2011 World Cup: Round #2

2011 World Cup
August 26th-September 21st, 2011
(Khanty Mansiysk, Russia)
Round #2
#
Name
Flag
Nation
Result
Name
Flag
Nation
1 Karjakin, S
RUS
2½-1½
So, W
PHI
2 Alekseev, E
RUS
½-1½
Ivanchuk, V
UKR
3 Mamedyarov, S
AZE
2½-1½
Fridman, D
GER
4 Ni Hua
CHN
2½-3½
Ponomariov, R
UKR
5 Gashimov, V
AZE
1½-½
Azarov, S
BLR
6 Feller, S
FRA
1-3
Grischuk, A
RUS
7 Radjabov, T
AZE
1½-½
Negi, P
IND
8 Kasimdzhanov, R
UZB
½-1½
Kamsky, G
USA
9 Svidler, P
RUS
4-2
Nguyen, N
VIE
10 Harikrishna, P
IND
½-1½
Jakovenko, D
RUS
11 Vitiugov, N
RUS
1½-½
Korobov, A
UKR
12 Parligras, M
ROM
1½-½
Almasi, Z
HUN
13 Vallejo Pons, F
ESP
1½-2½
Bruzon, L
CUB
14 Onischuk, A
USA
½-1½
Navara, D
CZE
15 Vachier-Lagrave, M
FRA
1½-2½
Bu Xiangzhi
CHN
16 Bologan, V
MDA
½-1½
Dominguez, L
CUB
17 Ivanov, A
USA
1½-2½
Lysyj, I
RUS
18 Gupta, A
IND
1½-½
Shankland, S
USA
19 Moiseenko, A
UKR
3-1
Inarkiev, E
RUS
20 Grachev, B
RUS
½-1½
Le, Quang L
VIE
21 Adams, M
ENG
1½-2½
Nielsen, P
DEN
22 Potkin, V
RUS
2-0
Shirov, A
ESP
23 Jobava, B
GEO
1½-½
Guliyev, N
AZE
24 Drozdovskij, Y
UKR
½-1½
Caruana, F
ITA
25 Nepomniachtchi, I
RUS
2½-1½
Riazantsev, A
RUS
26 Filippov, A
UZB
1-3
Bacrot, E
FRA
27 Fier, A
BRA
0-2
Morozevich, A
RUS
28 Andreikin, D
RUS
½-1½
Tomashevsky, E
RUS
29 Efimenko, Z
UKR
1½-½
Berkes, F
HUN
30 Zherebukh, Y
UKR
3-1
Felgaer, R
ARG
31 Sutovsky, E
ISR
1½-½
Fressinet, L
FRA
32 Polgar, J
HUN
1½-½
Movsesian, S
ARM
Pairing Tree

Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

7 Comments

  1. Round #2 – Game #1
    Wednesday, 31 August 2011

    Several strong players on the brink of elimination…
    Karjakin held Wesley So… Ivanchuk squeezes win.

    Down to 64 players. Which of these players will go the distance?
    Photos from https://chess.ugrasport.com/.

    Unfortunately the blunderfest continued as fortune shined on Vassily Ivanchuk. Alexander Alekseev was a couple of moves away from drawing when he blundered with 96.Kg4?? allowing a tactic ending the game immediately. Sergei Azarov was blown off the board by Vugar Gashimov after playing the dubious Schliemann Gambit against the Ruy Lopez. Black found himself on the losing end of a miniature.

    There were a couple of brutal attacks meted out by two Russian players. Nikita Vitiugov smashed through black’s kingside and surrounded the naked king. A crushing loss was imminent and occurred after 28 moves. Alexei Shirov got a taste of his own medicine after receiving a royal thrashing at the hands of Vladimir Potkin, also 28 moves. White ended the game with the beautiful 28.Rxf7! with a winning attack. Not to be outdone, Ukrainian Yaroslav Zherebuhk put a beating on Ruben Felgaer of Argentina… another kingside romp with white crashing through.

    Will Karjakin be the next upset victim? Wesley So will come full steam.

    There were a couple of unsporting draws with Kamsky and Kasimdzhanov suing for peace in just 16 moves. Gupta and Shankland took 15 moves while Ni and Ponomariov only took 12 moves. There were some hard fought draws including Nepomniachtchi and Riazantsev’s 88-move game going to K+N vs. K+N. In the losing column, four 2700-level players face elimination: Zoltan Almasi, Francisco Vallejo-Pons, Alexeij Shirov and Etienne Bacrot.

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

  2. Round #2 – Game #2
    Thursday, 1 September 2011

    Massive tiebreaks brewing… 13 matches tomorrow!
    Ivanchuk, Morozevich are in form.

    Don’t let the befuddled look fool you. Ivanchuk has everything under control. His opponent Alekseev is talking a stroll, but would be eliminated from match play. Photos from https://chess.ugrasport.com/.

    The Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk recently received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise IV degree “for his significant personal contribution to the independence of Ukraine, the establishment of its sovereignty and international authority, conscientious and impeccable service to the Ukrainian people.”

    Ivanchuk is continuing to add to this image by advancing to the third round of the FIDE World Cup eliminating Evgeny Alekseev of Russia. He will go on to play Emil Sutovsky of Israel with whom he has an overwhelming score of six wins, no losses and six draws. Many are picking Ivanchuk as the odds-on favorite and to continue the dominance of his generation (i.e., Anand, Gelfand and Ivanchuk).

    Gata Kamsky was in a good mood during the press conference.

    Gata Kamsky also punched his ticket for the next round when he capitalized on a blunder by former FIDE World Cup champion, Rustam Kasimdzhanov. After a rather level game, but with Kamsky pressing, Kasimdzhanov sacrificed a piece with 34…Nxf4? Kamsky snatched the gift and quickly went for the kill as a predator onto wounded prey. It didn’t take long before Kamsky weaved a mating net and black would have to donate an exchange to stave off mate. Instead, he resigned.

    The ever-polite David Navara. If there was a standard to judge a player for his sportsmanship, he would be playing for the championship.

    Speaking sacrificed pieces, Alexander Onischuk tried a similar plan for a kingside attack, but got little compensation for the knight. David Navara diplomatically commented in the post-game interview that his opponent may have missed something or gotten the move order mixed. There were some chances for black to complicate matters, but Navara always had enough resources on defense.

    Sam Shankland of the USA saw his run ended by Abhijeet Gupta of India after falling behind in a knight ending. It is possible that the American could have set up a fortress by playing more actively. Vladimir Potkin eliminated Alexei Shirov sending home one of the rating favorites along with Hungary’s Zoltan Almasi who was beaten by Romania’s Mircea-Emilian Parligras.

    Sergei Movesesian played the Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan and narrowly escaped. He then faced the strongest female player in history and lost to Judit Polgar. He may be one of the few players to say he had that honor!

    There are several more favorites who could be sent packing in no less than 13 tiebreak matches… almost as many as last round (17) with half the players!

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

  3. Well done to Judit! She happens to be the last Hungarian 2700+ ‘man’ standing, as well as the last ‘woman’ standing in the World Cup. I believe she’ll steamroll past her next opponent… predictably Wesley So of the Philippines!

  4. Round #2 – Tiebreaks
    Friday, 2 September 2011

    Ten Russians advance as field begins to take shape!

    Asians came into the World Cup with lots of promise, but Le Quang Liem is only one of two Asians remaining in the field.

    The 2011 World Cup has moved to another round after 13 deciding tiebreaks were played today. Top seed Sergey Karjkin squelched any chance of an upset when he was victorious over the talented upstart in Wesley So in tiebreaks. In all, ten Russians will advance along with four Ukrainians and three from Azerbaijan. Besides Cuba with two remaining participants, no other nation has more than one.

    Asians have taken a big hit with only Bu Xiangzhi and Le Quang Liem remaining. Both Ni Hua and Nguyen Ngoc Troungson were eliminated in tiebreaks by Ruslan Ponomariov and Peter Svidler respectively. In a post-match interview, Bu was asked about the relatively poor performance of his Chinese mates. He essentially said that it was due to exertion because Chinese had been competing in a number of tournaments leading up to the World Cup including the World University Team event. “I didn’t play, so I am rested. It’s very important,” he stated.

    Games continue on tomorrow.

    Official Site: https://chess.ugrasport.com/
    Games: Main Site, PGN (TWIC)
    Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2011/08/25/2011-world-cup-khanty-mansiysk-russia/

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