claimed yet another victim in the semi-final of the Fide World Cup in Goa. The young Russian grandmaster Andrey Esipenko was two pawns to the good against China’s Wei Yi in their second rapid tiebreak game. Since the preceding games were all draws, a win would decide the match. In the diagram below, 55…Ra2! was best, preparing to simplify
with Ra2-a3+ followed by Nf3-d4+. For example, 56 Rg7 Ra3+ 57 Ke2 Nd4+ 58 Nxd4+ exd4 59 Rxg5 Re3+ 60 Kd2 Kb6! followed by c7-c5 wins comfortably. But Esipenko erred with:
Wei Yi-Andrey Esipenko
Fide World Cup Semi-Final Tiebreak, Nov 2025
55…Kb6? allowing an unexpected retreat: 56 Ne3! which hits the Rg2 as well as threatening Ne3-d5+. Looking at the video footage it seemed to me that Esipenko’s first instinct was to move his rook, but he vacillated and inexplicably forgot to. 56…c6?? 57 Nxg2 Black resigns
In the final, Wei Yi faced the young Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov, who had defeated his countryman Nodirbek Yakubboev in the other semi-final. After another series of draws, the critical moment occurred in the rapid tiebreak, both clocks running below 30 seconds:
Wei Yi-Javokhir Sindarov
Fide World Cup Final Tiebreak, Nov 2025
55… Be7! A clever retreat, forcibly exchanging an important defender. 56 Bxe7 Qxe7 57 Rxd4? The situation looks hopeless with Qe7-h4 imminent, but there was a remarkable save. 57 Kg2! Qh4 58 Rf8+!! Kxf8 59 Qf3+ achieves a draw by perpetual check, e.g. 59…Kg8 60 Qa8+ Kh7 61 Qe4+ and so on. 57…Qh4+ 58 Kf4 Re1 59 Qg2 Qg5+ 60 Kg3 Qe3+ White resigns
Sindarov, 19, who began as the 16th seed, became the youngest ever winner of the World Cup and took home the top prize of $120,000. The World Cup awards three qualifying places for next year’s Candidates tournament in Cyprus, so the third-place playoff between Esipenko and Yakubboev held real significance. Esipenko recovered from his nightmare blunder to take the final spot.
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