World Cup Final starts with two draws

Game 1 and 2 of the World Cup final between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov have ended in a draw. In the first, Ponomariov achieved a tiny edge against Gelfand's Petroff but by strong play the Israeli GM held the draw quite easily. The second game lasted only 20 moves, when Gelfand apparently decided that his opponent had equalized in a Catalan.

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 and will be played December 10th-14th. 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).

Games 1 & 2

After the only rest day of the tournament on Wednesday, the final of the FIDE World Cup started yesterday. Our online commentator GM Sipke Ernst wrote: "Both players have shown excellent form throughout the tournament, so it is very hard to pick the winner. A lot will depend on the energy left with the two players. Both enjoyed some rest after the semi-finals (Gelfand even had two restdays in a row) but I think this is hardly enough to recuperate."

Well, perhaps Ruslan Ponomariov is a slight favourite. If only because he has won such a tournament before, back in 2002, when the FIDE World Championship title was at stake. Besides, in head-to-head games Ponomariov scored 9.5-6.5 against Gelfand, although it must be said that half of those games were blitz and rapid games. All games with a classical time control ended in a draw so far, and this is still the case at half time in the final.

In the first game Ruslan Ponomariov started with the white pieces and he had to prove that there's still hope for White against the Petroff, these days played by Boris Gelfand with almost no exception. The 26-year-old Ukrainian chose a set-up that was tried by Akopian a few times, e.g. against Kasimdzhanov in Jermuk this year. As always, Gelfand was well prepared and came up with the new idea 19...Bxe5 and 20...c5. According to GM Ernst this was an instant equalizer.

Still, White's position looked a bit more pleasant, thanks to his bishop pair and a passed d-pawn, but with some tactics Gelfand showed that Black had not much to fear. Afterwards, at the press conference the players were asked whether the Petroff will 'kill chess'. Ponomariov didn't agree as he thought he had reasonable chances in the game. Gelfand said the same: "No, you cannot kill chess. Yes, we played the Petroff but we had the position which gave possibilities for both opponents. Today we were equal. If someone had blundered, we could have scored a result."



Today's game, live commentated by GM Dimitri Reinderman, was rather disappointing. In a Catalan Ponomariov chose a Stonewall set-up and right after the opening, at move 20, he offered a draw, which was accepted by Gelfand. Reinderman: "Gelfand accepted the draw offer from Ponomariov after 8 minutes thinking. The timing of the draw-offer was good: this is the moment that white has to start thinking of a plan, and it's not so easy. If White gives Black hanging pawns, his knight on e5 will be hanging. For Black, the next move isn't obvious too though: both dxc4 Nxc4 (attacking the bishop) and cxd4 exd4 (opening the e-file so White can attack e6) has disadvantages. Rybka doesn't really have a clue either: it gives 21.Nfd3, 21.f3, and 21.Nh3 (strange move, but it does have a nasty threat...) as the best moves (0.2 for White). The first suggestion looks most normal; it's useful to defend the other knight. I hoped to learn something today from how Gelfand would play this type of position: alas it was not to be. At least I learned that he seems to think that Black is ok here..."

You can still replay GM Dimitri Reinderman's annotations on the live page. We're covering the World Cup and the London Chess Classic for free; starting from 2010 our live commentary will be subscription-based. You'll find more info here.

Games 1-2

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
Shabalov (2606)
	Navara (2707)
Navara (2707)
		Karjakin (2723)
Karjakin (2723)
	Karjakin (2723)
Timofeev (2651)
			Karjakin (2723)
Sakaev (2626)
	Sakaev (2626)
Radjabov (2748)
		Vitiugov (2694)
Vitiugov (2694)
	Vitiugov (2694)
Milos (2603)
				Karjakin (2723)
Cheparinov (2671)
	Bologan (2692)
Bologan (2692)
		Laznicka (2637)
Morozevich (2750)
	Laznicka (2637)
Laznicka (2637)
			Mamedyarov (2719)
Milov (2652)
	Mamedyarov (2719)
Mamedyarov (2719)
		Mamedyarov (2719)
Wang Hao (2708)
	Wang Hao (2708)
Ganguly (2654)
					Gelfand (2758)
Meier (2653)
	Vachier-Lagrave (2718)
Vachier-Lagrave (2718)
		Vachier-Lagrave (2718)
Yu Yangyi (2527)
	Yu Yangyi (2527)
Bartel (2618)
			Gelfand (2758)
Amonatov (2631)
	Gelfand (2758)
Gelfand (2758)
		Gelfand (2758)
Polgar (2680)
	Polgar (2680)
Nisipeanu (2677)
				Gelfand (2758)
Iturrizaga (2605)
	Jobava (2696)
Jobava (2696)
		Grischuk (2736)
Grischuk (2736)
	Grischuk (2736)
Tkachiev (2642)
			Jakovenko (2736)
Sandipan (2623)
	Jakovenko (2736)
Jakovenko (2736)
		Jakovenko (2736)
Rublevsky (2697)
	Areshchenko (2664)
Areshchenko (2664)
Sasikiran (2664)
	Bacrot (2700)
Bacrot (2700)
		Bacrot (2700)
Wang Yue (2734)
	Wang Yue (2734)
Savchenko (2644)
			Ponomariov (2739)
Akobian (2624)
	Ponomariov (2739)
Ponomariov (2739)
		Ponomariov (2739)
Motylev (2695)
	Motylev (2695)
Najer (2695
				Ponomariov (2739)
Li Chao (2596)
	Li Chao (2596)
Pelletier (2589)
		Gashimov (2758)
Gashimov (2758)
	Gashimov (2758)
Zhou Jianchao (2629
			Gashimov (2758)
Caruana (2652)
	Caruana (2652)
Dominguez (2719)
		Caruana (2652)
Alekseev (2715)
	Alekseev (2715)
Fressinet (2653)
					Ponomariov (2739)
Khalifman (2612)
	Tomashevsky (2708)
Tomashevsky (2708)
		Shirov (2719)
Shirov (2719)
	Shirov (2719)
Fedorchuk (2619)
			Svidler (2754)
Nyback (2628)
	Svidler (2754)
Svidler (2754)
		Svidler (2754)
Naiditsch (2689)
	Naiditsch (2689)
Onischuk (2672)
				Malakhov (2706)
Zhou Weiqi (2603)
	Kamsky (2695)
Kamsky (2695)
		So (2640)
Ivanchuk (2739)
	So (2640)
So (2640)
			Malakhov (2706)
Inarkiev (2645)
	Eljanov (2729)
Eljanov (2729)
		Malakhov (2706)
Malakhov (2706)
	Malakhov (2706)
Smirin (2662)

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