Tiebreak round 3: ouch, Ivanchuk out
2 December 2007 21:02 PM | Last modified: 9:33
Most of the chess fans, if not everyone except from those from romanians, are a bit shocked to learn about the early elimination of Vassily Ivanchuk. He didn’t survive the third round of the World Cup as he was beaten by Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in the blitz session of the tiebreak today. The other players who went through to round four together with the Romanian, were Karjakin (who beat Bacrot), Bareev (defeated Grischuk), Aronian (Inarkiev), Sasikiran (Macieja) and Svidler (Rublevsky).
World Cup Round 3 Tiebreak Results
| No. | Name | Country | elo | Name | Country | elo | match result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivanchuk,V | UKR | 2787 | Nisipeanu,LD | ROU | 2668 | 2,5-3,5 |
| 2 | Bacrot,E | FRA | 2695 | Karjakin,S | UKR | 2694 | 1-3 |
| 4 | Grischuk,A | RUS | 2715 | Bareev,E | RUS | 2653 | 1,5-2,5 |
| 5 | Aronian,L | ARM | 2741 | Inarkiev,E | RUS | 2674 | 3-1 |
| 97 | Macieja,B | POL | 2606 | Sasikiran,K | IND | 2661 | 2-4 |
| 11 | Svidler,P | RUS | 2732 | Rublevsky,S | RUS | 2676 | 2,5-1,5 |
Ivanchuk has been among the absolute world elite for decades, and won some of the strongest tournaments along the way. So far the closest he came in the race for the World Championship was in 2002, when he lost the final of the FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament against Ponomariov This year he showed great form, winning tournaments and elo points to reach the number two spot in the world. Like many chess fans, ChessVibes would have loved to see him win in Khanty-Mansiyk to reach the match against Topalov, but it wasn’t meant to be.
World Cup Round 4 Pairings
| No. | Name | Country | elo | Name | Country | elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nisipeanu,LD | ROU | 2668 | Karjakin,S | UKR | 2694 |
| 2 | Alekseev,E | RUS | 2716 | Bareev,E | RUS | 2653 |
| 3 | Aronian,L | ARM | 2741 | Jakovenko,D | RUS | 2710 |
| 4 | Shirov,A | ESP | 2739 | Akopian,V | ARM | 2713 |
| 5 | Sasikiran,K | IND | 2661 | Ponomariov,R | UKR | 2705 |
| 6 | Svidler,P | RUS | 2732 | Kamsky,G | USA | 2714 |
| 7 | Adams,M | ENG | 2729 | Carlsen,M | NOR | 2714 |
| 8 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2703 | Cheparinov,I | BUL | 2670 |
Here’s the complete schedule as from round 3. Click for bigger version:
What a pity that Chuky again didnt qualify for the World Title matches. He is a great man but not stable enough. But we love his games, anyway.
Wouldn’t it be fun if Cheparinov won this event. That would give him a match against his “boss”, Topalov… 8~)
“Most of the chess fans, if not everyone except from those from Romania, are a bit shocked to learn about the early elimination of Vassily Ivanchuk.”
I’m from Romania, but i was rooting for Ivanchuk. I think you’ve meant “except romanians”, not “except from those from Romania”. Great coverage, by the way.
Why did Ivanchuk play Kf8 and not Ke8? I have not checked anything with the computer, but I find it hard to believe the white sac on f7 really works. Maybe it was desperation?
Excellent suggestion, Sofie! If White continues the same as in the game, so 27… Ke8 28. R1g6, then Black does have the move 28…Rh7! after which 29. Rxh7 Nxh7 follows.
This position might well be better for Black. He’s planning 30…Kf7, there’s no 30.Qh6+ and 30. Nd5 is answered by 30…Bg5!.
What do the more tournament players amongst you think about these blitz tie-breaks?
I personally don’t like the fact, that a blitz game decides who is the best of two players under classical(!) time control.
Imagine two racing drivers reach the finish line at the same time and then you let them run 100 meters by feet to decide who is the better driver…
you are right thorex
blitz tie breaks are a joke
Yes I agree, it is a lottery. And sad that this lottery might deliver a ‘candidate’ to play Topalov who is not the strongest player in the Tournament but is just a clever man like Cheparinov or Pono.
But Ron, isn’t that part of the fun here? Why play a tournament of any sort if only “the best” player is allowed to win?
First of all: you cannot be a bad player winning this kind of tournament! Maybe not the best match player, but Topalov is also better in tournaments than in matches!
Further it is just fun having multiple candidates to win a tournament! Formula 1 driving was also not very nice to watch in the seasons Michael Schumacher was winning almost every race, and if he did not win, his teammate did.
Last point: at least a lot of players could hope, starting this tournament, that they could end up with something that would make there names known forever. And with so many players it is just not possible to do it differently I guess.
I agree with Patrick. If you want to let the ’strongest’ player play a match against Topalov, you should just look at the rating list and not have any kind of tournament at all. But of course, the ’strongest’ player is only the strongest player if he can (constantly) prove himself in chess tournaments. That’s the very definition of ’strongest player’! It just doesn’t make sense to say that even though someone was knocked out of a tournament, he’s still the strongest. If he was, he wouldn’t be knocked out. Anyway, you catch my drift.
still, 2 games is not a lot of classical games. I mean, statsticly (looking at the pure rating), a 2700 player shouldnt win more than one out of three vs a 2500 player, so fewer games defenately favor the weaker player. I think 4 games was better, like in the pre-WC knock-out tournament. but then you dramaticly decrease the number of players who can participate (or else it takes two months+ to finish the tournament…). now in the real world more seperates a 2700 player from a 2500, and there was only three players below 2600 (I think) who got to the second round, and none are left in round 4. but its still a bit of a problem that with just one game with white its really up to just one game to beat the opponent, since no matter how good you are you cant always expect to win with black, if the other guy has a good day.
Now the coverage is even better. Good work Chessvibes.
I agree with the reasoning of Thorwijd. But of course Patrick I also enjoy the World Cup enormously. And there is the ’safetynet’ of Topalov to avoid that a possible weaker winner would be able to play for the World Championship.