Word Cup 2009 Round 4 Game 2 pairings

As I have a doctor's appt tomorrow morning, I will post the pairings with the colors and try to update them before I leave and will finish when I get back. Well, I get back to see all the games are finished and that 3 players have advanced to Round 5!  I will post Sergey Karjakin's win over Nikita Vitiugov since it was the only game not drawn.  Looks like Caruana and So are going to rely on their rapid chess skills going into the tiebreak rounds.


World Cup Round 4 Game 2 Pairings:

• 1.0-1.0  1. Boris Gelfand 2758 (ISR) 1/2-1/2 17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2718 (FRA)
• 1.0-1.0 9. Dmitry Jakovenko 2736 (RUS) 1/2-1/2 8. Alexander Grischuk 2736 (RUS)
• 1.5-0.5 13. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2719 (AZE) 1/2-1/2 61. Viktor Laznicka 2637 (CZE)
• 0.5-1.5 28. Nikita Vitiugov 2694 (RUS) 0-1 12 Sergey Karjakin 2723 (UKR)
• 1.0-1.0 50. Fabiano Caruana 2652 (ITA) 1/2-1/2 2. Vugar Gashimov 2758 (AZE)
• 1.0-1.0 7. Ruslan Ponomariov 2739 (UKR) 1/2-1/2 23. Etienne Bacrot 2700 (FRA)
• 1.5-0.5 3. Peter Svidler 2754 (RUS) 1/2-1/2 14. Alexei Shirov 2719 (ESP)
• 1.0-1.0 22. Vladimir Malakhov 2706 (RUS) 1/2-1/2 59. Wesley So 2640 (PHI)

Good to have that done ahead of time, now I just have to update in the morning, (done updating, just bumming that I had to miss some games, the same tomorrow as I have to go get a chest x-ray to make sure I'm not getting a touch of pneumonia like this summer.)  Congrats to those who have advanced to Round 5, I'm a bit of a Mamedyarov fan, but to see GM So or GM Caruana take it would be news as well, also GM Sergei Karjakin! Whose game follows:


 GM Nikita Vitiugov  vs  GM Sergey Karjakin

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GM Hikaru Nakamura wins the BNBank Blitz tournament

  Although a tad late, I can't forget to put up GM Nakamura's 3-1 victory over GM Magnus Carlsen in the BNBank Blitz final on GM Carlsen's own turf in Norway.  I am a fan of GM Nakamura due to his battles with TransWarp.  He was the most courageous player on ICC to play TransWarp, amassing many games before deciding to quit playing computers.  He may have since TransWarp's account had to lapse due to finances, But like many others who like watching top level blitz chess, he's simply the best at this time.  I am going to try and fit all 4 games from youtube on here along with the moves in text as the video is choppy due to it being from a webcam at the event.  Thanks to youtube for allowing embedding of their video. Again,
NOTE: The Video IS Choppy, there are other videos of the games on youtube, but they are by a guy who moves around, it was either or....either have choppy video with a stable board, or a video that is unstable and hard to concentrate on the position...not much of a choice, but hey, thought I would give it go.


Game 1 GM Nakamura vs GM Carlsen

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 Bxc3 6. bxc3 c6 7. Ne2 d5 8.
cxd5 cxd5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Rb1 Nb6 12. d4 Bf5 13. Rb3 Be6 14.
d5 Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. Ba3 Re8 17. Rxb7 Qc8 18. Rb5 Nb6 19. Rc5 Qe6 20.
Qb3 Rad8 21. Qxe6 Rxe6 22. Bc1 f6 23. Be3 Rd7 24. Rb1 Kf7 25. Rcb5 Nc4 26.
Bc5 Nd8 27. R1b4 Nd2 28. Kg2 Rc6 29. Be3 Nc4 30. Rb8 Ne6 31. Bc1 Rcc7 32.
Ra8 Rd1 33. Ra4 a5 34. Be3 Nxe3+ 35. fxe3 Rd2 36. Kf1 Rb7 37. Ke1 Rbb2 38.
Ra7+ Kg6 39. Nc1 Rxh2 40. Rh4 Rhg2 41. Rh1 Rxg3 42. Rxa5 Rxe3+ 43. Kd1 Rxc3
44. Ra4 Nf4 45. Ra7 Ng2 46. Rg1 Kf5 0-1

Game 2  GM Carlsen vs GM Nakamura
 

 

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 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. O-O
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 45. Qe8+ Kh7 46. Qxd8 Qxd8 47. Nc6 Qb6 48. d8=Q Nxd1 49. Qxb6 axb6 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 b1=Q+ 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

Game 3   GM Nakamura vs GM Carlsen

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5
8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 b6 10. O-O Bb7 11. d5 Bxc3 12. Bc4 Bg7 13. e5 Ba6 14. Qd3
Bxc4 15. Qxc4 Nd7 16. Re1 a6 17. Qh4 e6 18. Bg5 Qc7 19. d6 Qc6 20. Bh6 f6
21. exf6 Rxf6 22. Ng5 Nf8 23. d7 Bxh6 24. Qxh6 Qxd7 25. Ne4 Rf7 26. Rxb6 c4
27. Qe3 Qd3 28. Qc1 Rd8 29. Rxa6 Qd4 30. Rc6 Qa7 31. Qxc4 Rd4 32. Qc2 Ra4
33. Re2 Qd4 34. h3 Qa1+ 35. Kh2 Qe5+ 36. Ng3 Qf4 37. Rc8 Kg7 38. Qc3+ Kh6
39. f3 g5 40. Rxf8 1-0

 
 
Game 4  GM Carlsen  vs  GM Nakamura
 

 

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 f5
8. Nh3 b6 9. f3 Nf6 10. e3 Bb7 11. Be2 d6 12. O-O Qe7 13. b4 a5 14. Bb2
Nbd7 15. Nf2 axb4 16. axb4 c5 17. dxc5 dxc5 18. b5 Rfd8 19. Rfd1 Ne8 20.
Rxa8 Rxa8 21. e4 fxe4 22. Nxe4 Ndf6 23. Nf2 Rd8 24. Re1 Qf7 25. Bf1 Nd6 26.
Nd3 Nf5 27. Ne5 Qc7 28. Qe2 Nd4 29. Bxd4 Rxd4 30. Ra1 Rd8 31. Nc6 Bxc6 32.
Qxe6+ Kf8 33. bxc6 Re8 34. Qf5 Qxc6 35. Qf4 Qd7 36. Rb1 Qe6 37. h3 Kg8 38.
Bd3 Rd8 39. Bf5 Qd6 40. Qe3 Re8 41. Qf2 g6 42. Bc2 Nh5 43. Rd1 Qe5 44. Be4
Ng3 45. Bd5+ Kg7 46. Qd2 Ne2+ 47. Kh1 Ng3+ 48. Kg1 Ne2+ 49. Kf1 Qh2 50. Kf2
Qg3+ 51. Kf1 Qh2 52. Be6 Nd4 53. Bd7 Re2 54. Qxe2 Nxe2 55. Kxe2 Qxg2+ 56.
Ke3 Qc2 57. Rd6 Qc3+ 58. Ke4 Qxc4+ 59. Ke5 Qc3+ 60. Kd5 Qxf3+ 0-1

Word Cup 2009 Round 4 Game 1 results

Here are the results I have for game one of Round 4 of the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, we are down to 16 players in this Match Style Tournament. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan showed that the Czech Viktor Laznicka does have chinks in his armor.  Perhaps he is getting tired or just that GM Mamedyarov simply outplayed him.  I will post this game at the end of the post.  Also winning was GM Peter Svidler over GM Alexei Shirov, the other games were all drawn, the So and Caruana fans will have to wait until tomorrow for possible advancement of the youngsters (at least to me) :) 

 The losses with the white pieces surely put the pressure on GM Laznicka and GM Shirov as now only a draw is needed by their opponents to win and advance to Round 5, attacking with black can be risky and both players do need to be bold to grind out wins with their chance on the black side of the board. I can't blame the other players for drawing, both young guns So and Caruana did try to win their games, So's game getting down to K+R vs K+R drawn endgame and Caruana's with a perpetual check.

Round 4 Game 1 Results: Today's GAME winners are in bold, they haven't advanced.

17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2718 (FRA) 1/2-1/2 1. Boris Gelfand 2758 (ISR)   
8. Alexander Grischuk 2736 (RUS) 1/2-1/2 9. Dmitry Jakovenko 2736 (RUS)
61. Viktor Laznicka 2637 (CZE) 0-1 13. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2719 (AZE)
12 Sergey Karjakin 2723 (UKR) 1/2-1/2 28. Nikita Vitiugov 2694 (RUS)
2. Vugar Gashimov 2758 (AZE) 1/2-1/2 50. Fabiano Caruana 2652 (ITA)
23. Etienne Bacrot 2700 (FRA) 1/2-1/2 7. Ruslan Ponomariov 2739 (UKR)
14. Alexei Shirov 2719 (ESP) 0-1 3. Peter Svidler 2754 (RUS)
59. Wesley So 2640 (PHI) 1/2-1/2 22. Vladimir Malakhov 2706 (RUS)

GM Viktor Laznicka vs GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov




GM Alexei Shirov vs GM Peter Svidler

A nice forum I found Down Under.

Before getting to today's results, just wanted to mention a nice little forum for the Aussie's.  And other chess fans in general.  I just happened upon it because my stat counter said there was a visit from there, or someone exited to there...don't remember now!  But it lead me to a nice little spot to keep up on chess and chess players Down Under in Australia.  If you are interested, here's a link to the site:

http://chesschat.org/    

Take a little time to register, visit and sit a spell as they say here in the midwest and south still in the little towns that are scattered about.  Maybe if you are going to Australia to visit or vacation, maybe you will find a chess club in that area of your visit!  I will add it to the links section as well.

World Cup 2009 Round 4, game 1 pairings

 Here, as promised are tomorrow's pairings for the World Cup 2009.  Got a bit off-track when starting to do them the first time, it happens...

Pairings for World Cup Round 4: Left Bracket first, Right Bracket bottom starting with seed 2.

•   1. Boris Gelfand 2758 (ISR)
• 17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2718 (FRA)
•  
• 8. Alexander Grischuk 2736 (RUS)
• 9. Dmitry Jakovenko 2736 (RUS)
•  
• 61. Viktor Laznicka 2637 (CZE)
• 13. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2719 (AZE)
•  
• 28. Nikita Vitiugov 2694 (RUS)
• 12 Sergey Karjakin 2723 (UKR)
•  
• 2. Vugar Gashimov 2758 (AZE)
• 50. Fabiano Caruana 2652 (ITA)
•  
• 7. Ruslan Ponomariov 2739 (UKR)
• 23. Etienne Bacrot 2700 (FRA)
•  
• 3. Peter Svidler 2754 (RUS)
• 14. Alexei Shirov 2719 (ESP)
•  
• 59. Wesley So 2640 (PHI)
• 22. Vladimir Malakhov 2706 (RUS)

Number 61 seed, Viktor Laznicka is one of the big stories but there also are a lot of people who will be watching the #59 seed Wesley So and #50 seed Fabiano Caruana, who carries dual citizenship with Italy and the US, but there's a lot to be said about being the #1 player of a European Country to get you invited to great tournaments like this one. He really has no competition in Italy to really bother him, but in the US, then you get to deal with US's Hikaru Nakamura, which I think might cause a strain on his game, but who knows, he might also thrive here, but it sure wouldn't be by playing chess...that's the sad fact about the US...no great chess sponsors, which would help a lot, people in the US tend to look upon chess players as "nerds" so who knows how many "could have been" GM's might have come out of the US if it was looked upon like a serious sport in Europe and now Asia? But with American sports athletes making multi-million dollar sports contracts, some downright outrageous, plus sports gear endorsements...man, chess has no chance.
  What's really sad, is the game could help so many students understand visualization of problems, it's proven to help so much that there was a "Chess In Schools", maybe still is, program.  Try to get sponsors for that over the local little league team (nothing against that, I loved little league), little league will always win.  We need to get our kids exercising their minds, not their thumbs playing video games. We can wish though.

Some thoughts on physical fitness and chess.

  Here are the pairings for game 1 in Round 4 tomorrow, I hope they will have enough energy after all the excitement today, I can hear some non-chess playing people thinking, "Excitement? In a chess tournament?"  Actually, YES!  It has been found, and I can attest to this, that player's adrenaline and heart rate go up, a test done on top rated Grandmasters done a while back, has shown that their body's physical reactions compare to those of top athletes when they are in competition!  This is why Grandmasters usually peak in their 20's and 30's, with some exceptions of course, when their bodies are in top physical shape.  They have now started exercise routines and workouts to help with stamina and strength during games.  Someimes a game can last 5-6 hours, even longer before shortened time controls came along, there used to be a time when there was no clock used and games would last many hours, but still, it's common for games to last 3-5 hours in top level play at times, so all the exercise is really needed! 

 I often wonder how many rating points I could have achieved had I not started playing tournament chess after I became disabled.  Also it really would have helped if I had learned at a much earlier age and had some good competition to play.  I think I could have achieved expert level, no way I could have become a Grandmaster, these guys see amazing things, their visualization of positions many moves ahead is amazing. Oh, and gals, I had included them in my thought process, especially with the likes of the Polgar sisters and many other lady players who have achieved titles of Grandmaster the same way men do.  It's much easier for women to achieve a Woman's Grandmaster title than a man's, no disrepect to them as many are showing they can hang with the guys now!  I started this post intending to post the pairings for tomorrow's games, but got off topic and just decided to throw this in as some of my musings. NOW on to the next post and tomorrow's pairings!

Round 3 Games 5 & 6 Tiebreaks at the World Cup set the Final 16

 Getting down to the nitty gritty with just 4 players to fight it out!  Dimitry Jakovenko prevailed over Alexander Areshchenko and young Fabiano Caruana got a draw to take out Evgeny Alekseev to join the 10 who have advanced.  Now we are getting into Blitz games to decide which two will join the other 12 players to make the "Sweet 16" as it's often put in the American college basketball championship in March, my team Kansas University is rated #1 at the moment, but when they get pre-season #1 rankings, they often lose early and end up in the middle of the pack.  Would be nice to have another championship to go with March 2008 in March 2010!  While the games are going on, I will be getting the pairings posted for the 8 games tomorrow.

 But the final two games:  Blitz Game 1

• 3-4 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 0-1 Svidler, Peter (RUS) 
• 4-3 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 

Blitz Game 2:

• 5-3 Svidler, Peter (RUS) 1-0 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER)
• 3-5 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 0-1 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
  

 Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk eliminate Germany's Arkadij Naiditsch and Georgia's Baadur Jobava, respectfully and two more Russians to the final 16 players in the World Cup, I will post the pairings next, then time to rest, been at it a long time for me.
Those already advancing:

So Wesley (PHI)
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
Gashimov, Vugar (AZE)
Laznicka, Viktor (CZE)
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)
Karjakin, Sergey (UKR)
Jakovenko, Dmitry  (RUS)
Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)
 

Round 3 Game 4 Tiebreaks at World Cup 2009

   Well, we have some more casualties after tiebreak game 3.  Getting eliminated from the World Cup are:
 Judit Polgar, Viktor Bologan, Vladimir Malakhov, David Navara and the last Chinese players, Li Chao and Wang Yue, who were forfeited in game 2 tiebreak, for showing up too late and the games had already started, a terrible mistake on their fault, the rumor is they were outside smoking and just missed the start of the games, goes to show smoking may affect your chess earnings as well!  I just hope they aren't sanctioned in any way by the Chinese Chess Federation (Government).

 Round 3 Game 4 tiebreaks, 8 players left vying for the last spots!

Game Score and Current game result in middle:

• 3-3 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 0-1 Svidler, Peter (RUS) 
• 3-3 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) ½-½ Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
• 2-4 Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR) 0-1 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) 
• 2.5-3.5 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) 

Those who have made it to Round 4 Tomorrow:

So Wesley (PHI)
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
Gashimov, Vugar (AZE)
Laznicka, Viktor (CZE)
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)
Karjakin, Sergey (UKR)

Round 3 Game3 Tiebreaks at World Cup 2009

After both Chinese players being forfeited for arriving late at the last game, Li, Chao b went 1 game down, while Wang Yue lost a one game advantage over his opponent, this round will see if they can come back and those on the edge of elimination, can hold on! 

Round 3 Game 3 Tiebreaks, Match Score at front, game result in middle,

• 1.5-3.5 Polgar, Judit (HUN) 0-1 Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 
• 3.5-1.5 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) 1-0 Li, Chao b (CHN) 
• 2-3 Svidler, Peter (RUS) 0-1 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 
• 3.5-1.5 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) 1-0 Bologan, Viktor (MDA)  
• 2.5-2.5 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 
• 3-2 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) ½-½ Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR) 
• 3.5-1.5 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) 1-0 Wang, Yue (CHN) 
• 1-4 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR) 0-1 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)  (RUS)
• 1-4 Navara, David (CZE) 0-1 Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 
• 3-2 Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) 1-0 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) 

Those facing elimination this round unless they win:

Vladimir Malakhov
David Navara

Those facing elimination if they don't win or draw:

Judit Polgar
Li Chao b
Viktor Bologan
Wang Yue


Those who have already advanced to Round 4:

So Wesley (PHI)
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)

Round 3 Game 2 Tiebreaks at World Cup 2009

Tiebreak game 2 of Round 3 starts with controversy as both Chinese players, Wang, Yue and Li, Chao b were both forfeited for that game, evidently for not getting to the table on time.  All players in the games involved appeared upset, no one likes to win on a forfeit, Wang Yue had won his first game as well.  Li Chao b goes down 0.5-1.5 after the forfeited game, he will have to win in Game 3 of the tiebreaks to hold on to a chance for Round 4.  Other results are starting to come in as well.

 Round 3 Game 2 Tiebreaks, Match Score at front, game result in middle,

• 2.5-1.5 Gelfand, Boris (ISR) ½-½ Polgar, Judit (HUN)
• 1.5-2.5 Li, Chao b (CHN) 0-1 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) *
• 2.0-2.0 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) ½-½ Svidler, Peter (RUS)
• 1.5-2.5 Bologan, Viktor (MDA) 0-1 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) 
• 2.5-1.5 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 
• 1.5-2.5 Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR) ½-½ Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS
• 1.5-2.5 Wang, Yue (CHN) 0-1 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) *
• 3-1 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) 1-0 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
• 3-1 Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 1-0 Navara, David (CZE)
• 2-2 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)

 * Forfeited this game due to arriving after the games had started.

Those already in Round 4 are:

So Wesley (PHI)

Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA

First Tiebreak results in for Round 3 at World Cup 2009

Here's a quick gander at the results of the first game of tiebreak games to be held today at Khanty Mansiysk, to see who advances to round four and the round of 16!


Tiebreak Game 1, Round 3 World Cup 2009

• Bacrot, Etienne 2700 vs Wang, Yue 2734 ½-½
• Caruana, Fabiano 2652 vs Alekseev, Evgeny 2715 ½-½
• Eljanov, Pavel 2729 vs Malakhov, Vladimir 2706 0-1
• Gashimov, Vugar 2758 vs Li, Chao b 2596 ½-½
• Jakovenko, Dmitry 2736 vs Areshchenko, Alexander 2664 1-0
• Jobava, Baadur 2696 vs Grischuk, Alexander 2736 ½-½
• Laznicka, Viktor 2637 vs Bologan, Viktor 2692 ½-½
• Navara, David 2707 vs Karjakin, Sergey 2723 0-1
• Polgar, Judit 2680 vs Gelfand, Boris 2758 0-1
• Svidler, Peter 2754 vs Naiditsch, Arkadij 2689 ½-½

Those already in Round 4 are:

So Wesley (PHI)
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)

World Cup Round 3 Game 2 Results and Advancees to Round 4

   So far today, the trend is that games that were drawn yesterday are ending up the same, with the participants opting to go for the faster Rapid Game tiebreaks tomorrow, at least I think they are tomorrow, yep, no rest day until December 9, 2009, wow, that's a lot of chess! And some big news out of Khanty Mansiysk, GM Wesley So has eliminated GM Gata Kamsky, the US's last player in the tournament and last year's winner!

Today's results with today's game result in the middle and match scores in front, those who have advanced are in bold text.

• 1-1 Polgar Judit (HUN) 1-0 Gelfand Boris (ISR)
• 1-1 Gashimov Vugar (AZE) ½-½ Li Chao b (CHN)
• 1-1 Naiditsch Arkadij (GER) ½-½ Svidler Peter (RUS)
• 1-1 Laznicka Viktor (CZE) ½-½ Bologan Viktor (MDA)
• 1.5-0.5 Vitiugov Nikita (RUS) ½-½ Sakaev Konstantin (RUS)
• 1.5-0.5 So Wesley (PHI) ½-½ Kamsky Gata (USA)
• 0.5-1.5 Motylev Alexander (RUS) ½-½ Ponomariov Ruslan (UKR)
• 1-1 Grischuk Alexander (RUS) ½-½ Jobava Baadur (GEO)
• 1-1 Areshchenko Alexander (UKR) 1-0 Jakovenko Dmitry (RUS)
• 1-1 Wang Yue (CHN) ½-½ Bacrot Etienne (FRA)
• 1-1 Malakhov Vladimir (RUS) ½-½ Eljanov Pavel (UKR)
• 1-1 Karjakin Sergey (UKR) 1-0 Navara David (CZE)
• 0.5-1.5 Wang Hao (CHN) ½-½ Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE)
• 1.5-0.5 Shirov Alexei (ESP) 1-0 Tomashevsky Evgeny (RUS)
• 1-1 Alekseev Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ Caruana Fabiano (ITA)
• 0.5-1.5 Yu Yangyi (CHN) ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA)
  
  
   
  
  
                                                                                                                                    
  

Here is Alexei Shirov's win over Evgeny Tomashevsky



Tomorrow will be very busy with tiebreak Rapid games with a few getting into some blitz tiebreak games, possibly, but maybe hostilities will cease just after the Rapid games. And then, there will be 16!

World Cup 2006 Round 3 Game 1 So upsets Kamsky!

COMMENTARY AND PICTURE COURTESY OF CHESSDOM.COM

GM Wesley So

                                     GM Gata Kamsky

GM Gata Kamsky - GM Wesley So

Round 1
World Chess Cup 2009
27.11.2009

The game from round 3 between GM Gata Kamsky - GM Wesley So will be featured with commentary by GM Christian Bauer. 

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Wesley So sticks to the French, but chooses another line. 3... Nf6 instead of 3... Bb4 which he played against Ivanchuk.

7... Qb6 Now 8.Na4 is the main move. It is usually followed by Qa5 c3 c4 b4. ALso playable is 8. Qd2 then 8...Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3. Kamsky is in deep thought, sometimes strong GM try to remember the most recent games on a given line and therefore start to think early in the game.

8.a3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Na4 Qa5+ 11.c3 Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 b6 The game is now totally even, which does not mean it will end in a draw soon. Kamsky is used to playing even positions for many moves, trying to find a way in the game. 14. Qb4 here, else Ba6 or Nc5 are at least ok for Black. 14...Nb8 could still be an option, but I believe White will do somethg for his Na4 now and most likely not b2-b3 because of Nc5. So 14. Qb4 remains as the best move.

14.Be2 now I like Bb7 with the idea Bc6. Has White somethg after Ba6 Qb4 Qxb4 axb4 Bxe2 Kxe2 ? not much for sure, since ...f6 is coming

14... Ba6 15.Bd1 too ambitious, he wants to go b4,Nb2

15... Qb5 16.b4 Black has to quickly attack e5 now, by mean of Qc6-c7, 0-0 and f6

16... Rc8 Nb2 Qc6 Rc1 seems forced

17.Nb2 Qc6 18.Rc1 O-O 19.a4 Bc4 ...f6 is coming. Nxc4 Qxc4 Qxc4 Rxc4 is obviously bad for White who has to defend f4 and c3. Maybe Bg4, in this case after ...f6 Nxc4 Black can't take back with the Queen. The prophylactic move g3 alsomakes sense, then White can swap Queens on c4 and be on time to protect c3. At the same time Bc2 move is not good, as there are not enough pieces to attack the king.

20.Bg4 1 hour for 10 moves, among them 3 were forced. Maybe he wants his young opponent to be overconfident.

20... Bb3 21.O-O Bxa4 ...a5 before Bxa4 was interesting, but white could have tried f4-f5. Kamsky is not forced to take the pawn back now. 22. c4 and f5 are options, but difficultto play them with the time difference. Nxa4 Qxa4 Ra1xa7 seems the most reasonable in practice.

22.f5 Not clear who is over confident here:)

22... Bb5 23.Rfe1 a7-a5 creates a passed pawn and allows ...Qc5 at some time. White army is attacking only e6 and is far away from black king for the moment.

23... Rfe8 a sensible move, but Bf3 is good now intending c3-c4 and f5-f6 next Qg4.

24.Re3 f6 It is getting very sharp, Wesley So has more than 1 hour on the clock, Gata Kamsky has 16 minutes

25.fxe6 Nxe5 26.Bf5 g6 27.Bh3 Time for a5. Black can play Rxe6 at any moment.

27... Qd6 a5 was more active, but maybe not psychologically

28.Rd1 Rcd8 29.Rd2 Qe7 ...Ba6-c8xe6 is the threat, ...Nc6 and ...d5-d4 is an idea too

30.Rf2 Nc6 31.Qd2 d4 The position and the time difference make it impossible for Kamsky to save this. Kamsky thought he has to win at any cost and now he is losing.

32.Re4 dxc3 33.Qxc3 Rf8 34.g4 no other choice, but now Bh3 does not cover e6 anymore

34... Rd6 35.Bg2 Ne5 36.g5 Rxe6 37.gxf6 Rfxf6 38.Rxf6 Qxf6 39.Re3 Bc6 40.Nd1 Kamsky makes it to the time control in a very difficult position with 2 pawns less. Qg5 Re3 will follow with Wesley So heading to the win.

40... Qg5 41.Rg3 Qf4 42.Nf2 Bxg2 43.Kxg2 Nc4 44.Qd3 Ne3 45.Kg1 Nf5 Rybka's suggestion was Qe5, but that is good enough with decisive advantage for Wesley So

46.Qd5 Qc1 47.Nd1 Kf7 48.Rc3 Qg5 49.Kf2 Qf4 50.Kg2 Qg4+ 51.Kf2 Qe2+ 52.Kg1 Qe1+ 53.Kg2 Kg7 And Gata Kamsky resigns. Good victory for Wesley So that puts Kamsky in a must win situation with black. Join us tomorrow for the live game on Chessdom.com! 0-1





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World Cup 2009 Round 3 Pairings And Game 1 results

Here are the pairings for round 3 of the World Cup 2009, games of Round 3 game 1 are ongoing now, I will update results later today.  Pairings are shown by seed number, the upset set shown first, the big surprise being the #113 seed Yu, Yangyi of China obviously, sitting where the #16 seed should be, impressive tournament so far. Also can be said of  Li, Chao b, Viktor Laznicka, Konstantin Sakaev, Wesley So and other young GM Fabiano Caruana!

• 1. Boris Gelfand (ISR) 1-0 32. Judit Polgar (HUN)
• 2. Vugar Gashimov (AZE) ½-½ 95. Li Chao b (CHN)
• 3. Peter Svidler (RUS) ½-½ 30. Arkadij Naiditsch (GER)
• 61. Viktor Laznicka (CZE) ½-½ 29. Viktor Bologan (MDA)
• 69. Konstantin Sakaev (RUS) 0-1 28. Nikita Vitiugov (RUS)
• 59. Wesley So (PHI) * (B) 1-0 27. Gata Kamsky (USA) 
• 7. Ruslan Ponomariov (RUS) 1-0 26. Alexander Motylev (RUS)
• 8. Alexander Grischuk (RUS) ½-½ 25. Baadur Jobava (GEO)
• 9. Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 1-0 41. Alexander Areshchenko (UKR)
• 10. Wang, Yue (CHN) ½-½ 23. Etienne Bacrot (FRA)
• 11. Pavel Eljanov (UKR) ½-½ 22. Vladimir Malakhov (RUS)
• 12. Sergey Karjakin  (UKR) 0-1 21. David Navara (CZE) * (W)
• 13. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 1-0 20. Wang Hao (CHN)
• 14. Alexei Shirov (ESP) ½-½ 19. Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS)
• 50. Fabiano Caruana (ITA) ½-½ 18. Evgeny Alekseev (RUS)
• 113. Yu, Yangyi (CHN) 0-1 17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)  * (W)

* GM So had Black, GM Navara and Vachier-Lagrave had White pieces.

 

 

World Cup Round 2 final results

Here are the results of the round 2 tiebreak games at Khanty Mansiysk. First posted are those who finished off their opponents in the two game classical time limit chess, followed by those who needed tiebreaker games to advance on to round 3 with their wins today.

Those who advanced yesterday and whose opponents are seen in the post below this one.

1. Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
2. Gashimov Vugar (AZE)
3. Laznicka, Viktor (CZE)
4. Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)
5. So, Wesley (PHI)
6. Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
7. Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS)
8. Wang, Yue (CHN)
9. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
10. Yu, Yangyi (CHN)
11. Wang, Hao (CHN)
12. Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
13. Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
14. Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
15. Kamsky, Gata (USA)
16. Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER)
    

 Those needing to win using tiebreak games today, including one relieved Peter Svidler after losing the first game on Tuesday to Tomi Nyback, who had come off a first round upset win.

      Final Match Score      Winners in Bold text

1. 1.5-3.5 Nyback, Tomi (FIN) - Svidler, Peter (RUS)
2. 2-4 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) - Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
3. 2.5-3.5 Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS) - Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
4. 3.5-2.5 Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) - Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
5. 4-1 Shirov, Alexei (ESP) - Fedorchuk, Sergey A. (UKR)
6. 3.5-2.5 Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) - Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB)
7. 2.5-3.5 Meier, Georg (GER) - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
8. 3.5-1.5 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) - Fressinet, Laurent (FRA)
9. 2.5-3.5 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) - Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
10. 2.5-3.5 Shabalov, Alexander (USA) - Navara, David (CZE)
11. 3.5-1.5 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - Smirin, Ilia (ISR)
12. 2.5-3.5 Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) - Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR)
13. 4.5-3.5 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) - Milos, Gilberto (BRA)
14. 2-4 Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) - Bologan, Viktor (MDA)
15. 4.5-3.5 Li, Chao b (CHN) - Pelletier, Yannick (SUI)
16. 4.5-3.5 Polgar, Judit (HUN) - Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROU)
    

World Cup 2009-Round 2, Game 2 Results + those on to Round 3

 Here are some of today's results, with the match winners in bold text, there have been several upsets again, with Viktor Laznicka eliminating Alexander Morozevich, the Philippine wonder kid, Wesley So holding a draw to eliminate Vassily Ivanchuk and just finishing the day, Konstantin Sakaev taking out Teimour Radjabov with the draw. GM Judit Polgar is going to the tiebreak stage tomorrow vs Romanian, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu after getting the late start playing after her opponent in the first round failed to show up due to an injury, will this hurt her in the rapid game tiebreaks? We shall see..  I will post GM Viktor Laznicka's victory over GM Alexander Morozevich, who was not on form it seems, or Laznicka was inspired!

       Match Score in front with today's game result in middle, those advancing in bold text. The rest play in rapid tiebreak matches of 4 games if needed, followed by blitz and armaggedon tiebreak games. The Rapid games will be played with 25 minutes with 10 second increment following each move.

1. 1.5-0.5 Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 1-0 Amonatov, Farrukh (TJK)
2. 0.5-1.5 Zhou, Jianchao (CHN) 0-1 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE)
3. 1-1 Svidler, Peter (RUS) 1-0 Nyback, Tomi (FIN)  
4. 2-0 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) 1-0 Morozevich, Alexander (RUS)  *
5. 0.5-1.5 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) ½-½ Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) *
6. 1.5-0.5 So, Wesley (PHI) ½-½ Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR)  *
7. 1-1 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) ½-½ Akobian, Varuzhan (USA)
8. 0.5-1.5 Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA) ½-½ Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
9. 2-0 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) 1-0 Sandipan, Chanda (IND) 
10. 0-2 Savchenko, Boris (RUS) 0-1 Wang, Yue (CHN)
11. 1-1 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR) 1-0 Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS) 
12. 1-1 Timofeev, Artyom (RUS) ½-½ Karjakin, Sergey (UKR)
13. 2-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE) 1-0 Milov, Vadim (SUI) 
14. 1-1 Fedorchuk, Sergey A. (UKR) 1-0 Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
15. 1-1 Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB) ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)
16. 0.5-1.5 Bartel, Mateusz (POL) ½-½ Yu, Yangyi (CHN) *
17. 1-1 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA) ½-½ Meier, Georg (GER) 
18. 1-1 Fressinet, Laurent (FRA) ½-½ Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS)
19. 1-1 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ Khalifman, Alexander (RUS)
20. 0-2 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (IND) 0-1 Wang, Hao (CHN) 
21. 1-1 Navara, David (CZE) ½-½ Shabalov, Alexander (USA)
22. 1-1 Smirin, Ilia (ISR) ½-½ Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)  
23. 2-0 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) 1-0 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)  
24. 1-1 Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR) ½-½ Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS)
25. 1.5-0.5 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 1-0 Iturrizaga, Eduardo (VEN)
26. 0.5-1.5 Najer, Evgeniy (RUS) ½-½ Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
27. 1.5-0.5 Kamsky, Gata (USA) ½-½ Zhou, Weiqi (CHN)
28. 1-1 Milos, Gilberto (BRA) ½-½ Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) 
29. 1-1 Bologan, Viktor (MDA) ½-½ Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) 
30. 0.5-1.5 Onischuk, Alexander (USA) ½-½ Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER)
31. 1-1 Pelletier, Yannick (SUI) 0-1 Li, Chao b (CHN) 
32. 1-1 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROU) ½-½ Polgar, Judit (HUN)
    
    
    

 Viktor Laznicka vs Alexander Morozevich


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World Cup 2009-Round 2 Pairings-

Here are today's results in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia at the World Cup Tournament 2009.  It looks like several players are putting the pressure on their opponents after winning with the black pieces and only needing a draw to hold for the win tomorrow to advance to round 3.  Among these players are: Viktor Laznicka, Wesley So, the young phenom from The Philippines, Dmitry Jakovenko, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, a player who has taken on TransWarp many times, Etienne Bacrot, the US's own Gata Kamsky and Yannick Pelletier. Laznicka being an upset winner in today's game vs Alexander Morozevich! Also with the upset, only with the white pieces is China's Yangyi Yu and Toni Nyback's upset over Russia's Peter Svidler, I will post that game and Wesley So's win over Vassily Ivanchuk below the results.

1. 0.5-0.5 Amonatov, Farrukh (TJK) ½-½ Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 
2. 0.5-0.5 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) ½-½ Zhou, Jianchao (CHN)
3. 1-0 Nyback, Tomi (FIN) 1-0 Svidler, Peter (RUS)
4. 0-1 Morozevich, Alexander (RUS) 0-1 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE)
5. 1-0 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) 1-0 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE)
6. 0-1 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) 0-1 So, Wesley (PHI)
7. 0.5-0.5 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) ½-½ Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
8. 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA)
9. 0-1 Sandipan, Chanda (IND) 0-1 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS)
10. 1-0 Wang, Yue (CHN) 1-0 Savchenko, Boris (RUS)
11. 1-0 Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS) 1-0 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
12. 0.5-0.5 Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) ½-½ Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
13. 0-1 Milov, Vadim (SUI) 0-1 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
14. 1-0 Shirov, Alexei (ESP) 1-0 Fedorchuk, Sergey A. (UKR)
15. 0.5-0.5 Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) ½-½ Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB)
16. 1-0 Yu, Yangyi (CHN) 1-0 Bartel, Mateusz (POL)
17. 0.5-0.5 Meier, Georg (GER) ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
18. 0.5-0.5 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ Fressinet, Laurent (FRA)
19. 0.5-0.5 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) ½-½ Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
20. 1-0 Wang, Hao (CHN) 1-0 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (IND)
21. 0.5-0.5 Shabalov, Alexander (USA) ½-½ Navara, David (CZE)
22. 0.5-0.5 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) ½-½ Smirin, Ilia (ISR)
23. 0-1 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) 0-1 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
24. 0.5-0.5 Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) ½-½ Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR)
25. 0.5-0.5 Iturrizaga, Eduardo (VEN) ½-½ Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
26. 1-0 Motylev, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Najer, Evgeniy (RUS)
27. 0-1 Zhou, Weiqi (CHN) 0-1 Kamsky, Gata (USA)
28. 0.5-0.5 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) ½-½ Milos, Gilberto (BRA)
29. 0.5-0.5 Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) ½-½ Bologan, Viktor (MDA)
30. 1-0 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 1-0 Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
31. 0-1 Li, Chao b (CHN) 0-1 Pelletier, Yannick (SUI)
32. 0.5-0.5 Polgar, Judit (HUN) ½-½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROU)

 

Nyback, Tomi  1-0 Svidler, Peter


Ivanchuk, Vassily  0-1 So, Wesley


Fine games by both players!

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World Cup 2009-Players who advance to Round 2

 After the first two games of the Round 1 matches are over, here's a list of those who have advanced to Round 2. Tomorrow, there will be tiebreak games for those who are tied 1-1 after today's games.  Several upsets have occurred and it looks like due to an injury suffered by her opponent, GM Judit Polgar will advance to Round 2 automatically.

 Players advancing to Round 2 in bold: Today's result in middle


0.5-1.5 Obodchuk, Andrei (RUS) 1/2-1/2 Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
2-0 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) 1-0 Sarwat, Walaa (EGY)
0-2 Hebert, Jean (CAN) 0-1 Svidler, Peter (RUS)
2-0 Morozevich, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Abdel Razik, Khaled (EGY)
0-2 Ezat, Mohamed (EGY) 0-1 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE)
2-0 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) 1-0 Bezgodov, Alexei (RUS)
0.5-1.5 El Gindy, Essam (EGY) 0-1 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
1.5-0.5 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Sriram, Jha (IND)
0.5-1.5 Rizouk, Aimen (ALG) 1/2-1/2 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS)
2-0 Wang, Yue (CHN) 1-0 Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS)
0.5-1.5 Al Sayed, Mohamad N. (QAT) 1/2-1/2 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
1.5-0.5 Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 1/2-1/2 Rodriguez Vila, Andres (URU)
0-2 Kosteniuk, Alexandra (RUS) 0-1 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
1.5-0.5 Shirov, Alexei (ESP) 1-0 Kunte, Abhijit (IND)
2.5-3.5 Smerdon, David (AUS) 0-1 Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB)
0.5-1.5 Movsesian, Sergei (SVK) 1/2-1/2 Yu, Yangyi (CHN) *
0.5-1.5 Yu, Shaoteng (CHN) 0-1 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
1.5-0.5 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) 1-0 Pridorozhni, Aleksei (RUS)
0.5-1.5 Ivanov, Alexander (USA) 1/2-1/2 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
2-0 Wang, Hao (CHN) 1-0 Friedel, Joshua E (USA)
2-4 Laylo, Darwin (PHI) 1-0 Navara, David (CZE)
2-0 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) 1-0 Amin, Bassem (EGY)
1.5-3.5 Nijboer, Friso (NED) 1/2-1/2 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
1.5-0.5 Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) 1/2-1/2 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan (CHI)
0.5-1.5 Robson, Ray (USA) 1/2-1/2 Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
1.5-0.5 Motylev, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Hess, Robert L (USA)
0.5-1.5 Antonio, Rogelio Jr (PHI) 1/2-1/2 Kamsky, Gata (USA)
1.5-0.5 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) 1-0 Gupta, Abhijeet (IND)
0.5-1.5 Adly, Ahmed (EGY) 1/2-1/2 Bologan, Viktor (MDA)
3.5-2.5 Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 1/2-1/2 Hou, Yifan (CHN)
1.5-0.5 Pelletier, Yannick (SUI) 1-0 Bu, Xiangzhi (CHN) *
0.5-1.5 Lupulescu, Constantin (ROU) 1/2-1/2 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROU)
3-5 Sargissian, Gabriel (ARM) 1/2-1/2 Li, Chao b (CHN)
0.5-1.5 Flores, Diego (ARG) 0-1 Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
3.5-2.5 Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) 1/2-1/2 Kryvoruchko, Yuriy (UKR)
1.5-0.5 Milos, Gilberto (BRA) 1/2-1/2 Efimenko, Zahar (UKR) *
1.5-3.5 Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) 1/2-1/2 Zhou, Weiqi (CHN)
0.5-1.5 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan (IRI) 1/2-1/2 Najer, Evgeniy (RUS)
2.5-3.5 Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) 1/2-1/2 Iturrizaga, Eduardo (VEN)
0.5-1.5 Corrales Jimenez, Fidel (CUB) 1/2-1/2 Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR)
3.5-1.5 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) 1/2-1/2 L'Ami, Erwin (NED)
0.5-1.5 Ehlvest, Jaan (USA) 1/2-1/2 Smirin, Ilia (ISR)
1-1 Baklan, Vladimir (UKR) 1-0 Shabalov, Alexander (USA)
0-2 Filippov, Anton (UZB) 0-1 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (IND)
2.5-3.5 Fier, Alexandr (BRA) 1/2-1/2 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS)
0-2 Sjugirov, Sanan (RUS) 0-1 Fressinet, Laurent (FRA)
1.5-0.5 Meier, Georg (GER) 1-0 Petrosian, Tigran L. (ARM)
5-3 Bartel, Mateusz (POL) 1/2-1/2 Grachev, Boris (RUS)
1.5-0.5 Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) 1-0 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB)
2-0 Fedorchuk, Sergey A. (UKR) 1-0 Sokolov, Ivan (NED)
3.5-1.5 Milov, Vadim (SUI) 1-0 Negi, Parimarjan (IND)
2.5-3.5 Leitao, Rafael (BRA) 1/2-1/2 Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
3.5-1.5 Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS) 1-0 Gustafsson, Jan (GER)
3.5-4.5- Shulman, Yuri (USA) 1/2-1/2 Savchenko, Boris (RUS)
0.5-1.5 Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS) 1/2-1/2 Sandipan, Chanda (IND)
1.5-3.5 Le, Quang Liem (VIE) 1/2-1/2 Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA)
7-9 Tregubov, Pavel V. (RUS) 1-0 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA)
1-4 Guseinov, Gadir (AZE) 1-0 So, Wesley (PHI)
0.5-1.5 Granda Zuniga, Julio E (PER) 0-1 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)
0.5-1.5 Papaioannou, Ioannis (GRE) 1/2-1/2 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE)
3.5-4.5 Andreikin, Dmitry (RUS) 1-0 Nyback, Tomi (FIN)
1.5-0.5 Zhou, Jianchao (CHN) 1-0 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE)
1.5-0.5 Amonatov, Farrukh (TJK) 1/2-1/2 Volkov, Sergey (RUS)

* denotes an upset, there were other lower rated players to win, but these are at least 60 ELO pts difference.
Thanks to Chessdom.Com for the results, again the tied games will go to tiebreak matches tomorrow, I will probably just use this post to update those games and post the next pairings in a new post.

Round 1 Pairings for World Cup 2009 in Khanty Mansiysk Dec 21, 2009

 Here are the pairings and participants for World Cup 2009 held in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, courtesy of Chessdom.com, I will post a link to there via the photo of the event, as you can get pgn downloads of games, follow certain picked games with commentary as they are played live and a new tool that chessdom.com has, you can pick from the rest of the games to watch with computer commentary!  TransWarp's blog has been given permission to post articles and pictures from chessdom.com as long as credit is given, and they are due the credit, that's for sure.  When asking for this permission some time ago, they were very nice and glad to give permission as long as credit was given, I had just asked for permission to use the logo for a link, but they added articles and photos as well!  Some sites are pretty cool like that, I realize it's good for their site as well, but they really don't have to deal with a little blog with such good will and I appreciate that.  The link to the official website of the World Cup 2009 is http://www.ugra-chess.ru/eng/main_e.htm It's in both Russian and English, I posted the English link, it's easy to switch to Russian at the site if you so wish.  I will try to keep up with standings, but by now, you know me, I often miss a round or two, but on big tournaments like this, I like to keep up to date. Remember to click the logo to get to chessdom.com's great coverage of the tournament!


World Cup 2009 pairings and participants


1 GM Gelfand, Boris ISR - IM Obodchuk, Andrei RUS

2 GM Gashimov, Vugar AZE - IM Sarwat, Walaa EGY

3 GM Svidler, Peter RUS - IM Hebert, Jean CAN

4 GM Morozevich, Alexander RUS - IM Abdel Razik, Khaled EGY

5 GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE - IM Ezat, Mohamed EGY

6 GM Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR - GM Bezgodov, Alexei RUS

7 GM Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR - GM El Gindy, Essam EGY

8 GM Grischuk, Alexander RUS - IM Sriram, Jha IND

9 GM Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS - GM Rizouk, Aimen ALG

10 GM Wang, Yue CHN - GM Kabanov, Nikolai RUS

11 GM Eljanov, Pavel UKR - GM Al Sayed, Mohamad N. QAT

12 GM Karjakin, Sergey UKR - GM Rodriguez Vila, Andres URU

13 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE - GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra RUS

14 GM Shirov, Alexei ESP - GM Kunte, Abhijit IND

15 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB - GM Smerdon, David AUS

16 GM Movsesian, Sergei SVK - GM Yu, Yangyi CHN

17 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA - GM Yu, Shaoteng CHN

18 GM Alekseev, Evgeny RUS - IM Pridorozhni, Aleksei RUS

19 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS - GM Ivanov, Alexander USA

20 GM Wang, Hao CHN - GM Friedel, Joshua E USA

21 GM Navara, David CZE - GM Laylo, Darwin PHI

22 GM Malakhov, Vladimir RUS - GM Amin, Bassem EGY

23 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA - GM Nijboer, Friso NED

24 GM Rublevsky, Sergei RUS - GM Morovic Fernandez, Ivan CHI

25 GM Jobava, Baadur GEO - IM Robson, Ray USA

26 GM Motylev, Alexander RUS - GM Hess, Robert L USA

27 GM Kamsky, Gata USA - GM Antonio, Rogelio Jr PHI

28 GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS - GM Gupta, Abhijeet IND

29 GM Bologan, Viktor MDA - GM Adly, Ahmed EGY

30 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij GER - GM Hou, Yifan CHN

31 GM Bu, Xiangzhi CHN - GM Pelletier, Yannick SUI

32 GM Polgar, Judit HUN - GM Pavasovic, Dusko SLO

33 GM Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU - GM Lupulescu, Constantin ROU

34 GM Sargissian, Gabriel ARM - GM Li, Chao b CHN

35 GM Onischuk, Alexander USA - GM Flores, Diego ARG

36 GM Cheparinov, Ivan BUL - GM Kryvoruchko, Yuriy UKR

37 GM Efimenko, Zahar UKR - GM Milos, Gilberto BRA

38 GM Sutovsky, Emil ISR - GM Zhou, Weiqi CHN

39 GM Najer, Evgeniy RUS - GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan IRI

40 GM Tiviakov, Sergei NED - GM Iturrizaga, Eduardo VEN

41 GM Areshchenko, Alexander UKR - GM Corrales Jimenez, Fidel CUB

42 GM Sasikiran, Krishnan IND - GM L'Ami, Erwin NED

43 GM Smirin, Ilia ISR - GM Ehlvest, Jaan USA

44 GM Baklan, Vladimir UKR - GM Shabalov, Alexander USA

45 GM Ganguly, Surya Shekhar IND - GM Filippov, Anton UZB

46 GM Fier, Alexandr BRA - GM Khalifman, Alexander RUS

47 GM Fressinet, Laurent FRA - GM Sjugirov, Sanan RUS

48 GM Meier, Georg GER - GM Petrosian, Tigran L. ARM

49 GM Grachev, Boris RUS - GM Bartel, Mateusz POL

50 GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA - GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro CUB

51 GM Sokolov, Ivan NED - GM Fedorchuk, Sergey A. UKR

52 GM Milov, Vadim SUI - GM Negi, Parimarjan IND

53 GM Timofeev, Artyom RUS - GM Leitao, Rafael BRA

54 GM Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS - GM Gustafsson, Jan GER

55 GM Savchenko, Boris RUS - GM Shulman, Yuri USA

56 GM Kobalia, Mikhail RUS - GM Sandipan, Chanda IND

57 GM Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA - GM Le, Quang Liem VIE

58 GM Tregubov, Pavel V. RUS - GM Akobian, Varuzhan USA

59 GM So, Wesley PHI - GM Guseinov, Gadir AZE

60 GM Granda Zuniga, Julio E PER - GM Sakaev, Konstantin RUS

61 GM Laznicka, Viktor CZE - GM Papaioannou, Ioannis GRE

62 GM Andreikin, Dmitry RUS - GM Nyback, Tomi FIN

63 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE - GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN

64 GM Amonatov, Farrukh TJK - GM Volkov, Sergey RUS

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Here is the full list of the Chess World Cup 2009 participants.



From World Cup 2007

01. G. Kamsky (USA)

02. A. Shirov (ESP)

03. S. Karjakin (UKR)


Women's World Champion 2008:

04. A. Kosteniuk (RUS)


Junior World Champions 2007 & 2008:

05. A. Adly (EGY)

06. A. Gupta (IND)


From FIDE Rating List, 22 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:

07. V. Ivanchuk (UKR) 2780,00

08. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2779,50

09. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2752,50

10. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2734,50

11. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2733,00

12. P. Svidler (RUS) 2730,50

13. A. Grischuk (RUS) 2730,50

14. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2726,50

15. R. Ponomariov (UKR) 2722,00

16. Wang Yue (CHN) 2721,50

17. V. Gashimov (AZE) 2720,00

18. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2713,00

19. L. Dominguez Perez (CUB) 2712,50

20. Ni Hua (CHN) 2707,00

21. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2706,50

22. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) 2706,00

23. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2704,50

24. J. Polgar (HUN) 2702,00

25. S. Rublevsky (RUS) 2700,50

26. K. Sasikiran (IND) 2697,50

27. Wang Hao (CHN) 2691,00

28. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2690,50


46 players from European Championships 2008 & 2009

29. S. Tiviakov (NED) 2008

30. S. Movsesian (SVK) 2008

31. S. Volkov (RUS) 2008

32. P. Tregubov (RUS) 2008

33. E. L'Ami (NED) 2008

34. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2008

35. B. Grachev (RUS) 2008

36. V. Baklan (UKR) 2008

37. Y. Kryvoruchko (UKR) 2008

38. T. Nyback (FIN) 2008

39. E. Sutovsky (ISR) 2008

40. V. Laznicka (CZE) 2008

41. D. Pavasovic (SLO) 2008

42. Z. Efimenko (UKR) 2008

43. I. Papaioannou (GRE) 2008

44. A. Khalifman (RUS) 2008

45. E. Najer (RUS) 2008

46. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2008

47. G. Sargissian (ARM) 2008

48. J. Gustafsson (GER) 2008

49. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2008

50. I. Smirin (ISR) 2008

51. V. Bologan (MDA) 2008

52. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2009

53. B. Jobava (GEO) 2009

54. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2009

55. I. Sokolov (NED) 2009

56. A. Naiditsch (GER) 2009

57. D. Navara (CZE) 2009

58. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2009

59. G. Guseinov (AZE) 2009

60. G. Meier (GER) 2009

61. F. Nijboer (NED) 2009

62. S. Fedorchuk (UKR) 2009

63. A. Timofeev (RUS) 2009

64. S. Sjugirov (RUS) 2009

65. M. Bartel (POL) 2009

66. R. Mamedov (AZE) 2009

67. B. Savchenko (RUS) 2009

68. K. Sakaev (RUS) 2009

69. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2009

70. T. L. Petrosian (ARM) 2009

71. L. Nisipeanu (ROU) 2009

72. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2009

73. A. Motylev (RUS) 2009

74. A . Areshchenko (UKR) 2009


19 players from Americas

75. I. Morovic Fernandez (CHI) Zonal 2.5

76. A. Rodriguez Vila (URU) Zonal 2.5

77. R. Hess (USA) Zonal 2.1

78. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1

79. V. Akobian (USA) Zonal 2.1

80. Y. Shulman (USA) Zonal 2.1

81. J. Friedel (USA) Zonal 2.1

82. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4

83. R. Leitao (BRA) Zonal 2.4

84. L. Bruzon (CUB) Zonal 2.3

85. E. Iturrizaga (VEN) Zonal 2.3

86. J . Hebert (CAN) Zonal 2.2

87. J. Ehlvest (USA) Continental 2008

88. A. Shabalov (USA) Continental 2009

89. F. Corrales Jimenez (CUB) Continental 2009

90. J. Granda Zuniga (PER) Continental 2009

91. G. Milos (BRA) Continental 2009

92. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2009

93. A. Ivanov (USA) Continental 2009


19 players from Asia/Oceania

94. S. Ganguly (IND) Continental

95. Zhou Weiqi (CHN) Continental

96. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental

97. Yu Shaoteng (CHN) Continental

98. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental

99. A. Rogelio Jr (PHI) Continental

100. Hou Yifan (CHN) Continental

101. C. Sandipan (IND) Continental

102. A. Kunte (IND) Continental

103. Negi Parimarjan (IND) Continental

104. Zhou Jianchao (CHN) Zonal 3.5

105. Li Chao (CHN) Zonal 3.5

106. D. Smerdon (AUS) Zonal 3.6

107. J. Sriram (IND) Zonal 3.2

108. D. Laylo (PHI) Zonal 3.3

109. Wesley So (PHI) Zonal 3.3

110. Al Sayed, Mohamed N. (QAT) Zonal 3.1

111. Amonatov, A. (TJK) Zonal 3.4

112. Filipov, A. (UZB) Zonal 3.4


6 players from Africa

113. B. Amin (EGY)

114. K. Abdel Razik (EGY)

115. E. El Gindy (EGY)

116. W. Sarwat (EGY)

117. M. Ezat (EGY)

118. A. Rizouk (ALG)


6 nominees of the FIDE President

119. Robson, Ray (USA)

120. Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA)

121. Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan (IRI)

122. Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)

123. Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL)

124. Pelletier, Yannick (SUI)

4 nominees of the local Organising Committee

125. Pridorozhni, Alexei (RUS)

126. Bezgodov, Alexei (RUS)

127. Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS)

128. Obodchuk, Andrei (RUS)

A Quick note on Magnus Carlsen and youngest GM musings

 A quick note, in the FIDE Live Ratings site (Not Official FIDE Ratings, but what ratings would be if calculated after every player's events), GM Magnus Carlsen would have a very slight edge on GM Veselin Topalov as the top player in the world at the moment! The site and list are maintained by Hans Arild Runde, and has been a popular page for the chessfan to check out to see how their favorite players (over 2700 ELO) are doing. It has been one of my links for quite some time and I check it often. The current rating for Carlsen would be 2805.7 while GM Topalov would check in at 2805.1, if neither played a game until the January Official list came out, I believe GM Carlsen would be 2806 while GM Topalov would stay at 2805, I do think FIDE rounds up to the next highest full number, but not sure.

 Many people predicted GM Magnus Carlsen would be at this point given his quick rise to GM status at 13 years, 4 months, GM Sergei Karjakin holds the record for youngest Grandmaster at 12 years and 7 months of age. Interesting is the fact that GM Bobby Fischer held the record for Youngest Grandmaster Ever from 1958-1991 at 15 years, 6 months and 1 day until finally bested by GM Judit Polgar who was 15 years, 4 months and 28 days old when she broke the record in 1991 as well as becoming one of the few females with the male Grandmaster title! Since then, it seems the record has been broken every 3 years or so, until GM Karjakin got the honor and has held the record since 2002, 7 years, but a far cry from the over 30 year gap between Polgar and Fischer. The title Grandmaster wasn't officially given out until 1950, with older notable players given the title honorarily.

Despite Topalov tops in Nov Rating list, Anand still favored in small poll

With only 9 votes cast so far, GM Veselin Topalov's top rating doesn't seem to impress in my small poll.  The poll has been on here for quite some time and it's on the right sidebar, but only 9 have taken the time to cast their vote.  No one thinks there will be a tie and GM Viswanathan Anand is favored 6-3 to win without tiebreaks.  I am surprised as Topalov took an early lead in voting and is currently 22 ELO points above GM Anand at 2810 to Anand's 2788, with Wunderkind GM Magnus Carlsen in between the two at 2801.  As the match is slowly getting closer, I will put the poll further up so it can be seen easier.  With TransWarp out of a Transwarp coil at the moment, to be installed on Dec 03, 2009 at DeepSpace ICC, I have been neglecting to watch much chess online as it's just depressing without TW online.  But finally, I will have the funds to put her back online at the above stated date, unless I forget to deposit the gold pressed latinum at that time.

Bobby Fischer's live-in Partner claims rights for daughter Jinky

Wow, just when I thought I knew all the gossip about Bobby Fischer, I guess I don't!  According to published articles, Marilyn Young, Bobby Fischer's live-in Partner in the Philippines had a daughter with the deceased legend.  While paternity hasn't been proven, according to post cards, it seems GM Fischer did acknowledge Jinky Young as his daughter.  There is even an affidavit from Philippine's legendary GM Eugenio Torre, who was Fischer's second at the famous match vs then World Champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, where Fischer was residing at the time of his death.

 Even after his death, Bobby Fischer still claims headlines in the chess world, that's for sure!  Ms Young has said that she would even allow submission of DNA, who is a minor, born in Baguio City, Philippines in May, 2001.  Whether or not this would require the exhumation of GM Bobby Fischer is unknown to me, or if DNA from him would be available without disturbing his grave.  It seems that Ms Young has some pretty compelling evidence as can be seen on Chessbase.Com at the following url http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5905  I'm sure there are other sites with other info as well, but this page has pictures of postcards sent to Jinky and Ms Young and I imagine his handwriting is pretty well able to be tested with comparison to the handwriting on the postcards.  But with his Japanese wife, Miyoko Watai, also claiming his estate, we may get to the DNA testing to finalize this case.  I will have to try to keep an eye on this.

 It looks like it takes some good gossip to get me to blog since TransWarp has been offline, I will be able to put her back online in December for sure, I've paid my bills for this month and saving grocery money for the end of the month and sundry items, but December should be fine for at least another 6 month membership for TW.  I doubt it's missed...don't really see any comments on here missing TW, even if I do get TW back online to play and no one really does play it, TransWarp will always be known as the first to break the 4000 blitz rating barrier on ICC. If and when it's time for TransWarp to retire, I hope that will at least be remembered by ICC and the fun it brought with it's pseudo-feud with Smallville and the entertaining games they played as well as great wins by Smallville and other GM's like GM Bassem Amin and GM Shahkriyar Mamedyarov and games with GM Rauf Mamedov as well as many other noteworthy GM's too numerous to name, but a small list is in the archives, but some recent players haven't been added to that list, I'm not sure, but just in case he's not named, the 2009 World Junior Champion, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, has played TransWarp as well, ICC handle "Mateus", those who are ICC members can always do "search Transwarp mateus" without the quotes in the main command line to see those games.