World Cup final: Gelfand beats Ponomariov to win the Cup

The FIDE World Chess Cup took place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th to December 15th 2009. It was a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round. The final seventh round consisted of four games. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship Cycle 2009-2011.

Final, tiebreak

The three weeks marathon of the 2009 World Cup finished with 41-year-old Boris Gelfand of Israel beating Ruslan Ponomariov in the tiebreak on Monday. The organiser, FIDE, feel vindicated that the top seed won the event. "Who would dare to call the knock out format a lottery?" the official bulletin says. “Boris is the only participant of the World Cup who could avoid the obvious failures, the only one to play with quality and stability. Bravo, Boris!"

The start of the tiebreak round of the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk

Gelfand vs Ponomariov – experience vs fighting spirit

In the end the top see prevailed...

... while the former prodigy from Ukraine drops out in the final round

All photos from Khanty-Mansiysk are by Galina Popova for FIDE

Results of the final

• Click to replay the final tiebreak games

Boris Gelfand: "I made a good present to my mom on her birthday!"

Gelfand: I managed to win in the tiebreaks, though it was very hard. I think I could have showed good result already in the second rapid game. But the stress and tension did the work and I started blundering. Ruslan was also making mistakes and we ended in a draw. I had a bit advantage in the fourth game. The only thing I should have done is to shoot the ball into the empty goal. But I blundered again. Ruslan started a counter game and I resigned. Then we started playing blitz games. Here everything depended on the coolness and ability to keep the nerves together.

I realized that a tough match is ahead. I expected that I needed to fight. Today is my mom's birthday and I cannot leave her without a present. She has done a lot for me. I am very grateful to her for all. I also thank my father, may his memory live forever. I am also very thankful to my wife and daughter who miss me a lot. I am also grateful to all who was helping and training with me. We have been working with Alexander Huzman for already 20 years together. Also, during this tournament my second Maxim Rodshtein was helping me. He did not seem to sleep at all, he was preparing for my opponents. My friends were calling and writing to me. Thank you all for your support. My victory is your merit as well.

I think the World Cup 2009 can be only compared with the second place in the World Chess Championship 2007 in Mexico .

Undoubtedly age influences performance. The older a grandmaster is, the more experienced his games are. Starting from 1997 I participated in almost every knockout tournament. I have gained a great deal of experience since then, especially in the tiebreaks. There were so many strong and young chess players who fell apart after their first defeats. They lacked the moral strength; they could not forget about one failure to continue the fight in the further games. I think it comes with experience.

I was not impressed by the fact that I was top seeded. There were about 20 chess players who had every reason to expect to win the Cup.

Ruslan does not need consolation. He did well during the whole tournament and managed many tiebreaks. My opponent is very good at knock-out tournaments; it is confirmed by his results during last two years. Ponomariov once again proved that he is a great chess player.

I just like to play chess. Therefore I work much; I try to improve my results.

It is not a battle of gladiators. We play chess. Someone wins, someone loses. This is sport.

It is not a doping… (laughing). I was checked at the last World Championship, so, everything is legal.

Yes, that would be more pleasant if the hall would be crowded. But it is obvious that our main spectators are in Internet. Whenever a tournament takes place, about 90-95% of spectators watch the games via the Internet.

The position is always with you, in your head. No matter where you look: around or at the chess board.

I like to read classics: Pushkin, Bulgakov, Maugham. I regularly watch soccer and tennis. I like sport.

I would like to thank the city for this wonderful tournament. I had no problems here at all. Every year it is better and better in Khanty Mansiysk. The only thing which complicated my staying here was the temperature drop: from -30 to 0. It is harder to stand this with age. There are many cultural and sport institutions here: library, picture gallery, hockey palace, tennis center. The Art Center for talented children of North – the playing venue – is just fantastic building. I would come back here next year with pleasure. I just hope that the weather would be milder. I hope we will have a chance to walk around the city.

More than a month. Two weeks before the start of the World Cup I took part in Tal Memorial and World Blitz Chess Championship, two of the toughest tournaments. Now I will relax, make up for lost sleep, walk with my daughter. So I will be back to “normal” life.

The World Cup is the best souvenir!

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN + games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal – Final The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also ue the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!