World Cup Q-Finals Underway

Submitted by SonofPearl on Fri, 12/04/2009 at 12:41am.

At 29 years old and rated 2706 Elo (world rank #31) Vladimir Malakhov (pictured) is the nearest thing to an 'outsider' we have left in the 2009 World Cup. He belied that status in the first round of quarter-final games by surviving a Peter Svidler attack to emerge the winner with the Black pieces.

Sergey Karjakin ended Mamedyarov's unbeaten run in the tournament in a rook endgame to take the upper hand in their match. If Mamedyarov is to survive, he will need to win the second game to enter tie-breaks for his first time in the tournament!

Ponomariov and Gashimov was an exciting game which ended all-square. Gelfand was easily held to a quick draw by Dmitry Jakovenko. All games are below.

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| 2820 reads | 14 comments |

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Comments:

by wrothgar - 2 years ago
marikina Philippines

Member Since: Jul 2009
Member Points: 35

between malakhov and svidler looks like i'm going for svidler this time

by PhilipN - 2 years ago
Oregon United States

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 1104

Merchco, if you don't like boring "grandmaster draws" that are either premature or simply sterile, less fights, then be glad that Tuesday marks the beginning of the London Chess Classic, which features Sofia rules, Bilbao scoring, and (in case all else fails) Hikaru Nakamura! Of course, it also features the fan-drawing Magnus Carlsen and the fighter (who would have said that about him before the Tal Memorial?) Vladimir Kramnik!

Of course, there are a few top British players to round out the competition.

I'm already getting excited, although with Vladimir "defeat the super-GM killer and then go on to win by underpromotion" Malakhov competing against full-time chess professionals, the World Cup still has much excitement to produce in the semifinal and final rounds!

by wbbaxterbones - 2 years ago
Kennebunk United States

Member Since: Apr 2009
Member Points: 466

Kb8 Rd8#

by merchco - 2 years ago
Dublin Ireland

Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 2551

kardjakin mamedyarov why resign for black kb8 saves the check that draw between gelfand and jakavenko should be made illegal and the two players should be banned for quitting halfway through a game

by staggerlee - 2 years ago
United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 891

Svidler Malakhov what a great game with a beautiful finish. That's one of those positions that help people fall in love with chess.

by ninja1125 - 2 years ago
makati Philippines

Member Since: Dec 2009
Member Points: 13

im still rooting for wesley so. even if he lost.

by ninja1125 - 2 years ago
makati Philippines

Member Since: Dec 2009
Member Points: 13

at last im online. goodluck to all the super gm.im still rooting for wesley so. he he

by towtintin - 2 years ago
Midwest United States

Member Since: Sep 2009
Member Points: 82

Love the Svidler vs. Malakhov game. Incredible play by black.

by banjoman - 2 years ago
Edmonds, WA United States

Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 120

The end of the Malakhov game is one for the ages. He wins by an underpromotion, which (a) is the only way to avert Svidler's forced mate, and (b) brings about a forced mate for Black! Does it get any cooler than that?

Chessbase has some good discussion of this game.

by JG27Pyth - 2 years ago
NYC United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 2720

Is Gelfand Jakovenko so surely drawn? White has the bishop pair and his f6 Bishop is strong, Black's N has no good post and Black's d5 pawn is weak. I think White still has a decent advantage.

*edit* -- hmmm -- I wasn't thinking about white's pawns after exf4 -- so Black's d5 pawn is weak for the moment, but it's passed... geez -- they shoulda played on!