World Cup Round 1 Completed
Gata Kamsky and Alexander Morozevich both survived rapid tie-breaks to book their place in the second round of the 2011 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
Etienne Bacrot is also through safely, but he needed four tie-break games to finally end Ray Robson's brave challenge.
Yuri Shulman narrowly lost his match with Vladimir Potkin, but 17 year-old Wesley So beat 18 year-old Ding Liren to progress.
Peter Heine Nielsen had to go to blitz games to beat Evgeny Postny, while Alexander Motylev was eliminated in the cruelest way possible - the sudden death game.
Vallejo-Pons (left) was another top player to survive tie-breaks
Bacrot edged past Robson
Morozevich won both his rapid tie-break games
All the tie-break match results:
| Name | G1 | G2 | R1 | R2 | r3 | r4 | B1 | B2 | SD | Tot |
| Kamsky, Gata (USA) | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | |||||
| Di Berardino, Diego Rafae (BRA) | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | |||||
| Bezgodov, Alexei (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Cori, Jorge (PER) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Robson, Ray (USA) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | |||||
| Felgaer, Ruben (ARG) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | |||||
| Vorobiov, Evgeny E. (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | |||||
| Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | |||||
| Zherebukh, Yaroslav (UKR) | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Eljanov, Pavel (UKR) | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Morozevich, Alexander (RUS) | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Halkias, Stelios (GRE) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Drozdovskij, Yuri (UKR) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5 |
| Motylev, Alexander (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 4 |
| Shulman, Yuri (USA) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 2.5 | |||
| Potkin, Vladimir (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | |||
| Nielsen, Peter Heine (DEN) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Postny, Evgeny (ISR) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Lysyj, Igor (RUS) | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | |||
| Quesada Perez, Yuniesky (CUB) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 2.5 | |||
| Iordachescu, Viorel (MDA) | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | |||||
| Feller, Sebastien (FRA) | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | |||||
| Khairullin, Ildar (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 2.5 | |||
| Ni, Hua (CHN) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | |||
| Ragger, Markus (AUT) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | |||||
| Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | |||||
| So, Wesley (PHI) | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |||||
| Ding, Liren (CHN) | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 |
The winner, runner-up and third placed player in the World Cup will qualify for the Candidates tournament to determine a challenger for the winner of the Anand v Gelfand world championship match next year.
Each round starts at 15:00 local time (09:00 UTC). The schedule:
| Round | Regular games | Tiebreaks | Players |
| 1 | 28–29 Aug | 30-Aug | 128 |
| 2 | 31 Aug–1 Sept | 02-Sep | 64 |
| 3 | 3–4 Sept | 05-Sep | 32 |
| 4 | 6-7 Sept | 08-Sep | 16 |
| Q-Final | 9–10 Sept | 11-Sep | 8 |
| Semi-Final | 12–13 Sept | 14-Sep | 4 |
| Final | 16–19 Sept | 20-Sep | 2 |
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.
Pictures from the official website.
