Anand dominates World Cup
Viswanathan Anand won the Fide World Cup in Shenyang, China, after defeating the Russian Evgeny Bareev in game two of the final Match on Wednesday.
Anand dominated the tournament from round one, and his final win came in appropriately convincing fashion. A French defence led to white's initiative. Black sacrificed two pawns for counterplay, but Anand coolly gave away the exchange. The Indian exploited his queenside majority and more active pieces, forcing Bareev to gradually drift into a more and more worse position. Black resigned on move 38.
Anand, Viswanathan - Bareev, Evgeny 1-0 (1˝-˝ in aggregate)
Bareev and Anand draw game 1
Evgeny Bareev and Viswanathan Anand drew their first game of the Fide World Cup final match in Shenyang, China. Bareev chose the Catalan defence, but as often is the case with this particular opening, black completely equalized after careful play.
Bareev, Evgeny - Anand, Viswanathan ˝-˝
Final games in PGN
Semifinal games in PGN
Quarterfinal games in PGN
Preliminary games in PGN
Live games at: http://www.worldchesscup.com/
All set for playoffs
Both semifinal matches were drawn in Shenyang, which means playoffs! There was a little more fight today than yesterday, especially in the Gelfand - Anand game.
Semifinals, day 2
Gelfand, Boris - Anand, Viswanathan ˝-˝
A Catalan defence. Anand sacrificed his queen on move 22, getting a rook and knight in return. There followed some pawn-grabbing as Gelfand's queen mopped up Anand's queenside. Meanwhile Anand concentrated his active pieces against Gelfand's undefended King and was soon looking for a way to win. White's King was driven to the center of the board, but it seems that there never was a forced win for Anand. The players agreed a draw before they had evened the material.
Bareev, Evgeny - Milos, Gilberto ˝-˝
A Nimzo-Indian defence. Not much excitement in this game, as Bareev played rather cautiously. The endgame was slightly in white's favour, but a win was never too close.
Feeling tired?
The first semifinal round out of two in the Fide World Cup in Shenyang China was a major disappointment for the spectators. Neither Anand nor Milos decided to go for it with the white pieces, and two very short draws resulted.
Semifinals, day 1
Anand, Viswanathan - Gelfand, Boris ˝-˝
A Najdorf Sicilian with 6.a4. Gelfand fianchettoed his dard-squared bishop, Anand exchanged a few pieces and suggested a draw on move 21. Gelfand accepted, as neither player had much winning prospects in the position.
Milos, Gilberto - Bareev, Evgeny ˝-˝
A French defence. Milos said he was tired from last night, and therefore suggested the draw on move 13.
Anand sails through
India's Viswanathan Anand became the only player to reach the semis without playoff in the Fide World Cup in China. Anand easily held Ivanchuk to a draw with the white pieces, winning the match 1˝-˝.
All other matches were drawn. Milos missed a win against Movsesian!
Playoffs followed the same evening:
Gelfand beat Ye 1˝-˝
Bareev beat Azmaiparashvili 1˝-˝, and
Milos beat Movsesian 2-1
Semifinal pairs are:
Anand - Gelfand
Milos - Bareev
Quarterfinals, day 2
Anand, Viswanathan - Ivanchuk, Vassily ˝-˝
A c3-Sicilian defence. Anand played cleverly and never gave the Ukrainian a chance to complicate the battle. A draw was agreed by move 38. Anand goes through.
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Bareev, Evgeny 0-1
Azmaiparashvili played very cautiously, as he only needed a draw. A symmetrical position arose, but Azmai failed to keep sharp. His weak bottom line became troublesome, and rather than lose a pawn with a passive position, white sacrificed a piece. He did not get enough compensation, and Bareev was suddenly pressing for a win. As material decreased, the extra knight became less and less of an advantage against white's two passed pawns. But it was still enough, and as both players queened a pawn, it was Bareev who was first to check. He covered his king and marched another pawn to the 7th rank, forcing Azmaiparashvili to resign.
Ye Jiangchuan - Gelfand, Boris 1-0
Ye left his king in the center, which looked pretty scary at first. But white's bishop pair ruled the board, and Ye penetrated on the a-file with his rook. Gelfand could not get out of the tangle he was in, and succumbed to a tactical mistake (37..Qb5?), losing his queen.
Movsesian, Sergei - Milos, Gilberto ˝-˝
A Sicilian defense. The Brazilian outplayed Movsesian in the middle game, and was pressing hard for a win in the queen ending. And he had the win in his grasp: 60..Nxe5!, and if 61.Nf8, then 61..Qxf8! winning! But Milos did not find this, and had to take a draw.
Quarterfinals, day 1
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1
A Sicilian defence. Ivanchuk castled short and Anand built up king side pressure with a pawn sacrifice. Ivanchuk escaped to a bad ending with a pawn down, but could not hold.
Bareev, Evgeny - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 0-1
Azmaiparashvili employed an unusual variation in the Pirc defence, playing 3..e5 and allowing White to exchange queens advantageously. Bareev pushed too hard for advantage and fell victim to time pressure. This allowed black to snatch the exchange and the rest was easy for Azmai.
Gelfand, Boris - Ye Jiangchuan 1-0
Gelfand played an instructive game throughout. Ye never equalized in the King's Indian defence, and Gelfand picked up two black pawns in going to an opposite colored bishops ending. Ye resigned before Gelfand could reposition his king and bishop for the decisive breakthrough.
Milos, Gilberto - Movsesian, Sergei ˝-˝
A Sicilian defense. White built up some pressure on the king side, but could not achieve anything tangible after Movsesian's accurate defence. The draw was agreed in a position which could have been worth continuing for black.
Preliminary rounds
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