Duda knocks out the Champion from the World Cup; Qualifies for the Candidates
The 23-year old Polish GM, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, faced Magnus Carlsen today at the FIDE World Cup, and knocked out the World Champion in a second rapid game. Duda has reached the final against Sergey Karjakin.
Duda was the one who broke Carlsen’s 125-game unbeaten streak in Round 5 of Norway Chess, becoming the first player to defeat the World Chess Champion in a classical game since Shakhriyar Mamedyarov shocked Magnus in Biel.
Karjakin had already secured a spot in the final and in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament by beating Vladimir Fedoseev with the white pieces. The former World Championship challenger won the World Cup in 2015, when he defeated Peter Svidler in a very unpredictable game, and this year he is going to fight against Duda, after a quite impressive tournament.
Twitter celebrated the Duda-Carlsen match (of course!), and the minute Magnus resigned, chess grandmasters, influencers, and commentators all rushed to make a comment.
Carlsen showed class by giving his congratulations to Duda and Karjakin and casually reminding that he came to Sochi to get some practice before a really important event of the year, the World Chess Championship against Nepo.
Now, what’s left to see is a challenging match between Duda and Karjakin!
