exd5!

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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29.11.2009
– We take the nomenclature from the organisers on the official site. Czech Coal is staging a match between "chess legends" (Korchnoi, Timman, Hübner, Hort) and young "grandmistresses" (Humpy, Muzychuk, Lahno and Jackova) in the famous chess town of Marianske Lazne (Marienbad). After two of eight rounds the "Snowdrops" are leading 4.5:3.5. Big pictorial report with videos.

:
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 title is verbatim from the official site. Chess legends Viktor Korchnoi,
Jan Timman, Robert Hübner and Vlastimil Hort are competing with young "grandmistresses"
[sic] Koneru Humpy, Anna Muzychuk, Katerina Lahno and Jana Jackova in a double-round
Scheveningen match "Lasses and Old Timer” [sic] – Czech Coal
Chess Match 2009, which is taking place in Marianske Lazne at the Cristal Palace
Hotel from 28th November to 5th December 2009. The rate of play is 90 minutes
for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes till the end of the game and 30 seconds increment
per move. The tournament is being staged by the civic association Prague Chess
Society. Guest of honor is former World Champion Boris Spassky.

The Cristal Palace Hotel in Marianske Lazne, where the event is being held

Schedule

Friday	27.11.2009	19:00 opening ceremony
Saturday	28.11.2009	16:00 p.m. - 1st round
Sunday	29.11.2009	16:00 p.m. - 2nd round
Monday	30.11.2009	16:00 p.m. - 3rd round
Tuesday	01.12.2009	16:00 p.m. - 4th round
Wednesday	02.12.2009	16:00 p.m. - 5th round
Thursday	03.12.2009	16:00 p.m. - 6th round
Friday	04.12.2009	16:00 p.m. - 7th round
Saturday	05.12.2009	13:00 p.m. - 8th round

Musical presentation at the opening ceremony

India's Koneru Humpy, with her father Ashok

Kateryna Lahno (yes, very much so) with husband Robert Fontaine

All the participants: Lahno, Timman, Humpy, Korchoni, Hort, Jackova, Hübner,
Muzychuk

Guest of honour Boris Spassky

Results after two rounds

	Snowdrops	O1	O2	O3	O4	O1	O2	O3	O4	Pts
S1	Koneru Humpy		1			1/2				1.5
S2	Muzychuk Anna	1/2					1/2			1.0
S3	Lahno Kateryna				1/2			1/2		1.0
S4	Jacková Jana			0					1	1.0
	Old-hands	S1	S2	S3	S4	S1	S2	S3	OS4	Pts
O1	Timman Jan	1/2					1/2			1.0
O2	Hort Vlastimil		1/2			0				0.5
O3	Hübner Robert			1/2					1	1.5
O4	Korchnoi Viktor				0			1/2		0.5

Total: Snowdrops 4.5 – Old-hands 3.5

Jan Timman vs Koneru Humpy round one ended after 33 moves in a draw

Hübner vs Lahno in round one (draw in 44 moves)

Korchnoi Viktor - Jackova Jana
Snìzenky a Machøi (1.1), 28.11.2009
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.e4 Nxe4 8.Bxe7
Nxc3 9.Bxd8 Nxd1 10.Bh4 Nxb2 11.a4 d5 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Ra2 Nc4 14.Bxc4 dxc4 15.Re2+
Kf8 16.Kd2 Nc6 17.Nxc6 bxc6 18.Rb1 Be6 19.Kc3 h6 20.Rb7 Kg8 21.a5 Kh7 22.f3
Rhb8 23.Rb6 Rc8 24.Kb4 g5 25.Bf2 Rd8 26.Rxc6 Rd3

Viktor Korchnoi has been under pressure and probably needs to sacrifice an
exchange with 27.Rexe6 – without undue hope of saving the game. However
he makes it easier for his opponent: 27.Be1? Watch how brutally
the Czech IM cashes in on this mistake: 27...Rb8+ 28.Rb6 Rb3+ 29.Kc5
Rc8+ 30.Kd6 Rd3+ 31.Ke5 c3 32.Rc2 Re3+ 33.Kf6 Rxe1 34.Rxa6 Bb3 0-1.

Czech IM Jana Jackova beat Viktor Korchnoi in the first round

In the second round Jana lost in 68 moves to German GM Robert Hübner

Koneru Humpy - Hort Vlastimil
Snìzenky a Machøi (2.4), 29.11.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Qb6 5.Nc3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e6 8.Bd3
Nbd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.b3 0-0 11.Bb2 Rfe8 12.Qe2 a6 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.Qc2 Rac8 15.e4
dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 g6 18.Rfe1 Bf6 19.Bc1 Rcd8 20.Be3 Nb6 21.Qe2 Nc8 22.Bb1
Rd7 23.Rd2 Qd8 24.Red1 Bg5 25.Qg4 Bxe3 26.fxe3 Qe7 27.c5 Red8 28.Bd3 a5 29.Rf2
Kh8 30.Bc4 f5 31.Qe2 e5 32.Qb2 b5 33.cxb6 Nxb6 34.Rfd2 Nxc4 35.bxc4 Qb4 36.Qc2
Kg7 37.Rb1 Qe7 38.Qc3 exd4 39.exd4 Kh6 40.Kh1 f4 41.Rd3 Qh4 42.Rf1 f3 43.Rdxf3
Qxd4 44.Qxa5 Qxc4 45.Rf4 Rd4 46.Qe5 Qd5 47.Qf6 Rxf4 48.Rxf4 Qd1+ 49.Rf1 Qd6
50.Qh4+ Kg7 51.a4 c5 52.a5 Rd7 53.Qf2 h5 54.Rc1 Qd4 55.Qc2 Rf7 56.a6 Kh7 57.Qb3

Here Vlastimil Hort, who is originally from Czechoslovakia but has lived for
decades in Germany, made an unhappy decision: 57...c4? 58.Qxc4 Qxc4
59.Rxc4. It is interesting and instructive to see how Humpy, the second-strongest
female player in the history of chess, turns the one pawn advantage into a full
point. 59...Rf1+ 60.Kh2 Ra1 61.Rc7+ Kh6 62.a7 h4 63.g4 Ra2+ 64.Kg1 g5
65.Kf1 Kg6 66.Ke1 Kf6 67.Kd1 Ke5 68.Rf7 Ke6 69.Rg7 Kf6 70.Rc7 Ke5 71.Kc1 Kf4
72.Kb1 Ra6 73.Kb2 Kg3 74.Rc3+ Kg2 75.Ra3 Rxa7 76.Rxa7 Kxh3 77.Kc3 Kxg4 78.Kd2
Kh3 79.Ke2 g4 80.Kf1 Kh2 81.Ra2+ Kh1 82.Ra4 h3 83.Kf2 1-0.

Nice play by GM Koneru Humpy

These "snowdrops" have become devilishly strong – GM Vlastimir
Hort

Lahno Kateryna - Korchnoi Viktor
Snìzenky a Machøi (2.3), 29.11.2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5
8.Qd3 Nf8 9.Nh3 Qe7 10.Nf4 Nc6 11.0-0-0 Bd7 12.Qg3 Rg8 13.Ncxd5 exd5 14.Nxd5
Qd8 15.Nf6+ gxf6 16.Qxg8 fxe5 17.dxe5 Qe7 18.f4 0-0-0 19.Bc4 Ne6 20.Qg3 Qc5
21.Bxe6 Bxe6 22.Rxd8+ Nxd8 23.Rd1 b5 24.Qg8 Qe3+ 25.Kb1 Bd7 26.Qxh7 Qxf4 27.Qd3
Qg4 28.a4 bxa4 29.Qa6+ Nb7 30.Rh1 Kb8 31.Rh8+ Bc8 32.Qc6 Qd1+ 33.Ka2 Nd8 34.Qb5+
Bb7 35.Qxa4 Bd5+ 36.b3 Qxc2+ 37.Ka3 Qc1+ 38.Ka2 Qd2+ 39.Ka3

Here the great Viktor Korchnoi had real chances of beating his young Ukrainian
colleague, but blew it by taking the pawn: 39...Bxg2 (why not
39...Kc8 and torture the opponent) 40.Qh4 Qa5+ 41.Kb2 Qxe5+ 42.Ka2 ½-½.

Good chances: Viktor Korchnoi in game two against...

GM Kateryna Lahno, who has scored 50% so far

Dutch chess legend Jan Timman has also made two draws so far

Boris Spassky commenting for the audience

Video reports by GM Robert Fontaine for Europe
Echecs

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live (with chat) 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!

Chessbase.com

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29.11.2009
– After the first rapid chess tiebreak game Wang Yue and Lie Chao went to the smoking area. An arbiter warned them that their games were starting in three minutes, and then again a minute before the starting gong. But the two arrived two minutes late at the board and lost their games by forfeit. Both were subsequently eliminated. Results, pictures, games and interview.

:
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 final

The official World Cup bulletin states: "Two Chinese players, Wang Yue
and Li Chao, were late for the second game of the tiebreaks against Vugar Gashimov
(AZE) and Etienne Bacrot (FRA) respectively. According to the FIDE regulations
the games were forfeited." More about this in the interview below.

The arbiter discusses the situation with the players (Wang Yue and Li Chao
left) and their captain

Apparently both players were in the smoking area after the first rapid chess
tiebreak game. The arbiter went to the area and announced that the games would
start in three minutes, and then again in one minute. Unfortunately Wang and
Li arrived at their boards two minutes after the starting time and lost their
games by forfeit. Both went on to lose their third rapid chess game and were
thus eliminated from the World Cup 2009.

The Chinese team discuss the decision of the arbiter amongst themselves

Wang Yue and Li Chao: "We are not going to quit smoking!"

The official bulletin states the reason given by the Chinese grandmasters for
being late "is ridiculous: they were smoking and did not know that the
game had already started." The following interview was conducted with the
two:

How happened that you missed the start of the game?

Wang Yue: I don't know what happened. I was smoking with Li
Chao and some fellow told us: “Guys, I think you are late for your game”.
Of course we rushed into the playing hall. But it was already too late.

What did you feel at that moment?

I did not understand what happened. Okay, these are the rules, I cannot break
them. But I was shocked. It seemed that the world has stopped.

Did you try to speak with the Arbiter?

Sure, we spoke with the Chief Arbiter. He said: “These are the regulations,
we should follow them. The decision is final and nothing can be changed. You
should take it, go and prepare for the next game." I think it was a wise
advice.

Was the decision fair to your mind?

Yes, this was correct and fair decision. The only decision that could be taken.
We cannot do anything. We just need to accept it. In China at all chess tournaments
a big screen with the information about the tournament is used. A player can
go to the toilet, to smoke or to do something else. But thanks to this screen
he always knows how much time he has before the start of the game. Here there
is no screen. But we hope that they will use it in future. Most of all I feel
pity for Li Chao: he started smoking here, in Khanty, to join my smoking company.

Perhaps now it is a good reason to quit smoking? Less chances to get
into a trouble and more chances to be healthy.

I don't think so… After such a shock you only think to take a long smoke!

How are you going to recover?

Nothing special… We will have rest. Tomorrow a long trip back home

Li Chao (sarcastically): Most probably I will carefully study
the regulations of the World Cup!

Interview
by FIDE

Round three tiebreaks

Ready for anything: GM Etienne Bacrot arrives at the playing venue

Boris Gelfand beat Judit Polgar in their first rapid chess tiebreak game (with
the black pieces) and drew the next two to advance to the next stage. In the
picture above the two are watched by Li Chao and Fabiano Caruana. It is the
third tiebreak game, at move 55. Gelfand won it in 62 moves.

Viktor Bologan (left) drew one and lost two against Czech GM Viktor Laznicka,
who advanced

Sergey Karjakin (left) won three rapid chess games against Czech GM David Navara

Fabiano Caruana won the third game against Evgeny Alekseev to advance to the
next round

Alexander Grischuk vs Baadur Jobava was a tough fight: the rapid games ended
in a tie,
with a win and a draw for each player. Then Grischuk won the first two blitz
games to andvance.

The most exciting tiebreak encounter in round three: Arkadij Naiditsch vs
Peter Svidler. After two draws Naiditsch took the lead, Svidler equalised and
then went on to take the first two blitz games and victory.

That was a tough one! Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler both had six games
to play

Still in Khanty-Mansiysk: Chinese GM Hou Yifan surfs the Internet in the press
room

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round three final

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Pairings for the next round

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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28.11.2009
– Wesley So turned 16 just seven weeks ago. He is a grandmaster and a apparently a Super-GM killer. In round two in Khanty-Mansiysk he knocked out Vassily Ivancuk; and in the first game of round three he outplayed Gata Kamsky with the black pieces. Gelfand beat Polgar and Navara beat Karjakin. Full report with pictures, commentary and an interview with Wesley So.

:
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 one

'Tis bitter cold / And I am sick at heart – players arrive at the
venue (above Grischuk, Kamsky)

As the late and great David Bronstein used to tell everyone: you have to keep
your brain warm!

Georgian GM Baadur Jobava taking Bronstein's advice to heart

Judit Polgar arrives, accompanied by her husband Gustav Fonts

Inside the hall the games are played in two rows of tables

Bacrot,E (2700) - Wang Yue (2734) [C42]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 Nc6
8.Nc3 Bf5 9.Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 0-0 12.Rb1 Na5 13.h4 Re8 14.Bf4 c6
15.h5 h6 16.Re2 Bf6 17.Be5 Bg5 18.Nh2 Qd7 19.f4 Bh4 20.Nf3 Bd8 21.Rbe1 Nc4 22.f5
Nb2 23.Qe3 Qxf5 24.g4 Qd7 25.Qf4 Nc4 26.Bxg7 Rxe2 27.Rxe2 Kxg7 28.g5

White should lose this game – after 28...Nd6 Black is a piece up with
no serious threats against his king. 28...hxg5? Throws away
the win. 29.Nxg5. Now the threat 30.h6+ followed by 31.Rg2
is serious. 29...Bc7 30.Ne6+ fxe6 31.Qg5+ and the king cannot
hide and Black, who is two pieces up, cannot win. 31...Kh7 32.Qg6+ Kh8
33.Rg2 Bf4 34.Qf6+ Kh7 ½-½.

Lucky escape for Etienne Bacrot

Sakaev,K (2626) - Vitiugov,N (2694) [D16]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e3 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0-0
cxd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.Bg5 0-0 11.Re1 Bd7 12.Qd2 Nb4 13.Ne5 Bc6

14.Nxf7. Konstantin Sakaev tries a line that Gabriel Sargissian
had used successfully a year earlier. 14...Rxf7 15.Bxe6 Qf8.
Sargissian,G (2642)-Najer,E (2682)/Kallithea 2008 continued 15...Nbd5 16.Re5
Nc7 17.Bxf7+ Kxf7 18.d5 Ncxd5 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20.Rd1 Nf6 21.Qc2 Qg8 22.b4 h6 23.b5
hxg5 24.bxc6 bxc6 25.Rde1 Re8 26.Qxc6 Kf8 27.Qb7 Qf7 28.Qxa7 g4 29.a5 Ng8 30.a6
Qb3 31.Qc7 Qb8 32.Qxb8 Rxb8 33.a7 Ra8 34.Ra5 Bd8 35.Rb1 Bc7 36.Rb7 1-0 CBM 127.
16.Re5 Kh8 17.d5 Nfxd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxf7 Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Qxf7.
Black has two minor pieces for a rook and pawn and a clear advantage. 21.f3
h6 22.Qg4 Rd8 23.Rd1 Rd6 24.Rf5 Qe7 25.Qd4 Re6 26.h3 Ne3 27.Qd8+ Kh7 0-1.

GM Konstantin Sakaev

Navara,D (2707) - Karjakin,Sergey (2723) [C88]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a3
Kh8 9.h3 d6 10.c3 Be6 11.d4 Bxb3 12.Qxb3 Nd7 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.b3 Qd7 15.Be3 exd4
16.cxd4 d5 17.Nbd2 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Nd5 19.Rac1 Nd8 20.Ne5 Qf5 21.Nc3 Qxc2 22.Rxc2
Nxc3 23.Rxc3 Bd6 24.Bd2 Ne6 25.Nc6 Nf4 26.Rf3 Nd5 27.Rf5 Nf6 28.Bg5 Rae8 29.Ne5
Kg8 30.Bxf6 gxf6 31.Rxf6 Kg7 32.Rf4 f5 33.Re3 c5 34.Rg3+ Kh8 35.Re3 Kg7 36.Rh4

In this fairly balanced postion Karjakin blunders 36...f4? 37.Rg4+
Kf6 38.Rxf4+ Kg5 39.Rg4+. White missed 39.Nf7+ which would have won
him the game on the spot. Now he still has some work to do in an endgame two
pawns up. 39...Kf5 40.Nd7 Rxe3 41.fxe3 Rc8 42.dxc5 Bxc5 43.Rf4+ Ke6
44.Nxc5+ Rxc5 45.Rh4 h5 46.Kf2 Kd7 47.a4 a5 48.axb5 Rxb5 49.Kf3 Ke6 50.Re4+
Kf6 51.Rc4 Ke6 52.Rc6+ Kd7 53.Rh6 Kc7 54.h4 Rf5+ 55.Ke4 Rb5 56.Kf4 Rxb3 57.Rxh5
a4 58.e4 Kb6 59.Rd5 Rb1 60.g4 a3 61.Rd2 Kc5 62.h5 Rb2 63.Rd8 a2 64.Ra8 Kd4 65.h6
Rf2+ 66.Kg5 Kxe4 67.h7 Rh2 68.Kg6 Kf4 69.Ra4+ Kg3 70.g5 1-0.

Czech GM David Navara with his trainer GM Vlastimil Jansa

Vachier Lagrave,M (2718) - Yu Yangyi (2527) [B33]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6
8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 0-0 13.Be2 a5 14.0-0 Bg5 15.Qd3
Ne7 16.Nde3 Bxe3 17.Nxe3 Nc6 18.Rfd1 Nd4 19.Nc2 Nxc2 20.Qxc2 Qc7 21.Rd3 Be6
22.b3 Ra6 23.Qd2 Rc6 24.Rd1 Rd8 25.h3 f6 26.Bg4 Bf7 27.h4 Kf8 28.Bf5 Kg8 29.h5
h6 30.Qe2 Qe7 31.Rg3 Kf8 32.Rdd3 Rc7 33.Kh2 Ra7 34.Qg4 Bg8 35.Qd1 Rc7 36.Rg4
Be6 37.Bxe6 Qxe6 38.Rd5 Ra7 39.Rg3 Rdd7 40.Qd2 Kf7 41.Kg1 Ke8 42.Rgd3 Ke7 43.Qe3
Ra6 44.Qg3 Kf8 45.Rb5 Ra8 46.Qg6 Kg8 47.Rdd5 Rda7 48.Rb6 Rd8

The French GM has comphensively outplayed his Chinese opponent, and is able
to finish him off with a nice little combination: 49.Rxa5! Qe7
[49...Rxa5 50.Rb7 threatens mate on g7] 50.Rxa7 Qxa7 51.Rxb4 and with two pawns
in the basket White has no more difficulties getting the full point. 51...Kh8
52.a4 Qd4 53.Rb7 Rg8 54.g3 Qd2 55.Kg2 Qc3 56.Qf7 Qd3 57.Qg6 Qc3 58.Rb5 Qd2 59.a5
Qa2 60.Qg4 Qc2 61.a6 1-0.

The sensation of the day: Wesley So, who defeated Gata Kamsky with black

Kamsky,G (2695) - So,W (2640) [C11]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Qb6 8.a3
cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Na4 Qa5+ 11.c3 Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 b6 14.Be2 Ba6 15.Bd1
Qb5 16.b4 Rc8 17.Nb2 Qc6 18.Rc1 0-0. The predecessor game went 18...f6
19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Bf3 0-0 21.c4 Qd7 22.a4 Bxc4 23.Nxc4 Qxa4 24.0-0 Qxb4 25.Be2
dxc4 26.Bxc4 Kh8 27.Qd3 Qc5+ 28.Kh1 b5 0-1 Gueroff,E-Jackelen,T (2325)/Germany
1988/GER-chT2. We are told that Kamsky offered a draw in this position, but
So played on. Good nerves this kid has. 19.a4 Bc4 20.Bg4 Bb3 21.0-0
Bxa4

The first key moment: Kamsky somewhat surprisingly does not take on a4: 22.f5
[22.Nxa4 Qxa4 23.Ra1 and 24.Rxa7 was the obvious alternative] 22...Bb5
23.Rfe1 Rfe8 24.Re3 f6 25.fxe6 Nxe5 26.Bf5 g6 27.Bh3 Qd6 28.Rd1 Rcd8 29.Rd2
Qe7 30.Rf2 Nc6 31.Qd2

31...d4! 32.Re4 dxc3 33.Qxc3 Rf8 34.g4 Rd6 35.Bg2 Ne5 36.g5 Rxe6 37.gxf6
Rfxf6. Now young Wesley is two pawns up and rides in the full point
without too much difficulty. 38.Rxf6 Qxf6 39.Re3 Bc6 40.Nd1 Qg5 41.Rg3
Qf4 42.Nf2 Bxg2 43.Kxg2 Nc4 44.Qd3 Ne3+ 45.Kg1 Nf5 46.Qd5 Qc1+ 47.Nd1 Kf7 48.Rc3
Qg5+ 49.Kf2 Qf4+ 50.Kg2 Qg4+ 51.Kf2 Qe2+ 52.Kg1 Qe1+ 53.Kg2 Kg7 0-1.

Interview with Wesley So

Honestly I was lucky when playing against Ivanchuk. I admire this chess player
and I know that he plays much far better than me. In first game he was in time
trouble and maybe that is why I was lucky. The second game was a draw, but Vassily
had a real chance to win at some point during the game.

He mentioned in his interview that you were also playing not that well…

I agree. But today I played very well against Gata Kamsky. I was preparing
to the game. I caught him at the opening and he spent a lot of time. I just
hope that tomorrow I will be also lucky. I realize that you should do your best
in the classical games of each round. If you win one game, you are almost there.
I spend a lot of time for preparations to every single opponent. I train chess
for 5-6 hours per day, looking at the previous games of my opponents. I understand
that they are people who can also make mistakes. Generally speaking, I am okay
if the classical games were drawn. To my mind I play tie breaks better than
classical games. But my opponents did not give me any chance to come to the
tie breaks.

Tell us about yourself? Your achievement in chess?

I am 16 and the greatest achievement for me so far is the second place in a
tournament with average rating about 2700. At the moment my rating is 2640.
I dream that sooner or later I will come to the magical point 2700. I don't
know how much time I will need for that.

Are you planning to participate in the World Junior Chess Championship?

It could be stupid of me to think that due to my performance here I became
a big shot. In fact to win the World Junior U-20 Championship is my nearest
aim in chess. It will be a tough competition. Some of the potential participants
of the Championship are here: Negi Parimarjan, Hou Yifan, Sanan Syugirov. I
am trying to follow their games here, their openings most of all.

How can you define your chess style?

So far I play aggressively. I would like to play a solid game with a solid
opening. This is what I want. I think my style is close to Vishy Anand. Of course
we have different level.

Do you have a personal coach?

Unfortunately I don't. But I think that the moment is coming: I will need it
soon. I would train chess with Sanan Syugirov with pleasure for instance. He
is my age. The only problem he does not speak English. Anyway I feel like having
an assistant now. Another problem is that chess in not that well-known in the
Philippines. We don't get any financial support from the Government. They don't
give money for tournaments, coaches – nothing. Our National Federation
pays our tickets. That's it. You realize at one moment that to reach some professional
level you need private sponsors. I would be happy with some 20-30 thousand US
dollars a year.

This is your first visit to Russia . Aren't you afraid of cold weather?

Siberia is very beautiful place with good people! Yes, it is cold here. But
we come from the Philippines; we like to visit countries where it is colder
than in our country. Of course truly speaking minus 30 is too much. I like Siberia,
but I prefer to stay in my room when it is so cold.

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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27.11.2009
– None of the top players left in the tiebreak matches faltered: Peter Svidler disposed efficiently of upstart Tomi Nyback; Ponomariov ground down Akobian; Eljanov and Karjakin were successful; and Alexei Shirov won all three games. Maybe one small surprise: Fabiano Caruana eliminated Leinier Dominguez, the highest rated player to drop out today. Pictorial 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 two tiebreaks

Former FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman lost to Evgeny Tomashevsky
2.5-3.5

French GM Laurent Fressinet was eliminated by Evgeny Alekseev 1-5-3.5

Ivan Cheparinov lost to Viktor Bologan 2.0-4.0

In and out: Peter Svidler beat Tomi Nyback and Alexander Shabalov lost to David
Navara

Showed him who is boss: Alexei Shirov won all his tiebreak games against Sergey
Fedorchuk

Ruslan Ponomariov eliminated Varuzhan Akobian with a 4.0-2.0 result

Pavel Eljanov, Ukraine, beat Ernesto Inarkiev, Russia, 3.5-1.5

In round three: Judit Polgar beat Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 4.5-3.5

Fabiano Caruana, who knocked out Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez

Sergey Karjakin defeated Artyom Timofeev 3.5-2.5

Just watching: IM Ray Robson, who was eliminated in the first round

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round two

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 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 »