2017 World Chess Cup (Tblisi, Georgia)

PARTICIPANTS of the WORLD CUP 2017

For decades there has been the question of when the African continent would see a breakthrough. Bassem Amin has been the closest thing. After a couple of sterling wins in the African Championships and Lake Sevan, he headed to Tbilisi with the idea of becoming the first player from the African continent to break 2700. He dreams were dashed in a most crushing way. The fateful moment came after he was coasting to a win in the second game of the classical games.

Rook endings are the most common type of ending as perhaps the most difficult to win in technical positions. For the weaker side there are all types of methods to save the game despite a material deficit. The game against Hungarian Viktor Erdos.

Meanwhile on the top board sat the World Champion. Magnus Carlsen decided to play in the knock-out and drew white against his Nigerian opponent Oluwafemi Balogun. Before the match, Balogun spoke about the opportunity to play Carlsen.

After Balogun’s beneficent comments, he put up a valiant fight and the games were competitive. While Carlsen was never in trouble, his play was uninspiring and there were rumblings about the 2255-rated player dragging the game into the fourth hour. Indeed, it seemed like the Nigerian was holding the first game until a positional error allowed Carlsen to crash through. GM Daniel King gives commentary on the first game.

While Carlsen advanced other top names made an early exit such as Ukrainians Pavel Eljanov, Alexander Areschenko and Ruslan Ponomariov. Wei Yi had to come back from an opening loss to win in tiebreaks. American phenom Samuel Sevian upset Romanian Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu who is now representing Germany. Viswanathan Anand got a scare from Malaysian national champion IM Li Tian Yeoh and almost allowed the equalizer, but the champion held on for the draw and advanced.

WOAH! @vishy64theking ???????? gets hit by …Rxh3! and may be upset by Malaysian IM Yeoh ????????!#FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/maFJOHgRHw

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 4, 2017

Official Website: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/
All PGN Games (TWIC): https://www.theweekinchess.com/
Rules and Regulations: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/regulations/

The headlines of the World Cup tournament read that the World Champion Magnus Carlsen had been eliminated, but apart from the many other top players being eliminated from contention, there was also a controversy surrounding the dress code.

Anton Kovalyov (left) amidst the controversy.
Photo by Amruta Mokal (ChessBase India)

Canadian Grandmaster Anton Kovalyov wore plaid knee-length shorts to the third round, but was approached 10 minutes before by the arbiter Tomasz Delega and told that his attire was inappropriate and he had to change. They cited the player’s contracts signed before the tournaments.

According to the player’s contract (3.13.4.), “Players are requested to note the requirements of FIDE Regulations C.01 (Article 8.1) in respect of their dignified appearance at all times during the World Cup.”

C.01 (Article 8.1) of the FIDE handbook mentions the following:The Commission on Chess Publication, Information and Statistics (CHIPS) stresses the need for all chess players to take more care in their personal appearance. The image of the chess player should be a dignified one, and dressing properly would not only show respect for the game, but also to sponsors, potential or otherwise, to make it worth their while to spend their money.

For example, some federations have barred slippers, sleeveless T-shirts and vests in their tournaments. Those with unkempt and greasy hair should be admonished, as well as those wearing old or torn jeans and battered attire generally.

In the process of discussing the dress code, Kovalyov also contested the color allocation. The arbiters checked and he was informed that the pairings were correct. Kovalyov contended that while he was fine with the basis of the rulings, there was another issue. When organizer Zurab Azmaiparashvili approached him, things became a bit contentious.

Zurab Azmaiparashvili berating Kovalyov about his attire.

Kovalyov walks away never to return to the venue.
Photos by chess.com/Maria Emelianova

Kovalyov stated that there were some choice words used in the exchange with Azmaiparashvili. Following is an excerpt from his Facebook page.

The issue were not the shorts but how I was treated. I came to the game and was approached by the arbiter asking me to change (first time). I told him that I don’t have pants with me, and then I noticed that I was playing black instead of white, which came as a surprise for me and asked him to check that. He and the other arbiters checked and confirmed to me that I’m playing with black, we talked a little and everything was fine. Then came Zurab, he was very agressive, yelling at me and using the racial slur “gypsy” to insult me, apart from mentioning several times that I will be punished by FIDE. I told him that I had asked before at the previous world cup if what I was wearing was OK and I was told by somebody from the organization that yes. Zurab, in a prepotent way, said he doesn’t care, he’s the organizer now. At this point I was really angry but tried not to do anything stupid, and asked him why he was so rude to me, and he said because I’m a gypsy.

After Rodshtein’s 1.d4, Kovalyov did not appear at the board
and eventually forfeited both games.
Photo by Amruta Mokul (ChessBase India)

As far as the ruling, here is what Tomasz Delega explained the situation in an interview with ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah. Azmaiparashvili explained his view in two separate segments, also with Shah.

Some have offered that a warning should have been proffered if it was found that the player did not have alternate attire, then he should have been warned or even fined. Of course there may have been another way of handling the issue. The Association of Chess Professionals have filed a petition condemning Azmaiparashvili in his handling of the matter. The Canada Chess Federation have also filed a complaint.

Bu Brilliancy Beats @MagnusCarlsen At #FIDEWorldCup2017https://t.co/QTj62a8yrq

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 9, 2017

While Carlsen is already the sitting champion, Caruana and Nakamura have to become the challenger by other means. Caruana will most likely get in by rating while Nakamura’s chances will come down to a wild card spot. Disappointing round for the Americans.

Let’s watch the Carlsen-Bu game which arose from a Bishop’s Opening to avoid the Petroff. However, white seemed to get caught flat-footed and will brutally crushed. In fact his a1 rook did not get into the game! Beautiful showing by the former Chinese prodigy.

Here is Bu’s impressions of the game…

Peter Svidler, Bu’s next opponent went on record to say that the Chinese player’s win over the world champion does not make him a “mythical beast,” but it certainly does make a statement. Bu stated that he had a minus score against Carlsen and wanted to change the record. He certainly did it.

Official Website: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/
All PGN Games (TWIC): https://www.theweekinchess.com/
Rules and Regulations: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/regulations/

The World Cup is coming down to the wire and fatigue may be setting in. However, there are still five top 20 players with Wesley So holding the top table at #2 in the world. He was able to sneak past hometown favorite Baadur Jobava and has been rather quiet. Rest assured he has rebounded from a rather poor showing at last month’s Sinquefield Cup.

Peter Sidler ousted last round’s hero Bu Xiangzhi while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vanquished Alexander Grischuk. Look at the exciting first game MVL-Grischuk. Mind dizzying complications. Also in this segment Daniel King shows the ending of Rodshtein-Fedoseev. Very creative attacking patterns!

Here is how Grischuk saw it…

Richard Rapport of Hungary continues his march by upending Evgeniy Najer in the second rapid game. It’s very difficult to understand what’s going on in the game. Rapport played his usual unorthodox opening, but what’s amazing is that he is able to wade through the complications so effortlessly. Under pressure to get through the maelstrom of complications, Najer fell into time pressure and blundered horribly in the end.

In the China derby, Ding Liren took control in a Catalan with a nice 15.b4! idea. When the smoke cleared, Wang Hao was tied up with a huge weakness on c6. It appeared that black’s position got even worse and finally the c-pawn dropped. It was a good bishop versus a clumsy knight and Ding converted the match point. Vassily Ivanchuk is the last 40-something player left and he spanked Anish Giri showing that he still has a trick or two.

Levon Aronian will play Ivanchuk and clinched his victory in a cat shirt. This apparently received no warnings from the arbiters, but everyone knows that Aronian’s fiance’ has a pet cat and to ask him to remove that shirt would be a crime.

On another note, almost every player in the top 20 lost ELO points in the World Cup. Aronian has gained two points and Svidler three. Bu Xiangzhi ousted Magnus Carlsen and gained a whopping 16. However, he crashed out the tournament against Svidler leaving Ding Liren to carry the China flag. In the final eight, there are seven federations represented.

Official Website: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/
All PGN Games (TWIC): https://www.theweekinchess.com/
Rules and Regulations: https://tbilisi2017.fide.com/regulations/