2009 World Cup: Round #1
Eshan Ghaem Maghami (Iran) chats with fellow-GM Darwin Laylo (Philippines) before action starts. Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE. Gallery link, ugra-chess.ru.
The opening round of the 2009 World Cup had few surprises, but it is clear that the balance of power is shifting. Certainly the Russians still have the most numbers, but there are some rising powers such as Azerbaijan (European Champion) and China that will send players deep into the tournament. China Yu Yangyi upset Slovakia’s Sergei Movesesian and is maintaining the momentum from the World Junior in which he placed 7th.
Most of the higher-seeded players won their matches with top-seed Boris Gelfand dispatched off Russia’s Andrei Obodchuk 1½-½. Other notable players were sent packing includes Bu Xiangzhi (by Pelletier) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (by Mamedyarov). All six Egyptians had early exits as well. The U.S. only pushed three players to the second round out of 10.
Results: https://cup2009.fide.com/results.php
Games (PGN): (all)
Gabriel Sargissian looks determined,
but would be upset by the upstart from China, Li Chao.
Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE. Gallery link, ugra-chess.ru.
As mentioned, Yu Yangyi upset Sergei Movsesian. Rising star Li Chao (Li’s rating is 2596, not 2320) eliminated Gabriel Sargissian to advance. Zhou Jianchao beat Rauf Mamedov and Zhou Weiqi beat Emil Sutovsky from Israel. Of the “upsets” in the first round the Chinese had five of them.
Wesley So of the Philippines moves on after beating Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan. Appears the the east is shining bright!
Varuzhan Akobian and Pavel Trebugov would start what would be the marathon match of the round. Both played a total 16 match games with Akobian winning 9-7! The two played 10 blitz tiebreakers. Amazing! See Games! Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE. Gallery link, ugra-chess.ru.
The first round of the 2009 FIDE World Cup ended without many big surprises (Yu Yangyi beating Movsesian is biggest), but the finale featured a 16-game match between Varuzhan Akobian and Pavel Trebugov. One game featured an overlooked mate in one. Akobian won the 6th round of tiebreakers and proceeded to the next round against Ruslan Ponomariov.
Yu Yangyi (2527) enroute to beating Sergei Movesesian (2719).
Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE. Gallery link, ugra-chess.ru.
There were some other hotly-contested tiebreakers… one resulted in Alexander Shabalov besting Vladimir Baklan. This game feature a number of exciting game including one where one rook was fighting five pawns! Another featured an elementary opening blunder by Shabalov. The Latvian-born, Tal protege clinched the match by trotting out the Smith-Morra Gambit.
The official made mention of the young players in the tournament:
While Fabiano and So have gone through, the rest will have to wait for another chance to move into the elite ranks. In addition, none of the African representatives went through. Asia seems to be the brightest hope outside of Europe. Chinese players are breathing fire going into round two.