Chess News

Chess World Cup round 1 tiebreaks

By Sergio

Posted on November 26, 2007

results, live updates, and news from Khanty-Mansiysk

Chess World Cup rapid game 1

1,5-1,5 Ismagambetov, Anuar (KAZ) 1,5-1,5 Filippov, Anton (UZB) 2-1 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) 1-0 1,5-1,5 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) 2-1 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) 1-2 Andriasian, Zaven (ARM) 0-1 1,5-1,5 Kunte, Abhijit (IND) 1,5-1,5 Harikrishna, P. (IND) 1,5-1,5 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) 1-2 Short, Nigel D (ENG) 0-1 2-1 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) 1-0 1,5-1,5 Gagunashvili, Merab (GEO) 1,5-1,5 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) 1,5-1,5 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) 2-1 Avrukh, Boris (ISR) 1-0 2-1 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) 1-0 2-1 Gurevich, Mikhail (TUR) 1-0 1-2 Leitao, Rafael (BRA) 0-1 1,5-1,5 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) 1-2 Bartel, Mateusz (POL) 0-1 ½-½ Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS)
½-½ Akopian, Vladimir (ARM)
El Gindy, Essam (EGY)
½-½ Gopal, G.N. (IND)
1-0 Van Wely, Loek (NED)
Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
½-½ Zvjaginsev, Vadim (RUS)
½-½ Zhao, Jun (CHN)
½-½ Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR)
Baramidze, David (GER)
Mamedov, Rauf (AZE)
½-½ Zhang, Pengxiang (CHN)
½-½ Roiz, Michael (ISR)
½-½ Belov, Vladimir (RUS)
Milos, Gilberto (BRA)
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
Kaidanov, Gregory S (USA)
Shulman, Yuri (USA)
½-½ Kozul, Zdenko (CRO)
Galkin, Alexander (RUS)

Chess World Cup rapid game 2

(the ones that qualify are in bold)

2,5-1,5 Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) 1-0 Ismagambetov, Anuar (KAZ)
2,5-1,5 Akopian, Vladimir (ARM) 1-0 Filippov, Anton (UZB)
1,5-2,5 El Gindy, Essam (EGY) ½-½ Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR)
2-2 Gopal, G.N. (IND) ½-½ Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB)
2-2 Van Wely, Loek (NED) 1-0 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE)
2,5-1,5 Onischuk, Alexander (USA) ½-½ Andriasian, Zaven (ARM)
2,5-1,5 Zvjaginsev, Vadim (RUS) 1-0 Kunte, Abhijit (IND)
2,5-1,5 Zhao, Jun (CHN) 1-0 Harikrishna, Pentala (IND)
1,5-1,5 Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR) ½-½ Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)
2,5-1,5 Baramidze, David (GER) ½-½ Short, Nigel D (ENG)
2-2 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE) 1-0 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
2,5-1,5 Zhang, Pengxiang (CHN) 1-0 Gagunashvili, Merab (GEO)
2-2 Roiz, Michael (ISR) ½-½ Akobian, Varuzhan (USA)
2,5-1,5 Belov, Vladimir (RUS) 1-0 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS)
1-3 Milos, Gilberto (BRA) 0-1 Avrukh, Boris (ISR)
2-2 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) 1-0 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)
1,5-2,5 Kaidanov, Gregory S (USA) ½-½ Gurevich, Mikhail (TUR)
3-1 Shulman, Yuri (USA) 1-0 Leitao, Rafael (BRA)
1,5-1,5 Kozul, Zdenko (CRO) ½-½ Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB)
3-1 Galkin, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 Bartel, Mateusz (POL)

Chess World Cup blitz game 1

2-3 Gopal, G.N. (IND) 0-1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB)
2,5-2,5 Van Wely, Loek (NED) ½-½ Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE)
2-2 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) 1-0 Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR)
3-2 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) 1-0 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE)
2-3 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) 0-1 Roiz, Michael (ISR)
2,5-2,5 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) ½-½ Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)
2,5-2,5 Kozul, Zdenko (CRO) ½-½ Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB)

Chess World Cup blitz game 2

(the ones that qualify are in bold)

4-2 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) 1-0 Gopal, G.N. (IND)
2,5-3,5 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) 0-1 Van Wely, Loek (NED)
2,5-3,5 Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR) ½-½ Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)
2-3 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE) * Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS)
3-3 Roiz, Michael (ISR) 0-1 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA)
2,5-2,5 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) ½-½ Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
2,5-3,5 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) 0-1 Kozul, Zdenko (CRO)

Chess World Cup Armageddon

4-3 Roiz, Michael (ISR) 1-0 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA)
3-4 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) 0-1 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)

Chess World Cup general page

Live updates from the Chess World Cup

(updates start at the bottom of the page)

16:03

Thank you for following the live updates from the World Cup on Chessdom.com! We will update the pairigns for round 2 in a second. See you tomorrow with live comments from round 2!

16:01

And Sakaev tricks Vitiugov and wins with black! The position was a draw and Vitiugov pressed for the win. Sakaev found the defence and counterattacked for 0-1.

16:00

Michael Roiz survives the Armageddon! He goes into round 2!

15:59

Roiz went two pawns up against Akobian! Nice game by Roiz and he is on the way to victory.

15:55

Sakaev is slightly better with black! Having in mind drawing chances are at his side, Vitiugov is in a difficult position. Roiz has better positioned pawns in a R + pawns edngame, but nothing is decided.

15:53

Both games are quite equal until now. Roiz has some advantage by holding the a1-h8 diagonal, but it is difficult to see how he can convert it.

15:49

Rules are simple. White receives 6 minutes on the clock, 5 minutes are given to black. However, black has drawing odds, i.e. in case of a draw black is the winner of the match. Roiz and Vitiugov have white, Akobian and Sakaev black.

15:45

Sakaev Vitiugov go to Armagedon game and join Roiz and Akobian! Tomashevsky qualifies for round 2.

15:40

Blitz games have finished, but no official score has been given yet for two of them. Mamedov is obliged to play for the win, while Sakaev and Vitiugov were taking their time going towards a draw.

15:35

Zhigalko – Sasikiran draw. Sasikiran advances to round 2!

15:33

Drawish positions for Zhigalko – Sasikiran and Sakaev Vitiugov, both in time trouble.

15:31

Van Wely wins and qualifies! Congratulations to the Dutch GM! Kozul is also winning his game against Bruzon Baptista, which puts him in round 2.

15:30

Akobian wins! Roiz – Akobian go to Armagedon game!!! White receives 6 minutes on the clock, 5 minutes are given to black. However, black has drawing odds, i.e. in case of a draw black is the winner of the match.

15:27

Sasikiran and Zhigalko in time trouble and equal position again. A blunder by Roiz puts him in a difficult position.

15:25

Gopal has no chances against Kasimdzhanov. Congratulations to the young Indian for the nice fight, we surely have to be watching him in the future. Congratulations to Kasimdzhanov, he advances to round 2!

15:23

Michael Roiz manages to hold a drawish position. His style very much reminds of the games he played in Valjevo tournament

15:21

Van Wely has slight advantage and the situation for Nguyen may complicate. Mamedov needs a victory, yet Tomashevsky’s position looks better.

15:15

Sakaev opens the center against Vitiugov with 16… e5. Michael Roiz is very stable against Akobian.

15:11

Games are following main theory and there have been no blunders until now. Kasimdzhanov gets a sligh space advantage against Gopal.

15:11

A QGD game in Roiz – Akobian. English in Kasimdzhanov – Gopal. Both Akobian and Gopal are obliged to win with black.

15:03

Second blitz game from the Chess World Cup is expected to start any moment, no moves on the official site yet.

15:00

Now is a good time to remind you that the game commented tomorrow will be determined by your votes. If you have any favorite player or match that you want to see send us your vote.

14:55

Precise play and draw in Vitiugov – Sakaev. Sasikiran was trying to put Zhigalko in a zugzwang situation and finally won. Here are the results from the Chess World Cup round 1 blitz tiebreaks (for the rapids scroll down)

14:45

Akobian – Roiz finally produces a decisive score, 0-1. Gopal, Akobian, and Mamedov will be obliged to play for victory.

14:45

Van Wely – Nguyen and Kozul – Bruzon Batista draws. Roiz is winning the endgame with 2 pawns up.

14:43

Known situation, Kozul a pawn up against Bruzon Baptista, but is it a win?

14:41

Tomashevsky – Mamedov 1-0, one more time Tomashevsky ahead.

14:37

Van Wely – Nguyen is an opposite color bishops supported by knight game. Looks drawish, but time trouble can change things.

14:35

The blocked bishop did not help much Michael Roiz, and Akobian is slowly geetting back in the game. Gopal went down against Kasimdzhanov’s matign attack! Gopal – Kasimdzhanov 0-1

14:30

The Knights of Kasimdzhanov are better than Gopal’s bishops. Advantage for Kasimdzhanov!

14:25

Van Wely was on the way to victory after not precise play by Nguyen. However 25… Nc5! might equalize the position.

14:20

Mamedov went an exchange down, but still has play. Kasimdzhanov equalized the position.

14:15

With the exception of the winning position of Roiz, the other games are equal. Gopal has advantage, but is it enough for a win?

14:19

Unusual Grunfeld moves by Akobian and he is a pawn down against Roiz.

14:18

Players started blasting moves! And Gopal has slight advantage!

14:17

Time control for blitz games is 5 mins + 10 seconds.

14:15

Will Gopal surprise Kasimdzhanov? Will Roiz and Akobian get a result different than a draw? Who will meet Alekseev in round 2? Will Vitugov show his blitz power?

14:07

This leaves us with 7 blitz games. They will start in a few minutes. Stay tuned for updates!

14:03

Sasikiran and Zhigalko finished after 88 moves. As we said, Kozul had problems taking his game, and it finally ended in a draw. Here are the results from the second tiebreak rapid game.

14:00

Draw agreed in Sasikiran Zhigalko

13:59

Sasikiran and Zhigalko are performing a show similar to the Andiasian – Onishchuk game. They are without time on the clock, with slight advantage for Sasikiran and on move 75!

13:57

Vitiugov won his game against Sakaev and they go to a blitz tiebreak! The winner of the game will play Alekseev, a true derby match!

13:55

Kozul is 3 pawns up, but can he win the game? Queens are still on the board and imprecise play may give Bruzon Batista the draw.

13:50

Opposite color bishops and draw for Short. Great performance from Baramidze, he drew a rapid and won a “blitz” game to advance.

13:47

Van Wely is going for the win against Nguyen, who has no time on the clock in a complicated position. Sasikiran is exchange up against Zhigalko but it is unclear how to make a progress because all pawns are on one side of the board and Zhigalko is exercising pressure on f7 pawn.

13:45

Leitao and Milos are out. No Brazilian GMs in the second round. They pushed hard for a necessary victory, but were eliminated.

13:40

GM Mamedov managed to turn the game around! He is winning in a King and pawns endgame! This means one more blitz game at the tiebreaks of the Chess World Cup!

13:37

Boris Avrukh is winning against GM Milos and will play in the second round. GM Baramidze – GM Short looks like a draw. There is a lot more play in the position and Short is obliged to look for a way to victory. It may be the next surprise of the Chess World Cup…

13:35

Ponomariov advances, no surprise in this match and a nice fight by El Gindy.

13:32

Gopal and Kasimdzhanov go to the blitz games, as draw was agreed. Gurevich advances after a draw with Kaidanov.

13:30

Ponomariov missed 20… Nc3 which was winning the game, and now has to hold El Gindy to a draw.

13:27

Kozul is a pawn up against Bruzon Batista in a game with the heavy pieces on the board. Short is doing fine. He has a pawn up and chances to reach the blitz.

13:25

Alekseev won and advances to round 2. Checking the Chess World Cup round 2 pairings, he will meet the winner of Vitiugov – Sakaev.

13:20

The position of Andriasian is complicated with a non mobile bishop, and seems Onischuk has at least a draw in hand. Alekseev is going for the victory, as announced already, while Gopal played incautious 27.Bd2 and allowed Kasimdzhanov to equalize.

13:15

Roiz and Akobian agreed on a draw and this will be the first blitz game!

13:12

GM Gurevich is an exchange up against GM Kaidanov, and that will be the end for the American. Bartel resigned and with 2-0 score Galkin progressed to the next round.

13:12

Now is a good time to remind you that the game commented tomorrow will be determined by your votes. If you have any favorite player or match that you want to see send us your vote.

13:10

Mateusz Bartel has already blundered a pawn against Alexander Galkin and is ready to be sent home. Of course, with the 6000$ prize for participating in the first round.

13:09

Tomashevsky has a slight advantage. A precise play will give him a minimum of a draw, which will be the end of the competition for Mamedov. Things are not looking good for Short. The game looks equal and Baramidze has a lot time on the clock.

13:07

Alekseev sacrificed pawn for initiative against Ismagambetov, he clearly wants to finish the tiebreaks before the blitz games.

13:05

In an interview earlier this month, Veselin Topalov said he wants Cheparinov to win the World Cup. In the same terms, surely Anand will be happy to see Gopal or Sasikiran winning.

13:00 CET

Gopal not only held Kasimdzhanov until now, but he even has slight advantage in the second tiebreak game. Will that be the big upset of round 1?

12:55 CET

Brazilians Rafael Leitao and Gilberto Milos are playing sharp for the win after losing their first games to Shulman and Avrukh respectively. From the game Avrukh – Milos will be decided who is going to meet Gata Kamsky in round 2. Kamsky won the match against Adly, two interested games, commented live on Chessdom

12:47 CET

Benoni, Semi Slav, Nimzo Indian, King Indian added to the openings played in the tiebreaks. Again basically every game has a different opening.

12:45 CET

Second rapid games of the Chess World Cup tiebreaks started. Ten players need only a draw to advance, eleven matches are equal so far.

12:40 CET

The second rapid game will start in 10 minutes. Here are the complete results from the first game.

1,5-1,5 Ismagambetov, Anuar (KAZ) ½-½ Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS)
1,5-1,5 Filippov, Anton (UZB) ½-½ Akopian, Vladimir (ARM)
2-1 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) 1-0 El Gindy, Essam (EGY)
1,5-1,5 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) ½-½ Gopal, G.N. (IND)
2-1 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) 1-0 Van Wely, Loek (NED)
1-2 Andriasian, Zaven (ARM) 0-1 Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
1,5-1,5 Kunte, Abhijit (IND) ½-½ Zvjaginsev, Vadim (RUS)
1,5-1,5 Harikrishna, P. (IND) ½-½ Zhao, Jun (CHN)
1,5-1,5 Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) ½-½ Zhigalko, Sergei (BLR)
1-2 Short, Nigel D (ENG) 0-1 Baramidze, David (GER)
2-1 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) 1-0 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE)
1,5-1,5 Gagunashvili, Merab (GEO) ½-½ Zhang, Pengxiang (CHN)
1,5-1,5 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) ½-½ Roiz, Michael (ISR)
1,5-1,5 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) ½-½ Belov, Vladimir (RUS)
2-1 Avrukh, Boris (ISR) 1-0 Milos, Gilberto (BRA)
2-1 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) 1-0 Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS)
2-1 Gurevich, Mikhail (TUR) 1-0 Kaidanov, Gregory S (USA)
1-2 Leitao, Rafael (BRA) 0-1 Shulman, Yuri (USA)
1,5-1,5 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) ½-½ Kozul, Zdenko (CRO)
1-2 Bartel, Mateusz (POL) 0-1 Galkin, Alexander (RUS)

12:30 CET

Andiasian – Onishchuk is the last game to finish, a real thriller! The game went back and forth, both sides having the advantage at some point in time. The endgame was with a pawn up for Onishchuk with lots of play for both sides. Andiasian did well to defend, as the players continued moving only on the +10 sec. increment. Precise play gave the victory to Onischuk in an action game.

12:25 CET

Andriasian – Onishchuk on move 117 and still playing!!! Andriasian is two pawns down, bu with drawing chances. Stay tuned for updates!

12:15 CET

Some of the games deserve special awards today. GM Baramidze with 3 minutes on the clock won against GM Short with 25 mins. Ismagambetov held Alekseev and gave him no winning chances. In general there were many quality games with the exception of the blunders by Mamedov and Van Wely.

12:05 CET

Extreme time trouble in Leitao – Schulman!…. And Schulman manages to keep the advantage and win the game. Galkin squeezes Bartel and takes the point. Gagunashvili – Zhang draw.

12:05 CET

Several draws agreed, among them Filipov – Akopian, Khalifman – Belov, Kunte – Zvjaginsev, and the young Gopal against Kasimdzhanov. Alekseev is looking for a way in the defence of Ismagambetov, but it is also going towards a draw. Akobian and Roiz join the draw party.

12:00 CET

Very intereting development in the game Akobian-Roiz! Roiz managed to come to a drawish end with N + R against R + 3P. However, they both have more than 5 minutes on the clock and lots of play. Short could not convert the advantage on the clock to advantage on the board, and inspite of the time trouble Baramidze is standing better. And all this having in mind the German GM started the game several minutes after the clock started running!

11:55 CET

GM Galkin has an attack on the king of Bartel. At the same time Gopal and Ismagambetov are holding equal positions against Kasimdzhanov and Alekseev. Harikrishna is struggling against the pawn advance of Zhao.

11:40 CET

GM Mamedov litteraly suicided himself against GM Tomashevky. Mamedov’s blunder 15. Rxc1 was the end of the game. Ponomariov had no problems to convert the strong advantage and also took the victory. Van Wely picked up the wrong rook in the game against Nguyen and he was forced to give up as there was a nice mate in 7 after move 21.

11:35 CET

US players are on the two poles. GM Onishchuk is almost a clear pawn up against Andriasian, while Gurevich has a strong advantage against Kaidanov. The Brazilian Rafael Leitao is also in a better position against Yri Shulman, with a K + B against R.

11:30 CET

Ismagambetov is standing very well against Alekseev, the game seems to be equal. Ponomariov is clearly winning against El Gindy after early complications for the Egyptian. El Gindy’s move 27. Bf4?? will surely give the victory to Pono.

Akobian is also up on material and Roiz seems to have no chance in the first game.

11:15 CET

We see a different opening in almost every game! We have Slav, Grunfeld, Ruy Lopez, Queen Gambit, English, Sicilian, Scotch, French……

11:00 CET

Games started!

10:55 CET

Right now it is -10 degrees Celsius (about 15 F) in Khanty-Mansiysk, however, it sure is boiling in the playing hall. 5 minutes to the start of the games!

10:50 CET

There have been no big upsets (yet!), but there were some surprising results in round 1. That is why today we will see top players such as Ponomariov, Alekseev, Vitiugov, Akopian, Khalifman.

10:40 CET

Today we will witness a direct clash on 21 boards with the following rules. First, two rapid games with 25 mins + 10 sec increment will be played. If after them the score is equal, two blitz games will be played (5 min + 10 sec). In case the match is not resolved, one Armagedon game will take place. White receives 6 minutes on the clock, 5 minutes are given to black. However, black has drawing odds, i.e. in case of a draw black is the winner of the match.

10:20 CET

40 minutes left, excitement growing.

Round 1 game 1 – results and replayable games

Round 1 game 2 – results