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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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Ukrainian GM Yaroslav Zherebukh, who has already eliminated Pavel Eljanov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, was not successful in his opening against David Navara (who was awarded his Fair Play prize today – see below). Not willing to defend passively, Zherebukh sacrificed a rook and went off for a desperate attack. Black carefully parried all the threats and launched the decisive counter-attack.
Ukrainian GM Yaroslav Zherebukh, who is just eighteen years old
David Navara of the Czech Republic at the start of round four
Judit Polgar, the only female left in the tournament
Lenier Dominguez Perez, one of two Cubans in the last sixteen
The game between Judit Polgar (Hungary) and Lenier Dominguez (Cuba) followed the same scenario. In a Sicilian Defense Black quickly seized the initiative and started to advance his central pawns. White had decent drawing chances due to opposite-colored bishops, but Judit didn't want to suffer for a draw and made a careless pawn push. Black immediately took control of the open file and created the winning attack.
Tomorrow Judit Polgar and Yaroslav Zherebukh will face a very difficult task — winning on demand as Black.
Vladimir Potkin (right) at the start of his game against Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk (Russia) abandoned his favorite Gruenfeld Defence in favor of the King's Indian against his friend and compatriot Vladimir Potkin. However, Potkin's reputation as a great opening expert received another confirmation today when White obtained a big advantage. Grischuk defended stubbornly, but made a few inaccuracies, and Potkin won in the endgame with a spectacular pawn break.
Azeri GM Teimour Radjabov (above) handled the opening against Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia, Ugra) very creatively. Black's light-squared bishop was shut off, and trying to bring it back, Jakovenko got himself a weak isolated pawn which was soon captured by his opponent. Radjabov was flawless in the rook ending that followed and concluded the game in his favor.
Peter Svidler (Russia) vs Gata Kamsky (USA) and Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan) vs Peter-Heine Nielsen (Denmark) games were rather similar — in both games White got the opening initiative, Black defended tenaciously, but White finally prevailed in the endgame.
St Petersburg GM Peter Svidler
Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov at the start of round four
Only two games ended in draws: Ukrainian grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov defended with the Black pieces against Bu Xiangzhi (China) and Lazaro Bruzon (Cuba) respectively. "Today's round clearly showed that there is no real «draw death» threat in modern chess," say the satisfied organisers.
Name | G1 |
G2 |
R1 |
R2 |
r3 |
r4 |
B1 |
B2 |
SD |
Tot |
Polgar, Judit (HUN) | 0 |
0.0 |
||||||||
Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB)) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Bu, Xiangzhi (RUS) | ½ |
0.5 |
||||||||
Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) | ½ |
0.5 |
||||||||
Zherebukh, Yaroslav (UKR) | 0 |
0.0 |
||||||||
Navara, David (CZE) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) | ½ |
0.5 |
||||||||
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) | ½ |
0.5 |
||||||||
Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Nielsen, Peter Heine (DEN) | 0 |
0.0 |
||||||||
Potkin, Vladimir (RUS) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) | 0 |
0.0 |
||||||||
Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) | 0 |
0.0 |
||||||||
Svidler, Peter (RUS) | 1 |
1.0 |
||||||||
Kamsky, Gata (USA) | 0 |
0.0 |
View the table in full size on a separate page
Date | Day | Time | Rounds | Players |
07.09.2011 | Wednesday | 15:00 | Round 4, game 2 | |
08.09.2011 | Thursday | 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 | Thursday | 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 |
After he had offered a draw in a winning position in his second game of round three against Alexander Moiseenko we wrote to David Navara, asking him to describe exactly what happened. This he did, promptly, in spite of the impending tiebreak games. However David asked us not to publish his email until after the round had been completed. He also asked us to check if there was video of the action at the critical moment in the game. He wrote:
The critical moment arose on the 35th move. My opponent was in a time trouble and I wanted to play the move 35...Be7-d6, which I therefore executed. Unfortunately, while making this move, I incidentally touched my king with my thumb and it started to rock a bit. I do not know which piece I touched first, but I really had no intention to play with my king, and touched it only when executing my intended move. My opponent noticed the movement of the king and asked me to play with it. I replied that I had no idea which piece I had touch first, and that I definitely wanted to play with my bishop. Then the arbiter came over. He supported my opinion, but I am not sure how much he had seen, and therefore do not consider this especially relevant. Anyway, my opponent agreed to continue the game, and I am thankful to him for this.
Incidentally I had executed my move 35...Bd6 and my clock was still running during the controversy, therefore I stopped it with the middle button while discussing with my opponent and with the arbiter. When play resumed I tried to start it again, using the same button, but it refused to run, even though the remaining time stayed displayed. I admit that this might have been caused by my handling of the clock. I told the arbiters the time consumption at the moment and watched the other games while they were setting the clock.
After the game continued I achieved a decisive advantage, but I terribly misplayed the endgame K+Q vs K+R. At the end I was lucky to achieve a completely winning position, but I decided to offer a draw. By doing this, I did not concede that I had been at fault on move 35. I just admitted that I do not know which piece I touched first and what the correct result should be. I wanted the match to be decided on the board, not in the appeals committee or by such a crazy game.
I should also note that none of us acted with an ill will. My opponent had seen my king rocking and it was logical to ask me to play with it. This was just an unfortunate incident which can happen from time to time.
David Navara
The Governor of Ugra, Natalia Komarova, decided to award both players a special prize to acknowledge their fair play. "In Ugra we encourage honor and generosity both at the chess board and in everyday life," she said. "I am personally very proud of both players, and could not simply overlook such a knightly act. This is the first time we are awarding the Fair Play Prize, but I think we will make it a tradition in future. You don't have to become a champion to win this prize, you just have to live in harmony with world and other people. I want to thank Alexander and David for reminding us of the principles of fair play.".
David Navara thanked the Governor and said: "I didn't think of any reward when I offered a draw, I just did the right thing." Alexander Moiseenko added: "I lost not just to a very strong player, but also to a noble man. I think David's decision to offer me a draw is unique for the chess world. No one else would do it under such circumstances. I was quite shocked by his offer. I admire David's decision and wish him the best of luck at the World Cup."
LinksThe 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. |