Esipenko Loses to Carlsen; Becomes Everyone’s Favorite Chess Player
Andrey Esipenko, a 19 year old Grandmaster from Russia, almost managed to knock-out the World Chess Champion out of the FIDE World Cup.
Winning on demand and finally losing two nerve-racking blitz games, Esipenko finished the day by apparently becoming everyone’s favorite chess player.
After eight games, the World Champion was visibly relieved when he finally won the match.
In terms of sheer audacity, the Carlsen—Esipenko match in the Round 5 of the World Cup has to be commended. All of a sudden, this young humble player who is 11 years younger than the World Champion, appears on equal footing with the strongest player in the world. Professional players and amatures alike agreed that they are seeing something special.
Qiyu Zhou (aka Nemo), a chess player and influencer, was intensely watching the Match and cheered for Andrey:
Esipenko is clearly a player to follow.
