Khanty-Mansiysk: Top seed Ivanchuk knocked out

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 world champion Veselin Topalov in a match.

Round three Tiebreaks (Sunday, December 2nd)

Today at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk six tiebreak matches were played, which consisted of two rapid games (25 min. + 10 sec./move), then if the result is 1-1, two blitz games follow (5 min. + 10 sec./move) and in case of 2-2 the sudden death game decides the overall winner (White gets 6 min., Black 5 min. with no addition; in order to qualify White must win). Four matches were decided after the rapid games, in two matches the blitz games were played. The tiebreak winners today are Aronian, Svidler, Bareev, Nisipeanu, Karjakin and Sasikiran. Ivanchuk, Rublevsky, Grischuk, Bacrot and Macieja are out.

Round three results

No.	Name	Nat	Rtng	G1	G2	R1	R2	B1	B2	SD	Tot.
01	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	½	½	1	0	0	½		2.5
	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2668	½	½	0	1	1	½		3.5
02	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	2670	1	½						1.5
	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2752	0	½						0.5
03	Macieja, Bartlomiej	POL	2606	½	½	½	½	0	0		2.0
	Sasikiran, Krishnan	IND	2661	½	½	½	½	1	1		4.0
04	Inarkiev, Ernesto	RUS	2674	½	½	0	0				1.0
	Aronian, Levon	ARM	2741	½	½	1	1				3.0
05	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2739	½	1						1.5
	Onischuk, Alexander	USA	2674	½	0						0.5
06	Rublevsky, Sergei	RUS	2676	½	½	½	0				1.5
	Svidler, Peter	RUS	2732	½	½	½	1				2.5
07	Adams, Michael	ENG	2729	1	½						1.5
	Zhou, Jianchao	CHN	2566	0	½						0.5
08	Fressinet, Laurent	FRA	2654	½	0						0.5
	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	2716	½	1						1.5
09	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2715	½	½	½	0				1.5
	Bareev, Evgeny	RUS	2653	½	½	½	1				2.5
10	Dominguez Perez, Lenier	CUB	2683	½	0						0.5
	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2714	½	1						1.5
11	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2714	1	½						1.5
	Georgiev, Kiril	BUL	2649	0	½						0.5
12	Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	2690	½	0						0.5
	Akopian, Vladimir	ARM	2713	½	1						1.5
13	Jakovenko, Dmitry	RUS	2710	1	½						1.5
	Almasi, Zoltan	HUN	2691	0	½						0.5
14	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	RUS	2646	½	0						0.5
	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2705	½	1						1.5
15	Wang, Yue	CHN	2703	1	½						1.5
	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	2692	0	½						0.5
16	Karjakin, Sergey	UKR	2694	½	½	1	1				3.0
	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2695	½	½	0	0				1.0

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Five wins again, ten players are out

Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenko

Ivanchuk,Vassily (2787) – Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2668)
World Cup 2007 (rapid-1) 0:25.10-0:25.10 (33), 02.12.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5 The Bluemenfeld Gambit again. At this moment Nisipeanu still had faith in it. 5.Bg5

5...b4. A rare move, although its logic is evident – to take away square c3 from opponent's knight. In order to achieve advantage White must play very energetic, otherwise Black will either close the center (d6 and e5) and then build an initiative onthe kingside, or he will be able to create pressure on White's pawn center (after the exchange on d5). In their first regular game of the match Nisipeanu played 5...exd5 6.cxd5 d6 7.e4 a6 but couldn't equalize after 8.Nbd2 Be7 9.Bf4 0-0 10.a4 bxa4 11.Bd3 Bd7 12.0-0 Bb5 13.Qe2 Nbd7 14.Bxb5 axb5 15.Qxb5 Rb8 16.Qd3 Rb4 17.Nc4 Nb6 18.Nfd2 and Black had to work hard before reaching the draw, Ivanchuk,V (2787)-Nisipeanu,L (2668)/Khanty-Mansiysk 2007 (80). 6.a3 h6 7.Bh4 a5. This premature advance is nicely exploited by Ivanchuk. 7...exd5 8.cxd5 Bb7 9.axb4 cxb4 10.Qd4 g5 11.Bg3 Bxd5 12.Rxa7 Rxa7 13.Qxa7 Nc6 14.Qe3+ Qe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.e3 Bg7 17.Nbd2 Ra8 18.Bd3 Ra1+ 19.Bb1 Ne4 20.Ke2 Nxd2 21.Nxd2 Bxg2 22.Rd1 Bxb2 23.Nb3 Ra3 24.Nc5 Bh3 25.Be4 Bc3 26.Bd6+ Ke8 27.Rb1 Bg4+ 28.f3 Ra2+ 29.Kd3 Na5 30.Rd1 Bh3 31.Bd5 Rf2 32.Bg3 Rf1 33.Rxf1 Bxf1+ 34.Kc2 Nc4 35.Bf2 Nb6 36.Bb3 d5 37.e4 d4 38.Bg3 Nc4 39.Bf2 Na3+ 0-1 Lautier,J (2638)-Koch,J (2510)/Besancon 1999/CBM 073. 8.axb4 cxb4 9.Nd4 Be7 10.Nb5 d6

11.c5! Black needs to make a series of only moves to avoid a quick disaster. 11...0-0. The only reasonable answer. 11...Nxd5 12.Nxd6+ Kf8 13.Bxe7+ Nxe7 14.Nd2 is a clear advantage for White. 12.dxe6 dxc5 13.exf7+ Kxf7 14.Nd2 Kg8 15.e3 Ng4. Going nowhere. Black should have developed the queenside pieces instead. 16.Bg3 Bh4 17.Ne4! Bxg3 18.hxg3 Nc6 19.Qxd8 Rxd8 20.Nxc5. With a pawn up and better position Ivanchuk easily wins the endgame. 20...Nce5 21.Be2 Bf5 22.Nd4 Rac8 23.Rxa5 Rd5 24.Nxf5 Rdxc5 25.Rxc5 Rxc5 26.0-0 Rc2 27.Bd1 Rxb2 28.f4 g6 29.Ne7+ Kg7 30.Nd5 b3 31.fxe5 Nxe5 32.Nc3 Rd2 33.Ne4 Rd3 34.Kf2 b2 35.Be2 Rb3 36.Rb1 h5 37.Nc5 Rc3 38.Ne6+ 1-0. [Click to replay]

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Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2668) – Ivanchuk,Vassily (2787)
World Cup 2007 (rapid-2) 0:05.10-0:05.10 (34), 02.12.2007

In the second rapid game the Romanian grandmaster showed great determination and simply crushed the world number two. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kb1 Rc8 12.a3 Be7 13.f5 Bc4

14.g4! Nisipeanu is especially strong when it comes to creating a chaos on the board. 14...Nxg4 15.Rg1 h5 16.h3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Rh7 18.Bxc4! bxc4 19.Nd2 Nf6 20.Nf3

Black is a pawn up, but his pieces are not coordinated. However, the biggest problem for Black is the king on e8. Even if the position is far from clear, from the practical point of view it is much easier to play on the white side. 20...Rb8 21.Ka2 Qb6 22.Qc1 Qb7 23.Ng5 Rh8 24.Rg2 h4 25.Rdg1 Rh5

26.Nxf7! Kxf7 27.Rxg7+ Kf8 28.R1g6

28...d5? Ivanchuk collapses. This move is particularly bad in connection with the next one. Black had to unpin the bishop with 28...Qb6 with the idea 29.Nd5 Nxd5 30.exd5 (30.Rg8+ makes a draw) 30...Bf6! 29.exd5 Nxd5? Chances to escape would have offered 29...Ne8 30.f6 Nxg7 31.Rxg7 Qxb2+ 32.Qxb2 Rxb2+ 33.Kxb2 Bxf6+/-. 30.Rg8+ Kf7 31.R6g7+ Kf6 32.Nxd5+ Qxd5 33.Rg6+ 33.Qg1 wins immediately. 33...Kf7 34.Rxb8 c3+ 35.Kb1 Rxf5 36.Qg1 Bf8 37.Rg8 Bh6 38.Qg6+. Ivanchuk resigned, not waiting to be mated. The score became 2-2 and the blitz games started with a huge psychological advantage for Nisipeanu. 1-0. [Click to replay]

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Ivanchuk,Vassily (2787) – Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2668)
World Cup 2007 (blitz-1) 0:05.10-0:05.10 (35), 02.12.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+. Having little success with the Bluemendfeld Gambit Nisipeanu finally switches to a more classical opening. 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Bb7 7.e3 0-0 8.Be2 d6 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.b4 Ne4 11.Qc2 f5 12.Bb2 Rf6 13.d5 Rg6 14.Rad1 e5 15.Bd3 c6 16.Bxe4 fxe4 17.Qxe4 cxd5 18.cxd5 Nf6 19.Qc4 Rc8 20.Qb3 Qd7

21.Ne1?? After 21.Bxe5! dxe5 22.Nxe5 all three results are possible. 21...Ba6 22.f3 Bc4! It turns out that White loses a whole rook. 0-1. [Click to replay]

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Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2668) – Ivanchuk,Vassily (2787)
World Cup 2007 (blitz-2) 0:02.22-0:01.41 (36), 02.12.2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qc7 6.Be2 b5 7.0-0 Bb7 8.Bf3 Nc6 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.a4 Bd6 11.axb5 cxb5 12.e5 Bxe5 13.Nxb5 axb5 14.Rxa8+ Bxa8 15.Bxa8 Nf6 16.h3 0-0 17.Bf3 b4 18.Bd2 Rd8 19.Qe1 Qxc2 20.Bxb4 Qxb2 21.Be7 Rb8 22.Qa5 h6 23.Rd1 Bd4 24.Qd2 Qxd2 25.Rxd2 Rb1+ 26.Kh2 Be5+ 27.g3 g6

28.Re2 Ba1 29.Ra2 Nd7 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.Ra8 Bf6 32.Bd6 Rb6 33.Ba3 Ne5 34.Bf8+ Kh7 35.Bc5 Rb3 36.Bd4 Nxf3 37.Bxf6 g5 38.Rc8 Ne1+ 39.Kf1 Nd3 40.Ke2 Kg6 41.Bc3 Nb4 42.g4 f6 43.Bxb4 Rxb4 44.Kf3 h5 45.Rc6 Rf4+ 46.Kg3 e5 47.Rc7 Ra4 48.Rb7 Ra3+ 49.Kg2 Ra8 50.Rb6 Rf8 51.Kf3 Rh8 52.Rb7

52...Rh7 53.Rxh7! I suspect that with two minutes on the clock most players wouldn't even calculate the pawn endgame, but Nisipeanu quickly evaluated it correctly. 53...Kxh7 54.Ke4 hxg4 55.hxg4 Kg6 56.Kd5 f5 57.Kxe5 fxg4 58.Ke6 Kh6 59.Kf6 Kh5 60.Kf5 Kh4 61.Kg6. The draw is inevitable and Ivanchuk is leaving the World Cup, being knocked out for the second time by Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu (the first time it happened in Las Vegas 1999; for more details see the round three game one report). 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

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Svidler,Peter (2732) – Rublevsky,Sergei (2676)
World Cup 2007 (rapid-2) 0:07.09-0:00.34 (34), 02.12.2007

In the first rapid game Svidler missed a large advantage, compensating for Rublevsky's missed win yesterday. The second rapid game started well for Rublevsky, but two mistakes in a row led to immediate disaster for Black. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 d6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Nce2 Rc8 10.a4 Qc7. A tricky move. Usually Black develops the bishop first (10...Be7). 11.b3?! Nxd4 12.Nxd4 e5 13.Nf5 d5 14.Qd3

14...g6?! In his desire to take the pawn in the most convenient way Rublevsky weakens the position and allows White to keep the queens on the board. After 14...Bxf5 15.exf5 Qxc2 it is White who must play for a draw; Less clear is 14...Qxc2 15.Qxc2 Rxc2 16.Ne3. 15.Nh6 Qxc2? Black had to continue 15...dxe4 16.Bxe4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Bg7 and in opposite to the game it is more difficult for White to create threats. 16.Qf3! Bg7 17.exd5

Now the material is equal and Black has serious problems with the king. 17...Rf8. A clear sign that things went terrible for Black. The rest was an easy task for Svidler, who quickly creates a decisive attack. 18.Re1 Rc3 19.Qf4 Kd8 20.Qh4 Rxb3 21.Bg5 Rb6 22.a5 Rd6 23.Qb4 Qc7 24.Rac1 Qb8 25.Rxe5 Bxh6 26.Bxh6 Re8 27.Bf4 Bb5 28.Ree1 Rxe1+ 29.Rxe1 Kd7 30.Bh3+ 1-0. [Click to replay]

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Inarkiev,Ernesto (2674) – Aronian,Levon (2741)
World Cup 2007 (rapid-1) 0:25.10-0:25.10 (33), 02.12.2007

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4. Aronian is one of the best specialists of the Moscow Gambit and plays it with both colours, therefore the opening choice of the Russian grandmaster is very courageous. As we'll see, he had an interesting novelty in mind. 6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2. In the second round of the World Cup Aronian won a great game on the white side: 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3 Qxd4 16.Rad1 Qb6 17.b3 cxb3 18.axb3 a6 19.Rd2 c5 20.Rd6 Qa5 21.e5 Nd7 22.Rfd1 0-0-0 23.Ne4 Qc7 24.Nf6 Nxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxd6 26.Rxd6 Bxf6 27.Bxf6 Qxd6 28.Bxh8 Qd5 29.Bf1 Kc7 30.Qc3 Kb6 31.b4 c4 32.Qa1 Kc6 33.Qf6 Qd7 34.Qh6 Qd5 35.Qf8 Qf5 36.Qe8+ Kc7 37.Qe7+ 1-0 Aronian,L (2741)-Gustafsson,J (2606)/Khanty-Mansiysk 2007. 9...Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6

14.Re1N. An interesting novelty. One of the ideas of this somewhat misterious move will become clear after four moves. Levon had already played this position in Khanty-Mansiysk: 14.a4 e5 15.d5 c5 16.b4 Qb6N 17.bxc5 Nxc5 18.Bxc5 Qxc5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8+ Bxa8 21.Qa1 0-0 22.Qa5 Rb8 23.Rb1 Bf8 24.Rxb5 Rxb5 25.Qxb5 Qxb5 26.Nxb5 Bb7 27.Bxc4 Ba6 28.Kf1 Bxb5 29.Bxb5 Bc5 and the draw was agreed soon, Gustafsson,J (2606)-Aronian,L (2741)/Khanty-Mansiysk 2007. 14...c5 15.dxc5 Rc8 16.a4 b4

17.c6! An impressive play by Inarkiev, who most likely still follows his home preparation. [17.Nd5 Nxc5!] 17...Bxc6. 17...Rxc6 at least does not allow 18.Nd5. The White keeps better chances with 18.Bxb4. 18.Nd5! Ne5. The idea behind 14.Re1 becomes clear after 18...exd5 19.exd5 and Black is in troubles. ] 19.Be7! Qd7 20.Nf6+

20...Kxe7 21.Nxd7 Bxd7. With a queen for two pieces and a pawn White obviously has a large advantage. 22.Qd2. 22.b3 returns a part of material, but eliminates the potentially dangerous pawns. After 22...Nd3 (22...c3 23.Bxa6+-) 23.Bxd3 Bxa1 24.Qxa1 cxd3 25.Qd4 a5 26.Qxd3 Rc3 27.Qa6 Rxb3 28.Rd1 White should win due to multiple weaknesses in the black pawn structure. 22...a5 23.Rad1 Rhd8 24.Qd6+ Ke8 25.Qb6 Ra8 26.Rd6 Rdb8 27.Qc5 Rc8 28.Qb6 Rcb8 29.Qe3 Rc8 30.h4 Ke7 31.Rb6?! g4 32.f4 gxf3 33.gxf3 Bxa4 34.f4. Stronger is 34.Rb7+ Nd7 35.e5 but things aren't so clear anymore. 34...Nd7 35.e5 Nxb6 36.Qxb6 Kf8 37.Bh5 c3

38.f5? White had to pay more attention to Black's counterplay and continue 38.bxc3 bxc3 39.Rc1 when the draw is the most likely outcome. If 39...c2 then 40.Qb7 Be8 41.Rxc2! Rxc2 42.Qxa8. 38...cxb2 39.Qd6+ Kg8 40.Bxf7+ Kh8! 40...Kxf7? allows White to escape with 41.Qxe6+ Kf8 42.f6=. 41.f6 Rc1 42.fxg7+ Kxg7 43.Qe7 Rxe1+ 44.Kh2 Rh1+ 45.Kg3 Rg1+ 46.Kh2 b1Q. In spite of the discovered checks White cannot do much. 47.Be8+ Kh8 48.Qf6+ Rg7 0-1. [Click to replay]

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Bacrot,Etienne (2695) – Karjakin,Sergey (2694)
World Cup 2007 (rapid-1) 0:25.10-0:25.10 (33), 02.12.2007

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.c5 Nbd7 7.Bd3 e5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.f4 Bxc5 11.Qf3 Qb6 12.Nd1 Nh6 13.f5 Qc7 14.Bd2 0-0 15.Rc1 Bb6

16.f6 Re8 17.Qg3 Ng4 18.Nf2 Qxe5 19.Nxg4 Bxg4 20.Rxc6 Bxe3 21.Qxg4 g6 22.Kd1. After 22.Bc3 d4 23.Bb4 Qd5 (23...Bd2+? 24.Kxd2 Qe3+ 25.Kc2; 23...Bf2+? 24.Kf1+-) 24.Rc2 Qxa2 25.Be7 White has good chances to defend and keep the extra piece. 22...Bxd2. Better is 22...Qxb2 23.Bxe3 Rxe3 24.Rc8+ Re8 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 and Black has little to fear. 23.Kxd2 Qxb2+ 24.Bc2 h5 25.Qf4 Rac8

26.Rxc8?? White could win by force: 26.Rb1 Qxa2 27.Qh6 Qa5+ 28.Kd3 Qa3+ 29.Bb3 Qf8 30.Qxf8+ Kxf8 31.Rxa6 with an easy victory in endgame. 26...Rxc8 27.Rc1 Rc4. Now it is Black who wins. 28.Qg5 Rd4+ 29.Ke2 Rg4 30.Qe3 Re4 0-1. [Click to replay]

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Macieja,Bartlomiej (2606) – Sasikiran,Krishnan (2661)
World Cup 2007 (blitz-1) 0:05.10-0:05.10 (35), 02.12.2007

The first two rapid games ended in draws. In the blitz mini-match the Indian GM showed a better self-control. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 e6 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 c4 7.b3 cxb3 8.axb3 Bd6 9.0-0 Ne7 10.h3 0-0 11.Ba3 Nbc6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.Na3 Ng6 14.Ne1 Bd7 15.Nd3 Rae8 16.Nc2 Nh4 17.Bg4 f5 18.Bf3 f4 19.Kh2 Bf5

20.Nc5?? [20.Nce1] 20...Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Bxc2-+ 22.Nxb7 Qd7 23.Nc5 Qf7 24.Rxa6 Nb8 25.Rd6 Be4 26.Qg4 f3 27.g3 Qa7 28.Qh4 h6 29.g4 Rf7 30.Rg1 Nd7 31.b4 Nf8 32.b5 Qb8 33.Qg3 Qxb5 34.g5 hxg5 35.Qxg5 Qb8 36.Qg3 Rd8 37.Rxd8 Qxd8 38.Ra1 Rf6 39.Rg1 Rg6 40.Qe5 Qf6 41.Qxf6 Rxf6 42.Rg4 Bg6 43.Kg3 Kf7 44.Rg5 Rf5 45.Rxf5+ Bxf5 46.Kxf3 Nd7 47.Nb3 Nf6 48.Kf4 Bc2 49.Nd2 Ne4 50.Nf3 Nxc3 51.Ne5+ Ke6 52.f3 Nb5 53.Ke3 Nd6 54.Kd2 Bh7 55.h4 Nc4+ 56.Nxc4 dxc4 57.Kc3 Kd5 0-1. [Click to replay]

The fourth round features the following matches: Nisipeanu-Karjakin, Alekseev-Bareev, Aronian-Jakovenko, Shirov-Akopian, Sasikiran-Ponomariov, Svidler-Kamsky, Adams-Carlsen and Wang-Cheparinov.

Links Official tournament site All games from round three in PGN Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light The games are being broadcast on Playchess.com