Karjakin and Malakhov reach semi-finals
4 December 2009, 18.16 CET | Last modified: 15:41 | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags: World Cup
All four games ended in draws on the second day of round 5, and so Sergei Karjakin and Vladimir Malakhov are through to the semi-finals of the World Cup, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Peter Svidler are out. Gelfand, Jakovenko, Ponomariov and Gashimov will play tiebreaks tomorrow.
The FIDE World Chess Cup takes place November 20th-December 15th inn Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. It’s a seven-round knockout with six rounds of matches comprising two games per round. The final seventh round consists of four games.
| Round 1 (November 21-23): 128 players | Round 5 (December 3-5): 8 players |
| Round 2 (November 24-26): 64 players | Round 6 (December 6-8): 4 players |
| Round 3 (November 27-29): 32 players | Round 7 (December 10-14): 2 players |
| Round 4 (November 30-December 2): 16 players |
The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start at 15:00h local time (11:00 CET).
Results round 5
Round 5, day 2
About both Jakovenko-Gelfand and Gashimov-Ponomariov we can keep it short: to very short draws, and so apparently all four GMs had no intention to take any risk today. These four players will decide in tomorrow’s final who will have to leave, and who will reach the semis.
A quick draw in Gashimov-Ponomariov (and in Jakovenko-Gelfand)
What’s the best opening against 1.Nf3/1.d4 in a a must-win situation? It might well be the King’s Indian, and that’s what Svidler went for. To avoid the Exchange Variation he then chose the set-up with 6…Nbd7, which has the downside that it’s more passive than the main lines.
Peter Svidler, still somewhat surprisingly eliminated in just two games...
Malakhov did trade pawns on e5 at an early stage, and with strong moves like 19.a4, 22.b3 and 27.Nxe5! he gave his opponent absolutely no chance to complicate matters. In fact, in the final position White is still better.
...by his very strong compatriot Vladimir Malakhov
Mamedyarov also had to win, but he was playing the white pieces. And indeed, the Azeri GM got his chances. Well, it might have been just one chance, but a golden one. In the following position it’s quite strange that he didn’t just take on d5 with the knight. What would he have missed?
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is out
Tomorrow’s tiebreaks will give us the names of the other two semi-finalists and then on Sunday those semi-finals already start.
All photos by Galina Popova | courtesy of FIDE
Games round 5, day 2
Game viewer by ChessTempo
FIDE World Cup – Pairings & results rounds 2-7
| Round 2 |
Round 3
|
Round 4
|
Round 5
|
Round 6
|
Round 7
|
| Shabalov (2606) | |||||
| Navara (2707) | |||||
| Navara (2707) | |||||
| Karjakin (2723) | |||||
| Karjakin (2723) | |||||
| Karjakin (2723) | |||||
| Timofeev (2651) | |||||
| Karjakin (2723) | |||||
| Sakaev (2626) | |||||
| Sakaev (2626) | |||||
| Radjabov (2748) | |||||
| Vitiugov (2694) | |||||
| Vitiugov (2694) | |||||
| Vitiugov (2694) | |||||
| Milos (2603) | |||||
| Karjakin (2723) | |||||
| Cheparinov (2671) | |||||
| Bologan (2692) | |||||
| Bologan (2692) | |||||
| Laznicka (2637) | |||||
| Morozevich (2750) | |||||
| Laznicka (2637) | |||||
| Laznicka (2637) | |||||
| Mamedyarov (2719) | |||||
| Milov (2652) | |||||
| Mamedyarov (2719) | |||||
| Mamedyarov (2719) | |||||
| Mamedyarov (2719) | |||||
| Wang Hao (2708) | |||||
| Wang Hao (2708) | |||||
| Ganguly (2654) | |||||
| Meier (2653) | |||||
| Vachier-Lagrave (2718) | |||||
| Vachier-Lagrave (2718) | |||||
| Vachier-Lagrave (2718) | |||||
| Yu Yangyi (2527) | |||||
| Yu Yangyi (2527) | |||||
| Bartel (2618) | |||||
| Gelfand (2758) | |||||
| Amonatov (2631) | |||||
| Gelfand (2758) | |||||
| Gelfand (2758) | |||||
| Gelfand (2758) | |||||
| Polgar (2680) | |||||
| Polgar (2680) | |||||
| Nisipeanu (2677) | |||||
| Iturrizaga (2605) | |||||
| Jobava (2696) | |||||
| Jobava (2696) | |||||
| Grischuk (2736) | |||||
| Grischuk (2736) | |||||
| Grischuk (2736) | |||||
| Tkachiev (2642) | |||||
| Jakovenko (2736) | |||||
| Sandipan (2623) | |||||
| Jakovenko (2736) | |||||
| Jakovenko (2736) | |||||
| Jakovenko (2736) | |||||
| Rublevsky (2697) | |||||
| Areshchenko (2664) | |||||
| Areshchenko (2664) | |||||
| Sasikiran (2664) | |||||
| Bacrot (2700) | |||||
| Bacrot (2700) | |||||
| Bacrot (2700) | |||||
| Wang Yue (2734) | |||||
| Wang Yue (2734) | |||||
| Savchenko (2644) | |||||
| Ponomariov (2739) | |||||
| Akobian (2624) | |||||
| Ponomariov (2739) | |||||
| Ponomariov (2739) | |||||
| Ponomariov (2739) | |||||
| Motylev (2695) | |||||
| Motylev (2695) | |||||
| Najer (2695 | |||||
| Li Chao (2596) | |||||
| Li Chao (2596) | |||||
| Pelletier (2589) | |||||
| Gashimov (2758) | |||||
| Gashimov (2758) | |||||
| Gashimov (2758) | |||||
| Zhou Jianchao (2629 | |||||
| Gashimov (2758) | |||||
| Caruana (2652) | |||||
| Caruana (2652) | |||||
| Dominguez (2719) | |||||
| Caruana (2652) | |||||
| Alekseev (2715) | |||||
| Alekseev (2715) | |||||
| Fressinet (2653) | |||||
| Khalifman (2612) | |||||
| Tomashevsky (2708) | |||||
| Tomashevsky (2708) | |||||
| Shirov (2719) | |||||
| Shirov (2719) | |||||
| Shirov (2719) | |||||
| Fedorchuk (2619) | |||||
| Svidler (2754) | |||||
| Nyback (2628) | |||||
| Svidler (2754) | |||||
| Svidler (2754) | |||||
| Svidler (2754) | |||||
| Naiditsch (2689) | |||||
| Naiditsch (2689) | |||||
| Onischuk (2672) | |||||
| Malakhov (2706) | |||||
| Zhou Weiqi (2603) | |||||
| Kamsky (2695) | |||||
| Kamsky (2695) | |||||
| So (2640) | |||||
| Ivanchuk (2739) | |||||
| So (2640) | |||||
| So (2640) | |||||
| Malakhov (2706) | |||||
| Inarkiev (2645) | |||||
| Eljanov (2729) | |||||
| Eljanov (2729) | |||||
| Malakhov (2706) | |||||
| Malakhov (2706) | |||||
| Malakhov (2706) | |||||
| Smirin (2662) |
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Malakhov – Gashimov
Gelfand – Karjakin
=>
Malakhov – Karjakin
=>
Karjakin
Yes, after the top 5 Karjakin is maybe the “best of the rest”.
svidler out, good, he only takes space and plays boring chess. all the remaining players are interesting to watch.
Go Boris!!
I think the final will be:
Gelfand vs Gashimov
This time, it seems KO system worked in favor of players with ’solid’ styles. At this point, everyone has a chance and it’s the matter of who makes the last decisive mistake. An interesting factor is that everybody knows each other in this group, except Malakhov. But he knows their games. That might play a role in the outcome.
@ Ron “Yes, after the top 5 Karjakin is maybe the “best of the rest”.
Ever heard of Vassily Ivanchuk?
Final is Pono vs Karjakin…
I have strange feeling that Malakhov will win this
More a question of good luck than being better.
Their individual rating variations over the last year or two are greater than the rating differences between the 6 remaining players. For example, Gelfand was 2719 just over a year ago while Jakovenko has been as high as 2760 on 2 lists this year. Malakhov’s live rating is 2715.
The rating differences are small enough to be insignificant – particularly over a sample as small as 2 games. (& what are the rapid & blitz ratings for each player ?)
I’m sad to see Svidler go, but I loved Malakhov’s underpromotion.
Yes, it is great that they play in this KO-way just now and then, but hopefully not all the time.
By the way, what has happened to Afek´s endgame studies? We are still a few that are eager to see the solution to the last puzzle with all these passed pawn.
Gelfand and Ponomariov win.