World Cup Finals: both games drawn, players under pressure

The tournament is taking place in the Ugorian Chess Academy in the very heart of Khanty-Mansiysk, which has hosted three previous World Cups: 2005, 2007, and 2009. The 128 participants hail from 46 different countries, and are playing for a total prize fund of US $1.6 million. In addition the first three finisher get tickets to the Candidates tournament in the next World Championship cycle.

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Finals game three

The game between the two Russian grandmasters competing for the main prize ended first. However, unlike yesterday, the game was much more tense and lengthy.

Grischuk (above), playing White, once again started with e2-e4, and Svidler decided to deviate from the first game, opting for the Ruy Lopez instead of the Sicilian. On the third move Svidler surprised the opponent with a rare move 3…Bc5. Grischuk clearly did not expect it, so he started to think, but finally decided to go for the main line, where White aggressively breaks in the center.

Svidler (above) offered to exchange queens, accepting a worse ending. However, in the endgame, Grischuk's time trouble began to tell. He was unable to stabilize the position and gave up a pawn; however, White's pieces developed significant activity. Svidler also started to take his time, but did not find the way to play for a win, and accepted more exchanges, which made a draw inevitable.

Svidler said that Grischuk's time trouble did not tempt him to take additional risks in this game: "Sasha often plays under severe time pressure. I realize that he is not going to lose on time, or even make an inferior move, so I have to keep playing according to the demands of the position."

Alexander Grischuk: "Of course, my position was more pleasant, and the main question was whether I could develop my pieces and play c4. If I could do this, I would have had a big advantage. If not, I'd have nothing. In the end my losing chances were higher than my winning chances, but a draw was still the most likely outcome."

Vassily Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov played the Gruenfeld Defence is their match for third place. The transition from the opening to the middlegame was unsuccessful for Ivanchuk, who lost a pawn. Ponomariov tried to convert this advantage, but the game had clear drawing tendencies – the players had the opposite colored bishops, and all the remaining pawns were located on the kingside. In the end Ivanchuk constructed a fortress, and when Black tried to break it, he sacrificed a knight for the last two pawns, reaching a drawn ending with a bishop and a knight against a bishop, with no pawns left on the board.

The game nears completion, both players know its going to be a draw

... and a draw it is. Ruslan is clearly unsatisfied with this result.

With three games over Both Svidler and Ivanchuk lead by 2.0-1.0 . The concluding classical games of the matches are scheduled for Monday, September 19. Grischuk and Ponomariov must win to tie the score. Grischuk will have to do it with black, Ponomariov will play white. If any of the matches are tied, the winners will be decided on tie-breaks.

Results of the finals

• Source: official results page

Remaining schedule of the World Chess Cup 2011

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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