World Cup final: Ponomariov-Gelfand 1.5-1.5

by ChessBase
12/12/2009 – Yesterday the second game of the FIDE World Cup final ended in a 20-move Catalan draw – nothing to write home about. So we decided to skip a report of our daily coverage. The third game was more interesting, a Grünfeld by Boris Gelfand which ended after 37 moves in another draw. Sunday is the last regular game, after that it is rapid, blitz and armageddon tiebreaks. Illustrated report.

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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.

Final, game two and three


Soldiers whet their swords, chessplayers clean their glasses: Boris Gelfand prepares for battle


The loneliness of a long-distance chess player (three weeks after the start of the event)


The younger man, Ruslan Ponomariov, about to play a short-winded Catalan

Gelfand,B (2758) - Ponomariov,R (2739) [E10]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (7.2), 11.12.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.Bf4 Nbd7 8.Qc2 0-0 9.0-0 b6 10.Rd1 Bb7 11.Nc3 Nh5 12.Bc1 f5 13.b3 Rc8 14.Bb2 Bd6 15.e3 Qe7 16.Ne2 Nhf6 17.Nf4 Ne4 18.Qe2 Ndf6 19.Ne5 Rfd8 20.Rac1 c5 ½-½.


Same procedure as every game – this time with the black pieces


Game three in the final of the World Cup: Boris Gelfand vs Ruslan Ponomariov


Ponomariov rises with Gelfand on the move


A bit of action: Ponomariov waits at a distance while Gelfand sips his tea


FIDE Vice President GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili takes a look at what is going on


Boris Gelfand ponders as the circles of his opponent grow larger


Gelfand plays his move, Ponomariov returns to the board


Now Gelfand stand while Ponomariov thinks.


In the end the game is a draw in 37 moves. Exciting stuff.

All photos from Khanty-Mansiysk are by Galina Popova for FIDE

Ponomariov,R (2739) - Gelfand,B (2758) [D11]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (7.3), 12.12.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 g6 5.Bf4 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Bg7 7.Nc3 Be6 8.Qd3 Nd5 9.Bg3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Qa5 11.e4 c5 12.Qb5+ Nc6 13.Qxa5 Nxa5 14.Bb5+ Bd7 15.Rb1 Rc8 16.Ke2 cxd4 17.cxd4 Bxb5+ 18.Rxb5 b6 19.Rd1 0-0 20.Rd5 Nc6 21.Rd7 Rfd8 22.Rxd8+ Nxd8 23.d5 Kf8 24.Nd4 Rc4 25.Ke3 Ke8 26.Nb5 Nb7 27.d6 exd6 28.Bxd6 a6 29.Nc7+ Kd7 30.Bg3+ Kc6 31.Nxa6 Ra4 32.Nb8+ Kb5 33.Rb1+ Kc4 34.Rc1+ Kb5 35.Rb1+ Kc4 36.Rc1+ Kb5 37.Rb1+ ½-½.

Results of the final

 Players  G1  G2
G3
G4
  Tot
 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
½
½
½
1.5
 Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
½
½
½
1.5

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Friday 20 November Opening Ceremony
Saturday 21 November Round 1- Game 1
Sunday 22 November Round 1 - Game 2
Monday 23 November Tiebreaks
Tuesday 24 November Round 2 - Game 1
Wednesday 25 November Round 2 - Game 2
Thursday 26 November Tiebreaks
Friday 27 November Round 3 - Game 1
Saturday 28 November Round 3 - Game 2
Sunday 29 November Tiebreaks
Monday 30 November Round 4 - Game 1
Tuesday 01 December Round 4 - Game 2
Wednesday 02 December Tiebreaks
 
Thursday 03 December Round 5 - Game 1
Friday 04 December Round 5 - Game 2
Saturday 05 December Tiebreaks
Sunday 06 December Round 6 - Game 1
Monday 07 December Round 6 - Game 2
Tuesday 08 December Tiebreaks
Wednesday 09 December Free Day
Thursday 10 December Round 7 - Game 1
Friday 11 December Round 7 - Game 2
Saturday 12 December Round 7 - Game 3
Sunday 13 December Round 7 - Game 4
Monday 14 December Tiebreaks / Closing
Tuesday 15 December Departures

Links

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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