A selection of most interesting selected details of the World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk.

The reigning Russian champion Peter Svidler made a draw in the fourth game of the match against Alexander Grischuk, and won the main trophy.

With three games passed, Svidler leads 2-1 vs. Grischuk, and Ivanchuk leads 2-1 vs. Ponomariov. The concluding classical games of the matches are scheduled on Monday, September 19th.

After two playing days Svidler is ahead of Grischuk with the score 1,5-0,5, and Ivanchuk is leading with the same score in the match against Ponomariov.

The final round matches of the World Chess Cup started on September 16th in Khanty-Mansiysk. Russian Grandmasters Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk compete for the World Cup victory and the main prize, and Ukrainians Vassily Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov fight for the third place and the last ticket to the Candidates Tournament.

Grischuk and Ivanchuk exchanged victories in rapid games (25 minutes plus 10 second per move), and then the Russian took the upper hand in two 10-minute games by 1,5-0,5.

World Chess Cup Quarterfinal matches with live GM and computer analysis.

Ponomariov-Svidler featured the Gruenfeld defense. On the 7th move the Ukrainian grandmaster selected a rare line, but according to Svidler, was not quite ready for the opening debate. Perhaps Ponomariov could obtain a comfortable position with a small but lasting advantage, if he played 13.Rc1.

The ex-World Chess Champion Ruslan Ponomariov chose the Spanish Defense to answer the first move of the King’s pawn. On move three he offered to change to the Berlin endgame which earlier secured a victory to him in the quarterfinal match against Gashimov.

The semifinals will start on Monday, September 12th, when we’ll witness the matches between two Ukrainian and two Russian chess players: Vassily Ivanchuk vs Alexander Grischuk and Ruslan Ponomariov vs Peter Svidler.