2011 World Cup: Round #5

2011 World Cup
August 26th-September 21st, 2011
(Khanty Mansiysk, Russia)
Round #5
#
Name
Flag
Nation
Result
Name
Flag
Nation
1 Polgar, J
HUN
½-1½
Svidler, P
RUS
2 Ivanchuk, V
UKR
2½-1½
Radjabov, T
AZE
3 Grischuk, A
RUS
2½-1½
Navara, D
CZE
4 Ponomariov, R
UKR
1½-½
Gashimov, V
AZE
Pairing Tree

Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

16 Comments

  1. Chucky, is on fire!! He might be difficult to beat in this tournament. Daaim, will you post the games on your after they are played? It would keep us from looking at the games on other sites. Also, very light analysis would help the less experience players. I know,
    TIME, TIME, TIME IS SHORT!

    1. I will post the games. I put the link because it had the Houdini engine which is very convenient. Report coming! You’re right. You never have as much to do everything you want.

  2. Round #5 – Game #1
    Friday, 9 September 2011

    Ivanchuk breaks on top after Radjabov oversight… short draws today

    Let us hope that this tournament will not evolve into one of the drawfests often seen at top level. There were big complaints at the Candidates Matches where 90% of the games were drawn… many of them rather short and lacking inspiration.

    Grischuk missed this decisive shot 28. Nf6+! and after 28…Nxf6 29. Bxg5 Nxg4 30. Bxd8 Nxf2+ 31. Rxf2 Rdxd8 32. Qg5 white had absolute winning position.

    In today’s encounter, Ivanchuk capitalized on a blunder by Radjabov to take a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal match. The game was approximately equal until Radjabov played the horrendous 27…g5?? and was met with 28.Nf6+! with a winning attack. The Azeri player decided to pitch his queen and try to coordinate his minor pieces, but there were already too many weaknesses in his position and he lost more material.

    The other games were drawn, but it was the Svidler-Polgar game that attracted attention. The game was approximately equal, but Judit decided to take the draw after 14.Bxg2 and try her fortunes tomorrow. Grischuk-Navara was interesting, but yielded nothing. The game would have descended into a symmetical draw. In Ponomariov-Gashimov, it turns out that they trusted each other in preparation and will try again tomorrow to have another go at it.

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

  3. A very nice win by Chucky. He side stepped the Dragon and outplayed Radjabov in a basic position. Chucky made this win look easy. It is always good to have a side line against the Sicilian Defense. Radjabov is an expert on the main line Dragon, but examine how he is depose of with a side line! Peter played a Najdorf against Judith!! that’s a surprise, considering her strength is in complicated sharp positions. I think this was a brave decision by Peter. I wonder why didn’t Judith play on?

        1. Well… Judit did play on. She had a chance to repeat the position and played on. The commentators were saying that she overestimated her chances with the 27.Qh5 idea. Svidler stated that he had little worries with so few pieces on the board and gives 36…e4! as a key move. That pawn cut white’s position in two and aided in a cute mating attack.

  4. Round #5 – Game #2
    Saturday, 10 September 2011

    Svidler ends Polgar’s “cinderella” run… Gashimov also eliminated

    Both Polgar and Gashimov (both on right) were eliminated, but both brought some thrilling moments. Photos from https://chess.ugrasport.com/.

    Ruslan Ponomariov showed fine technique in converting a tablebase ending against Vugar Gashimov today. There were points that appeared to draw for the Azeri player, but inaccuracies were traded by both sides. Gashimov look a bit dejected as he must’ve realized that a draw slipped from his grasp but for a rash of mistakes. Shaking his head, he resigned. Ponomariov is heading toward a ten-year anniversary since winning the 2001 FIDE World Cup. Ponomariov beat Ivanchuk in the 2001 final and we could have a repeat final.

    Radjabov evened the score in crushing fashion.

    Meanwhile, Vassily Ivanchuk had a disastrous round when Teimour Radjabov gave the Ukrainian a dose of his own medicine by sacrificing on the g5-square on move 10. In Ivanchuk’s win the previous day, he sacrificed on f6-square making way for a g5-invasion. Radjabov made good use of his passed h-pawn by netting an exchange and blasting open the center. Ivanchuk had to donate another exchange and white pieces swarming his king. In an absolutely hopeless position, he resigned on move 28.

    David Navara has become an unsung hero in this tournament for his act of sportsmanship in the Moiseenko match. Today, he had Alexander Grischuk on the ropes with an absolute winning position but frittered the advantage away. Navara admitted as much in the press conference. This is certainly not a good position to be in with Grischuk being one of the world’s best rapid players.

    If there was a “cinderella” story in the tournament it is appropriately that of Judit Polgar’s march to the fifth round by beating strong competition including the top seed Sergey Karjakin. In this game, Peter Svidler trotted out a Najdorf and Polgar chose an interesting move order perhaps to sidestep his preparation. Polgar went right for the attack with 11.f5 but this seemed premature, but she got some play on Svidler’s light squares.

    However, with the f-file closed, black had little worries there and Svidler remarked that he felt safe. Polgar tried to drum up a three-piece attack, but there simply wasn’t enough to break through. Svidler played 36…e4! and the tide begin to turn. The pawn essentially cut white position in half. While Polgar continued proding, she forgot about her own weaknessess and Svidler got a strong counterattack. He ended the game with the snappy 45…Bxg3!

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

    1. Great work Judit! I say it proudly you have managed to keep your head high, and this is just the beginning of so many of these great performances. Can hardly wait to see you back in action!!

      Thank you for the entertaining chess, now there is no umpf! left in the cup.

      Well done Judit, the chess world needs you!

      1. If I was a betting man, I’d say that Judit will be back in the top 20 soon and maybe even back to the top 10 where she once was.

  5. Round #5 – Tiebreaks
    Sunday, 11 September 2011

    It will be a Russia-Ukraine “Final Four”

    Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk complete the field for the semifinals by ousting Teimour Radjabov and David Navara respectively.

    Grischuk outplayed in an Advanced Caro-Kann when Navara’s king got stuck in the line of fire and the Russian hit him with a nice shot in 23.Ng3+! In the second game Navara had built up a slight advantage and even had an extra pawn. However, he allowed the trade of queens and any chance of leveling the score had dissipated.

    Looks are deceiving. The grim Grischuk was victorious and the smiling Navara had just lost. Navara proved to be a class act. Photos from https://chess.ugrasport.com/.

    In Radjabov-Ivanchuk first tiebreak, the game featured another textbook ending with rook versus bishop, but Ivanchuk was able to go to the correct corner and get the half-point. In the second game, Ivanchuk and advantage in space and the two bishops, but Radjabov continued to struggle to hold. However, there were too many leaks in his wall and Ivanchuk crashed through after 52…Nb6?? On 53.hxg6 white is completely winning after 53…fxg6 (53…hxg6 54.Bf6+ and 55.Rh1 wins) 54.Bxb6 since 54…Rxb6 55.Rc7 wins.

    Moving onto the next round, Svidler will play Ponomariov while Ivanchuk will play Grischuk. Both matches will be hotly contested.

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

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