Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
A total of 126 participants turned up on November 23 for the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, located about 1400 miles (2250 km) east of Moscow. The competition is taking place from November 24 to December 18.
Frozen chess in Khanty-Mansiysk: ice sculptures outside the venue
You cannot play blitz with them, but the kids love the pieces
Inside the venue: the setup for the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup
| No. | Name | Nat | Rtng | G1 |
G2 |
R1 | R2 | B1 | B2 | SD | Tot. |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2714 | ½ |
0.5 | ||||||
| Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2714 | ½ |
0.5 | |||||||
| 4 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2739 | ½ |
0.5 | ||||||
| Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2694 | ½ |
0.5 | |||||||
Carlsen,Magnus (2714) - Kamsky,Gata (2724) [C45]
FIDE World Cup 2007 Khanty-Mansiysk (6.1), 09.12.2007
The start of the match Gata Kamsky (left) vs Magnus Carlsen
Kamsky, possibly surprised by his opponent's choice of the Scotch, chose a fairly unusual set-up with 5...bxc6 and 6...Qh4, but equalized effortlessly, and even had slightly the better of the position towards the end. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Bd3 Qh4 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.Qxe3 0-0 10.Nd2 Re8 11.0-0 d6 12.Rae1 a5 13.Qg3 Qxg3 14.hxg3 a4 15.f3 Be6 16.b3 Nd7 17.Re3 axb3 18.axb3 Ne5 19.Be2 Ra2 20.Rc3 c5 21.b4 cxb4
|
22.Rxc7 b3 is adequately met by 23.f4 bxc2 24.Rc1. 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
OJ and deep chess understanding – the secret of Magnus Carlsen
Comeback kid Gata Kamsky in the semifinals
Shirov,Alexei (2739) - Karjakin,Sergey (2694) [B96]
FIDE World Cup 2007 Khanty-Mansiysk (6.1), 09.12.2007
So where's that fire-on-th-board guy? Sergey Karjakin waiting for Shirov
Do you know what time it is? Alexei Shirov appears and whips out 1.e4
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.Rhe1 Qb6 12.Nb3. 12.Nd5 is the other critical line, but various games of Gelfand have shown that Black is OK after 12...Qxd4! 12...b4
|
|
|
27...Rg5. The result of the forcing sequence is that White has an extra pawn, but his weaknesses on the g and e-files mean that he has no real winning chances. 28.Be2 Kg7 29.Rd3 a5 30.Re3 Re5 31.g4 Rg5 32.a3 Bxg4 33.Bxg4 Rxg4 34.axb4 axb4 35.g3 Kg6 36.Ka2 f5 37.exf5+ Kxf5 38.Kb3 h5 39.Rf3+ Ke6 40.Ka4 f5 41.Kb5 Ke5 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Gata Kamsky watches the game between Karjakin and Shirov unfold
Sergey Karjakin waits while Alexei Shirov thinks
The audience, consisting mainly of seconds and associates
All pictures by Eugene Atarov for the official World Cup web site, notes by Steve Giddins
Links
|
|
