World Cup R4 Tiebreaks: Polgar and Ponomariov win on last blitz

by ChessBase
9/8/2011 – Anyone looking at the scoreboard would conclude that the results of the fourth round were eminently logical as the Elo favorites, all went forward. However, the matches could easily have gone otherwise. For the Cubans, it was an especially bad day, as both Leinier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon lost in the last blitz game to Judit Polgar and Ruslan Ponomariov respectively. Report, pictures, and games.

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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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Round four tiebreaks

Anyone just looking at the scoreboard would conclude that the results of the fourth round were eminently logical as the Elo favorites all went forward, however, the games and swings could easily have gone otherwise.

For the Cubans, it was an especially bad day, as they had their top two players in the last sixteen, but neither survived in the end. Though Bruzon was theoretically a significant underdog to Ponomariov, his games against the Ukrainian showed things were not so clear in the rapid games. They exchanged wins in nervy games that alternated between being in complete control to blunderful. Finally a win in the last blitz game sealed Ponomariov’s ticket to the quarter-finals.


It was a tense and exciting match between Ponomariov and Bruzon

Dominguez’s match against Polgar was a mirror image, and it was theorized that while Judit might have an edge in the rapid games, he would be the stronger blitz player, having demonstrated his skills when won the 2008 World Blitz Championship. Alas for him, and much to the delight of the female genius’s fans, after trading wins it was precisely in the second and last blitz that he succumbed to her attack with Black and an overwhelming combination.


Dominguez held on until the last but eventually succumbed

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.09.08"] [Round "4.8"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Polgar, Judit"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2719"] [BlackElo "2699"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2011.08.28"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Qd2 Qc7 9. O-O-O b5 10. f3 Be7 11. Kb1 O-O 12. g4 Ne5 13. Bf4 b4 14. Ne2 Rd8 15. Ned4 Bb7 16. Qe1 Rac8 17. h4 d5 $1 18. exd5 $2 ({Although Black has already seized the initiative, White could put up stiffer resistance with} 18. g5 Nh5 19. Bh2 dxe4 20. fxe4 $15) 18... Rxd5 {White is in big trouble as his position is now buckling under the pressure.} 19. h5 Nxf3 $3 {Attacking tactics have been Judit's bread and butter since she was a little girl.} 20. Qg3 (20. Nxf3 {gets mated after} Qxc2+ 21. Ka1 Rxd1+) (20. Bxc7 Nxe1 21. Rxe1 ( 21. Bh2 Nxc2 $1) 21... Rxc7 $18) 20... e5 21. Bg2 exf4 22. Qxf3 Rxd4 {It is over now.} 23. Nxd4 Bxf3 24. Bxf3 Nd7 25. Rhe1 Bf6 26. Nc6 Ne5 27. Nxe5 Qxc2+ 28. Ka1 Bxe5 29. Rb1 f6 30. Be4 Qd2 31. Bf5 Bxb2+ 0-1

Of all the players forced into a tiebreak, Ivanchuk seemed the least bothered as he played a notch above Xiangzhi in this phase, with Grischuk also seeming the stronger player than Potkin in the rapids. The Danish GM Heine-Nielsen also tried to make a fight of it, as he tie things up after two rapid games, but Gashimov, who is a redoubtable speed player, kept control in the next two, and is also through to the next round.


Vugar Gashimov happy to go through to the next round

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2011"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2011.09.08"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Gashimov, Vugar"] [Black "Nielsen, Peter Heine"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2681"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2011.08.28"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Qe2 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d3 Re8 7. h3 d5 8. Ba4 a6 9. Nbd2 b5 10. Bc2 Bb6 11. Nf1 b4 12. Ng3 bxc3 13. bxc3 d4 14. Ba4 Bd7 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. c4 Ba5+ 17. Bd2 Bxd2+ 18. Qxd2 Nd7 19. Qa5 Qe7 20. O-O Qc5 21. Qd2 Rab8 22. Nf5 f6 23. Nh2 Nf8 24. f4 Ng6 25. fxe5 Nxe5 26. Qf2 Re6 27. Ng4 Nxg4 28. hxg4 Rd8 29. g5 Qe5 30. Qh4 Rf8 31. Rf3 Be8 32. Raf1 Kh8 33. Nxg7 $3 { Efficient to the end, Gashimov ends with a nice knight sacrifice.} Kxg7 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. gxf6 Rf7 36. Rf5 Qd6 37. Rg5+ Kh8 38. Rg7 1-0

The pairings for the last eight are all heavy-hitting and all players have shown form and resilience until now. They are Svidler-Polgar, Ponomariov-Gashimov, Ivanchuk-Radjabov, and Navara-Grischuk.

Results of round four

Name
G1
G2
 R1
 R2
 r3
 r4
 B1
 B2
 SD
Tot
 Polgar, Judit (HUN)
0
1
1
0
1
0
½
1
 
4.5
 Dominguez Perez, Leinier (CUB))
1
0
0
1
0
1
½
0
 
3.5
 
 Bu, Xiangzhi (RUS)
½
½
0
0
         
1.0
 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR)
½
½
1
1
         
3.0
 
 Zherebukh, Yaroslav (UKR)
0
0
             
0.0
 Navara, David (CZE)
1
1
             
2.0
 
 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB)
½
½
0
1
1
0
½
0
 
3.5
 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
½
½
1
0
0
1
½
1
 
4.5
 
 Gashimov, Vugar (AZE)
1
0
1
0
1
1
     
4.0
 Nielsen, Peter Heine (DEN)
0
1
0
1
0
0
     
2.0
 
 Potkin, Vladimir (RUS)
1
0
½
0
         
1.5
 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS)
0
1
½
1
         
2.5
 
 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE)
1
½
             
1.5
 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS)
0
½
             
0.5
 
 Svidler, Peter (RUS)
1
1
             
2.0
 Kamsky, Gata (USA)
0
0
             
0.0

Remaining schedule of the World Chess Cup 2011

Date Day Time   Rounds
Players
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

Links

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