Khanty-Mansiysk: Ponomariov and Radjabov lose first game

by ChessBase
11/28/2007 – Ruslan Ponomariov seems to be making a habit out of it. In round two of the FIDE World Cup the former FIDE world champion once again shockingly lost, to China's Wang Hao, with the white pieces. Third seed Teimour Radjabov dropped his first game against Polish GM Bartlomiej Maciej. We bring you an illustrated report with results, games, and commentary by GM Efstratios Grivas.

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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. The winner of the World Cup receives the right to challenge the former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov in a match.

Round two Game one (Tuesday, November 27)

The first game of the second knockout stage was held today, November 27th, 2007, in Khanty Mansiysk. Out of the 32 games, 19 were drawn and 13 had a decisive result, so the winners made the first step to their qualification to the next round. Among them we can seen two "surprises" (although in this high level it is difficult to really called them surprises; maybe "unexpected" is the right phrase): Chinese GM Wang Hao and Bartlomiej Macieja of Poland dominated Ponomariov (who lost again his first game!) and Radjabov respectively.


Dutch GM Loek van Wely lost with white and will have a tough struggle tomorrow


Lev Aronian won his first game against German GM Jan Gustafsson


1.d4 didn't do it for "Kasim" – the game against Kiril Georgiev ended in a 30-move draw


Once again former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov began with a loss


A cheerful Gata Kamsky before his win against Israeli GM Boris Avrukh
(keen eyes will spot Karjakin, Baramidze and Bu in the background)

All photos by GM Sergey Tiviakov

Individual results in Round two Game one

White 
  res.  Black
Galkin, Alexander
1/2
Ivanchuk, Vassily
Mamedyarov, Shak.
1-0
Kozul, Zdenko
Macieja, Bartlomiej
1-0
Radjabov, Teimour
Aronian, Levon
1-0
Gustafsson, Jan
Shulman, Yuri
1/2
Shirov, Alexei
Svidler, Peter
1-0
Pavasovic, Dusko
Gurevich, Mikhail
1/2
Adams, Michael
Alekseev, Evgeny
1/2
Sakaev, Konstantin
Najer, Evgeniy
1/2
Grischuk, Alexander
Carlsen, Magnus
1/2
Naiditsch, Arkadij
Avrukh, Boris
0-1
Kamsky, Gata
Akopian, Vladimir
1/2
Ghaem Maghami, E.
Belov, Vladimir
1/2
Jakovenko, Dmitry
Ponomariov, Ruslan
0-1
Wang, Hao
Tiviakov, Sergei
1/2
Wang, Yue
Bacrot, Etienne
1-0
Roiz, Michael
 
White 
  res.  Black
Zhang, Pengxiang
1/2
Karjakin, Sergey
Bu, Xiangzhi
1/2
Motylev, Alexander
Tomashevsky, Ev.
1-0
Hossain Enamul
Almasi, Zoltan
1-0
Socko, Bartosz
Volkov, Sergey
1/2
Malakhov, Vladimir
Kasimdzhanov, R.
1/2
Georgiev, Kiril
Baramidze, David
1/2
Dominguez Perez, L.
Van Wely, Loek
0-1
Bareev, Evgeny
Fressinet, Laurent
1-0
Nevednichy, Vladislav 
Volokitin, Andrei
1/2
Zhou, Jianchao
Navara, David
1/2
Rublevsky, Sergei
Onischuk, Alex.
1-0
Nikolic, Predrag
Vallejo, Francisco
0-1
Inarkiev, Ernesto
Zvjaginsev, Vadim
1/2
Sasikiran, Krishnan
Tkachiev, Vladislav
1/2
Cheparinov, Ivan
Zhao, Jun
1/2
Nisipeanu, Liviu-D.

Round two Game one table

In the table below players who have a full point from game one are given in boldface. Players who drew with black are in italics, indicating that they have an advantage in game two and the match. All players in regular type are the ones who have to work hard tomorrow – to equalise the score, or at least to draw with the black pieces. Avrukh, Ponomariov, van Wely and Vallejo have to win with black to equalise.

World Chess Cup Round 2 27th-29th November 2007
1 Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2787 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Galkin, Alexander RUS 2608 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar   AZE 2752 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Kozul, Zdenko CRO 2609 0 - - - - - - 0.0
3 Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2742 0 - - - - - - 0.0
Macieja, Bartlomiej POL 2606 1 - - - - - - 1.0
4 Gustafsson, Jan GER 2606 0 - - - - - - 0.0
Aronian, Levon ARM 2741 1 - - - - - - 1.0
5 Shirov, Alexei ESP 2739 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Shulman, Yuri USA 2616 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
6 Pavasovic, Dusko SLO 2597 0 - - - - - - 0.0
Svidler, Peter RUS 2732 1 - - - - - - 1.0
7 Adams, Michael ENG 2729 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Gurevich, Mikhail TUR 2627 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
8 Sakaev, Konstantin RUS 2634 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Alekseev, Evgeny RUS 2716 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
9 Grischuk, Alexander RUS 2715 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2635 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
10 Naiditsch, Arkadij GER 2639 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2714 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
11 Kamsky, Gata USA 2714 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Avrukh, Boris ISR 2641 0 - - - - - - 0.0
12 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan   IRI 2591 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Akopian, Vladimir ARM 2713 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
13 Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2710 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Belov, Vladimir RUS 2587 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
14 Wang, Hao CHN 2643 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2705 0 - - - - - - 0.0
15 Wang, Yue CHN 2703 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Tiviakov, Sergei NED 2643 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
16 Roiz, Michael ISR 2644 0 - - - - - - 0.0
Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2695 1 - - - - - - 1.0
17 Karjakin, Sergey UKR 2694 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Zhang, Pengxiang CHN 2644 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
18 Motylev, Alexander RUS 2645 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Bu, Xiangzhi CHN 2692 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
19 Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS 2646 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Hossain Enamul BAN 2514 0 - - - - - - 0.0
20 Socko, Bartosz POL 2646 0 - - - - - - 0.0
Almasi, Zoltan HUN 2691 1 - - - - - - 1.0
21 Malakhov, Vladimir RUS 2690 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Volkov, Sergey RUS 2648 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
22 Georgiev, Kiril BUL 2649 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam UZB 2690 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
23 Dominguez Perez, Lenier CUB 2683 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Baramidze, David GER 2569 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
24 Bareev, Evgeny RUS 2653 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Van Wely, Loek NED 2679 0 - - - - - - 0.0
25 Fressinet, Laurent FRA 2654 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Nevednichy, Vladislav ROU 2531 0 - - - - - - 0.0
26 Zhou, Jianchao CHN 2566 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2678 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
27 Rublevsky, Sergei RUS 2676 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Navara, David CZE 2656 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
28 Nikolic, Predrag BIH 2657 0 - - - - - - 0.5
Onischuk, Alexander USA 2674 1 - - - - - - 0.5
29 Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 2674 1 - - - - - - 1.0
Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP 2660 0 - - - - - - 0.0
30 Sasikiran, Krishnan IND 2661 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Zvjaginsev, Vadim RUS 2674 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
31 Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2670 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 2661 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
32 Zhao, Jun CHN 2552 ½ - - - - - - 0.5
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU 2668 ½ - - - - - - 0.5

Analysis by GM Efstratios Grivas

Macieja,Bartlomiej (2606) - Radjabov,Teimour (2742) [C63]
FIDE World Cup 2007 Khanty-Mansiysk (2.1), 27.11.2007 [Efstratios Grivas]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5

The not often played 'Jaenisch Variation' of the 'Ruy Lopez', probably prepared by Radjabov beforehand especially for this event. 4.d3. 4.Nc3 is considered to be the main line but things are not so clear-cut anyway and I am pretty sure that Radjabov would have come up with some fresh ideas. 4...fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.0-0 Bc5. Unpleased for Black is 6...Nxe4?! 7.Re1 Nf6 (7...d5 8.Nxe5 Bc5 9.Qh5++- (9.Rf1? Qd6~~ Pirklova,H-Havrdova,L/Svetla nad Sazavou 1994) ) 8.Bxc6! (8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Rxe5+ Be7 10.Qe2+/=) 8...bxc6 9.Nxe5 Be7 10.Qe2 Bb7 11.Bg5+/-. 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.Nxe5 0-0 9.Bg5. Other white options are 9.Nc3 ; and 9.Qe2. 9...Qe8. The most principled continuation. Of course Black's 'possibilities' includes 9...d6 10.Nd3 (10.Nxc6?! Qe8) 10...Bb6 11.Nd2 (11.Nc3 Ba6 12.Kh1 Qe8 Van Blitterswijk,S-Hendriks,R/Dieren 2004) 11...Qe8 12.Bxf6 Rxf6 Gurevich,V-Jonkman,H/Cappelle la Grande 1994; or 9...Ba6 10.Nd3 Qe7 (10...Be7 11.Nd2 Nxe4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nxe4 Qxe4 14.Nc5 Qc4 15.Nxa6 Qxa6 16.Qxd7 Qb6 17.b3 Rad8 18.Qe6+ Kh8 19.Qe3+/- Sisniega,M-Burke,J/New York 1984) 11.Nd2 Bd4 12.Nb3! (12.Nf3 Qxe4 13.Re1 Qf5 Aginian,N-Dimovska,A/Dresden 2004) 12...Bb6 13.e5 Bxd3 14.exf6 gxf6 15.Qxd3 fxg5 16.c4+/=.

10.Bxf6. Somewhat naive would be 10.Nd3?! Nxe4 11.Nxc5 Nxg5=/+.10...Rxf6 11.Nd3 Bd4! 11...Bb6 would transpose to the 9...d6 comments. 12.c3. Black achieves enough compensation after 12.Nd2 d6 13.Qe2 Qg6 14.Kh1 Ba6 15.Rab1 Raf8 due to his bishop-pair and his active pieces, as in Spassky,B-Antunes,A/Thessaloniki 1988.] 12...Bb6 13.Nd2 d6. 13...Ba6 is interesting: 14.c4 (14.e5 Rf8 15.c4 Qg6 16.Qe2 d5 17.Nb4 Bc8 18.cxd5 Bh3 19.g3 Bxf1 20.Rxf1 1/2-1/2 Schaefer,M-Micic,J/Dortmund 1991) 14...Rh6 (14...d5?! 15.Qa4!+/- Shinkevich,V-Geller,J/Vladimir 2002; 14...Rd6 15.Qb3 Bd4 16.c5+ Re6 17.Nf4 Bxf1 18.Nxe6 Qxe6 19.Qxe6+ dxe6 20.Kxf1 Bxb2 21.Rb1+/=) 15.Qb3 Bd4 16.Nf3 c5.

14.c4. Not much is offered by 14.Qe2 Qg6! (14...Ba6 15.c4 Qf7 16.b3+/= Bruzon Bautista,L-Gomez,F/Santa Clara 2000) 15.Kh1 Bg4 16.f3 Be6. 14...Qg6?! A new move but not a satisfactory one in my opinion. 14...Rh6 15.Re1 (15.c5 Bxc5 16.Nxc5 Qe5 17.Nf3 Qxc5) 15...Qe7 16.Nf1 Qg5 17.Qd2 Qh5© was seen in Aginian,N-Shukurova,M/Elista 1998. 15.Kh1. A useful defencive move. Bad is 15.c5? Bh3 16.Qb3+ Kh8 17.Nf4 Rxf4 18.Qxh3 Bxc5-/+. 15...Bg4 16.f3 Be6 17.f4. Although the text-move is fine too, 17.c5! looks to be quite strong: 17...dxc5 (17...Bxc5 18.Nxc5 dxc5 19.f4+/-) 18.f4 c4 19.Ne5 Qe8 20.Qc2+/-. 17...Bg4 18.Qe1 Re8

19.c5! The thematic advance which allows White to gain the advantage. 19...Bxc5. 19...dxc5 20.Ne5 Qh5 21.Nxg4 Qxg4 22.h3+/-. 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.h3 Bc8. 21...Qh5 22.Qe3 c4 23.Rae1+/-. 22.Qe3 Qh6 23.Rf3 Rd8 24.Nc4. White has gained a clear and long-term advantage. The material in quantity terms is equal, but just compare the white e- and f-pawns to the black c5- and c6-pawns. Then it is easy to understand that quality counts. 24...Rd4 25.b3 Qh4 26.Raf1 Rf8. 26...Ba6 27.e5 Rf8 28.e6+/-. 27.Ne5 Qf6 28.Rc1 Qd6

29.Nxc6! A small combination that wins material. 29...Rd1+. 29...Qxc6 30.Qxd4 cxd4 31.Rxc6 Bb7 32.Re6. 30.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 31.Kh2 Qd6 32.Ne5. Also possible was 32.Nxa7 Ba6 33.a4 Qb6 34.Nb5 Bxb5 35.axb5 Qxb5 36.e5+-. 32...Bb7 33.Nd3 c4 34.bxc4 Re8 35.Ne5. Game is over and the rest was not really too interesting (although a bit of precision is needed of course!). 35...c5 36.Rf2 Rd8 37.Rb2 Ba8 38.Nf3 Rf8 39.e5 Qe6 40.Qxc5 Qf5. 40...Bxf3 41.gxf3 Qf5 42.Qd5+ Kh8 43.Qe4 Qd7 44.f5+-. 41.Qe3 Be4 42.c5 Bd5 43.Rd2 Ba8 44.Nd4! Qxf4+ 45.Qxf4 Rxf4 46.Ne6 Rc4 47.Ng5. 47.Rf2! was better but anyway Black was obliged to resign as after 47...Rf4 48.e6 there is no salvation. 1-0.

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