World Cup R5: Malakhov and Karjakin take the lead
03.12.2009 – Gelfand vs Jakovenko was a wholly uneventful 18-move draw; Ponomariov played well against Gashimov but was not able to clinch it when the opportunity came around; Shakh Mamediarov survived some shaky moments against Sergey Karjakin, only to blow it in the end; and Peter Svidler had a brilliant win against Vald Malakhov that was marred by a tiny little point in the end. Express report.
The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. 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, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m. New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship Cycle 2009-2011.
Round four tiebreaks
Ponomariov,R (2739) - Gashimov,V (2758) [A62]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (5.1), 03.12.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 Re8 11.h3 Nbd7 12.Bf4 Qc7 13.Re1 Nh5 14.Bd2 Rb8 15.a5 b5 16.axb6 Qxb6 17.Na4 Qc7 18.Bc3 f5 19.e3 Nhf6 20.Rc1 Ne4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Nd4 Ndf6 23.Nc6 Rb7 24.b4 cxb4 25.Qd4 b3 26.g4 fxg4 27.hxg4 b2 28.Nxb2 Rb5? He should have simply taken the pawn on g4 with the bishop.
Now Ruslan Ponomariov has a great chance: 29.f3 Rxd5 (that had to be Gashimov's intention) 30.Nb4 Rc5 31.N2d3 is very good for White. Instead the Ukrainian former FIDE world champion throws it away with 29.Nd3? White is still better, but it is not enough to win. 29...Qf7 30.Nf4 Bd7 31.Ne6+ Bxe6 32.dxe6 Qxe6 33.f3 Ng5 34.f4 Qxg4 35.fxg5 Rxg5 36.Rc2 Qxd4 37.Nxd4 Nd5 38.Nf3 Rg4 39.Nh2 Rg5 40.Nf3 Rg4 41.Nh2 Rg5 42.Nf3 draw (by repetition). [Click to replay]
Karjakin,Sergey (2723) - Mamedyarov,S (2719) [C80]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (5.1), 03.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.b4 0-0 16.Re1 Qd5 17.h3 Rfd8 18.g4 Be6 19.Re3 h5 20.Qxd3 Qxd3 21.Bxd3 hxg4 22.hxg4 Bd5 23.Bc2 Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Nxe5 25.Rh3 g6 26.g5 Re8 27.Bf4 Bf8 28.Re3 Bd6 29.Bb3 Nc4 30.Bxc4 Bxf4 31.Rf3 Bh2+ 32.Kxh2 bxc4 33.Rf4 Re5 34.Rxc4 Rxg5 35.Ra5 Rxa5 36.bxa5 Ra7 37.Kg3 Kf8 38.Kf4 Ke7 39.b4 Kd7 40.Ke5 Rb7 41.Rd4+ Kc8 42.Kf6 Rb5 43.Rf4 Rd5 44.Kxf7 g5 45.Rf6 Rd3 46.c4 Rd4 47.c5 Rxb4 48.c6 Kd8? 49.Rf5
Black has been in and out of trouble for a while now. But just when it looks like he is going to survive he makes a terrible mistake: 50...Rb2?? Do you see why this is fatal? 50.f4! Rf2 (50...gxf4? 51.Rh5 leads to an instant forced mate!) 51.Rd5+ Kc8 52.Ke7 and the threat is 53.Rd8#, for which Black has no defence (52...Re2+ 53.Re5 or 52...Kb8 53.fxg5) 1-0. [Click to replay]
Svidler,P (2754) - Malakhov,V (2706) [D15]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (5.1), 03.12.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.e3 b5 6.c5 g6 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Bg7 10.g4 e5 11.Qg3 Nfd7 12.Ne2 Qe7 13.0-0 h5 14.f3 Nf8 15.a4 b4 16.Bd2 a5 17.e4 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Ne6 19.Rae1 h4 20.Qf2 0-0 21.f4 exd4 22.f5 Nxc5 23.Bb1 d3 24.Nc1 Qd6 25.Ba2?
Peter Svidler has invested two pawns in an attack that must succeed. Now he gets into real trouble by ignoring Black's counter. 25...Bd4 26.Be3 Ne4 27.Qxh4? This probably overlooks an extraordinary point that Black has at his disposal: 27...g5 28.Qh5 d2 29.f6 Qxf6 30.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 31.Kg2
White is completly winning: after 31...dxe1Q (what else?) Black gets mated: 32.Bxf7+ Rxf7 33.Qxf7+ Kh8 34.Qf8+ Kh7 35.Rf7+ Kg6 36.Qg8+ Kh6 37.Rh7#. Beautiful win by Svidler – except for one little point. And here's today's chess puzzle: how did Malakhov turn this game around and secure the full point? 0-1. [Click to replay]
Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE
