FIDE World Cup Round 3.2

The FIDE World Chess Cup is being stage from November 26th to December 18th, 2005, in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia. This the 128-player event replaces what was known as the "FIDE Knockout World Championship" and serves as a qualifier for the Candidates stage of the world championship. The prize fund is US $1.5 million, with President Ilyumzhinov providing $300,000 for organisational costs.

FIDE WORLD CUP, 2005 ROUND 3 GAME 2

Report by Mig Greengard – Pictures by Galina Tiviakova

"Never say never" was the phrase of the day. Seven players came into the round needing a win to stay alive. Three of them managed it, including two of the three players who lost the first game with white. Ivan Cheparinov was slowly outplaying Magnus Carlsen when the young Norwegian blundered horribly on move 36, costing him a piece and the game. The two teens will play tiebreaks tomorrow, as will twenty other players. Yes, 11 of 16 matches will go to rapids!

Aronian gave up his first half point but it was enough to move on.

Four games finished in short draws, sealing the unspoken agreement to create their own semi-rest days and turn the event into rapid chess. Grischuk and Shulman played a total of 35 moves in their two draws. Gelfand and Pantsulaia played the same 35. Najer and Lautier exerted themselves for 41 moves in two days. Shulman is perhaps deserving of a little sympathy having played to sudden death in his previous two matches and facing an opponent rated nearly 200 points higher, but Grischuk clearly favors his chances even in rapid chess.

GM Mikhail Ulybin giving commentary

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Governor Alexander Filipenko (center) follows the games.

Only five players have earned the coveted bold type listing and entry into the fourth round and the sweet sixteen. Areshchenko threw the kitchen sink at Aronian, but the Armenian top-tenner held him off to move on. Mikhail Gurevich turned in the upset of the round by outplaying Spain's Alexei Shirov on the black side of his beloved French. Regarding Gurevich, we pointed out yesterday that he has changed his federation to Turkey but still is still playing with a Belgian flag on his table. We received an explanation from FIDE VP Morten Sand:

"A transfer of GM Gurevich from Belgium to Turkey was registered by FIDE 1 November 2005. However, this does not mean that the player can represent his new federation from the same date. According to the FIDE Regulations, a GM can represent his new federation only after 10 months and dependant on a payment of Chf 5000. Apparently, the Turkish Federation was unaware of this regulation. The information you can see on today's pictures of GM Gurevich from the tournament hall was changed by the Organizer upon my instructions."

Thanks much! We're sure the Turks would even more like to claim Gurevich as their own now that he's into the fourth round. Ponomariov and Sakaev finished off their matches 2-0 over Xu Jun and Tiviakov, respectively. Malakhov was the fifth player to move on and earn a rest day tomorrow. Sokolov managed to complicate things with black but couldn't turn it into a win.

Radjabov crushed van Wely to even the score of their match. This one was just as brutal as van Wely's win yesterday, so the scales can be considered balanced heading into the rapid and blitz tomorrow. Bruzón was unable to get the draw he needed to advance despite having the white pieces. Bareev got two bishops against two knights and Bruzón's exchange sacrifice didn't hold up.

Although the average rating of the event is climbing, the quality of the chess is falling. This is typical of the KO format, as stress and tiredness take their toll. Players like Aronian who avoid tiebreaks have a considerable advantage, although it's fair to say he earned it.

Results

Photos by Galina Tiviakova

Photographer Frits Agterdenbos chats with Georgia's Baadur Jobava.

The local Orthodox cathedral with the trademark onion domes (great for snow).

Organizer and Anna Pinekenstein. Maybe if we keep running photos of her she'll
send us one of those cool posters. Pretty please? We'll trade for Fritz or a t-shirt!

 
Bruzón fights for Cuba against Bareev. Khalifman gave an interesting interview.

That's a "FOTO" armband for Galina Tiviakova.

Links

• Download all games as a zipped PGN file
• Official web site (English version)
• All ChessBase reports so far