World Cup Finals: Svidler wins, Ivanchuk takes bronze

by ChessBase
9/19/2011 – Peter Svidler drew his final game against Alexander Grischuk, securing it with a nice knight sacrifice. This gave him a 2.5-1.5 win over Alexander Grischuk and the title of World Cup winner. In the match for third place Vassily Ivanchuk drew for a similar final score against Ruslan Ponomariov. Svidler, Grischuk and Ivanchuk have qualified for the next stage of the World Championship. Full illustrated report.

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The tournament is taking place in the Ugorian Chess Academy in the very heart of Khanty-Mansiysk, which has hosted three previous World Cups: 2005, 2007, and 2009. The 128 participants hail from 46 different countries, and are playing for a total prize fund of US $1.6 million. In addition the first three finisher get tickets to the Candidates tournament in the next World Championship cycle.

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Finals game four

The final game was a Sicilian, and Grischuk chose to continue the opening discussion in the popular Najdorf Variation, which was started in the second game. But Svidler was content with a draw in this game, so he made a less challenging third move, giving a check from b5 with a bishop. This variation is notorious for its drawing tendencies, and if Grischuk wanted to fight for more, he had to avoid exchanges, thus ceding White a lot of space. However, Svidler showed little ambition in the opening, and allowed Black to get an easy game.


The final game of the Final: Alexander Grischuk faces Peter Svidler

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.09.19"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2739"] [BlackElo "2746"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. O-O Qc7 8. c4 e6 9. b3 b6 10. Nc3 Bb7 11. Rd1 Be7 12. h3 Rd8 13. Qe3 O-O 14. Ba3 Rfe8 15. Rac1 h6 16. b4 Rc8 17. Bb2 Qb8 18. Bd3 Nh7 19. Ne2 Ba8 20. e5 Ng5 21. Nxg5 Bxg5 22. f4 Be7 23. Be4 Bxe4 24. Qxe4 Red8 25. Nd4 Bf8 26. Nxe6 {Nice bit of tactics to secure this game.} fxe6 27. exd6 Re8 28. Rc3 Qa8 29. Qxa8 Rxa8 30. c5 bxc5 31. bxc5 Reb8 32. Ba3 Rd8 33. c6 Rac8 34. Bb2 Nb8 35. c7 Rxd6 36. Rxd6 Bxd6 37. cxb8=Q Rxb8 38. Bc1 Rb4 1/2-1/2

After the game Svidler said that he is a bit ashamed for his cautious play earlier on. However, Peter rehabilitated himself on the 26th move with is knight sacrifice for two pawns. Grischuk worked hard to parry the threats, but allowed mass exchanges and had to accept a draw,


Grischuk and Svidler in the press conference (with translator Bambusha Nominkhanova)

Svidler: "I have played in Khanty-Mansiysk many times. My results were not always satisfactory, but I never had any complaints about the organization. Everything here is perfect. It was a pleasure to play in a large hall in the Academy, and I liked the live streaming video and grandmaster commentary."


Almost made it! Alexander Girschuk failed at the very last hurdle

Grischuk: "I also liked the organization, although lately, when most of the players left, it became a bit lonely. I have an idea: maybe the Governor Cup (which takes a week during the World Cup) should last for three weeks? This would give the World Cup finalists some company."



Peter Svidler kibitzes the game Vassily Ivanchuk vs Ruslan Ponomariov

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.09.19"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2768"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qb3 d5 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qxb3 8. axb3 Bb7 9. Bg2 a6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Bg5 Bd6 12. Rfc1 O-O 13. Nd2 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Rfc8 15. Nce4 Bf8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. g4 c5 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Nf3 Kf8 20. b4 Bxb4 21. Rxa6 Bc5 22. Rca1 Rxa6 23. Rxa6 b5 24. Ra5 b4 25. Rb5 Be7 26. b3 Rc7 27. Nd4 Kg7 28. f4 Bf8 29. e3 Kg6 30. h4 Kg7 31. Kf3 Be7 32. Ke2 Nc5 33. Nd2 Nb7 34. Nc4 Nc5 35. Nd2 Nb7 36. Ne4 Nd6 37. Rc5 Rxc5 38. Nxc5 h5 39. gxh5 Kh6 40. Nc6 Bf8 41. Nxb4 Kxh5 42. Nc6 Kxh4 43. Kf3 Kh5 44. b4 Kg6 45. Nd7 Bh6 46. Ke2 e5 47. Ne7+ Kg7 48. Kf3 exf4 49. e4 Nb5 50. Kg4 f3 51. Nf5+ Kh8 52. Kxf3 Bd2 53. Nxf6 Bxb4 54. e5 Bc3 55. Ke4 Nc7 56. Nd7 Kh7 57. Kf4 Nd5+ 58. Ke4 Nc7 59. Ne7 Kg7 60. Kf5 Bb4 61. Nc6 Ba3 62. Nd4 Ne6 63. Nxe6+ fxe6+ 64. Kxe6 Bb2 65. Ke7 Bxe5 66. Nxe5 1/2-1/2


Vassily Ivanchuk in the press conference (together with Kermen Goryaeva and Maria Fominykh


Vassily explains what was going on in his mind during the game

Ivanchuk: "Khanty-Mansiysk is a wonderful city, and I am happy to spend here a lot of time. I think other participants are sharing my view. I wish this city and Ugra region a lot of success."

Results of the finals

Name
G1
G2
G3
G4
Tot
 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
0
½
½
½
1.5
 Svidler, Peter (RUS)
1
½
½
½
2.5
 
 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR)
½
1
½
½
1.5
 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)  
½
0
½
½
2.5

Remaining schedule of the World Chess Cup 2011

Date Day Time   Rounds
20.09.2011 Tuesday 11:00 Closing ceremony
21.09.2011 Wednesday   Departure

Links

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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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