World Chess Cup 2013 Round 1 Game 2: Polgar, Volokitin, Nepomniachtchi Knocked Out

Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

All the players are checked before they enter the playing hall.

Just as on day one there were plenty of fireworks on the second day of the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø. Thirteen players won their matches with a 2-0 score (not counting Alexander Moiseenko, whose opponent could not come to Tromsø).

While some victories with impressive results could be expected from top players such as Aronian, Kramnik, Grischuk, Nakamura and Dominguez, there were also a few 2-0 results produced by players with ratings lower than their opponents.

Russian GM Daniil Dubov managed to outplay experienced and higher rated Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk. American GM Ray Robson didn’t leave any chances for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin by winning 2-0. One of the most surprising results for those who compare the ratings of opponents happened in the Nepomniachtchi-Wei match. The youngest participant of the event, Chinese GM Yi Wei (a nominee of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov), defeated Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5.

The participants of the upcoming Women’s World Championship match Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina are doing well so far. Anna Ushenina defeated Peter Svidler in his favorite Gruenfeld and Hou Yifan drew the second game against Alexei Shirov. The reigning and former Women’s World Champions will proceed to the playoff stage on Tuesday.

Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of chess, lost out on a number of winning chances, drew against Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz and lost the match. A total of 28 matches were undecided after two games at the classical time control and 56 players will continue to fight at 3 p.m. local time on August 13.
Russian GM Alexander Morozevich lost his first game, but managed to equalize.

Rising star from Russia GM Daniil Dubov defeated GM Sergey Fedorchuk 2-0 as well. GM Michael Adams made a second draw against Wan Yunguo of China. The strongest Chinese GM Wang Hao outplayed his compatriot Liu Qingnan. An unexpectedly quick elimination for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin. Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Polish IM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who upset him with a draw the day before.

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout which starts with 128 players and runs from August 10 to September 3rd. The top two players will qualify for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament which will take place in March 2014 and determine the challenger for the World Championship match in 2014.

The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn).

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Tal chess memorial interview: Carlsen says more draws because of very high level of defense

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

Maria Fominykh interviewed Sixth Tal Chess Memorial winner Magnus Carlsen for the official site - Russian Chess Federation website. Here are some excerpts and great photos. 

Magnus, did this Tal Memorial be any different from previous tournaments?
There were lot of draws but the level of defence has risen significantly. That’s a really notable difference between the current Memorial and the previous ones – the resistance has reached a totally new level.

The abundance of draws doesn’t spoil the impression made by the tournament?
I don’t think so. All of the players were trying to fight. Many times someone could not win despite winning chances because the opponent defended very strongly.

Ian Nepomniachtchi at third place.

Levon Aronian at second place on tiebreak

Which games were you most satisfied with?
Overall I played well in the first half of the tournament. I made some mistakes, but the games were very hard-fought. In the second half I played worse: tiredness had its say and I lacked energy. I got lucky in the last round and I won.

Can you compare this tournament to a World Championship?
Of course this tournament is the strongest this year,and one of the strongest for many years. For me the Tal Memorial is one of the main tournaments and I take it very seriously.

Your contemporaries Sergey Karjakin and Ian Nepomniachtchi played very well, but you finished the tournament ahead of them?

I’ve known Nepomniachtchi and Karjakin for long. Sergey was well-known chess player even before I got the international master title. Ian’s also a great talent and he was beating me back in junior tournaments. So the history of our rivalry started a long time ago and it promises to continue for a long time!


You can read our previous post about the tournament here:

Carlsen wins sixth Tal Chess Memorial on tiebreak ahead of Aronian!

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com