World Cup R1.1 – A few upsets and vivid coverage

by ChessBase
8/29/2011 – In the first round of the FIDE World Cup brought many players with large rating differences – 250-350 Elo points – together on the first ten boards. Almost all ended in the favorites beating the underdogs, but we saw losses by Super GMs Wang Yue and Peter Leko to lesser opponents. The HD video coverage from Khanty-Mansiysk is very impressive and vividly shows the drama of the game.

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The tournament will take place in the Ugorian Chess Academy, a modern citadel of intellectual sports in the very heart of Khanty-Mansiysk. This complex has already been involved in organization of international meetings – the 81th Congress and General Assembly of FIDE were held there in 2010, during the 39th World Chess Olympiad. The city of Khanty-Mansiysk has hosted the previous three World Cups: 2005 (won by Levon Aronian), 2007 (won by Gata Kamsky, who had to still face Veselin Topalov in a special match before challenging the reigning World Champion), and 2009 (won by Boris Gelfand, which gave the Israeli a ticket into the eight-player Candidates Matches, which he also won, so that he will challenge World Champion Anand in 2012).


The new Ugorian Chess Academy is the venue of the 2011 FIDE World Cup

The 128 players of the 2011 World Cup hail from 46 different countries, and are playing for a total prize fund of US $1.6 million. The players knocked out after the first round get $6,000, those knocked out in second round get $10,000, in the third round $16,000, in the 1/8 finals $25,000, in the quarterfinals $35,000, the semifinals $50,000. The loser in the final gets $80,000, the winner of the World Cup receives $120,000. Pretty good money, but in addition the first three finisher get tickets to the Candidates tournament in the next World Championship cycle.

Round one report


The start of the event – the signage in the picture tells it all


The Governor and the President watch the start of the first round


My God it's full of GMs! Round one under way (with Paco Vallejo striding restlessly)

Two GMs, Vladimir Akopian (Armenia) and Wang Hao (China), did not turn up in Khanty-Mansiysk, both because of health problems. The tournament started on Sunday with the first round with the pairings, as always in such events, bringing players with large rating differences – 250-350 Elo points – together on the first ten boards.


Ruslan Ponomariov, 2764, beat Robert Gwaze, Zimbabwe, 2434, in 41 moves


... and I mate him on the next move! Alexei Shirov explaing the concept to the arbiters


Anand's people: Peter Heine Nielsen kibitzing the game of Radoslaw Wojtaszek (right)


Dmitry Jakovenko, 2736, after his 35-move win over Salem Saleh, 2493

Almost all those games ended decisively with the favorites beating the underdogs, with both colors. Only Brazilian grandmaster Darcy Lima (2493 Elo) managed to make a draw as White with the Russian Champion Peter Svidler, and even in this game Svidler completely outplayed his opponent, but then missed an easy win.

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.08.28"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Lima, Darcy"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2493"] [BlackElo "2739"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2011.08.28"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Nd2 Nd7 10. Rc1 Qxa2 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Qa5 13. d5 b5 14. c4 b4 15. f4 Qc7 16. e5 a5 17. Ne4 a4 18. Ra1 a3 19. Ra2 Ra5 20. Qb3 Ba6 21. h4 e6 22. dxe6 fxe6 23. h5 Qc6 24. Ng5 Re8 25. hxg6 hxg6 26. Bd3 Nf8 27. Qb1 Re7 28. Bxg6 Bxc4 29. Bh7+ Kh8 30. Be4 Bd5 31. g4 Bxe4 32. Nxe4 b3 33. Rh2+ Kg8 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. exf6 Rb7 36. Qe1 b2 $2 (36... Qe4 {was good enough to win.}) 37. Qxa5 b1=Q 38. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 39. Kf2 Rb2+ 40. Kg3 Rxh2 41. Kxh2 Qf3 {and Black has dropped half a point.} 1/2-1/2

Another Brazilian GM Alexander Fier (2566) defeated the tough Chinese star Wang Yue (2709), so one can safely say it was a Brazilian day in Siberia.

The main sensation today was a white-color loss by Peter Leko (2717) against the American Samuel Shankland (2539). Leko played very well in the opening and gained a solid advantage, but later his play became too forceful. White won a pawn, but his dark-squared bishop was cut off, which gave Black strong counterplay. Shankland eventually restored the material balance and created a dangerous passed pawn, which decided the game.

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.08.28"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Leko, Peter"] [Black "Shankland, Samuel L"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2539"] [PlyCount "132"] [EventDate "2011.08.28"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Ne5 O-O 12. dxc5 Qc7 13. c6 Nxe5 14. cxb7 Qxb7 15. Be2 Rac8 16. Qa4 Rc5 17. Bd2 Qa8 18. Rac1 Rfc8 19. b4 R5c7 20. Ba6 Rd8 21. Be1 h5 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Rd1 Qa8 24. Be2 Rc8 25. a3 Nc4 26. Qa6 Nd6 27. h3 g6 28. Bf3 Qb8 29. Ne2 Nd7 30. Bc3 Rc7 31. Ba1 b5 32. Nd4 Qb6 33. Qxb6 Nxb6 34. Nc6 Bf8 35. Be5 Nbc4 36. Bh2 f6 37. Nd8 e5 38. Bd5+ Kh8 39. Ne6 Rc8 40. g4 hxg4 41. hxg4 g5 42. Kg2 Kh7 43. Bxc4 Nxc4 44. Rd7+ Kg6 45. Rxa7 Re8 46. Ra6 Bd6 47. Nc5 Bxc5 48. bxc5 Rc8 49. c6 Kf7 50. Bg1 Ke6 51. f3 Kd6 52. c7+ Ke7 53. f4 Rxc7 54. fxg5 fxg5 55. Bf2 e4 56. Rg6 Rc5 57. Ra6 Rd5 58. Kf1 Rd1+ 59. Kg2 Rd3 60. Rg6 Rxa3 61. Rxg5 b4 62. Rb5 b3 63. Rb7+ Ke6 64. g5 Kf5 65. Rb5+ Kg6 66. Be1 b2 0-1

The Women World Champion Hou Yifan (China) put a strong resistance in the game against Sergey Movsesian (Armenia). Movsesian, playing White, won an exchange, but his opponent obtained strong counterplay in return. Yet, the resulting complicated battle ended in favor of the Armenian grandmaster.

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.08.28"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B66"] [WhiteElo "2700"] [BlackElo "2575"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2011.08.28"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Be7 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. f4 Bd7 11. Kb1 b5 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bd3 b4 14. Ne2 Qb6 15. f5 e5 16. Ng3 h5 17. Qe2 h4 18. Nh5 Qc5 19. g4 hxg3 20. hxg3 Kd7 21. g4 Kc7 22. Rh3 Rhg8 23. Ng3 Rh8 24. Nh5 Rhg8 25. Rdh1 a5 26. Bc4 a4 27. Bxf7 a3 28. Rd1 axb2 29. Bxg8 Rxg8 30. Rb3 Bb5 31. Qf3 Bc4 32. Rxb2 Qa5 33. Ng3 Ra8 34. Kc1 Qc5 35. Nf1 Ra3 36. Qg2 Bxa2 37. Nd2 Bg8 38. Qg1 Ra1+ 39. Nb1 d5 40. exd5 Qxg1 41. Rxg1 Bxd5 42. Rg3 e4 43. c4 Bd6 44. Rgb3 Bf7 45. Re2 {The 17-year-old Chinese GM has been doing well enough against her very strong opponent in this highly charged game, but now she blunders:} e3 $4 46. Rbxe3 Kc6 ({Did she miss } 46... Bf4 47. Kb2 $1 Bxe3 48. Rxe3 Rxb1+ (48... Ra7 49. Re7+ Kb6 50. Rxa7 Kxa7 51. Kb3) 49. Kxb1 Bxc4) 47. Kb2 Ra8 48. Nd2 Rg8 49. Re4 Be5+ 50. Kb3 Bd6 51. Nf3 Ra8 52. Ra2 Rh8 53. Ra7 Rh3 54. Re3 Rh7 55. Ra6+ Kc5 56. Nd2 Bf4 57. Rd3 Bxd2 58. Ra5+ Kb6 59. Rb5+ Kc6 60. Rxd2 Rh4 61. Kxb4 1-0

Judit Polgar (Hungary), the highest rated woman player in chess history, won an easy game against the Cuban grandmaster Jimenez Corrales. Alexander Morozevich (Russia) misplayed the opening against Stelios Halkias (Greece) and was forced to equalize the game quickly. A draw was agreed on the 23rd move.

Moldovan grandmaster Viorel Iordachescu defeated Sebastien Feller (France), who was charged with cheating and disqualified by French Chess Federation earlier this year. Since Feller filed an appeal, and the case is still in the court, the player is able to participate in tournaments.

First round results

Name
G1
G2
Tot
 Kaabi, Mejdi (TUN)
0
 
0.0
 Karjakin, Sergey (RUS)
1
 
1.0
 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR)
1
 
1.0
 Steel, Henry Robert (RSA)
0
 
0.0
 Ibrahim, Hatim (EGY)
0
 
0.0
 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
1
 
1.0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
1
 
1.0
 Gwaze, Robert (ZIM)
0
 
0.0
 Hansen, Eric (CAN)
0
 
0.0
 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE)
1
 
1.0
 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
1
 
1.0
 Genba, Vladimir (RUS)
0
 
0.0
 De La Paz, Frank (CUB)
0
 
0.0
 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE)
1
 
1.0
 Kamsky, Gata (USA)
1
 
1.0
 Di Berardino, Diego Rafae (BRA)
0
 
0.0
 Lima, Darcy (BRA)
½
 
0.5
 Svidler, Peter (RUS)
½
 
0.5
 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS)
1
 
1.0
 Salem, A.R. Saleh (UAE)
0
 
0.0
 Bezgodov, Alexei (RUS)
½
 
0.5
 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
½
 
0.5
 Almasi, Zoltan (HUN)
1
 
1.0
 El Gindy, Essam (EGY)
0
 
0.0
 Cori, Jorge (PER)
0
 
0.0
 Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP)
1
 
1.0
 Navara, David (CZE)
1
 
1.0
 Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS)
0
 
0.0
 Rahman, Ziaur (BAN)
½
 
0.5
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (FRA)
½
 
0.5
 Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB)
1
 
1.0
 Moradiabadi, Elshan (IRI)
0
 
0.0
 Ivanov, Alexander (USA)
1
 
1.0
 Wang, Hao (CHN)
0
 
0.0
 Leko, Peter (HUN)
0
 
0.0
 Shankland, Samuel L (USA)
1
 
1.0
 Esen, Baris (TUR)
½
 
0.5
 Moiseenko, Alexander (UKR)
½
 
0.5
 Le, Quang Liem (VIE)
1
 
1.0
 Megaranto, Susanto (INA)
0
 
0.0
 Paragua, Mark (PHI)
0
 
0.0
 Adams, Michael (ENG)
1
 
1.0
 Shirov, Alexei (ESP)
1
 
1.0
 Leon Hoyos, Manuel (MEX)
0
 
0.0
 Guliyev, Namig (AZE)
0
 
0.0
 Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
1
 
1.0
 Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)
1
 
1.0
 Pridorozhni, Aleksei (RUS)
0
 
0.0
 Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynal (CUB)
0
 
0.0
 Nepomniachtchi, Ian (RUS)
1
 
1.0
 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA)
½
 
0.5
 Robson, Ray (USA)
½
 
0.5
 Fier, Alexandr (BRA)
1
 
1.0
 Wang, Yue (CHN)
0
 
0.0
 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
1
 
1.0
 Zhao, Zong-Yuan (AUS)
0
 
0.0
 Babula, Vlastimil (CZE)
½
 
0.5
 Efimenko, Zahar (UKR)
½
 
0.5
 Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)
½
 
0.5
 Felgaer, Ruben (ARG)
½
 
0.5
 Vorobiov, Evgeny E. (RUS)
½
 
0.5
 Sutovsky, Emil (ISR)
½
 
0.5
 Movsesian, Sergei (ARM)
1
 
1.0
 Hou, Yifan (CHN)
0
 
0.0
Name
G1
G2 Tot
 Corrales Jimenez, Fidel (CUB)
0
  0.0
 Polgar, Judit (HUN)
1
  1.0
 Fressinet, Laurent (FRA)
1
  1.0
 Jumabayev, Rinat (KAZ)
0
  0.0
 Zherebukh, Yaroslav (UKR)
½
  0.5
 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
½
  0.5
 Berkes, Ferenc (HUN)
1
  1.0
 Mareco, Sandro (ARG)
0
  0.0
 Kazhgaleyev, Murtas (KAZ)
½
  0.5
 Andreikin, Dmitry (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Morozevich, Alexander (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Halkias, Stelios (GRE)
½
  0.5
 Filippov, Anton (UZB)
1
  1.0
 Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR)
0
  0.0
 Riazantsev, Alexander (RUS)
1
  1.0
 Bluvshtein, Mark (CAN)
0
  0.0
 Drozdovskij, Yuri (UKR)
½
  0.5
 Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (POL)
1
  1.0
 Pashikian, Arman (ARM)
0
  0.0
 Shulman, Yuri (USA)
½
  0.5
 Potkin, Vladimir (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Nielsen, Peter Heine (DEN)
½
  0.5
 Postny, Evgeny (ISR)
½
  0.5
 Romanov, Evgeny (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Grachev, Boris (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS)
1
  1.0
 Salgado Lopez, Ivan (ESP)
0
  0.0
 Gupta, Abhijeet (IND)
½
  0.5
 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE)
½
  0.5
 Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Lysyj, Igor (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Socko, Bartosz (POL)
0
  0.0
 Bologan, Viktor (MDA)
1
  1.0
 Bu, Xiangzhi (CHN)
1
  1.0
 Adly, Ahmed (EGY)
0
  0.0
 Ivanisevic, Ivan (SRB)
½
  0.5
 Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
½
  0.5
 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB)
½
  0.5
 Quesada Perez, Yuniesky (CUB)
½
  0.5
 Parligras, Mircea-Emilian (ROU)
1
  1.0
 Yu, Yangyi (CHN)
0
  0.0
 Korobov, Anton (UKR)
1
  1.0
 Zhou, Jianchao (CHN)
0
  0.0
 Rodshtein, Maxim (ISR)
0
  0.0
 Harikrishna, P. (IND)
1
  1.0
 Li, Chao b (CHN)
½
  0.5
 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE)
½
  0.5
 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROU)
0
  0.0
 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB)
1
  1.0
 Akopian, Vladimir (ARM)
0
  0.0
 Negi, Parimarjan (IND)
1
  1.0
 Iordachescu, Viorel (MDA)
1
  1.0
 Feller, Sebastien (FRA)
0
  0.0
 Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Azarov, Sergei (BLR)
½
  0.5
 Khairullin, Ildar (RUS)
½
  0.5
 Ni, Hua (CHN)
½
  0.5
 Fridman, Daniel (GER)
½
  0.5
 Lupulescu, Constantin (ROU)
½
  0.5
 Ragger, Markus (AUT)
½
  0.5
 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS)
½
  0.5
 So, Wesley (PHI)
½
  0.5
 Ding, Liren (CHN)
½
  0.5

The second games of the Round One will be played on Monday, August 29. If a match is still tied after two games, it will proceed to tie-breaks on the next day. The tie-breaks at the World Cup consist of two rapid games, two semi-rapid, two blitz games, and, if necessary, one sudden death blitz game.

The live video broadcast from Khanty-Mansiysk is really great, produced with many cameras and in full HD. At dramatic moments during a game the will go for tight shots and show you the emotions cross the players' faces.

Movsesian vs Hou Yifan was a good example: they caught the Chinese girl's reaction when she realised she was lost after the 45...e3 blunder – heart-wrenching. One wonders how they do all this. Apparently the Siberian town is very advanced and the organisation of this event very professional. They even have GM commentary in two languages (Russian and English).

The live commentary on Playchess will continue on Monday at 13:00h CEST (= 15:00h Moscow, 7 a.m. New York), with GM Jan Gustafsson analysing with the spectators in English, and GM Klaus Bischoff in German. At around 19:00h there will be a wrap-up of the day's events.

Remaining schedule of the World Chess Cup 2011

Date Day Time   Rounds
Players
29.08.2011 Monday 15:00 Round 1, game 2
30.08.2011 Tuesday 15:00 Tiebreak
31.08.2011 Wednesday 15:00 Round 2, game 1
64
01.09.2011 Thusday 15:00 Round 2, game 2
02.09.2011 Friday 15:00 Tiebreak
03.09.2011 Saturday 15:00 Round 3, game 1
32
04.09.2011 Sunday 15:00 Round 3, game 2
05.09.2011 Monday 15:00 Tiebreak
06.09.2011 Tuesday 15:00 Round 4, game 1
16
07.09.2011 Wednesday 15:00 Round 4, game 2
08.09.2011 Thusday 15:00 Tiebreak
09.09.2011 Friday 15:00 Round 5, game 1
8
10.09.2011 Saturday 15:00 Round 5, game 2
11.09.2011 Sunday 15:00 Tiebreak
12.09.2011 Monday 15:00 Round 6, game 1
4
13.09.2011 Tuesday 15:00 Round 6, game 2
14.09.2011 Wednesday 15:00 Tiebreak
15.09.2011 Thusday   Free Day
16.09.2011 Friday 15:00 Round 7, game 1
2
17.09.2011 Saturday 15:00 Round 7, game 2
18.09.2011 Sunday 15:00 Round 7, game 3
19.09.2011 Monday 15:00 Round 7, game 4
20.09.2011 Tuesday 11:00 Tiebreaks, Closing
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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