Ponomariov Makes World Cup Final

And then there were two... Ruslan Ponomariov finally ended the dreams of Vladimir Malakhov to advance to the final of the 2009 World Cup.

It was a dramatic tie-break encounter that could so easily have gone the other way.  Malakhov won the first of the rapid games with the black pieces to pile the pressure on his opponent. 

However, Ponomariov also won with black in game two and then turned the tables in the third game to take the lead.  Malakhov failed to get the win he needed in the final tie-break game, and it was all over.

So 128 players have been whittled down to just two.  Top seed Boris Gelfand will face former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in a four-game final match.

A tense struggle.  Picture from the official site.