Svidler Strikes First In World Cup Final

Peter Svidler took a crucial victory with black in the first game of the World Cup final after Alexander Grischuk's time-trouble antics finally caught up with him.

Grischuk had to rely solely on the 30 second increment for his thinking time from move 24 onwards.

It was too much even for Grischuk to survive unscathed, so Svidler takes the lead after the first game of the 4-game final match.

In the 3rd/4th place playoff which decides the last player to qualify from the World Cup to the Candidates Tournament, Vassily Ivanchuk was unable to take advantage of some chances with the white pieces, and the game petered out to a draw.

His name is Alexander Grischuk, and he's a time trouble addict

A smiling Ivanchuk didn't seem too disappointed at the post-game press conference

Games start at 15:00 local time (09:00 UTC). The time control for the regular games is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second increment from the start. Rapid games are at 25 minutes plus 10 second increment, and if scores are still level then 10 minutes plus 10 second increment, 5 minutes plus 3 second increment, and finally sudden-death 5 min v 4 min with a 3 second increment after move 60.

The official website with live coverage and commentary in Russian and English is here.

Photos from the official website.