exd5!

30.11.2009
– The FIDE Grand Prix was envisioned as "a series of six tournaments in leading world cities." Many experts predicted its imminent collapse, but the first five were successfully staged, with some difficulty and change of venues. It was just the "leading world cities" bit that did not quite work. Maybe for the sixth edition? You are invited to go on a seek and find mission for the host city.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

The FIDE Grand Prix, as planned and announced on the Grand
Prix web site, was envisioned as "a series of six tournaments held
over two years (2008-2009) in leading world cities." Each tournament has
14 players and lasts seventeen days. The months allocated for the organisation
of the Grand Prix tournaments are April, August and December of each respective
year. These months were selected to ensure there is no conflict with any other
major event.

According to the new FIDE
World Championship cycle the winner of the Grand Prix series at the end
of 2009 was scheduled play the winner of the World Cup that is currently being
played in Khanty-Mansiysk
(as is still stated on the FIDE Grand Prix web site given above). However that
was changed in November last year when FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced
that there would be a Candidates Tournament in the spring of 2010, with eight
players: the winners of the World Cup and the Grand Prix, the loser of the Topalov-Kamsky
challenger match (i.e. Kamsky), and the runner-up in the World Championship
match Anand-Topalov, the highest-rated players (out of those not otherwise qualified)
and also a nominee of the host country of the Candidates Tournament (providing
that his rating is not less than 2700).

So where is the sixth Grand Prix?

Despite the Cassandra predictions of many chess experts, and venue changes
as sponsorship deals broke down, FIDE did manage to successfully stage five
of the planned Grand Prix tournaments, and now, we are told by insiders, is
in the process of signing up for the sixth and final tournament of the 2008/2009
cycle. So everything is in good order – except, so far, the bit about
"leading world cities." On the other hand we have been treated to
some excellent geography lessons with the previous editions (see links at the
bottom of this page).

Now before you whip out your Google – that destroyer of all puzzles and
quizzes – you may want to try an guess where the sixth Grand Prix will
take place. We supply you with all the information, tools (naturally by Google)
and hints you will need to find the city. The solution is out there staring
you in the face – tugging at your mouse!

We start with a map showing the location of the previous five Grand Prixs.
They are all in a relatively small area of the world, as you can see if you
zoom out of the first of the two live Google maps we give below.

To make your research easier here is a map with all the chess events in recent
years:

We have marked off twenty-two hotspots on the map, which you can find by moving
your mouse cursor over it. Each is linked to a memorable event or story linked
to the town.

Below are two Google maps that will help you on your mission to find the location
of the sixth FIDE Grand Prix – either in the vicinity of the first five
or on the surface of our planet. You can zoom in and out with the control buttons
on the top left, or grab the map with your left mouse key to move it around
in the window. If you get really serious about things click on the "view
larger map" link below each map to open it in full size in a new window.

View
Larger Map

You may want to extend your search to encompass the entire planet:

View
Larger Map

Previous Grand Prix tournaments

FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009 standings

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30.11.2009
– In a recent FIDE
interview in Khanty-Mansiysk Vassily Ivanchuk, devastated by a loss to 16-year-old
Filipino GM Wesley So, announced that he was giving up professional
chess. We received a lot of feedback on this decision, some urging the great
chess player to reconsider, other calling him a sore loser. Now
Ivanchuk has acted, and it will please the first set. Feedback and retraction.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

Reader feedback

In his original
interview Vassily Ivanchuk announced that he had "gone crazy"
in his first game against Wesley So, and an inadequate estimation of the situation
had led to a tragedy. In the second game, Ivanchuk said, "I was trying
to keep a balance, but I missed something. My opponent, by the way, played very
badly." As a consequence of this result and the knockout from the World
Cup he took the following decision: "I should leave professional chess.
Chess will become hobby for me from now on. I will become just a chess fan and
follow chess, follow the games of my ex-colleagues. Chess is killing me. Chess
is playing against me! Chess is destroying me!I"

The interview and announcement spawned a large number of feedback letters from
our readers. Here is a selection, in roughly chronological order, with the rudest
naturally left out.

Marcel Baartz, Spain
Please tell Ivanchuck that without him chess will loss a great idea constructor.
I cannot imagine the evolution of chess for the past fifteen years without him.
He should take a rest before taking such a incisive decision that would be bad
both for chess and for himself.

Alf Olsen, Oslo, Norway
I'm sure you people have some way of contacting Ivanchuk. Next time you talk
to him, please tell him he is at least for me one of my very top favorite people
in the chess world, as much for his colorful character as his chess play. We
(me and others like me – there must be many!) gives full support to him!!

Ted Teodoro, River Edge, New Jersey
I cringed reading Ivanchuk's excuses for his loss to Wesley So. All this dust
that he has kicked up points to only one thing – he's a sore loser. Be
a man, and admit that you played badly and give credit to those who made better
moves.

Johnathan Rothwell, Southport, England
I am saddened to read your recent article on Ivanchuk's decision to retire,
it is a shame for all chess fans and perhaps the game itself. I hope his fellow
colleagues urge him to reconsider. Top level chess will lose some of its colourful
lustre without him. I wish him well-being and happiness in the rest of his life.

Bruce Mubayiwa, Johannesburg, South Africa
It is with sadness that I read about Vassily planning to quit chess. Vassily
is indeed a genius. He lost to an unknown player in the World Cup. So what!
This is nothing new in the world of chess. Even Vassily was once an unknown
player and had to start somewhere.

Amongst the top players Vassily has the widest repertoire on both sides, given
his encyclopaedic knowledge of the openings and his games are most interesting.
He is a living legend in the game. I think one of the big challenges for Ivanchuk
is that he simply plays in too many tournaments during the year even though
he does not see this as an issue. While other players focus on the big or Super
GM tournaments Vassily plays in just about everything. Sooner or later something's
going to give. Playing in more tournaments than anyone else means he is probably
not at his best during the big tournaments. It also means there are more games
from him in the databases which other players can study at leisure. More games
played against weaker opposition means he is more prone than most to defeat,
losing valuable rating points. Weaker players are known for unorthodox play
and can actually be more difficult to beat than higher ranked players who play
familiar lines.

Vassily does not get enough time to recover from tournaments. Magnus Carlsen
had to cancel his participation at the recent European Championships because
he felt it might affect his results at the Moscow Super GM tournament that came
soon after. I would compare Ivanchuk to the Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko.
Davydenko is one of the most consistent tennis players and one of the very best.
However, he plays more tournaments than any other top player. The result is
that in the really big tournaments, the Grand Slams, he has not been able to
fulfill his true potential. I have no doubt that if Davydenko trimmed his calender
and focused solely on the big tournaments he would win a Grand Slam.

I look forward to more games from Vassily and hope he will reconsider his decision
to quit professional chess.

Roberto Lampertico, Lugano, Switzerland
Please tell Ivanchuk that there are millions of fans who support him, even when
he loses. He is the best player around. Other players have better results because
their approach to chess is cynical: they play rarely and only in the most important
tournaments, to preserve a high Elo rating. Ivanchuk plays a lot and plays competitive
chess.

Al Jablan, SSM
Good for Wesley So. As far as I am concerned Ivanchuk had a hissy fit
when he was beaten by an obvious up-and-coming youngster, and instead of generously
offering him congratulation, offers to quit chess and insults his opponent.
A great man rejoices in the future greatness of his successors, but a small
man, a insignificant contemptible niemann, goes berserk. At least Gata didn't
go nuts he accepted his loss like a man.

Rene Almario, Filipino residing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
All of a sudden my respect and admiration for Vasily Ivanchuk as a professional
chess player has banished into thin air. He lost to a hardworking teenager chess
player Wesley So, 16 years old, and Chucky just could not take it. His comments
that Wesley played badly is uncalled for, This would mean that if Wesley played
well, it could have been 2-0 which would be more embarassing. I wonder what
Chucky's comment were after Wesley downed the great Kamsky?

Mr. Ivanchuk, you are very well respected in the chess circle but with your
tirade against our very own Wesley So, I am sure you lost all the respect of
all Filipino and perhaps majority of all Asian chess players in general. Your
defeat is because of your poor preparation and your arrogant under-estimation
of an Asian GM. Wesley played very well and totally prepared for that encounter.

Randy Bennett, Canada
I am SO glad that So took Ivanchuk down!

Ivanchuk reconsiders

Today we found the following letter on the chess news page ChessPro:

Translation: "I ask the forgiveness of my supporters, friends, colleagues
in arms, and numerous chess lovers, for the emotional interview. I was very
upset after losing, but am not in any circumstances planning to give up chess!
And I wish to contradict the reports on SMI regarding my departure from the
game....
Yours with respect, Vassily Ivanchuk"

Whew! So we are not going to lose another great player before he has finished
doing what he does best: play imaginative, creative chess, crush
everyone like bugs, climb
to place three or drop
to place 30 in the FIDE world rankings. We will also be entertained by his
unusual ideas
and quirks, which we would not miss for anything int he world.

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

30.11.2009
– That's a good way to start the fourth stage of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk: win the first game with the black pieces. And if you manage it, as Peter Svidler did, against firebrand Alexei Shirov, who was going after your king, so much the better. A number of the other games were drawn without a real fight. But good news: everyone arrived on time, nobody was forfeited. Big illustrated report.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Round four day one

Let's see who doesn't turn up in time today! Arbiters consulting the official
clock

Check it out, your opponent is late! Alexander Grischuk and Vladimir Malakhov

It's true, no opponent in sight. Will I get a forfeit point today?

No such luck: Wesley So and his team have braved the cold and arrive at the
hall

Good work, Wesley! The 16-year-old grandmaster is congratulated on his timely
arrival

The master and his clock: anyone who turns up now is automatically forfeited

Peter Svidler played an Exchange Grünfeld against firebrand Alexei Shirov,
who at move 22, true to his character, launched an all-or-nothing attack against
Svidler's king.

Alexei Shirov before the start of his game against Peter Svidler

Shirov,A (2719) - Svidler,P (2754) [D86]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5
8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Rc1 Rd8 12.Bf4 Be5 13.Bg3 Bxg3 14.hxg3 e5
15.Bd5 Be6 16.dxe5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Nxe5 18.c4 a6 19.Re1 b5 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Nc3
c4 22.Qd4?!

22...Nd3 23.Ne4 (threatens devastating Nf6+ and Ne8) 23...Qa7!
Attacking the attacker – did Shirov miss this? Naw, probably something
deeper. 24.Nf6+ Kh8 25.Qh4 Kg7 26.Re3 Rd6 27.Rf3 h6 28.Ne4 Rxd5 29.Qf6+
Kg8 30.Rc3 Ne5 31.Rf4 Qxa2 32.Kh2 Qe2 33.Qh4 Ra6 34.g4 g5 35.Nxg5 hxg5 36.Qxg5+
Rg6

This is what you get when a brilliant Shirov-style attack fails.
0-1.

In great shape: Peter Svidler won his first round four game with the black
pieces

Czech GM Viktor Laznicka faced Shakh Mamedyarov in a Ragozin and started to
come under pressure starting from around move 27.

Laznicka,V (2637) - Mamedyarov,S (2719) [D38]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd2 a6 8.Qc2
Re8 9.a3 Bd6 10.h3 h6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bd3 Bd7 13.b4 Na7 14.Na4 b6 15.Nc3 Nb5
16.Ne2 Ne4 17.a4 Na7 18.0-0 Nc6 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 Nb4 22.Nc3 Nxd3
23.Qxd3 Be6 24.Ne5 f6 25.Nc6 Qd7 26.f3 Qf7 27.f4 Rxa1 28.Rxa1 Bd7 29.Ra2 h5
30.Kf2 h4 31.Kg1 g6 32.Re2 Kg7 33.Qb1 Bf5 34.Qd1 Qe6 35.Qd2 Ra8 36.Re1 Ra3 37.Rf1
Rb3 38.Ra1 Ba3 39.Ra2

Things are getting really tricky for White. 39...Bb1 40.Nxb1 Rxb1+
41.Kh2 Bc1 42.Qe1 Qe4 43.Ra7

You probably see it immediately: 43...Qxf4+! Oops. 44.exf4
Bxf4+ wins at once. 44.Kh1 Qf2 45.Rxc7+ Kh6 46.Qd1 Qe2 47.Qg1 Qxe3 48.Qf1
Qf4 49.Qd3

49...Ra1. Forces 50.Qd1 Qxc7 0-1. Nobody
likes to see a grown man suffer, but 49...Qg3 in the diagram position leads
to a nice forced mate: 50.Qxb1 (of course White can sacrifice all his pieces
to delay the inevitable for a few extra moves) 50...Qe1+ 51.Kh2 Bf4+ 52.g3 Qxg3+
53.Kh1 Qh2 mate.

Czech GM Viktor Laznicka suffered a painful defeat with the white pieces

Azeris: GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov, organiser Faik Gasanov, GM Vugar Gashimov

Wesley So vs Vladimir Malakhov was a convoluted 65-move struggle which saw
the young Filipino finishing a pawn up in an un-winnable rook ending. Bacrot-Ponomariov
(20 moves), Karjakin-Vitiugov (18 moves) and Grischuk-Jakovenko (14 moves) were
less exciting grandmaster draws.

Ponomariov and Bacrot at the start of their epic 20-move struggle

Completely relaxed: Sergey Karjakin before his grueling 18-move game against
Nikita Vitiugov

Alexander Grischuk after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 of his game against Dmitry Jakovenko
(the rest went 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4
Bc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.Nc3 Na6 12.Rfd1 Nb4 13.Ne5 Bd5 14.Nxd5 draw)

Sasha, the hat is for outside! Alexander Beliavsky with his charge Baadur
Jobova in the press center.

A simultaneous exhibition for visitors of the World Cup

Anyone can play, but not everyone can win

Still it's fun to play against a grandmater who is a thousand points stronger
than you

Strange – I could swear I hear a violin playing somewhere in the building

For reasons we have yet to discover the venue is full of violinsts

Please, no pictures! Faik Gasanov in an atypical pose in the hallway of
the venue

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round four

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Round 1 – Round 2 – Round 3 The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Read Full Post »

29.11.2009
– This low-key blitz event took part on Saturday, November 28th in Oslo, Norway. Ten players were invited and divided into two groups, insuring that the two designated finalists, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, would meet in the final. We have with difficulty managed to get some of the games in PGN. We also have a special visual treat for you: front-seat videos of the final.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

Oslo Blitz – Battle of Titans

The quarter-finals started with the two favourites sailing through easily.
Magnus Carlsen won all of his games, except for a draw against GM Monika Socko.
Hikaru Nakamura, the US American blitz specialist, won all of his games period.

In the semifinals Nakamura played Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen , who is a
second of World Champion Vishy Anand (and a former trainer of Magnus Carlsen).
Nakamura demolished him 3-0. The same applies to Magnus Carlsen, who won the
first three of four semifinal games against Swedish GM Emanuel Berg (the fourth
in each case did not need to be played). Here's a cute little miniature from
the semifinal you might enjoy:

Nielsen,Peter Heine - Nakamura,Hikaru [D20]
BNBank Blitz semifinal Oslo (3), 28.11.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Bg4 8.Be3
e6 9.Nbc3 Be7 10.Be4 Bf5 11.Bf3 Nb4 12.0-0 N4d5 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qb3
Rb8 16.Qa4+ c6 17.Qxa7 Bd3 18.Rfd1?? (18.Rfc1 would have left the position
playable) 18...Ba6

The queen is trapped (...Ra8) and can only be rescued by sacrificing a bishop:
19.Bg5 Bxg5 20.Qc5. 0-1.

The final began well for Magnus Carlsen, who won the first game with the black
pieces, and then had a completely winning position in the second:

Carlsen,Magnus - Nakamura,Hikaru [E32]
BNBank Blitz Final Oslo (2), 28.11.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7
8.Nf3 d6 9.Nd2 Nbd7 10.f3 h6 11.Bh4 c5 12.e4 Rc8 13.Bd3 Re8 14.0-0 Rc7 15.Rad1
Qc8 16.d5 e5 17.Rfe1 Nh5 18.Nf1 Nf8 19.Ne3 Ng6 20.Bf2 Qd8 21.Bf1 Bc8 22.b4 Bd7
23.bxc5 Rxc5 24.Nf5 Rc7 25.Nxd6 Rf8 26.c5 bxc5 27.Rc1 Nhf4 28.Qa5 c4 29.Rxc4
Qg5 30.Kh1 Rxc4 31.Nxc4 f5 32.exf5 Bxf5 33.d6 Bd3 34.Bg3 Bxf1 35.Rxf1 Ne2 36.Bxe5
Ngf4 37.Bxf4 Qxf4 38.Qd5+ Kh8 39.d7 Qh4 40.Qd6 Rd8 41.Rd1 Nc3 42.Ne5 Kg8 43.Qe6+
Kh7 44.Qg6+ Kg8

"So far so good," said Magnus' training in Moscow. White can play
g3 and attack the black rook with Nc6. Fritz gives the position +10.20. However
to the horror of Garry Kasparov, who was receiving the moves via Skype, his
Norwegian protegé started to lose the thread. 45.Qe8+ Kh7 46.Qxd8
Qxd8 47.Nc6 Qb6 48.d8Q Nxd1 49.Qxb6 axb6. Suddenly Magnus has just
a one-pawn advantage (Fritz says +1.06 with a frown), and the demoralised young
GM goes on lose the game. 50.Kg1 Nc3 51.Nd4 Kg6 52.Kf2 Kf6 53.Ke3 Ke5
54.Kd3 Nd5 55.Ne2 Kd6 56.Kd4 Nc7 57.Nc3 Ne6+ 58.Ke4 g6 59.Nb5+ Kc5 60.Ke5 Kxb5
61.Kxe6 Ka4 62.Kf6 Kxa3 63.Kxg6 b5 64.f4 b4 65.f5 b3 66.f6 b2 67.f7 b1Q+ 68.Kxh6
Qf5 69.Kg7 Qg5+ 70.Kh7 Qf6 71.Kg8 Qg6+ 72.Kf8 Kb4 73.h4 Kc5 74.h5 Qxh5 75.g4
Qxg4 76.Ke7 Qg7 0-1. You can watch this all unfold in full technicolor
in the YouTube videos below.

The winner of the Oslo Blitz tournament: Hikaru Nakamura, USA

In the end Hikaru Nakamura won the Oslo Blitz final 2½-1½, with
the final draw being conceeded in a totally won position. [Addendum:
the official site gives the result of the final as 3:1 for Nakamura, indicating
that the result of the final game would be incorrect. It should not be ½-½
but 0-1 for the American.]

We have to recognize: Hikaru is one of the all-time great blitz players, something
he has proved on the Playchess server, where he reached top rankings at 3542
in blitz. And now has beaten the inofficial number one player in the world,
who is just back from Moscow, where he won one of the strongest blitz tournaments
in history, three points ahead of World Champion Vishy Anand, who was himself
three points ahead of the rest of the world elite field.

Videos posted on YouTube by Todd Freitag

Below are the videos of the four games of the Oslo Blitz Finals. They were
captured by Todd Freitag of Chicago off the live video feed of the official
web site. The videos are a littly choppy at times – either the webcam
was not working properly, or the organisers had insufficient bandwidth.

As a special service you can watch the four videos together with replayable
games on our JavaScript board. Try it out: start the video and click on the
notation or the replay buttons to follow the moves on the graphic chessboard.
Note that you can pause the video at any stage by pressing the Space bar on
your computer keyboard. Pressing it again will restart the video.

Click here to replay the videos together with the game notation

If you just want to watch the videos you can use the YuoTube players below:

Hikaru Nakamura-Magnus Carlsen, BNbank Blitz Norway 2009 Final, Game 1

Magnus Carlsen-Hikaru Nakamura, BNbank Norway Blitz 2009 Final, Game 2

Hikaru Nakamura-Magnus Carlsen, BNbank Norway Blitz 2009 Final, Game 3

Magnus Carlsen-Hikaru Nakamura, BNbank Norway Blitz 2009 Final, Game 4

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN To read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light. This program also gives you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.

Copyright
ChessBase

Chessbase.com

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29.11.2009
– That was the shocker on day two of round three: 16-year-old Wesley So held
Super-GM Gata Kamsky to a draw and eliminated him from the World Cup in Khanty
Mansiysk. Other players knocked out: Sakaev, Motylev, Tomashevsky, Wang Hao, Yu Yangyi.
Ten tiebreaks on Sunday – you can watch them from
11:00 a.m. CET on Playchess. Illustrated
report plus an interview with Gata Kamsky.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Round three day two

Appropriate dress for the modern grandmaster playing chess in Siberia

Baadur Jobova and his trainer Alexander Beliavsky are perfectly capable of coping

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow – Shakh Mamedyarov and his manager
Rustam Najafov

Inside the warm and cosy playing hall Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand working
hard

Polgar,Ju (2680) - Gelfand,B (2758) [C24]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.2), 28.11.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Qe2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bb3 d6 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.c3
a5 9.a4 b5 10.Bc2 Ba6 11.axb5 cxb5 12.Nbd2 Qc7 13.d4 a4 14.Bd3 Rfb8 15.Nh4 g6

16.f4 exf4 17.Ndf3 Nh5 18.Bd2 Nb6 19.g4 fxg3 20.Ng5

20.Nc4 (20...Bxg5 was almost certainly better) 21.Nf5
(pretty, but why not simply 21.Rxf7?) 21...Bxg5 22.Bxg5 f6 23.Bh4 gxh2+
24.Qxh2 Rf8 25.Be2 gxf5 26.Bxh5 fxe4 27.Qf4

Boris Gelfand has lost the advantage he enjoyed for much of the game. Now he
throws it all away: 27...f5? 28.Kh1! Kh8 29.Rg1 Rf7 30.Bxf7 Qxf7 31.Qh6
Rf8 32.Rg6 and Black will be mated. 1-0.

Boris Gelfand with a surprising setback against...

...this lady, mother of two, who remains a class of her own in the history
of women's chess

After his loss in the first game of this round Sergey Karjakin came back with
a vengeance, demolishing David Navara's French Defence for a win in 40 moves.
The two move into the tiebreak games.

Wesley So about to send another super-GM packing in round three

Gata Kamsky tried the Leningrad System of the Dutch Defence in his must-win
black games against Wesley So, but the young Pinoy grandmaster was never in
serious danger and, with the draw in 42 moves, had erased another famous name
from the World Cup table.

Evgeny Tomashevsky facing Alexei Shirov in game two of round three

Shirov-Tomashevsky was 24 moves of Ruy Lopez Archangelsk theory, with Black
deviating (24...Bxd4N) and just about holding on, until the last move before
the time control.

Shirov,A (2719) - Tomashevsky,E (2708) [C78]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.2), 28.11.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.c3 Nxe4 8.d4
Na5 9.Bc2 exd4 10.b4 Nc4 11.Bxe4 Bxe4 12.Re1 d5 13.Nxd4 c5 14.bxc5 Bxc5 15.f3
0-0 16.fxe4 dxe4 17.Rxe4 Qd5 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Qf5 Rae8 20.Nd2 g6 21.Qf4 b4 22.Bb2
bxc3 23.Bxc3 Nc6 24.Kh1 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Nxd4 26.Bxd4 Re2 27.Nf3 f6 28.h3 Re4 29.Qd2
Rd8 30.Rd1 Re6 31.Qc3 Qc6 32.Qb3 Rdd6 33.Rb1 Kg7 34.Qb8 Re7 35.Be3 Rdd7 36.Rb6
Qc3 37.Bf4 a5 38.Kh2 Qc4 39.Bg3 Re6 40.Rb2

This game could easily end in a draw, but not after Black's final move before
the first time control: 40...Re2?? 41.Bd6 Threatening Qf8#,
which Black must give up an exchange to prevent. 1-0.

It's back to Beijing for GM Wang Hao, knocked out by Shakh Mamedyarov

Everything going great, chief! Berik Balgabaev, personal assistant to FIDE
President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Interview with Gata Kamsky

Berik interviews Gata Kamsky in a press conference after the American was
knocked out by Wesley So

How come that you became another victim of the new star of the Cup –
So?

Everything is clear: my opponent was better prepared and I was always choosing
the wrong openings. In the first game I played recklessly and got a problematic
position. I thought I could manage to beat this fellow on class. But he turned
out to be very serious chess player. In the second game I had to solve a difficult
problem: it is almost impossible to beat a good player with black. I played
the Dutch Defense, sacrificed a pawn and got some chances. But at one point
I went too far and the advantages for my opponent were clear enough. I offered
a draw so as not to suffer…

Perhaps you underestimated your opponent?

No, it is not the case. So was playing better and he deserved the victory.

Could it be the case that you did not take the Cup seriously. You have
already guaranteed your participation in the Candidates Matches.

This kind of thoughts perhaps did bother me. But it is not the reason of my
elimination.

Why then did not you invite a second to help you? As we remember Emil
Sutovsky was helping you in the last Cup after being knocked out?

Let's say neither me nor Emil had an opportunity to cooperate here. I just
prefer to play without a second lately. There is another reason. A second or
a coach should be paid, and a good coach should be paid well. We were working
with Emil at the match against Veselin Topalov. The American Chess Federation
did not support me in this cooperation. Well, you can develop the idea yourself
now…

After your victory at the World Cup 2007 you have had an ascent of your
career…

And now I am experiencing a descent… Like Kramnik says, it is high time
to draw conclusions. There is only one difference: Kramnik has drawn them, I
have not done so yet…

Interview
by FIDE, photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round three

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Round 1 – Round 2 – Round 3 The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

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