FIDE WCC R6-3: Then end is near for Radjabov

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Results of Semifinals

Report on semifinals game three

The results were the same as yesterday: two games, two draws, but there was a lot more action in today's games. Although Radjabov-Adams only went 27 moves, the last dozen of them were nail-biters. Radjabov desperately needed a win today with white. Other than a handful of rapid and blitz games Adams has lost just one game with white in the past few years. On the other hand, Radjabov tends to sharpen his openings and his play when he has black. He has wins against Kasparov and Anand, both with black!

Today's game was an exciting one with a too-abrupt end. Radjabov had managed to conjure up a dangerous attack on Adams' king. When Radjabov offered the draw there was a discovered check on the board! Since Radjabov needed a win so badly today we might venture a conjecture that his multitude of short draws may have less to do with tournament strategy and more to do with nerves. The thought of getting into a firefight and losing today, immediately putting him out of the KO, may have felt less attractive that a guaranteed final game tomorrow, even if he has black.

Radjabov-Adams, semifinal game three

You can tell a lot about a player by which pawn they capture in diagram one above. Speculative attackers go after the black king with 18.fxe6 0-0-0 Be3. Materialists play 18.fxg6 0-0-0 19.gxh7. Radjabov went for option number one. Grabbing the pawns isn't a guaranteed bed of roses either. Black will push the a-pawn and get strong pressure against the white king while his own would be safe behind the phalanx of pawns. It's hard to imagine preferring a new game with black to the final position from game three. White is clearly for choice after capturing on g7 and centralizing his rooks.

Topalov and Kasimdzhanov put in more time at the board. Their game went back and forth with neither side able to land a finishing blow. Topalov got the better position with black out of a 3.Bb5 Sicilian that looked more like a French Defense after a dozen moves. In the end Topalov had to sacrifice a pawn to activate his king and draw a difficult endgame in which Kasimdzhanov missed at least one good chance, 56.f3.

Topalov gets another shot with white tomorrow. If it's a fourth draw they will go to rapid tiebreaks the next day (instead of the same day as during the main body of the tournament).

• Replay and download all the semifinal games
• View all round five games online and download PGN
• View all round four games online and download PGN
• All the games from round three in PGN
• All the games from the first two rounds in zipped PGN

Previous reports

• BBC report: Gaddafi's strategic chess move
• FIDE report on round 3-1 with pictures and videos
• Interview with Zhang Zhong
• ChessBase pre-match report
• ChessBase round one game on report
• ChessBase round one report
• ChessBase round two game one report
• ChessBase round two report
• ChessBase round three game one report
• ChessBase round three game two report
• ChessBase round four game one report
• ChessBase round four game two report
• ChessBase round five game one report
• ChessBase round five game two report
• ChessBase round six game one report
• ChessBase round six game two report
• GM impressions by Sergei Tiviakov
• Postcards from Tripoli by Paul Hoffman
• Odds: Who will be the next FIDE world champion?
• Revised odds for FIDE championship
• Odds after round three

General information

The FIDE site, which is being hosted by Libya Telecom And Technology, contains the schedule, list of players, results tree, games, reports, pictures and videos. The start page is http://wcc2004.fide.com and http://wcclibya2004.com.

Live coverage

The live game transmission from Tripoli, apparently of all games, requires you to have Java Virtual Machine installed on your PC. This program is distributed free of charge by Sun Microsystems (and is useful for many other applications). Visit the Java check page to see if you have everything required for the live coverage and install Java if you don't. To follow the games click on "Live coverage" in the link list above. There is a "View" button behind each pairing of players. Many of the key games will also be covered and discussed on the Playchess.com server.

Schedule

Note that local time in Tripoli is the same as in Central Europe. The start of the games is generally at 14:30h, which is GMT + 2 and translates to 13:30 London, 8:30 a.m. New York, 16:30 Moscow, 18:00 New Delhi, 20:30 Hong Kong, 21:30 Tokyo, 22:30 Melbourne, and 03:00 a.m. (on the next day) in the French Polynesia-Marquesas Islands of Taiohae.