Chess World Cup 2007

Summary

The Chess World Cup 2007 served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2010. It was held as a 128-player single-elimination tournament, between 24 November and 16 December 2007, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.[1]

FIDE Chess World Cup 2007
2007 FIDE World Cup winner Gata Kamsky
Tournament details
CountryRussia
CityKhanty-Mansiysk
Dates24 November – 16 December 2007 (2007-11-24 – 2007-12-16)
FormatSingle-elimination
Participants128
Final positions
ChampionsUnited States Gata Kamsky
Runner-upSpain Alexei Shirov
← 2005
2009 →

In an event attended by most leading players of the world, American Gata Kamsky emerged as the winner. He was unbeaten in the tournament, going into tie-break only once and defeating Spaniard Alexei Shirov, 2½–1½, in the four-game final. Two 17-year-old players, Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, reached the semifinals.

By winning, Kamsky qualified for the Challenger Match, the final stage in determining the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2010; his participation in that match allowed him direct entry into the Candidates Matches for the World Chess Championship 2012.

The final four also received direct entry into the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–10, a qualifying stage for the World Chess Championship 2012.

The winner of the Chess World Cup 2005, Levon Aronian, was defeated by Dmitry Jakovenko in the fourth round.

Background edit

The 2007 World Cup was part of the cycle for the World Chess Championship 2010. Gata Kamsky, as the winner of this tournament, played an eight-game match against Veselin Topalov in 2008, for the right to be the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2010. Ultimately Topalov won the match and faced World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who successfully defended his title against former champion Vladimir Kramnik at the World Chess Championship 2008.

Prominent non-participants edit

Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov were ineligible to participate, due to special privileges they already had in the 2008–2010 World Championship cycle.

All other leading players, including world champion Viswanathan Anand, were eligible to participate. However Anand, who was already seeded into the 2008–2010 cycle, elected not to play.

Three other players who had recently competed in the World Chess Championship 2007 in Mexico – Péter Lékó, Aleksandr Morozevich and Boris Gelfand – elected not to play. Lékó and Morozevich refused to take part as a form of protest against the special privileges given for the inclusion of Kramnik and Topalov in the World Chess Championship Cycle.[2][3]

The only other player from the Top 30 who did not participate was Judit Polgár.

Qualification edit

The final list of 128 qualifiers for the World Cup was as follows:[4]

The individual Zones (for Zonals) are described in the FIDE handbook.[5]

Participants edit

All players are Grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.

  1.   Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR), 2787
  2.   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE), 2752
  3.   Teimour Radjabov (AZE), 2742
  4.   Levon Aronian (ARM), 2741
  5.   Alexei Shirov (ESP), 2739
  6.   Peter Svidler (RUS), 2732
  7.   Michael Adams (ENG), 2729
  8.   Evgeny Alekseev (RUS), 2716
  9.   Alexander Grischuk (RUS), 2715
  10.   Magnus Carlsen (NOR), 2714
  11.   Gata Kamsky (USA), 2714
  12.   Vladimir Akopian (ARM), 2713
  13.   Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS), 2710
  14.   Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR), 2705
  15.   Wang Yue (CHN), 2703
  16.   Étienne Bacrot (FRA), 2695
  17.   Sergey Karjakin (UKR), 2694
  18.   Bu Xiangzhi (CHN), 2692
  19.   Pavel Eljanov (UKR), 2691
  20.   Zoltán Almási (HUN), 2691
  21.   Vladimir Malakhov (RUS), 2690
  22.   Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB), 2690
  23.   Leinier Domínguez (CUB), 2683
  24.   Loek van Wely (NED), 2679
  25.   Konstantin Landa (RUS), 2678
  26.   Andrei Volokitin (UKR), 2678
  27.   Sergei Rublevsky (RUS), 2676
  28.   Alexander Onischuk (USA), 2674
  29.   Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS), 2674
  30.   Vadim Zvjaginsev (RUS), 2674
  31.   Ivan Cheparinov (BUL), 2670
  32.   Pentala Harikrishna (IND), 2668
  33.   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (ROU), 2668
  34.   Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA), 2661
  35.   Krishnan Sasikiran (IND), 2661
  36.   Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP), 2660
  37.   Predrag Nikolić (BIH), 2657
  38.   David Navara (CZE), 2656
  39.   Emil Sutovsky (ISR), 2655
  40.   Laurent Fressinet (FRA), 2654
  41.   Evgeny Bareev (RUS), 2653
  42.   Nigel D. Short (ENG), 2649
  43.   Kiril Georgiev (BUL), 2649
  44.   Sergey Volkov (RUS), 2648
  45.   Bartosz Soćko (POL), 2646
  46.   Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS), 2646
  47.   Alexander Motylev (RUS), 2645
  48.   Zhang Pengxiang (CHN), 2644
  49.   Michael Roiz (ISR), 2643
  50.   Sergei Tiviakov (NED), 2643
  51.   Wang Hao (CHN), 2643
  52.   Alexander Khalifman (RUS), 2643
  53.   Zviad Izoria1 (GEO), 2643
  54.   Boris Avrukh (ISR), 2641
  55.   Arkadij Naiditsch (GER), 2639
  56.   Evgeniy Najer (RUS), 2635
  57.   Konstantin Sakaev (RUS), 2634
  58.   Mikhail Gurevich (TUR), 2627
  59.   Alexander Shabalov (USA), 2626
  60.   Yuri Shulman (USA), 2616
  61.   Maxim Rodshtein (ISR), 2615
  62.   Viktor Láznička (CZE), 2610
  63.   Zdenko Kožul (CRO), 2609
  64.   Mateusz Bartel (POL), 2608
  65.   Aleksandr Galkin (RUS), 2608
  66.   Lázaro Bruzón Batista (CUB), 2607
  67.   Bartłomiej Macieja (POL), 2606
  68.   Jan Gustafsson (GER), 2606
  69.   Rafael Leitão (BRA), 2601
  70.   Dusko Pavasovic (SLO), 2597
  71.   Gregory S. Kaidanov (USA), 2597
  72.   Nikita Vitiugov (RUS), 2594
  73.   Emanuel Berg (SWE), 2593
  74.   Julio E. Granda Zuniga (PER), 2592
  75.   Gilberto Milos (BRA), 2592
  76.   Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (IRI), 2591
  77.   Vladimir Belov (RUS), 2587
  78.   Robert Markuš (SRB), 2586
  79.   Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND), 2585
  80.   Varuzhan Akobian (USA), 2584
  81.   Merab Gagunashvili (GEO), 2584
  82.   Boris Savchenko (RUS), 2583
  83.   Rauf Mamedov (AZE), 2582
  84.   Vladimir Georgiev (MKD), 2576
  85.   Grzegorz Gajewski (POL), 2573
  86.   Susanto Megaranto (INA), 2569
  87.   David Baramidze (GER), 2569
  88.   Julio Becerra Rivero (USA), 2568
  89.   Diego Flores (ARG), 2566, IM
  90.   Zhou Jianchao (CHN), 2565
  91.   Alexander Ivanov (USA), 2565
  92.   Artem Iljin (RUS), 2565
  93.   Sergey Kudrin (USA), 2563
  94.   Sergei Zhigalko (BLR), 2562
  95.   Csaba Balogh (HUN), 2561
  96.   Bassem Amin (EGY), 2561
  97.   Zhao Jun (CHN), 2552
  98.   Juan Carlos González Zamora1 (MEX), 2552
  99.   Abhijit Kunte (IND), 2547
  100.   Fernando Peralta (ARG), 2546
  101.   Zaven Andriasian (ARM), 2546
  102.   Imre Hera Jr. (HUN), 2544
  103.   Lê Quang Liêm (VIE), 2534
  104.   Vladislav Nevednichy (ROU), 2531
  105.   Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn (VIE), 2530
  106.   Alexei Iljushin (RUS), 2528
  107.   G.N. Gopal (IND), 2520, IM
  108.   Xu Yuhua (CHN), 2517
  109.   Wen Yang (CHN), 2515, IM
  110.   Enamul Hossain (BAN), 2514, IM
  111.   Nikolai Kabanov (RUS), 2512, IM
  112.   Everaldo Matsuura (BRA), 2511, IM
  113.   Darwin Laylo (PHI), 2508, IM
  114.   Aleksei Pridorozhni (RUS), 2506, IM
  115.   Essam El Gindy (EGY), 2503, IM
  116.   Ziaur Rahman (BAN), 2497
  117.   Anton Filippov (UZB), 2496, IM
  118.   Ahmed Adly (EGY), 2494
  119.   Zhao Zong-Yuan (AUS), 2491, IM
  120.   Darcy Lima (BRA), 2484
  121.   Anuar Ismagambetov (KAZ), 2480, IM
  122.   Igor Zugic (CAN), 2477, IM
  123.   Eduardo Iturrizaga (VEN), 2435, IM
  124.   Robert Gwaze (ZIM), 2429, IM
  125.   Juan Pablo Hobaica (ARG), 2427, IM
  126.   Vladimir Genba (RUS), 2413, IM
  127.   Khaled Abdel Razik (EGY), 2389, FM
  128.   Pedro Aderito (ANG), 2352, IM

1 Izoria did not appear at the Cup due to visa problems. Gonzalez Zamora did not appear at the Cup due to illness.[6]

Playing conditions edit

The tournament is in the style of the FIDE World Chess Championships 1998–2004: each round consists of a two-game match (except for the final round, which will be a four-game match), followed by tie breaks at faster time controls if required.[7][8]

The time control for regular games is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added after each move. Tie breaks consist of two rapid chess games (25 minutes each + 10 seconds per move); followed by two blitz games if required (5 minutes + 10 seconds per move); followed by a single Armageddon chess game if required (white has 6 minutes and must win, black has 5 minutes and only needs to draw).

The prize money ranged from US$6,000 for players eliminated in the first round to $80,000 for the losing finalist and $120,000 for the winner.

Results, rounds 1–4 edit

Summary edit

Round 1 edit

Most of the top seeds progressed. From the top 32, the only higher seeded players eliminated were Pavel Eljanov (19th seed), Konstantin Landa (25) and Pendyala Harikrishna (32).[6]

Round 2 edit

Players in the top 32 eliminated in regular games were Teimour Radjabov (seeded 3), Loek van Wely (24).[9][10] Top 32 players eliminated in tie breaks were Rustam Kasimdzhanov (22), Andrei Volokitin (26) and Vadim Zvjaginsev (30). This left 24 of the top 32 seeds in the final 32.

High seeds needing tie breaks to progress included Vassily Ivanchuk (1), Magnus Carlsen (10), Ruslan Ponomariov (14) and Wang Yue (15).[11]

Round 3 edit

After the two regular games, 10 of the 16 matches had decisive results. Players going through on the regular games are: Alexei Shirov (seeded 5), Michael Adams (7), Evgeny Alekseev (8), Magnus Carlsen (10), Gata Kamsky (11), Vladimir Akopian (12), Dmitry Jakovenko (13), Ruslan Ponomariov (14), Wang Yue (15) and Ivan Cheparinov (31).[12][13] Cheparinov eliminated the number 2 seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

The other six matches were decided in the tie breaks. Winners were Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (33) (eliminating top seed Vassily Ivanchuk), Krishnan Sasikiran (35), Evgeny Bareev (41), Levon Aronian (4), Peter Svidler (6), Sergey Karjakin (17).[14]

Round 4 edit

In the regular time control games, Shirov, Ponomariov, Carlsen, Karjakin and Cheparinov won their respective matches against Akopian, Sasikiran, Adams, Nisipeanu and Wang Yue. The other three matches (Jakovenko-Aronian, Svidler-Kamsky and Bareev-Alekseev) proceed to tie breaks,[15][16] with wins to Jakovenko, Kamsky and Alekseev.

Section 1 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
1   Vassily Ivanchuk 2
128   Pedro Aderito 0
1   Vassily Ivanchuk
65   Aleksandr Galkin
64   Mateusz Bartel 1
65   Aleksandr Galkin 3
1   Vassily Ivanchuk
33   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
32   Pendyala Harikrishna
97   Zhao Jun
97   Zhao Jun
33   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
33   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
96   Bassem Amin ½
33   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu ½
17   Sergey Karjakin
16   Étienne Bacrot
113   Darwin Laylo ½
16   Étienne Bacrot
49   Michael Roiz ½
49   Michael Roiz 4
80   Varuzhan Akobian 3
16   Étienne Bacrot 1
17   Sergey Karjakin 3
17   Sergey Karjakin 2
112   Everaldo Matsuura 0
17   Sergey Karjakin
48   Zhang Pengxiang ½
48   Zhang Pengxiang
81   Merab Gagunashvili

Section 2 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
8   Evgeny Alekseev
121   Anuar Ismagambetov
8   Evgeny Alekseev
57   Konstantin Sakaev ½
57   Konstantin Sakaev 4
72   Nikita Vitiugov 3
8   Evgeny Alekseev
40   Laurent Fressinet ½
25   Konstantin Landa ½
104   Vladislav Nevednichy
104   Vladislav Nevednichy ½
40   Laurent Fressinet
40   Laurent Fressinet 2
89   Diego Flores 0
8   Evgeny Alekseev 3
41   Evgeny Bareev 1
9   Alexander Grischuk
120   Darcy Lima ½
9   Alexander Grischuk
56   Evgeniy Najer ½
56   Evgeniy Najer
73   Emanuel Berg ½
9   Alexander Grischuk
41   Evgeny Bareev
24   Loek van Wely
105   Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn
24   Loek van Wely ½
41   Evgeny Bareev
41   Evgeny Bareev 2
88   Julio Becerra Rivero 0

Section 3 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
4   Levon Aronian 2
125   Juan Pablo Hobaica 0
4   Levon Aronian
68   Jan Gustafsson ½
61   Maxim Rodshtein ½
68   Jan Gustafsson
4   Levon Aronian 3
29   Ernesto Inarkiev 1
29   Ernesto Inarkiev
100   Fernando Peralta ½
29   Ernesto Inarkiev
36   Francisco Vallejo Pons ½
36   Francisco Vallejo Pons
93   Sergey Kudrin ½
4   Levon Aronian
13   Dmitry Jakovenko
13   Dmitry Jakovenko 2
116   Ziaur Rahman 0
13   Dmitry Jakovenko
77   Vladimir Belov ½
52   Alexander Khalifman
77   Vladimir Belov
13   Dmitry Jakovenko
20   Zoltán Almási ½
20   Zoltán Almási
109   Wen Yang ½
20   Zoltán Almási 2
45   Bartosz Soćko 0
45   Bartosz Soćko 2
84   Vladimir Georgiev 0

Section 4 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
5   Alexei Shirov 2
124   Robert Gwaze 0
5   Alexei Shirov
60   Yuri Shulman ½
60   Yuri Shulman 3
69   Rafael Leitão 1
5   Alexei Shirov
28   Alexander Onischuk ½
28   Alexander Onischuk
101   Zaven Andriasian
28   Alexander Onischuk
37   Predrag Nikolić ½
37   Predrag Nikolić 2
92   Artem Iljin 0
5   Alexei Shirov
12   Vladimir Akopian ½
12   Vladimir Akopian
117   Anton Filippov
12   Vladimir Akopian
76   Ehsan Ghaem Maghami ½
53   Zviad Izoria
76   Ehsan Ghaem Maghami w/o
12   Vladimir Akopian
21   Vladimir Malakhov ½
21   Vladimir Malakhov 2
108   Xu Yuhua 0
21   Vladimir Malakhov
44   Sergey Volkov
44   Sergey Volkov
85   Grzegorz Gajewski ½

Section 5 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
2   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2
127   Khaled Abdel Razik 0
2   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
63   Zdenko Kožul ½
63   Zdenko Kožul
66   Lázaro Bruzón Batista
2   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½
31   Ivan Cheparinov
31   Ivan Cheparinov w/o
98   Juan Carlos González Zamora
31   Ivan Cheparinov
34   Vladislav Tkachiev
34   Vladislav Tkachiev
95   Csaba Balogh ½
31   Ivan Cheparinov
15   Wang Yue ½
15   Wang Yue
114   Aleksei Pridorozhni ½
15   Wang Yue
50   Sergei Tiviakov
50   Sergei Tiviakov
79   Surya Shekhar Ganguly ½
15   Wang Yue
18   Bu Xiangzhi ½
18   Bu Xiangzhi 2
111   Nikolai Kabanov 0
18   Bu Xiangzhi
47   Alexander Motylev
47   Alexander Motylev
82   Boris Savchenko ½

Section 6 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
7   Michael Adams
122   Igor Zugic ½
7   Michael Adams
58   Mikhail Gurevich ½
58   Mikhail Gurevich
71   Gregory S. Kaidanov
7   Michael Adams
90   Zhou Jianchao ½
26   Andrei Volokitin
103   Lê Quang Liêm ½
26   Andrei Volokitin 3
90   Zhou Jianchao 4
39   Emil Sutovsky ½
90   Zhou Jianchao
7   Michael Adams ½
10   Magnus Carlsen
10   Magnus Carlsen 2
119   Zhao Zong-Yuan 0
10   Magnus Carlsen 3
55   Arkadij Naiditsch 1
55   Arkadij Naiditsch
74   Julio E. Granda Zuniga ½
10   Magnus Carlsen
23   Leinier Domínguez ½
23   Leinier Domínguez 2
106   Alexei Iljushin 0
23   Leinier Domínguez
87   David Baramidze ½
42   Nigel D. Short
87   David Baramidze

Section 7 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
3   Teimour Radjabov 2
126   Vladimir Genba 0
3   Teimour Radjabov 0
67   Bartłomiej Macieja 2
62   Viktor Láznička ½
67   Bartłomiej Macieja
67   Bartłomiej Macieja 2
35   Krishnan Sasikiran 4
30   Vadim Zvjaginsev
99   Abhijit Kunte
30   Vadim Zvjaginsev 2
35   Krishnan Sasikiran 4
35   Krishnan Sasikiran
94   Sergei Zhigalko
35   Krishnan Sasikiran ½
14   Ruslan Ponomariov
14   Ruslan Ponomariov
115   Essam El Gindy
14   Ruslan Ponomariov
51   Wang Hao
51   Wang Hao
78   Robert Markuš ½
14   Ruslan Ponomariov
46   Evgeny Tomashevsky ½
19   Pavel Eljanov ½
110   Enamul Hossain
110   Enamul Hossain ½
46   Evgeny Tomashevsky
46   Evgeny Tomashevsky
83   Rauf Mamedov

Section 8 edit

First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
6   Peter Svidler 2
123   Eduardo Iturrizaga 0
6   Peter Svidler 2
70   Dusko Pavasovic 0
59   Alexander Shabalov ½
70   Dusko Pavasovic
6   Peter Svidler
27   Sergei Rublevsky
27   Sergei Rublevsky
102   Imre Hera Jr. ½
27   Sergei Rublevsky
38   David Navara
38   David Navara
91   Alexander Ivanov ½
6   Peter Svidler
11   Gata Kamsky
11   Gata Kamsky
118   Ahmed Adly ½
11   Gata Kamsky
54   Boris Avrukh ½
54   Boris Avrukh 3
75   Gilberto Milos 1
11   Gata Kamsky
43   Kiril Georgiev ½
22   Rustam Kasimdzhanov 4
107   G.N. Gopal 2
22   Rustam Kasimdzhanov 3
43   Kiril Georgiev 4
43   Kiril Georgiev 2
86   Susanto Megaranto 0

Results, rounds 5–7 edit

Quarterfinals Semifinals Final (best of 4)
         
17   Sergey Karjakin
8   Evgeny Alekseev
17   Sergey Karjakin
5   Alexei Shirov
13   Dmitry Jakovenko 0
5   Alexei Shirov 2
5   Alexei Shirov
11   Gata Kamsky
31   Ivan Cheparinov ½
10   Magnus Carlsen
10   Magnus Carlsen ½
11   Gata Kamsky
14   Ruslan Ponomariov ½
11   Gata Kamsky

Chessbase reports: Round five Game one; Round five Game two; Round five tie breaks; Round six Game one.

Final stats edit

13 December – 16 December
Seed Name Rating 1 2 3 4 Total
5   Alexei Shirov (ESP) 2739 ½ 0 ½ ½
11   Gata Kamsky (USA) 2714 ½ 1 ½ ½

References edit

  1. ^ "Chess in Khanty-Mansiysk". Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  2. ^ "Morozevich: "I cannot play without motivation"". Chessbase. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  3. ^ "Leko's manager Carsten Hensel: "the privilege that Topalov is getting, to play against the winner of the World Cup or to immediately challenge Kramnik in a world championship match, must be of concern to the other top players. I expect all top grandmasters, including Peter Leko, to protest against this special privilege."". Chessbase. 11 July 2007.
  4. ^ List of Qualifiers for the World Cup 2007 Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine from fide.com, accessed 2008-04-10.
  5. ^ FIDE Handbook, Section D.I1
  6. ^ a b Round 1 Tiebreaks – Chessbase, 26 November 2007.
  7. ^ Regulations for the 2007 - 2009 World Chess Championship Cycle Archived 2007-12-15 at the Wayback Machine, section 3.2, FIDE online.
  8. ^ "Veselin Topalov and the new FIDE world championship cycle". Chessbase. 24 June 2007.
  9. ^ Round 2, Game 1 report at Chessbase
  10. ^ Round 2, Game 2 report at Chessbase.
  11. ^ "The Week in Chess". Archived from the original on 2007-11-30.
  12. ^ Round three Game one, Chessbase, 30 November 2007.
  13. ^ Round three Game two, Chessbase, 1 December 2007.
  14. ^ Round three tie breaks, Chessbase, 1 December 2007.
  15. ^ Round four Game one, Chessbase, 3 December 2007.
  16. ^ Round four Game two, Chessbase, 4 December 2007.

External links edit