FIDE World Cup Round 1.2

The FIDE World Chess Cup is being stage from November 26th to December 18th, 2005, in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia. This the 128-player event replaces what was known as the "FIDE Knockout World Championship" and serves as a qualifier for the Candidates stage of the world championship. The prize fund is US $1.5 million, with President Ilyumzhinov providing $300,000 for organisational costs.

FIDE WORLD CUP, 2005 ROUND 1 – GAME 2

Report by Mig Greengard – Pictures by Frits Agterdenbos

Ukraine's Andrei Volokitin and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA got to know each other pretty well when they were the finalists in this year's edition of the Lausanne Young Masters tournament. This is nice, because maybe they can get seats next to each other on the plane out of Siberia and relive those glory days. They won't want to talk about the first round of the FIDE World Cup, that's for certain.

They became the two highest rated players eliminated on the second day of this first step in the 2007 world championship cycle. Both lost with black on the first day and failed to score the full point today. The Vietnamese Cao Sang, now playing for Hungary, took Volokitin's scalp and will face China's Xu Jun in the second round. Nakamura fell to experienced Indian international Surya Sekar Ganguly.

This is a bitter pill for American fans who were hoping their champion might advance beyond the his impressive 4th round appearance in Tripoli last year. Despite Anand's absence here, two of the three Indian players are already through and Harikrishna will play tiebreaks tomorrow.

Pardon the flashback, but it's great to see some legends at work in a world championship event. The last time America's Gata Kamsky was involved in a world championship he was battling Anatoly Karpov in a match for the FIDE title. That was way back in 1996 when he was just 22. Kamsky broke back into the chess world just last year, but his opponent Zhao Jun couldn't find any rust and went down 1.5-0.5. Nor did Vassily Ivanchuk have much trouble winning with white and drawing with black with a 400+ rating point advantage.

 
Kamsky and Ivanchuk. No glasses, thicker sweater. Nope, this isn't Linares 1993.

Few players arrived in Khanty-Mansyisk after more tumult and tribulation than young Gaston Needleman. The 15-year-old Argentine was the unwilling center of attention when he was tossed into a rapid playoff for the qualifying spots of the American Continental Championship. A huge underdog against six veteran GMs, he was duly eliminated. But a fervent local reporter stirred controversy by suggesting his opponents had conspired to eliminate the local hero, a tale that quickly made the rounds as fast as only an internet story can.

The tranquil Needleman was probably the least outraged person around, especially after FIDE gave him a wildcard spot in the championship for his tremendous effort. Alas,he was paired with Alexander Grischuk, who showed no mercy and sent the teen on the long trip back home 2-0. The albiceleste of Argentina still flies thanks to Ruben Felgaer's elimination of America's Kaidanov. Brazil's Vescovi made it through and Cuba's Bruzon and Arencibia are in tiebreaks. But a majority of Needleman's Latin American compatriots shared his fate.

We'll have much more on Tuesday when all the rapid tiebreaks are done and the first round matches are complete. (Kudos to the Association of Chess Professionals for pushing FIDE to add extra days for tiebreaks instead of the old brutal regimen of having them the same day as the second regular game.) Meanwhile, enjoy a photo report after the results and replay a few of the most interesting games from the first two days.

Korneev,O (2601) - Miroshnichenko,E (2634) [B63] Postition after 62.Qe5+ 1-0 If Miroschnichenko doesn't win through in the playoffs tomorrow he'll regret this premature resignation today. In the diagram Black resigned, faced with mate or the loss of his rook after 62..Rf6 63.Rg1+. But he missed his chance for the spectacular after 63..Kh7 64.Qxf6? Qa2+!! 65.Kxa2 b3+ 66.Kxb3 stalemate! White can continue the torture with 64.Qh5+, but there doesn't seem to be any way to break through.

I probably wouldn't have notice this clever trick if I hadn't included this puzzle in a recent Ninja newsletter. Capretz, F - 1848 White to play and draw 1.Rb5+ Kxb5 2.Qb4+ Ka6 3.Qb5+ Kxb5 4.a4+ Ka6 ½-½

Results

Picture report by Frits Agterdenbos

The playing hall in Khanty-Mansiysk

Start of round one, with GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili facing 15-year-old Magnus Carlsen (who won the game). Watching are Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Florencio Campomanes. Azmaiparashvili but drew level in game two.

Zhao Yun of China vs Gata Kamsky of the USA

India vs Russia in this match, in which India's "Sasi" was victorious

• Download the games as a zipped PGN file
• Official web site (English version)
• All ChessBase reports so far

About the photographer

Frits Agterdenbos, 45, lives in Heemstede, not far from Amsterdam, and was one of the leading chess photographers in the eighties. From 1979–1991 his pictures appeared in several magazins, including New in Chess, Schakend Nederland, Inside Chess, BCM, Chess, Europe Echecs and Schach. In 1984 his Dutch book “64 Schaakportretten” (in English “64 Chess Portraits”) was published. In 1991 he “retired” as a chess photographer to finish his studies and in 1997 he received a diploma as an insurance mathematician (actuary). Since 1998 he has been a self-employed, working under the company name “Acturix”, which is his actuarial consultancy firm.

Now Frits is back as a chess photographer! In January 2005 he picked up his old passion, and publications show he still knows how to handle his camera. He combines his insurance job and chess photography with being a husband and a father of the beautiful Elena (three years old). You will find his photos on Chessbase.com, Schaakbond.nl, Schaaklog.nl and Schakers.info, and many more websites and magazines. You can contact him under f.agterdenbos (at) acturix.com.