World Cup: Giri & Grischuk Eliminated
After another thrilling tiebreak day at the World Cup most favorites went through, but two big names had to leave Tromsø: Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Alexander Grischuk of Russia. Giri was defeated 1.5-0.5 in the rapid games by Peruvian grandmaster Julio Grand Zuniga, who, at 46, is playing stronger than ever. Grischuk lost with the same score to Le Quang Liem; in the second rapid game the Vietnamese grandmaster, who is the reigning World Blitz Champion, made no mistake and held a R vs. RN ending to a draw.
Grischuk was the favorite in his tiebreak match with Le, not only rating-wise but also after his heroic win on Sunday. The Russian grandmaster levelled the score after a 154-move fight, something that definitely brings some psychological advantage to the board. It was all the more impressive to see the Vietnamese GM outplaying his opponent with the Black in the first rapid game.
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In the second rapid game Le, who took over the world blitz title from Grischuk earlier this year, defended a R vs. RN ending perfectly. Well, except for missing the stalemate trick 85.Rf4+!
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Julio Granda Zuniga's many chess fans must have been happy to see their hero advancing to round 4. The 46-year-old Peruvian grandmaster started the first rapid game in typical quiet, positional style, and kept a slight initiative throughout the game. Anish Giri should have been able to hold it, but one mistake (52...Re7? instead of 52...exf4) was enough and Granda grabbed his chance.
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Drawing the next with Black, Zuniga qualified for a mini-match against the rating favorite, Fabiano Caruana.
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On Facebook, Granda wrote:
"A special feeling overcoming the match with Giri after my initial misfortune. Something extraordinary is happening to me. I feel like my game has improved, although the requirement as you go is growing. Now to do some sports in the gym, try to sleep well and fight hard with Caruana. I take the opportunity here to thank once again so many signs of affection."
Caruana, on his turn, qualified by beating Vladimir Malakhov. It could have gone quite differently if the Russian GM had not missed a forced checkmate in five (on move 57) and another mate in seven (on move 59)...
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Caruana then won the second game convincingly.
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Vladimir Kramnik beat Alexander Areshchenko twice. Especially in the first game, it became clear how big the difference in playing strength was:
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Vassily Ivanchuk also won both games, against his compatriot Yuriy Kryvoruchko. With Black, Chucky played a model Rauzer Sicilian where White could never pose any threats to the enemy king. Don't miss Black's last move!
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Wei Yi, the 14-year-old grandmaster from China, again played very impressive chess. In the end he didn't make it against the reigning World Rapid Champion, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, but look at the first game. The young Chinese player basically refutes Mamedyarov's play and is simply better in the ending. 28...c6 was a one-move blunder that turned the tables, at least psychologically.
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Mamedyarov was again under some pressure in the second game (where Wei played the Evans Gambit!), but this time the Azerbaijani didn't make any serious mistakes and drew it.
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17-year-old Daniil Dubov of Russia was also eliminated in this round. He lost the first game, and Anton Korobov accepted a draw in a winning position in the second. Here's the first game, where, as it turns out, Dubov was winning for one moment (53...Rg1!).
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Alexey Dreev of Russia was eliminated by his compatriot Dmitry Andreikin, and the other all-Russian match Alexander Morozevich vs. Nikita Vitiugov started with many draws. Only in the second blitz game (5 minutes plus 3 seconds), Vitiugov blew a drawn rook ending at the very last moment; 57.Kf1! would have drawn the game.
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Pavel Eljanov was knocked out by Sergey Karjakin, who started with a loss. Can you find what was wrong with Karjakin's defense in the first rapid game?
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The pairings for round four, which starts Tuesday at 15:00 CET, are Tomashevsky - Morozevich, Kamsky - Mamedyarov, Le Quang Liem - Svidler, Karjakin - Andreikin, Caruana - Granda Zuniga, Gelfand - Vachier-Lagrave, Kramnik - Ivanchuk and Nakamura - Korobov.
FIDE World Cup 2013 | Round 3 Tiebreak Results
| Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | G5 | G6 | G7 | G8 | G9 | Pts |
| Karjakin, Sergey | 2772 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | |
| Eljanov, Pavel | 2702 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 3.5 | |
| Morozevich, Alexander | 2739 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | |
| Vitiugov, Nikita | 2719 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3.5 | |
| Andreikin, Dmitry | 2716 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Dreev, Aleksey | 2668 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Caruana, Fabiano | 2796 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Malakhov, Vladimir | 2707 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Kramnik, Vladimir | 2784 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Areshchenko, Alexander | 2709 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | 2731 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Kryvoruchko, Yuriy | 2678 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2775 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Wei, Yi | 2551 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Korobov, Anton | 2720 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Dubov, Daniil | 2624 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Le, Quang Liem | 2702 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Grischuk, Alexander | 2785 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Granda Zuniga, Julio E | 2664 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Giri, Anish | 2737 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1.5 |
Held every two years, the World Cup is part of the World Championship cycle. The winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 2014 Candidates Tournament. The World Cup takes place August 10th-September 3rd in Tromsø, Norway. Photos by Paul Truong courtesy of the official website; games via TWIC.
