World Cup: All Indians Knocked Out

Grandmaster and former national champion B. Adhiban bowed out of the chess World Cup after losing his second game on the trot against higher-ranked Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the third round in Tromso. (Left Photo B Adhiban) Overall, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Boris Gelfand and Gata Kamsky guaranteed their places in the fourth stage. Julio Granda Zuniga levelled the score by defeating Anish Giri to play the tiebreaks on August 19. Alexander Grischuk played the longest game of the round against Le Quang Liem and managed to level the score after 154 moves and 6.5 hours. Ten matches will be decided by tiebreaks. 

As regards the Indian challenge, losing the first game as white, Adhiban started the day in a must-win situation but his aspirations suffered setbacks as Nakamura scored another chance-less victory against the Indian.

Adhiban was the best-performing Indian in the event as compatriots G. Akash and Parimarjan Negi had crashed out in the first round itself against Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine.

Krishnan Sasikiran found his nemesis in Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the second round of the 128-player knockout event.

World No. 2 Levon Aronian knocked out by...

World number two Levon Aronian of Armenia was sent packing too as he could not win in the return game against Evgeny Tomashevski of Russia and lost the two-games mini-match by 0.5-1.5 margin.

...Evgeny Tomashevski of Russia

Russian Alexander Grischuk however rose from his ashes to square it up against Le Quang Liem of Vietnam. It was a dead-drawn endgame on board which on another day was no problem for Liem.

  

Great fighting spirit: Alexander Grischuk

However, the pressure got to the Vietnamese as he squandered away the chance to be in last 16 and will have to now battle it out in the rapid tiebreaker.

Apart from victories by Grischuk and Nakamura, the day provided just one more decisive game and veteran Peruvian Grandmaster Julio Granda Zuniga benefitted at the expense of Dutchman Anish Giri.

Fighting for Peru: Julio Granada Zuniga

Incidentally, Anish had won the first game so this one too goes to the tie-break stage.

Adhiban went for the King’s Indian defence against Nakamura but the American just went for an equal variation that involved trading of queens early in the opening.

Seeking a victory desperately, Adhiban felt the heat and his attempts to complicate did not come good. Nakamura spotted an opportunity to sacrifice an exchange that sealed the fate of the game effectively and the American notched the victory in 40 moves.

Adhiban got $16,000 after his ouster out of which 20 per cent will be paid to FIDE as part of the regulations. The Indian had beaten Evgeny Alekseev of Russia in the first round and Alexander Fier of Brazil in the second. (All photos by Anastasiya Karlovich)

Results round 3 game 1: Levon Aronian (Arm) lost to Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) 0.5-1.5; Vladimir Malakhov (Rus) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Vloadimir Kramnik (Rus) drew with Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Le Quang Liem (Vie) v/s Alexander Grischuk (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Sergey Karjakin (Ukr) drew with Pavel Eljanov (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; B Adhiban (Ind) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) 0-2; Boris Gelfand (Isr) beat Alexander Moiseenko (Ukr) 1.5-0.5; Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor) lost to Gata Kamsky (Usa) 0.5-1.5; S Mamedyarov (Aze) drew with Wei Yi (Chn) 1-1; M Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) beat Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cub) 1.5-0.5; Daniil Dubov (Rus) drew with Anton Korobov (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) drew with Aleksey Dreev (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Peter Svidler (Rus) beat Teimour Radjabov (Aze) 1.5-0.5; Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) drew with Yuri Kryvoruchko (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Julio Granda Zuniga (Per) v/s Anish Giri (Ned) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Nikita Vitiugov (Rus) drew with Alexander Morozevich (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak.

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World Cup: Adhiban in Round 3

Grandmaster and former national champion B.Adhiban made the most of his opportunities to beat Brazilian Grandmaster Alexander Fier in the second round and advance to the third round of the chess World Cup here.

After drawing the first game as white Adhiban made good use of his opportunities as Fier went berserk while trying to attack and lost a piece and the game soon after.

The other Indian left in the fray -- Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran -- again did well to hold the Russian world number nine Sergey Karjakin to tie the two games match 1-1 and set up a tie-break contest to start with the rapid games.

Chinese teenage sensation Wei Yi continued with his demolition act and ousted highly-regarded Alexei Shirov of Latvia after winning the second game. In the first round, Yi had beaten Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.

Sasikiran plays the tiebreak against Russian Sergey Karjakin on Friday - watch live India time 6.30 pm. Will he go to Round 3 as well?

Among the higher seeds, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine cruised in to the third round effectively at the expense of Mikhail Markovof and Dariusz Swierczof of Poland, Yu Yangyi of China and Ray Robson of United States respectively.

However, Gata Kamsky of United States and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia were stretched to the tiebreaker by Russians Alexander Shimanov and Mikhail Kobalija.

Among other fancied players, Anish Giri of Holland accounted for Li Chao of China for the second time in two days while Hikaru Nakamura of United States did not disappoint his fans and moved to the last 32 defeating Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan by 1.5-0.5 margin.

Adhiban stole the thunder showing determination and skill to hold a difficult position against Fier.

It was a Four Knights opening by Fier that gave excellent position to the Brazilian as white but he soon crumbled impatiently while going for a quick checkmate with a piece sacrifice.

Adhiban digested the extra piece with remarkable ease and proved that white’s attack was only optical.

Sasikiran went for the trusted Breyer defense as black against Karjakin and the Russian could not do much despite having the experience of playing at the top level. The game was drawn in just 23 moves.

Important and Indian results round 2 game 1: Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) beat So Wesley (Phi) 1.5-0.5; Alexander Morozevich (Rus) beat Rafael Leitao (Ger) 1.5-0.5; Gata Kamsky (Usa) v/s Aleksandr Shimanov (Rus) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Alexei Shirov (Lat) lost to Wei Yi (Chn) 0.5-1.5; Alexander Grischuk (Rus) beat Dariusz Swiercz (Pol) 1.5-0.5; Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Rus) 1-1, goes for tiebreak; Fabiano Caruana (Ita) beat Yu Yangyi (Chn) 1.5-0.5; Julio Granda Zuniga (Per) beat Peter Leko (Hun) 1.5-0.5; Anish Giri (Ned) beat Li Chao (Chn) 2-0; Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cub) beat Alexander Onischuk (Usa) 1.5-0.5; Ray Robson (Usa) lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) 0-2; Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) beat Eltaj Safarli (Aze) 1.5-0.5; B Adhiban beat Alexandr Fier (Bra) 1.5-0.5; Anotn Korobov (Ukr) v/s Baadur Jobava (Geo) 1-1, goes to tiebreak.

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World Cup R2: Sasi, Adhiban Draw

Tromsø, Norway: Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran kept himself in the hunt by holding Sergey Karjakin of Russia to a draw in the first game of the second round of World Chess Cup here  on Wednesday.

After beating Romanian Constantin Lupulescu in the tiebreak games, Sasikiran took it easy in the first encounter of the two-game mini-match and gave little chance to Karjakin, ranked ninth in the world currently.

Grandmaster B Adhiban, however, could not make use of a good advantage and drew with Brazilian GM Alexander Fier after an opening tussle.

Former national champion, Sasikiran surprised Karjakin by going for the King's Indian attack as white.

Karjakin spent more time in the opening but it was clear that the Russian was well-prepared and was only trying to remember the best moves. As the middle game approached, Karjakin got his counter play rolling on the queen side and Sasikiran had to play a bit cautiously to avoid giving any leeway.

The minor pieces changed hands and when Karjakin traded the queens after which there was nothing left to fight for. The Russian proposed the draw that was accepted. The game lasted 44 moves.
 

B Adhiban

Adhiban missed out on gaining the lead. Fier came up with the Noteboom variation where the Indian opted for the razor-sharp Marshall gambit. Very early in the opening, Fier decided to part with his rook for a minor piece. In established theory that was quite unplayable and the Brazilian was soon under pressure.

The game, however, took a different route and Adhiban as a result spent a lot of time in the middle game, thereby falling a little under time pressure. Sensing trouble, the Indian proposed a draw after just 20 moves which Fier gladly accepted.

After a few surprises in the opener, most of the higher ranked players got off to a good start in the first game of second round in this USD 1.6 million knock-out event.

The day saw top players like Alexander Morozevich and Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Gata Kamsky of United States, Anish Giri of Holland and Fabiano Caruana of Italy registering victories over lower rated opponents.

Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru

Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru, however, sprang a major surprise defeating Hungarian Peter Leko. Isan Ortiz Suarez from Cuba suddenly lost to French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a position with a huge advantage.

Alexander Morozevich blundered in a winning position but his opponent Rafael Leitao didn't see the winning shot and instead lost. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov didn’t convert a huge advantage against Maxim Matlakov, while Wang Hao got a three-time repetition in a lost position. Local hero Jon Ludvig Hammer, who defeated Sergey Movsesian in the previous round, drew with David Navara in a game where he had a better position, although it wasn't winning as he'd thought after the game.

Some players preferred not to take any risks in the first game and didn’t mind a short draw. Peace agreements were signed relatively quickly in the games Dubov-Ponomariov, Bacrot-Moiseenko, Jakovenko-Eljanov, and Lysyj-Aronian (pictured above). The others fought for many hours but the positions remained balanced in the Kobalia-Kramnik and Svidler-Bologan games.

In the 12 decisive games the victories for White outnumbered Black by 10 to 2. Only Vassily Ivanchuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won with the black pieces.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a winning position but lost his advantage in one move.
"Seems I’m getting old if I cannot win such positions," Mamedyarov wrote on his Facebook page.

The World Chess Cup is a part of the next World Championship cycle. The event started with 128 players but half of them were knocked out after the first round, including Parimarjan Negi and G Akash of India.

Each round, except the final, is a mini-match of two games followed by encounters of shorter duration in case of tied result.

Important and Indian results of Round 2 game 1:Igor Lysyj (RUS) drew with Levon Aronian (ARM); Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) beat So Wesley (PHI); Alexander Morozevich (RUS) beat Rafael Leitao (GER); Gata Kamsky (USA) beat Aleksandr Shimanov (RUS); Alexei Shirov (LAT) drew with Wei Yi (CHN); Alexander Grischuk (RUS) beat Dariusz Swiercz (POL); Krishnan Sasikiran (IND) drew with Sergey Karjakin (RUS); Fabiano Caruana (ITA) beat Yu Yangyi (CHN); Julio Granda Zuniga (PER) beat Peter Leko (HUN); Anish Giri (NED) beat Li Chao (CHN); Leinier Dominguez Perez (CUB) beat Alexander Onischuk (USA); Ray Robson (USA) lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) beat Eltaj Safarli (AZE); B Adhiban (IND) drew with Alexandr Fier (BRA); Anotn Korobov (UKR) beat Baadur Jobava (GEO).

Watch all the games live at the official website of the World Chess Cup 2013. (Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich)

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World Chess Cup: Sasi, Adhiban in R2

Former National champions B. Adhiban and Krishnan Sasikiran have made it to Round 2 of the Chess World Cup being played in Tromso, Norway.

Pitted against a much higher-rated rival, Adhiban displayed top form to beat Evgeny Alekseev of Russia 5-3, winning in the blitz tiebreaker while Sasikiran prevailed over Constantin Lupulescu of Romania 2.5-1.5 cruising past in the second rapid game to reach the round of 64.

Parimarjan Negi lost to Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine in the mini-match. Parimarjan lost 2-4 but before that he won the first rapid tiebreaker as black. He blew it away with white pieces in the return game. Adhiban’s victory turned out to be the second biggest upset in the World cup so far after Wei Yi of China had beaten Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.

Ranked way below, Adhiban showed a lot of determination and played with his heart out to beat Alekseev, a member of the top 50 club it he world rankings.

It started with the rapid tiebreaker wherein Adhiban drew the first blood but lost the return game. The stage was thus set for two 10-minutes each games that ended in draws.

Alekseev missed out on a clear advantage in the subsequent five-minutes each blitz game and ran out of time and in the second blitz game Adhiban gave no chances and picked up as many as three pawns before the Russian called it a day. Sasikiran gave a perfect display of technical chess to outplay Lupulescu.

Playing the white side of a Queen pawn game in the second rapid tiebreaker after drawing the first, Sasikiran weakened the king side with some precise moves in the middle game and launched an attack on the king side to knock down a pawn for no compensation. The rest was child’s play for the seasoned Indian.

Negi was unlucky yet again. In the normal games too he had won the first game with black pieces but could not make a draw as white and in the second too it was a similar story. Winning with black with a fine combination, Negi got a balanced position again as white but missed out in the endgame to let Kryvoruchko level the scores again.

In the next set of tiebreakers, Kryvoruchko won both games. Sasikiran has a tough challenge to tackle in Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the next round of this USD 1.6 million event.

Adhiban will take on Alexander Fier of Brazil in what is expected to be an even contest.

According to the regulations of the World Cup tiebreaks two rapid games are played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still tied two accelerated rapid games are played with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still deadlocked two blitz games are then played at 5 min + 3 sec. Finally, if a winner has still not been determined a sudden death Armageddon game takes place with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black with a 2 sec increment after move 60. In that game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn).

A total of 15 players were eliminated after the tiebreaks. In general, the favorites won their matches: Peter Svidler, Michael Adams, Alexander Morozevich, Dmitry Andreikin, Anton Korobov, Jobava Baadur and Alexei Dreev all went through to the next round. Georgian GM Jobava Baadur won against Ukrainian GM Martyn Kravtsiv with a 2-0 score. At the same time a few of the rating favorites were unexpectedly knocked out of the World Cup at this stage.

Norwegian player GM Hammer defeated Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian in the first game of the playoff and drew the second game, thus eliminating his more experienced opponent from the FIDE World Cup. Brazilian GM Alexander Fier defeated an opponent more than one hundred points higher rated, Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek.

Women’s World Champion Anna Ushenina lost the first rapid game but could have upset Peter Svidler in the second. She missed her chance and the Russian player won the match. 

A total of 13 rapid matches finished drawn so 26 players continued their battles at the 10 min + 10 sec time control. Gata Kamsky, Alexei Shirov, Teimour Radjabov, Ruben Felgaer, Rafael Leitao, Eltaj Safarli, Viktor Bologan, Yuriy Kryvoruchko and Alexandr Shimanov were successful at that stage.Not an easy match for Gata Kamsky, who only managed to win the fifth game against Chinese IM Lou Yiping.

Hou Yifan and Alexei Shirov exchanged victories in rapid and continued their match. The Latvian player proved to be stronger at the 10 min + 10 sec time control. Despite the final outcome, the former Women’s World Champion showed great play in the event.

Jorge Cori Forfeit: Sad Event

After two draws in the classical games Azeri GM Teimour Radjabov struggled against GM Jorge Cori (Peru) in rapid – each won a game. The spectators were waiting for an exciting continuation at the 10 min+10 sec time control. Surprisingly, Cori didn’t appear in time for the first game. One second after the start of the round, Teimour Radjabov stopped the clock, signed the score sheet and left the playing hall, while Jorge Cori was running to the playing hall.

Using the advantage of the white pieces the Azeri player didn’t have any problem drawing the second game. After the end of the match GM Cori from Peru made an appeal. The decision of the Appeals Committee has been published here on the official website. Cori said he had heard wrong the start time and rushed to the hall only after seeing the players walk in via the live Internet feed. A little less than 2 minutes later Cori came to the playing hall and tried to explain what had happened. 

Also, an unfortunate day for Russian GM Alexander Riazantsev, who lost against Argentinian GM Ruben Felgaer. Four matches remained to be decided in blitz. Two Russian GMs Zvjaginsev and Alekseev were defeated by Polish GM Swiercz and Indian GM Adhiban respectively, while players on the two remaining boards reached Armageddon games.

Many participants of the tournament and spectators came to watch the matches Tomashevsky versus Ramirez and Melkumyan versus Granda Zuniga in the playing hall. Playing White Evgeny Tomashevsky defeated his opponent and Granda Zuniga, who played with Black and just needed to make a draw to advance, also managed to win.

The second round of the FIDE World Cup starts at 3 p.m. local time on 14th of August. 64 participants will continue playing but as before only half of them will advance to the next stage. You can watch the live broadcast of the Chess World Cup 2013 at the official website.

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World Chess Cup R1.2: Akash Exits

Caruana and Akash - Young talents

India's Parimarjan Negi let slip a position of strength and lost to Ukraine’s Yuri Kryvoruchko in the second game of the chess World Cup in Tromso. The shocking loss with white pieces means that Negi will have to now battle it out in the tie-break games of shorter duration as the final score after the two-game mini-match stands tied at 1-1.

G. Akash made his exit from the 128-player event with a memorable game wherein he held world No. 3 Caruana to a creditable draw with black pieces.

Having lost the first game of the match, the draw only helped Akash to gain some rating but this is one result he will cherish for a long time.

B. Adhiban played out his second draw with Evgeny Alekseev of Russia while K. Sasikiran achieved the same result against Constantin Lupulescu of Romania.

Negi was pretty unlucky not to progress to the round of 64. Kryvoruchko went for the Sicilian Dragon but his hopes of a combat in complications evaporated as Negi got slightly better position without much ado. Kryvoruchko had to part with a pawn also and it was smooth sailing for the Indian till disaster struck on move 42. Negi followed a mistake with a blunder and the fate of the game was soon sealed.

Sasikiran allowed the Nimzo Indian defence but could not force an advantage in the late middle game. Lupulescu, to his credit, handled the middle game well enough to remain in hunt for the next round.

Adhiban had slightly better prospects against former Russian champion Alekseev but to make progress was not easy for the Indian. Alekseev equalised towards the end and just repeated moves to force a draw.

In other important results, the world’s highest ranked woman Judit Polgar of Hungary was ousted by Isan Ortiz Suarez of Spain while defending champion Peter Svidler of Russia was shocked by women’s world champion Anna Ushenina.

Just as on day one there were plenty of fireworks on the second day of the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø. Thirteen players won their matches with a 2-0 score (not counting Alexander Moiseenko, whose opponent could not come to Tromsø).

While some victories with impressive results could be expected from top players such as Aronian, Kramnik, Grischuk, Nakamura and Dominguez, there were also a few 2-0 results produced by players with ratings lower than their opponents.

Russian GM Daniil Dubov managed to outplay experienced and higher rated Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk. American GM Ray Robson didn’t leave any chances for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin by winning 2-0. One of the most surprising results for those who compare the ratings of opponents happened in the Nepomniachtchi-Wei match. The youngest participant of the event, Chinese GM Yi Wei (a nominee of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov), defeated Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5.

The participants of the upcoming Women’s World Championship match Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina are doing well so far. Anna Ushenina defeated Peter Svidler in his favorite Gruenfeld and Hou Yifan drew the second game against Alexei Shirov. The reigning and former Women’s World Champions will proceed to the playoff stage on Tuesday.

Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of chess, lost out on a number of winning chances, drew against Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz and lost the match. A total of 28 matches were undecided after two games at the classical time control and 56 players will continue to fight at 3 p.m. local time on August 13.
Russian GM Alexander Morozevich lost his first game, but managed to equalize.

Rising star from Russia GM Daniil Dubov defeated GM Sergey Fedorchuk 2-0 as well. GM Michael Adams made a second draw against Wan Yunguo of China. The strongest Chinese GM Wang Hao outplayed his compatriot Liu Qingnan. An unexpectedly quick elimination for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin. Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Polish IM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who upset him with a draw the day before.

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout which starts with 128 players and runs from August 10 to September 3rd. The top two players will qualify for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament which will take place in March 2014 and determine the challenger for the World Championship match in 2014.

The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn). 

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World Chess Cup R1: Negi Wins

World’s second youngest ever Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi of India outplayed higher-ranked Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine in the first round of the World Chess Cup which began here.

Fresh from some strong performances including a recent victory in the Politiken Cup with a whopping 9/10 score, Negi proved that his warm up tactics before the World Cup were perfect as Kryvoruchko proved no match.

It turned out to be a mixed day for the Indians in the first round of this knockout event as B Adhiban held higher ranked Grandmaster Evegny Alekseev to a draw while Krishnan Sasikiran drew easily as black against Romanian Grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu.

Indian champion G Akash, however, lost his first game of the two-game mini-match against Fabiano Caruana of Italy.

Akash now needs a victory in the return game to stay in the hunt in the 128-players event.

Negi was the star of the day as he almost effortlessly outplayed Kryvoruchko in all departments of the game. Playing the black side of a Sicilian Scheveningen, Negi used a new idea that unsettled the Ukrainian early and showed precise technique to go one up.

Kryvoruchko now faces a daunting task to make a comeback as he has to win with black pieces.

Adhiban employed the Sicilian Taimanov and was happy to get the Fianchetto variation on board. Soon as the middle game arrived, Alekseev went for a direct attack on the king side only to realise soon that it was not intimidating enough.

 

Adhiban could have pressed for more but given his maiden appearance in the World Cup, a draw with black against much higher ranked Alekseev was a good result.

Apart from the Indians, the first day witnessed the top seeds win apart from a few surprises. The round started late due to a security check. A minute's silence was also observed in memory of Russian GM Kurnosov who passed away, at the age of 28, in a tragic road accident recently.

GM Alexander Morozevich lost to Canadian GM Bator Sambuev in the biggest upset of the day. GM Ray Robson beat the higher rated GM Andrey Volokitin. GM Gata Kamsky and GM Michael Adams drew against Chinese players Lou Yiping and Wan Yunguo respectively. Former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan drew with GM Alexey Shirov, but reigning Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina lost to defending champion Peter Svidler. Four women are taking part in the FIDE World Cup in Tromso: Judit Polgar, Hou Yifan, Anna Ushenina and Deysi Cori. Judit Polgar also lost to GM Reynaldo Suarez Ortiz in a big upset.  

The first games of the opening round started in Tromso after Commissioner for Business, Culture and Sports of Tromso Municipality, Mr. Jonas Stein, made the first symbolic move in the Aronian-Markov game. (PTI and Agencies)

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout, starting with 128 players. Two games are played between each pair of players. The rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games (25 min + 10 sec), then, if the score is still tied, two accelerated games (10 min + 10 sec). If the score is still tied two blitz games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec, and if there is still no decision a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn). The winner and the runner-up of the World Cup 2013 will qualify for the Candidates Tournament of the next World Championship cycle.

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World Chess Cup Live from Aug 11

A chess feast is set so mark your calendar for the World Chess Cup 2013 from August 11-September 3 in Tromsø Norway. We are delighted to officially announce the 128 players in the FIDE World Cup 2013 in Tromsø. In the 1st round of the World Chess Cup 2013, the three top-seeded players GM Levon Aronian of Armenia, GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik face Mikhail Markov (2305) of Kyrgyzstan, IM G. Akash (2332) from India and FM Gillian Bwalya (2310) from Zambia respectively. Previous World Cup winner GM Peter Svidler of Russia faces reigning Women's World Chess Champion GM Anna Ushenina of Ukraine.

Watch the live broadcast of the World Chess Cup 2013 at the official website beginning Sunday, August 11.

G. Akash happens to be the youngest-ever Indian chess player to have won the Indian national chess title breaking Viswanathan Anand's record. He is participating in the event for the first time. The other Indians in the event are Parimarjan Negi, B Adhiban and Krishnan Sasikiran.  

The World Chess Cup 2013 is a part of the World Championship Cycle 2012-2014. The winner and the runners-up will qualify for the Candidates of the World Championship cycle 2012-2014. There are 128 qualifiers (in order of priority): World Champion + four (4) semi-finalists from the World Cup 2011, Women’s World Champion, World Junior U-20 Champions 2011 & 2012, eighteen (18) rated players as described in 3.1.2, ninety (92) players from Continental Championships, six (6) FIDE President nominees, four (4) organiser nominees.

There will be six (6) rounds of matches comprising two (2) games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round, plus the final seventh (7th) round comprising of four (4) games.

Here is the official video of the World Chess Cup 2013.

Side Chess Events
Tromsø Chess Club (TSK) and Tromsø Youth Chess Club (TSKU) are organizing a series of open tournaments on the sidelines of the World Chess Cup 2013. Title players who get knocked out from the World Cup will play in these tournaments. Arctic Chess NGP, an international weekend tournament, will be held on 16-18th August as a seven-round swiss open. The total prize fund is 5000 EUR.
A Main: 1000-600-400; Elo-2300: 500-300-200; Elo–2000: 250-150-100
B Main: 500-300-200; Elo-1500: 250-150-100
The first three rounds will be played with the time control 20′+5”, while the remaining four rounds will be played with classical 90′+30”.
The legendary TSKU chess cafe will be operating outside the playing venue throughout the tournament.
Registration
Chief Arbiter: Trond Romsdal
Arbiter: Øyvind Pedersen
Organizer: Jan Sigmund Berglund (+47 992 79 489)

An exclusion

One of the strongest Egyptian Grandmasters Ahmed Adly will have to skip the event due to obligatory service in the Egyptian Army. Adly told The Chess Drum that he had exhausted all efforts including the submission of an official letter from the Ministry of Sports. The other Egyptian players (GM Bassem Amin, GM Essam El-Gindy and IM Samy Shoker) were not affected.

The complete players' list is as follows:
For the pairings please see the Results and Pairings page.

a) 2011 World Cup semi-finalists
01. P. Svidler (RUS)
02. A. Grischuk (RUS)
03. V. Ivanchuk (UKR)
04. R. Ponomariov (UKR)

b) 2012 Women's World Champion
05. A. Ushenina (UKR)

c) 2011 and 2012 Junior World Champions
06. D. Swiercz (POL)
07. A. Ipatov (TUR)

d) 18 players based on their average FIDE rating from 3/2012 to 1/2013
08. L. Aronian (ARM) 2816.22
09. V. Kramnik (RUS) 2798.88
10. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2789.22
11. S. Karjakin (RUS) 2777.44
12. F. Caruana (ITA) 2775.44
13. H. Nakamura (USA) 2772.77
14. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2760.44
15. G. Kamsky (USA) 2748.55
16. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2744.88
17. Wang Hao (CHN) 2739.11
18. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2738.44
19. P. Leko (HUN) 2731.11
20. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2728.77
21. L. Dominguez (CUB) 2727.44
22. M. Adams (ENG) 2721.66
23. R. Wojtaszek (POL) 2721.55
24. A. Giri (NED) 2715.33
25. I. Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2709.00
26. A. Shirov (LAT) 2708.33

e) 46 players from the 2012 and 2013 European Championships
27. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2012
28. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2012
29. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2012
30. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2012
31. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2012
32. M. Matlakov (RUS) 2012
33. V. Bologan (MDA) 2012
34. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2012
35. Y. Kryvoruchko (UKR) 2012
36. S. Azarov (BLR) 2012
37. E. Najer (RUS) 2012
38. V. Akopian (ARM) 2012
39. A. Volokitin (UKR) 2012
40. J. Smeets (NED) 2012
41. C.B. Gawain Jones (ENG) 2012
42. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2012
43. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2012
44. A. Dreev (RUS) 2012
45. D. Khismatullin (RUS) 2012
46. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2012
47. V. Durarbeyli (AZE) 2012
48. A. Riazantsev (RUS) 2012
49. B. Jobava (GEO) 2012
50. A. Moiseenko (UKR) 2013
51. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2013
52. E. Romanov (RUS) 2013
53. A. Beliavsky (SLO) 2013
54. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2013
55. S. Movsesian (ARM) 2013
56. H. Melkumyan (ARM) 2013
57. A. Korobov (UKR) 2013
58. I. Lysyj (RUS) 2013
59. A. Shimanov (RUS) 2013
60. A. Areshchenko (UKR) 2013
61. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2013
62. M. Kravtsiv (UKR) 2013
63. D. Dubov (RUS) 2013
64. M. Ragger (AUT) 2013
65. Z. Hracek (CZE) 2013
66. I. Popov (RUS) 2013
67. S. Brunello (ITA) 2013
68. S. A. Fedorchuk (UKR) 2013
69. E. Postny (ISR) 2013
70. V. Zvjaginsev (RUS) 2013
71. A. Istratescu (FRA) 2013
72. E. Safarli (AZE) 2013

f) 20 players from the Americas
73. G. Kaidanov (USA) Continental 2012
74. J. Granda Zuniga (PER) Continental 2012
75. A. Shabalov (USA) Continental 2012
76. E. Hansen (CAN) Continental 2012
77. A. Ramirez (USA) Zonal 2.1
78. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
79. C. Holt (USA) Zonal 2.1
80. L. M. Christiansen (USA) Zonal 2.1
81. R. Robson (USA) Zonal 2.1
82. I. R. Ortiz Suarez (CUB) Continental 2013
83. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2013
84. J. Cori (PER) Continental 2013
85. D. Cori T. (PER) Continental 2013
86. R. Felgaer (ARG) Zonal 2.5
87. S. Mareco (ARG) Zonal 2.5
88. R. Leitao (BRA) Zonal 2.4
89. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4
90. B. Sambuev (CAN) Zonal 2.2
91. L. Bruzon (CUB) (Zonal 2.3)
92. E. Iturrizaga (VEN) (Zonal 2.3)

g) 20 players from Asia/Oceania
93. Negi Parimarjan (IND) Continental 2012
94. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental 2012
95. Salem A. R. Saleh (UAE) Continental 2012
96. Liu Qingnan (CHN) Continental 2012
97. Oliver Barbosa (PHI) Continental 2012
98. Nguyen Ngoc Trung Son (VIE) Zonal 3.3
99. Wesley So (PHI) Zonal 3.3
100. G. Akash (IND) Zonal 3.7
101. Z. Rahman (BAN) Zonal 3.2
102. Lou Yiping (CHN) Zonal 3.5
103. Wan Yunguo (CHN) Zonal 3.5
104. Li Chao B (CHN) Continental 2013
105. M. Paragua (PHI) Continental 2013
106. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental 2013
107. B. Adhiban (IND) Continental 2013
108. K. Sasikiran (IND) Continental 2013
109. I. Bjelobrk (AUS) Zonal 3.6
110. Darini Pouria (IRI) Zonal 3.1
111. A. Filippov (UZB) Zonal 3.4
112. M. Markov (KGZ) Zonal 3.4

h) 6 players from Africa
113. Amin Bassem (EGY) Continental 2013
114. A. Adly (EGY) Continental 2013
115. E. El Gindy (EGY) Continental 2013
116. Ali Sebbar (MAR) Zonal 4.1
117. S. Shoker (EGY) Zonal 4.2
118. Gillian Bwalya (ZAM) Zonal 4.3

i) 6 nominees of the FIDE President
119. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
120. Hou Yifan (CHN)
121. J. Polgar (HUN)
122. D. Navara (CZE)
123. J-K. Duda (POL)
124. Wei Yi (CHN)

j) 4 nominees of the local organising committee
125. Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)
126. Simen Agdestein (NOR)
127. Leif Erlend Johannessen (NOR)
128. Torbjorn Ringdal Hansen (NOR)

Total = 128 players

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad R2: India Men Beat Turkey 3-1; Indian Women Beat Australia 3.5-0.5

Indian star leader
GM Krishnan Sasikiran

Indian chess teams chalked up their second straight wins in the second round at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad on Wednesday in both the open and women's sections. 

On Board 13, India beat Turkey 3-1. GM Krishnan Sasikiran beat IM Burak Firat and GM Abhijeet Gupta beat CM Vahap Sanal. GM Parimarjan Negi picked up a draw against FM Ali Marandi and GM Gopal, Geetha Narayanan drew with CM Dastan Muhammed Batuhan. 

None other than one of
Asia's greatest women
chess players -
WIM Rani Hamid
playing for Bangladesh

On Board 6, in the women's section, India beat Australia 3.5 to 0.5. IM Eesha Sanjay Karawade, IM Tania Sachdev and WGM Mary Ann Gomes picked up wins over WIM Arianne Caoili, Sally Yu and Giang Nguyen. WGM Soumya Swaminathan drew with WIM Bijana Novakovic-Dekic. 

Meanwhile, on the top boards, Ukraine, the defending champion defeated Qatar with a 3-1 score despite the loss by first board GM Vassily Ivanchuk to GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki. Ivanchuk was slightly better with black but he carelessly allowed the enemy queen to sneak into the back rank. Ivanchuk immediately resigned, declining attempts to seek compensation for the piece. The United States beat Lithuania 3.5-0.5 after Hikaru Nakamura finally broke down the stubborn resistance of Grecian GM Vidmantas Malisauskas in a marathon 107-moves long game. Azerbaijan had no difficulty dispatching their Irish opponents, however the young talent FM Ryan Rhys Griffiths managed to steal the only draw for his team in the game against the seasoned Azeri GM Rauf Mamedov.

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Chess Game Adjournments Back in ACP New Golden Classic Event with Ivanchuk as Top Seed; India's Sasikiran to Play

The ACP Golden Classic - a new, imaginative way to interpret modern chess

The ACP, in collaboration with Science Park Amsterdam Chess, has announced the 'ACP Golden Classic' that will take place in Amsterdam from 14 to 22 July, in the same venue and at the same time as the Dutch Championships and the SPA Open.

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