World Cup: Bu Xiangzhi, Movsesian, Efimenko & Sokolov eliminated

Sergei Movsesian is the strongest player who already has to leave the World Cup after two days of play. After losing the first game to Yu Yangyi, the Slovak GM was held to a draw in the second game today. Zahar Efimenko was eliminated 1.5-0.5 by Gilberto Milos; Yannick Pelletier beat Bu Xiangzhi with the same score while Ivan Sokolov lost both his games to Sergey Fedorchuk.

The FIDE World Chess Cup takes place November 20th-December 15th inn Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. It's a seven-round knockout with six rounds of matches comprising two games per round. The final seventh round consists of four games.

Round 1 (November 21-23): 128 players	Round 5 (December 3-5): 8 players
Round 2 (November 24-26): 64 players	Round 6 (December 6-8): 4 players
Round 3 (November 27-29): 32 players	Round 7 (December 10-14): 2 players
Round 4 (November 30-December 2): 16 players

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start at 15:00h local time (11:00 CET).

Round 1.2

During the second day of the World Cup the live transmission went well, although we're not too enthusiastic about the choice of game viewer which is the free Montreux Java applet. During replay the games often jump to the final position, and another downside of it is that it doesn't respond to the keyboard arrow keys, which we find much more convenient quickly replaying lots of games. Anyway, enough complaining.

Boris Gelfand, top seed at this event, was indeed the first to reach the second round because he didn't care too much about losing a few rating points and agreed to a draw at move 12. Gashimov, Svidler, Morozevich, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Wang Yue, Mamedyarov, Ganguly, Fressinet and Fedorchuk reached the next round by 2-0 victories; the latter by upsetting the higher-rated Ivan Sokolov.

15-year-old Chinese super-talent (already a GM with 2527 and an expected rating change of 29.7) Yu Yangyi knocked out Sergei Movsesian, who avoided theory today with a Closed Sicilian with c3, but didn't come close to kingside attack. He had to repeat moves to avoid a disaster on the queenside.



The third surprise in this first round so far is the elimination of Zahar Efimenko, who yesterday lost with the white pieces against 46-year-old Gilberto Milos. Today the young Ukrainian reached an ending with three pawns against a knight, but the experienced Brazilian grandmaster didn't falter. Bu Xiangzhi was defeated 0.5-1.5 by Yannick Pelletier, who heroically defended a very difficult position with Black yesterday and then crushed his opponent today in a Grünfeld.

A nice thing about the World Cup is that you get to see top 10 players playing against IMs or "weak" GMs, the kind of opponents almost all of us would lose against. The way these top GMs beat them is often very instructive. In most cases the lower-rated players can go along quite well for a while, but after a few hours of play they inevitably start to make small mistakes, which are immediately punished.

Tomorrow are the tiebreaks of the first round: Dominguez-Smerdon, Navara-Laylo, Bacrot-Nijboer, Hou Yifan-Naiditsch, Li Chao-Sargissian, Kryvoruchko-Cheparinov, Zhou Weiqi-Sutovsky, Iturrizaga-Tiviakov, L'Ami-Sasikiran, Shabalov-Baklan, Khalifman-Fier, Grachev-Bartel, Negi-Milov, Timofeev-Leitao, Gustafsson-Inarkiev, Savchenko-Shulman, Tkachiev-Le Quang Liem, Akobian-Tregubov, So-Guseinov and Nyback-Andreikin.

The rules for the tiebreaks are:

3. 8. 1. a. If the scores are level after the regular games, after a new drawing of colors, four (4) tie-break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move.

3. 8. 1. b. The tie-break games shall be played according to the following: 1. Play is governed by the Technical Regulations (annex 1), which apply with the exceptions mentioned below in (2), (3) and (4). 2. The player do not need to record the moves. An arbiter shall record the moves. 3. The player who has the move may stop the clock and consult the Arbiter’s score sheet and if his next move will produce a threefold repetition of position (according to Article 9.2a of the Technical Regulations), or the 50 moves rule (according to Article 9.3a of the Technical Regulations), he himself must write the intended move on the score sheet and claim the draw if he wants. A player can also claim a draw according to articles 9.2b and 9.3b of the Technical Regulations. If the claim is found to be correct, the game is immediately ended as a draw. If the claim is found to be incorrect, the Arbiter shall add three (3) minutes to the opponent’s remaining time and the game continues with the intended move in accordance with Article 4 of the Technical Regulations. A maximum of two (2) incorrect claims for a draw can be made by each player. If a player makes a 3rd incorrect claim, the arbiter shall declare the game lost for this player. 4. If a game has ended by resignation, checkmate, time loss, stalemate, triple repetition or any other of the ways described in article 5 of the Technical Regulations, no claim for irregularities shall be accepted (irregularities include clock settings and all other described in article 7 of the Technical Regulations). 3. 8. 2. a. If the scores are level after the games in paragraph 3.8.1a, then, after a new drawing of colors, a match of 2 games shall be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. In case of a level score, the same match will be repeated to determine a winner. If still there is no winner after 5 such matches (total 10 games), one sudden-death game will be played as described below in 3.8.3a. 3. 8. 2. b. The games shall be played according to the Rules mentioned in 3.8.1.b. 3. 8. 3. a. If the score is still level after five matches as described in 3.8.2a, the players shall play a single decisive sudden death game. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the opponent with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds from move 61. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is declared the winner. 3. 8. 3. b. The games shall be played according to the Rules mentioned in 3.8.1.b. 3. 8. 4. Between the tie-break games as well as before the start of the sudden death game there shall be a pause of at least 10 minutes, unless the Chief Arbiter decides otherwise.

Games round 1.2

Game viewer by ChessTempo

All photos courtesy of FIDE

Name	NAT	Rtng	G1	G2						Total
Round 1 Match 01
Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2758	1	½						1.5
Obodchuk, Andrei	RUS	2404	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 02
Sarwat, Walaa	EGY	2405	0	0						0
Gashimov, Vugar	AZE	2758	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 03
Svidler, Peter	RUS	2754	1	1						2
Hebert, Jean	CAN	2420	0	0						0
Round 1 Match 04
Abdel Razik, Khaled	EGY	2469	0	0						0
Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2750	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 05
Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	2748	1	1						2
Ezat, Mohamed	EGY	2472	0	0						0
Round 1 Match 06
Bezgodov, Alexei	RUS	2484	0	0						0
Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2739	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 07
Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2739	½	1						1.5
El Gindy, Essam	EGY	2493	½	0						0.5
Round 1 Match 08
Sriram, Jha	IND	2497	½	0						0.5
Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2736	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 09
Jakovenko, Dmitry	RUS	2736	1	½						1.5
Rizouk, Aimen	ALG	2500	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 10
Kabanov, Nikolai	RUS	2501	0	0						0
Wang, Yue	CHN	2734	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 11
Eljanov, Pavel	UKR	2729	1	½						1.5
Al Sayed, Mohamad N.	QAT	2504	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 12
Rodriguez Vila, Andres	URU	2508	0	½						0.5
Karjakin, Sergey	UKR	2723	1	½						1.5
Round 1 Match 13
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2719	1	1						2
Kosteniuk, Alexandra	RUS	2517	0	0						0
Round 1 Match 14
Kunte, Abhijit	IND	2522	½	0						0.5
Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2719	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 15
Dominguez Perez, Leinier	CUB	2719	½	½						1
Smerdon, David	AUS	2525	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 16
Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2527	1	½						1.5
Movsesian, Sergei	SVK	2718	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 17
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2718	½	1						1.5
Yu, Shaoteng	CHN	2529	½	0						0.5
Round 1 Match 18
Pridorozhni, Aleksei	RUS	2533	½	0						0.5
Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	2715	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 19
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	RUS	2708	1	½						1.5
Ivanov, Alexander	USA	2539	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 20
Friedel, Joshua E	USA	2551	0	0						0
Wang, Hao	CHN	2708	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 21
Navara, David	CZE	2707	1	0						1
Laylo, Darwin	PHI	2552	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 22
Amin, Bassem	EGY	2553	0	0						0
Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	2706	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 23
Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2700	½	½						1
Nijboer, Friso	NED	2561	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 24
Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	CHI	2562	0	½						0.5
Rublevsky, Sergei	RUS	2697	1	½						1.5
Round 1 Match 25
Jobava, Baadur	GEO	2696	1	½						1.5
Robson, Ray	USA	2567	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 26
Hess, Robert L	USA	2572	½	0						0.5
Motylev, Alexander	RUS	2695	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 27
Kamsky, Gata	USA	2695	1	½						1.5
Antonio, Rogelio Jr	PHI	2574	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 28
Gupta, Abhijeet	IND	2578	½	0						0.5
Vitiugov, Nikita	RUS	2694	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 29
Bologan, Viktor	MDA	2692	1	½						1.5
Adly, Ahmed	EGY	2583	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 30
Hou, Yifan	CHN	2588	½	½						1
Naiditsch, Arkadij	GER	2689	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 31
Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	2682	½	0						0.5
Pelletier, Yannick	SUI	2589	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 33
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2677	1	½						1.5
Lupulescu, Constantin	ROU	2591	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 34
Li, Chao b	CHN	2596	½	½						1
Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	2676	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 35
Onischuk, Alexander	USA	2672	½	1						1.5
Flores, Diego	ARG	2602	½	0						0.5
Round 1 Match 36
Kryvoruchko, Yuriy	UKR	2602	½	½						1
Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	2671	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 37
Efimenko, Zahar	UKR	2668	0	½						0.5
Milos, Gilberto	BRA	2603	1	½						1.5
Round 1 Match 38
Zhou, Weiqi	CHN	2603	½	½						1
Sutovsky, Emil	ISR	2666	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 39
Najer, Evgeniy	RUS	2666	1	½						1.5
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	IRI	2603	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 40
Iturrizaga, Eduardo	VEN	2605	½	½						1
Tiviakov, Sergei	NED	2664	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 41
Areshchenko, Alexander	UKR	2664	1	½						1.5
Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	CUB	2605	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 42
L'Ami, Erwin	NED	2606	½	½						1.0
Sasikiran, Krishnan	IND	2664	½	½						1.0
Round 1 Match 43
Smirin, Ilia	ISR	2662	1	½						1.5
Ehlvest, Jaan	USA	2606	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 44
Shabalov, Alexander	USA	2606	1	0						1
Baklan, Vladimir	UKR	2655	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 45
Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	IND	2654	1	1						2
Filippov, Anton	UZB	2607	0	0						0
Round 1 Match 46
Khalifman, Alexander	RUS	2612	½	½						1
Fier, Alexandr	BRA	2653	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 47
Fressinet, Laurent	FRA	2653	1	1						2
Sjugirov, Sanan	RUS	2612	0	0						0
Round 1 Match 48
Petrosian, Tigran L.	ARM	2615	½	0						0.5
Meier, Georg	GER	2653	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 49
Grachev, Boris	RUS	2652	½	½						1
Bartel, Mateusz	POL	2618	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 50
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	CUB	2619	½	0						0.5
Caruana, Fabiano	ITA	2652	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 51
Sokolov, Ivan	NED	2652	0	0						0
Fedorchuk, Sergey A.	UKR	2619	1	1						2
Round 1 Match 52
Negi, Parimarjan	IND	2620	1	0						1
Milov, Vadim	SUI	2652	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 53
Timofeev, Artyom	RUS	2651	½	½						1
Leitao, Rafael	BRA	2621	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 54
Gustafsson, Jan	GER	2622	1	0						1
Inarkiev, Ernesto	RUS	2645	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 55
Savchenko, Boris	RUS	2644	½	½						1
Shulman, Yuri	USA	2623	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 56
Sandipan, Chanda	IND	2623	1	½						1.5
Kobalia, Mikhail	RUS	2643	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 57
Tkachiev, Vladislav	FRA	2642	½	½						1
Le, Quang Liem	VIE	2624	½	½						1
Round 1 Match 58
Akobian, Varuzhan	USA	2624	1	0						1
Tregubov, Pavel V.	RUS	2642	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 59
So, Wesley	PHI	2640	1	0						1
Guseinov, Gadir	AZE	2625	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 60
Sakaev, Konstantin	RUS	2626	½	1						1.5
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	PER	2640	½	0						0.5
Round 1 Match 61
Laznicka, Viktor	CZE	2637	1	½						1.5
Papaioannou, Ioannis	GRE	2628	0	½						0.5
Round 1 Match 62
Nyback, Tomi	FIN	2628	1	0						1
Andreikin, Dmitry	RUS	2636	0	1						1
Round 1 Match 63
Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	2634	½	0						0.5
Zhou, Jianchao	CHN	2629	½	1						1.5
Round 1 Match 64
Volkov, Sergey	RUS	2629	0	½						0.5
Amonatov, Farrukh	TJK	2631	1	½						1.5

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