Alexey Sarana arrives at the 2023 World Cup in Baku as European champion and a representative of Serbia. His fourth-round opponent is Wesley So, a former world number two. The knockout format gives their encounter an added stake: a place in the next round and a route towards qualification for the Candidates tournament.
The 2023 World Cup in Baku: Sarana, by then under the Serbian flag and a freshly crowned European champion, knocks out Wesley So, one of the strongest players on the planet. In a quiet Queen's Gambit Exchange he slowly squeezes his opponent, and when So attacked both rook and bishop with the knight on c7, Alexey did not even blink: 32...h3! and the counterblow arrives first. A game of ours to remember.