
A total of 126 participants turned up on November 23 for the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk,
Russia. 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.
Schedule of the World Cup 2007
Date |
Event |
22.11.07 |
Arrival |
23.11.07 |
Opening ceremony |
24.11.07 |
Round I- game 1 |
25.11.07 |
Round I- game 2 |
26.11.07 |
Tie break |
27.11.07 |
Round II- game 1 |
28.11.07 |
Round II- game 2 |
29.11.07 |
Tie break |
|
30.11.07 |
Round III- game 1 |
1.12.07 |
Round III- game 2 |
2.12.07 |
Tie break |
3.12.07 |
Round IV- game 1 |
4.12.07 |
Round IV- game 2 |
5.12.07 |
Tie break |
6.12.07 |
Round V- game 1 |
7.12.07 |
Round V- game 2 |
8.12.07 |
Tie break |
|
9.12.07 |
Round VI- game 1 |
10.12.07 |
Round VI- game 2 |
11.12.07 |
Tie break |
12.12.07 |
Free day |
13.12.07 |
Round VII- game 1 |
14.12.07 |
Round VII- game 2 |
15.12.07 |
Round VII- game 3 |
16.12.07 |
Round VII- game 4 |
17.12.07 |
Tie break, Closing |
18.12.07 |
Departure |
|
Khanty-Mansiysk
The town is located about 1400 miles (2250 km) east of Moscow, just north of
Kazakhstan, on the Irtysh River, 15
km from its confluence with the Ob. The name is pronounced "hanty-mansisk",
with the first part rhyming with "hunty", the second with "fun-sick". If you
are up to it, pronounce the initial "k" like the guttural "ch" in the German
"Dach" or the Spanish "rojo". The Russian original is Ха́нты-Манси́йск.
The original place was called Samarovsky Yam, and was founded in 1637 by 50
horse-drivers with their families. They set up camp on the right bank of the
Irtysh River, at the foot of steep mountains, with the thick cedar forest growing
on them.The settlement became known as Samarovo, and the town of Khanty-Mansiysk
originated from it.

Khanty-Mansiysk – map by Google Earth
Arrival and opening

Airport encounter: GMs Levon Aronian and Sergey Tiviakov on their way to
Khanty-Mansiysk
First impression: a forest covered in snow – the temperature is minus
10°C (14°F)

Hotel Yugorskaya Dolina, where the event is being staged

The opening with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Folklore and chess themed culture at the opening ceremony
Round one Game one
There were upsets galore in the first game of Round one. The world's number
17 player, Gata Kamsky, rated 2714, could only draw with the white pieces against
Junior World Champion Ahmed
Adly, who is rated 220 points below him. Similarly Michael Adams, rated
2729, drew against Igor Zugic, who is 252 points below him. IM Anur Ismagambetov
of Kazakhstan, rated 2480, beat GM Evgeny Alekseev, rated 2716.

Levon Aronian, ARM, 2741, vs Juan Pablo Hobaica, ARG, 2427 – Aronian
won

Susanto Megaranto, Indonesia, 2569, vs Kiril Georgiev, BUL, 2649 –
Georgiev won

US grandmaster Alexander Shabalov, 2626, who lost to Dusko Pavasovic, SLO,
2597
Things were even worse for some other well-known grandmasters: Former FIDE
world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, rated 2705, lost to Essam El Gindy, who is
nominally 202 points weaker; Konstantin Landa, 2678, lost to Vladislav Nevednichy,
2531; and US GM Alexander Shabalov, 2626, lost with white to Dusko Pavasovic,
2597.

Shocking: Ruslan Ponomariov, UKR, 2705, lost to Essam El Gindy, EGY, 2503

Evgeny Bareev, RUS, 2653, who beat Julio Becerra Rivero, USA, 2568

Second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, AZE, 2752, beat Khaled Abdel Razik 2389

Nigel Short, ENG, 2649 vs David Baramidze, GER, 2569 – draw
The top seeds Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Aronian, Shirov, Svidler, Grischuk
and Carlsen all won their first games from round one. No big surprises there.
All photos by GM Sergey Tiviakov
All results of Round one Game one
No. |
White |
|
Res. |
Black |
|
Score |
1 |
Ivanchuk, Vassily |
UKR |
1-0 |
Aderito, Pedro |
ANG |
1-0 |
2 |
Abdel Razik, Khaled |
EGY |
0-1 |
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar |
AZE |
0-1 |
3 |
Radjabov, Teimour |
AZE |
1-0 |
Genba, Vladimir |
RUS |
1-0 |
4 |
Hobaica, Juan Pablo |
ARG |
0-1 |
Aronian, Levon |
ARM |
0-1 |
5 |
Shirov, Alexei |
ESP |
1-0 |
Gwaze, Robert |
ZIM |
1-0 |
6 |
Iturrizaga, Eduardo |
VEN |
--- |
Svidler, Peter |
RUS |
0-2* |
7 |
Adams, Michael |
ENG |
½-½ |
Zugic, Igor |
CAN |
½-½ |
8 |
Ismagambetov, Anuar |
KAZ |
1-0 |
Alekseev, Evgeny |
RUS |
1-0 |
9 |
Grischuk, Alexander |
RUS |
1-0 |
Lima, Darcy |
BRA |
1-0 |
10 |
Zhao, Zong-Yuan |
AUS |
0-1 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
NOR |
0-1 |
11 |
Kamsky, Gata |
USA |
½-½ |
Adly, Ahmed |
EGY |
½-½ |
12 |
Filippov, Anton |
UZB |
½-½ |
Akopian, Vladimir |
ARM |
½-½ |
13 |
Jakovenko, Dmitry |
RUS |
1-0 |
Rahman, Ziaur |
BAN |
1-0 |
14 |
El Gindy, Essam |
EGY |
1-0 |
Ponomariov, Ruslan |
UKR |
1-0 |
15 |
Wang, Yue |
CHN |
½-½ |
Pridorozhni, Aleksei |
RUS |
½-½ |
16 |
Laylo, Darwin |
PHI |
½-½ |
Bacrot, Etienne |
FRA |
½-½ |
17 |
Karjakin, Sergey |
UKR |
1-0 |
Matsuura, Everaldo |
BRA |
1-0 |
18 |
Kabanov, Nikolai |
RUS |
0-1 |
Bu, Xiangzhi |
CHN |
0-1 |
19 |
Eljanov, Pavel |
UKR |
½-½ |
Hossain Enamul |
BAN |
½-½ |
20 |
Wen Yang |
CHN |
0-1 |
Almasi, Zoltan |
HUN |
0-1 |
21 |
Malakhov, Vladimir |
RUS |
1-0 |
Xu, Yuhua |
CHN |
1-0 |
22 |
Gopal, G.N. |
IND |
½-½ |
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam |
UZB |
½-½ |
23 |
Dominguez Perez, Lenier |
CUB |
1-0 |
Iljushin, Alexei |
RUS |
1-0 |
24 |
Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son |
VIE |
½-½ |
Van Wely, Loek |
NED |
½-½ |
25 |
Landa, Konstantin |
RUS |
0-1 |
Nevednichy, Vladislav |
ROU |
0-1 |
26 |
Le, Quang Liem |
VIE |
½-½ |
Volokitin, Andrei |
UKR |
½-½ |
27 |
Rublevsky, Sergei |
RUS |
1-0 |
Hera, Imre Jr. |
HUN |
1-0 |
28 |
Andriasian, Zaven |
ARM |
½-½ |
Onischuk, Alexander |
USA |
½-½ |
29 |
Inarkiev, Ernesto |
RUS |
½-½ |
Peralta, Fernando |
ARG |
½-½ |
30 |
Kunte, Abhijit |
IND |
½-½ |
Zvjaginsev, Vadim |
RUS |
½-½ |
31 |
Cheparinov, Ivan |
BUL |
--- |
Gonzalez Zamora, Juan |
BUL |
2-0* |
32 |
Zhao, Jun |
CHN |
½-½ |
Harikrishna, P. |
IND |
½-½ |
33 |
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter |
ROU |
1-0 |
Amin, Bassem |
EGY |
1-0 |
34 |
Balogh, Csaba |
HUN |
½-½ |
Tkachiev, Vladislav |
FRA |
½-½ |
35 |
Sasikiran, Krishnan |
IND |
½-½ |
Zhigalko, Sergei |
BLR |
½-½ |
36 |
Kudrin, Sergey |
USA |
0-1 |
Vallejo Pons, Francisco |
ESP |
0-1 |
37 |
Nikolic, Predrag |
BIH |
1-0 |
Iljin, Artem |
RUS |
1-0 |
38 |
Ivanov, Alexander |
USA |
½-½ |
Navara, David |
CZE |
½-½ |
39 |
Sutovsky, Emil |
ISR |
½-½ |
Zhou, Jianchao |
CHN |
½-½ |
40 |
Flores, Diego |
ARG |
0-1 |
Fressinet, Laurent |
FRA |
0-1 |
41 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
RUS |
1-0 |
Becerra Rivero, Julio |
USA |
1-0 |
42 |
Baramidze, David |
GER |
½-½ |
Short, Nigel D |
ENG |
½-½ |
43 |
Georgiev, Kiril |
BUL |
1-0 |
Megaranto, Susanto |
INA |
1-0 |
44 |
Gajewski, Grzegorz |
POL |
0-1 |
Volkov, Sergey |
RUS |
0-1 |
45 |
Socko, Bartosz |
POL |
1-0 |
Georgiev, Vladimir |
MKD |
1-0 |
46 |
Mamedov, Rauf |
AZE |
½-½ |
Tomashevsky, Evgeny |
RUS |
½-½ |
47 |
Motylev, Alexander |
RUS |
1-0 |
Savchenko, Boris |
RUS |
1-0 |
48 |
Gagunashvili, Merab |
GEO |
½-½ |
Zhang, Pengxiang |
CHN |
½-½ |
49 |
Roiz, Michael |
ISR |
½-½ |
Akobian, Varuzhan |
USA |
½-½ |
50 |
Ganguly, Surya Shekhar |
IND |
0-1 |
Tiviakov, Sergei |
NED |
0-1 |
51 |
Wang, Hao |
CHN |
½-½ |
Markus, Robert |
SRB |
½-½ |
52 |
Belov, Vladimir |
RUS |
½-½ |
Khalifman, Alexander |
RUS |
½-½ |
54 |
Milos, Gilberto |
BRA |
½-½ |
Avrukh, Boris |
ISR |
½-½ |
55 |
Naiditsch, Arkadij |
GER |
½-½ |
Granda Zuniga, Julio E |
PER |
½-½ |
56 |
Berg, Emanuel |
SWE |
0-1 |
Najer, Evgeniy |
RUS |
0-1 |
57 |
Sakaev, Konstantin |
RUS |
½-½ |
Vitiugov, Nikita |
RUS |
½-½ |
58 |
Kaidanov, Gregory S |
USA |
½-½ |
Gurevich, Mikhail |
TUR |
½-½ |
59 |
Shabalov, Alexander |
USA |
0-1 |
Pavasovic, Dusko |
SLO |
0-1 |
60 |
Leitao, Rafael |
BRA |
½-½ |
Shulman, Yuri |
USA |
½-½ |
61 |
Rodshtein, Maxim |
ISR |
½-½ |
Gustafsson, Jan |
GER |
½-½ |
62 |
Macieja, Bartlomiej |
POL |
1-0 |
Laznicka, Viktor |
CZE |
1-0 |
63 |
Kozul, Zdenko |
CRO |
½-½ |
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro |
CUB |
½-½ |
64 |
Galkin, Alexander |
RUS |
1-0 |
Bartel, Mateusz |
POL |
1-0 |
* Two matches were decided without play because two players failed to
appear in Khanty-Mansiysk: Mexican GM Juan Carlos Gonzalez Zamora withdrew due
to illness, and Georgian GM Zvaid Izoria could not travel due to problems with
his visa.