Gary Lane and Lee Jones at Khanty-Mansiysk

The World Chess Cup, a knock-out competition, started on November 27 at Khanty-Mansiysk in Siberia. It was won, three gruelling weeks later by Armenia's former World Junior Champion Levon Aronian.

Full results can be viewed at the end of this report.

Khanty-Mansiysk is the capital of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (an Okrug is a political district, similar to a county or small state). It's a comfortable town in Western Siberia and is reminiscent of a Scandinavian resort. Khanty-Mansiysk is described as an attractive tourist town—by Siberian standards, anyway! Situated at latitude 69°N it's level with Iceland's northern coast, just above the Tropic of Frost.

This is a knockout competition and comprises 128 players. Gary Lane qualified by winning the Oceania Zonal in January this year but, so high-powered is this tournament that he qualified in 122nd position. This meant that because the top-seeded player would be matched against the lowest, and so on, Gary's Round 1 opponent would be seventh-seeded GM Vladimir Akopian (2707) of Armenia.

Now we all know Gary's a top player – after all, he knocked off Nigel Short at the last Olympiad – but Akopian was always going to be a tough nut to crack. That's where Caissa stepped in and Akopian cancelled due to illness. With no time to bring in a reserve that meant Gary automatically progressed to Round 2.

To view a full list of competitors with their countries and ratings: CLICK HERE.
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Tie Breaks
If the scores are level after the first two games players must play two rapid games. If at the end of those games they are still level they then play two blitz games of five minutes with ten seconds added. If the scores are still level they draw for colours to play a final game in which white gets six minutes and black gets five with no time added. In the event of this final game being drawn, black is declared the winner.

All the games mentioned in the text can be found in the panel at left of screen.

Round 1:   Vassily Ivanchuk playing on Board 1 startled me with his daring attack against Aleksandr Sibriaev's Sicilian. He pushed all his king-side pawns to the fourth rank while his majesty was still sitting in the middle of the board. Both players eventually castled long CLICK HERE.
Fourteen year-old Magnus Carlsen (he had his 15th birthday before Round 2) conceded 100 rating points to Zurab Azmaiparashvili but was already two pawns up when his doubled rooks on the seventh rang down the curtain CLICK HERE.
Another wunderkind, Ukrainian Sergey Karjakin who once boasted he would be World Champion "when I am sixteen" will have to wait a bit longer. He played Csaba Balogh (Hungary) first up for three draws and a loss. Sergey had two rooks for Balogh's queen but they couldn't be co-ordinated and white's "a" pawn proved unstoppable CLICK HERE.
Valerij Popov's final position was almost a visual representation of a child's sandcastle, and it offered about as much protection when Alexander Onischuk's rook invaded the eighth rank CLICK HERE.
 
Some more Round 1 games:  
Gelfand-Kobese:   CLICK HERE.
Grischuk-Needleman:   CLICK HERE.
Li-Vallejo Pons:   CLICK HERE.
Nakamura-Ganguly:   CLICK HERE.
Stripunsky-Areschenko:   CLICK HERE.
Sokolov-Stefanova:   CLICK HERE.

Round 2 – Gary Lane vs. Baadur Jobava

Round 2:   The field was now down to thirty-two boards and Gary Lane entered the lists against Georgian GM Baadur Jobava. Jobava was able to turn an enormous space advantage into the win of a pawn which, when pushed, quickly ended the game CLICK HERE.   The second game was drawn by repetition, CLICK HERE, allowing Jobava to move on to the next round and Gary to catch an early flight to sunny Sydney.
Aronian's win over Sadvakasov was quick and brutal. When black played 16. ...Qe5+ he perhaps hadn't expected 17. Be3, but the prelate was perfectly safe since the d4 pawn was pinned CLICK HERE.
Sokolov's win against Zhong Zhang was pretty brutal, too. He gave up two rooks for black's queen but Zhang's king was so badly exposed that the position couldn't be defended CLICK HERE.
In a complicated tactical game Grischuk was too strong for Istratescu who, the exchange ahead, was forced to sacrifice rook for pawn allowing the Russian an easily won end game CLICK HERE.
Alexei Shirov playing black gave up two pieces for a rook in this Ruy Lopez before winning a complicated position from Vasilios Kotronias CLICK HERE.
Kazhgaleyev must have wondered what happened to all his pawns in his game against Radjabov. Two pawns down and about to lose another, when his own three pawns would be confined to two files, he had no way to stop the flood CLICK HERE.  
 
And some more Round 2 games:  
Bareev-Naiditsch:   CLICK HERE.
Harikrishna-Veskovi:   CLICK HERE.
Gelfand-Felgaer:   CLICK HERE.
Kempinski-Bacrot:   CLICK HERE.

Round 3:   Again the numbers have been halved. Thirty-two players were left on sixteen boards and, while wins are so important if the players are to progress, in the first game of this round there were ten draws. Perhaps it's caution, perhaps the standard is so high, perhaps weariness is taking a toll.
On Board 1 the young Magnus Carlsen may well have been fatigued at the end of this 85 move marathon but it didn't detract from his play. The exchange up he forced Ivan Cheparinov's horse into its stable on h1 and locked the door CLICK HERE.
By contrast Aronian persuaded Areschenko to resign in about half the time CLICK HERE.
Loek Van Wely's energetic bishop pair made it look easy against Teimur Radjabov in this Dutch treat CLICK HERE.
Ruslan Ponomariov's king made a surprising tour of his kingdom, picked up a Chinese takeaway on move 35 and, a few moves later, gave Jun Xu an ultimatum to exchange queens or resign CLICK HERE.
Tiviakov's queen took on too much work in this one and suffered a nervous breakdown when Sakaev sacrificed a knight on move 65 CLICK HERE.
On the other hand, black's queen completed a mating net in this Bareev-Bruzon clash CLICK HERE.
After the second game of Round 3 only five players had moved on. The rest all faced a tie-break.
When Alexander Khalifman blamed his age for his Round 2 departure (poor old bugger will be forty next month) he was obviously tipping a young person to be the ultimate winner but the youngest player, Magnus Carlsen, showed his first weakness when Ivan Cheparinov buffeted his queen into a position where she tried to defend two pieces CLICK HERE.
Their first game drawn, Alexei Shirov launched an all out king-side attack against Mikhail Gurevich who was able to turn it around, win the exchange, and leave Shirov's position in tatters CLICK HERE.
Teimur Radjabov had a quick win over Loek Van Wely with a knight fork that capitalised on black's vulnerable king CLICK HERE.
Ponomariov's knight offered it's life for a pawn in this one and Xu started thinking about the flight home to China CLICK HERE.
 
Round 3 Tie-Breakers:
Carlsen made no bones about the two Rapid games. He won the first in a standard rook-and-pawn ending, and when Cheparinov threatened his queen in the second he said, "Be my guest. Don't forget your antacid tablets!" CLICK HERE.
Sutovsky wasn't able to defend his pinned bishop with Rxe6 in this one because of Bacrot's threatened fork on g5 CLICK HERE.
Gata Kamsky built a barricade between Ilia Smirin's rook and his soon-to-be-queen, then used a couple of checks to prevent Smirin's knight fork on c3 CLICK HERE.
Just for fun, here's the Blitz tie-break between Levan Pantsulaia and Boris Gelfand. I don't know the Georgian word for "Oops!" but I'm willing to bet that's what Pantsulaia said . . . at the very least! CLICK HERE.

Round 4 – Games 1 & 2:   There were only three wins from the first game of this round. Grischuk beat Kamsky quickly (33 moves) with a neat positional sacrifice that tied up all black's pieces and cleared the way for white's h-pawn CLICK HERE.
After Sakaev played 7.g4 he lost momentum and, in a wide open position, always seemed to be a move behind Rublevsky's attack. A quickie! CLICK HERE.
In a game that was longer than the two previous games combined, Ponomariov's simple knight fork ended Van Wely's chances CLICK HERE.
Once again simplicity in Game 2 as Ponomariov's discovered attack won quickly and we can say, "Vaarwel" to Van Wely CLICK HERE. The other seven matches in Game 2 were drawn and will have to go to a tie break.
 

Magnus Carlsen: The youngest

Here are the draws:  
Bareev-Carlsen:   CLICK HERE.
Bacrot-Lautier:   CLICK HERE.
Vallejo Pons-Aronian:   CLICK HERE.
Dreev-Gelfand:   CLICK HERE.
Gurevich-Malakhov:   CLICK HERE.
Carlsen-Bareev:   CLICK HERE.
Lautier-Bacrot:   CLICK HERE.
Aronian-Vallejo Pons:   CLICK HERE.
Kamsky-Grischuk:   CLICK HERE.
Gelfand-Dreev:   CLICK HERE.
Malakhov-Gurevich:   CLICK HERE.
Rublevsky-Sakaev:   CLICK HERE.
 
The tie-breaks:  
Magnus Carlsen "won" Evgeny Bareev's queen but at cost of a rook and two pieces. Had he tried to win back the bishop by 40. Qxe3 the check at a2 and a knight fork would have left Bareev a piece to the good CLICK HERE.
If this all-French affair were a fairytale it would probably be The Frog Prince. Etienne Bacrot took a step closer to the crown while Joel Lautier's king croaked CLICK HERE.
Gelfand's knights proved too strong for Dreev's knight and bishop in this one CLICK HERE.
In a longish game Gurevich's rook kept Malakhov's king away from the action in this R+P ending CLICK HERE.
Never miss a check, it might be mate. Vallejo Pons tried one "spite check" against Aronian before deciding that "Resigns" was a better option CLICK HERE.
In a tactical treat Dreev evened the score with Gelfand in this brevity CLICK HERE, but, in the only tie-break to go to Blitz, Gelfand won the final game to progress to Round 5.

Only eight players remain. They are: Bareev, Ponomariov, Rublevsky, Bacrot, Aronian, Gurevich, Gelfand and Grischuk. The eight players eliminated in Round 4 will stay in the tournament but will play for 9th – 16th places. They are: Carlsen, Lautier, Kamsky, Sakaev, Malakhov, Dreev, Vallejo Pons and Van Wely.

Reminiscent of a Scandinavian resort (with onion domes) Khanty-Mansiysk is a winter wonderland. Most of the region is treed with cedar, pine, fir, larch, birch, and aspen. The forests of the Okrug, apart from their natural beauty, contribute 4% of the timber revenue for the entire Russian Union. And not a gulag in sight!

Round 5:  Boards 1-4
Boris Gelfand made it look easy when he beat Alexander Grischuk CLICK HERE.
The other three games were drawn:
Bareev-Ponomariov:   CLICK HERE.
Rublevsky-Bacrot:   CLICK HERE.
Aronian-Gurevich:   CLICK HERE.
In an alliterated end game Ponomariov's pushy pawn, backed by a bronco, made the board unbearable for Bareev's bishop CLICK HERE.
And another case of pawn power. Despite his exposed king, Bacrot's rook and bishops controlled too much space for Rublevsky to defend CLICK HERE.
Opposite-coloured bishops and two pawns against one, but it was enough for Aronian to beat Gurevich with the black pieces CLICK HERE.
Gelfand gave up his rook for bishop and pawn but Grischuk wasn't planning to lose two in a row CLICK HERE.

Round 5:  Boards 5-8
Sakaev played 37...Rd7 and resigned. Apparently he had thought Kamsky's rook was tied to the back rank but after 38. Rxd7 Qc1+ 39. Qb1 the mate is defended. Sakaev could then pick up Kamsky's knight but would remain a rook behind CLICK HERE.
In the second decisive game, when Alexey Dreev played 52...Bd6 perhaps he was heading to a3 where he could relieve the pressure, but Vladimir Malakhov's immediate 53. Bf1 threatened mate as well as the unprotected rook on h3 CLICK HERE.
And two draws follow:
Carlsen-Lautier:   CLICK HERE.
Vallejo Pons-Van Wely:   CLICK HERE.
Carlsen was the exchange behind in the second game of the round, but an aggressive king and a black pawn on d2 were enough to give him victory over Lautier CLICK HERE.
And three draws:
Sakaev-Kamsky:   CLICK HERE.
Dreev-Malakov:   CLICK HERE.
Van Wely-Vallejo Pons:   CLICK HERE.

The tie-breaks:  
Metamorphosis? In the second of their rapid games Vallejo-Pons devised a resourceful defence against Van Wely's spectacular, sacrificial attack. When his knight leapt to d3, blocking the Dutchman's final check, Van Wely discovered that attack had turned to defence and resigned CLICK HERE.
Grischuk and Gelfand tied the rapid play but Grischuk won both blitz games:
Grischuk-Gelfand:   CLICK HERE.
Gelfand-Grischuk:   CLICK HERE.

Round 6:  Although sixteen players remain the refining process continues and the tournament has fragmented into four separate groups. Still playing for the first four places are Grischuk, Ponomariov, Bacrot and Aronian. Playing for 5-8 are Rublevsky, Bareev, Gurevich and Gelfand. Playing for 9-12 are Malakhov, Carlsen, Kamsky and Vallejo Pons. Playing for 13-16 are Lautier, Van Wely, Dreev and Sakaev.
Don't expect a lessening of interest on the lower boards; there's still a lot of money attached to these results and the table below shows the spread of prize money for the top sixteen positions. The money is in US dollars.

Game 1:
Six draws from this round, some of them extremely short, may be an indication of the players' weariness; even so, it seems risky to take an unofficial "rest day" in the penultimate round.
After launching an attack that ran out of puff Gurevich found himself a piece down with a simple win to Gelfand CLICK HERE.
The only other win was the Dreev-Sakaev game when Dreev found time to pinch a piece while Sakaev was building a mating net. [He could get back to defend by 39...Kf8, 40 Qc5+. (39...Kh8 loses another piece after 40 Qd8+ and 41 Qxd3+ and the defence is even easier)] CLICK HERE.
The draws:
Grischuk-Ponomariov:   CLICK HERE.
Bacrot-Aronian:   CLICK HERE.
Rublevsky-Bareev:   CLICK HERE.
Malakhov-Carlsen:   CLICK HERE.
Kamsky-Vallejo Pons:   CLICK HERE.
Lautier-Van Wely:   CLICK HERE.

Game 2:
Again only two games decided in this second game of the round. Two of the draws were seriously contested, the other four were brief "grandmaster" draws like some of those displayed for Game 1. They have been omitted.
Aronian had two pawns to Bacrot's one and with opposite coloured bishops looked like a draw to me, but Bacrot resigned. Anyone who sends in the winning sequence will win free entry to the Rooty Hill Transfer Tournament on January 2! So Aronian moves forward and will play either Ponomariov or Grischuk for first place CLICK HERE.
Gelfand also won his game against Gurevich who had to swap a knight for Gelfand's new queen CLICK HERE.
If Malakhov felt like a rest day against Carlsen he must have been disappointed. The game was drawn, but only after a tough struggle CLICK HERE.
Another fighting draw was Konstantin Sakaev vs Alexey Dreev CLICK HERE.

The tie-breaks:
When hostilities had ceased for Round 6 only two players were left to fight for first place: Ruslan Ponomariov and Levon Aronian.
To save space, the rapid and blitz draws have been omitted.
Grischuk-Ponomariov:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Bareev-Rublevsky:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Malakov-Carlsen:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Kamsky-Vallejo Pons:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Ponomariov-Grischuk:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Carlsen-Malakhov:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Vallejo Pons-Kamsky:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Malakhov-Carlsen:   CLICK HERE 0-1 Blitz
Van Wely-Lautier:   CLICK HERE 1-0 Blitz
Vallejo Pons-Kamsky:   CLICK HERE 0-1 Blitz

Round 7 – Game 1:  In the first game of this final round there were four short draws, three of them in 20 moves or less. I won't bother to reproduce them here but there was plenty of excitement in the other games.
Carlsen conceded Kamsky two bishops for a rook and two pawns but was able to enter the endgame the exchange and a pawn to the good. He had the option of exchanging one of his rooks for bishop and pawn, leaving an open road to the queening square CLICK HERE.
Rublevsky's 23. Bxe6+ caught Gurevich by surprise. If fxe6 the black rook dies, if the king moves he gets drawn into a mating net. Gurevich resigned. CLICK HERE.
Vallejo Pons had a few nuisance checks available but when they ran out Malakhov's queen and knights were poised to crawl all over black's king CLICK HERE.
Van Wely's advanced h-pawn forced Dreev's queen to the wrong side of the board, allowing white's queen to get up close and personal with the black king CLICK HERE.
Game 2:   Even more draws in Game 2.
A couple of pawns in arrears but with a black passed pawn on a3 Carlsen played 30...Rf8 which seemed reasonable (white's queen would be confined to the diagonal to prevent a2 since black's mating threats at f2 would prohibit Ra1). Then Kamsky's b-pawn got above its station, did a Paul Keating, and gave her majesty a cuddle. Carlsen resigned CLICK HERE.
Dreev was a rook and knight to the good against Van Wely's apparently safe g-pawn but after 39. Nf8 Dreev threatened 40. Rxf7+ or 40. Ne6 when fxe6 clears the road for the rook and anything else allows the knight (or rook) to catch the pawn CLICK HERE.
Here's a fighting draw on the top board between Aronian and Ponomariov CLICK HERE.
Gurevich's perpetual check was enough to concede seventh place to Rublevsky CLICK HERE.
Vallejo Pons-Malakhov drew a rook-and-pawn ending CLICK HERE.
 

Levon Aronian

Round 7 Tie Breaks:  
Aronian-Ponomariov:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Bacrot-Grischuk:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Gelfand-Bareev:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Kamsky-Carlsen:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Sakaev-Lautier:   CLICK HERE 1-0
Carlsen-Kamsky:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Van Wely-Dreev:   CLICK HERE 0-1
Lautier-Sakaev:   CLICK HERE 1-0

And the winner is...
Levon Aronian was born on October 6, 1982. He learned to play chess at age nine and, in 1994, won the World Under-12 Championship ahead of players like Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Grischuk and Etienne Bacrot..
Aronian won his grandmaster title in 2001 and the following year became the World Junior Champion with a score of 10/13.
He eliminated Magnus Carlsen and Gadir Guseinov from the FIDE World Championship in Tripoli in 2004 but lost his third round match to Pavel Smirnov.
Aronian served notice of his ability to win the Chess World Cup when, in April this year. he entered the FIDE top-ten rating list for the first time.
He was seeded third in this event behind Vassily Ivanchuk and Etienne Bacrot.

                    —Report:   David Evans