Chess-playing Russia has long been waiting for a new Kasparov, Kramnik, or Nepomniachtchi, but... a new "future world champion" has yet to appear in the 2020s. The closest to passing this casting call is Esipenko.
Andrey Esipenko was born on March 22, 2002, in the Rostov region and learned about chess at the age of five. When he was eight, the country started talking about a new prodigy, and at ten, he began individual training with Grandmaster Kryakvin. Within a year, under his guidance, the boy became a prize-winner in Russian championships, and in 2012, the European champion under 10, scoring 8.5/9. That same year, he reached the final of the Spartakiad of students in southern Russia, competing against 17-year-old opponents, and was almost disqualified from the tournament for being too young! At 11, Esipenko became a FIDE Master, but he had to wait four more years for the Grandmaster title, finally earning it in 2016 after consecutively winning gold at the European and World Championships under 16. Before that, he had been a frequent prize-winner.
In 2017, Esipenko made headlines after defeating Karjakin in the World Rapid Championship with a cascade of sacrifices. A year later, in the same format, he nearly became the European Champion, losing the title only in a tiebreak. That same year, at 16, after crossing the 2600 rating mark, Andrey debuted for the Russian national team in a match against China and took silver at the World Championship under 20. The new year began with him taking second place in the side tournament in Wijk aan Zee and ended with his participation in the World Cup, where Svidler eliminated him in the second round. In 2020, the Russian started the Gibraltar Masters excellently but fell short of sole victory—7.5/10— and lost in the tiebreak.
Here, Esipenko took on a new role for himself (as Alekseenko's second) and during the 2020 Candidates Tournament, he found his future coach, former Kasparov assistant Dokhoian. They managed to work together for only a year (in 2021, Yuri passed away from COVID), but during that time, Andrey made a tremendous leap forward. That year, together with the Russian national team, he became an Olympic champion, reached the Superfinal of the national championship, and in 2021 fully justified his invitation to Wijk aan Zee. The 18-year-old Esipenko unexpectedly joined the fight for victory, forced Carlsen to capitulate, and finished just half a point behind the winners, Giri and Van Foreest – 8/13!
The impact of this success was so significant that Andrey was considered almost a favorite for the 2021 World Cup, held in Sochi. He advanced through four rounds, losing in a fierce battle only to Carlsen, who played as a non-contestant, and only in blitz – 3-5. After this, he had another chance to qualify for the Candidates Tournament through the Grand Swiss, but here too, luck was just out of reach: he scored 7/11, falling half a point short of the qualifying spot.
