Winning edge

CHESS
By QUAH SENG SUN

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Experience gives players the edge over the competition.

THE results of two recent chess tournaments here and elsewhere have left me doubly convinced that experience can be a great leveller. Time and again, the player with the greater experience has shown the resilience to come up tops in chess events.

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In faraway Khanty-Mansiysk, the experience of a 41-year-old Boris Gelfand triumphing over 26-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov in the Chess World Cup knock-out tournament was a typical example.

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King of kings: (from left) Ibrahim Bakar (MCF), Mok Tze Meng, Nicholas Chan and the triumphant Mas Hafizulhelmi.
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Gelfand was the oldest player in the tournament but in 26-year-old Ponomariov, he was facing a former Fide world champion in 2002 who knew his way around the chessboard.

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Many did not expect Gelfand to last the distance against the younger Ponomariov. The previous six rounds had been gruelling enough and in the final, Ponomariov had been expected to play better in the rapidchess tie-break games should their classical time control games ended drawn.

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Sure enough, all four of the classical games were drawn and the two players went on to play rapidchess. However, they also ended with a drawn result and so, everything boiled down to blitz chess. Here, Gelfand sprang the greatest surprise by beating Ponomariov 3-1, thus ending the latter’s hopes of winning the Chess World Cup.

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Likewise at home, we have found this year’s Malaysian King of Kings. After six months, the Malaysian Masters knock-out tournament is finally over. A much more experienced Mas Hafizulhelmi triumphed over Nicholas Chan in the final which was staged in Kuala Lumpur last weekend.

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Both players have played chess for long years but in terms of recent exposure to the game, Mas Hafizul held a big advantage over Chan. Whereas Mas Hafizul has been totally immersed in playing competitive chess all over the world in the past two years, Chan had been more pre-occupied with his studies. As a result, the rustiness showed in Chan’s play and this was well exploited by Mas Hafizul.

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Although six games had been scheduled for this match, it was practically over by the end of the first day of play when Mas Hafizul went two-up in the match. The third game was drawn but Chan again faltered in the fourth game and allowed Mas Hafizul to wrap up the match with a 3½-½ score.

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Mas Hafizul had progressed through the Malaysian Masters by beating Muhammad Tariq Amru in the first round and Mok Tze Meng in the semi-finals. In the meantime, Chan advanced to the final of this event by beating Evan Timothy Capel in the first round and Lim Yee Weng in the semi-finals.

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Here are the four games from the Malaysian Masters finals:

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Mas Hafizulhelmi vs Nicholas Chan (Game 1)

1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. c4 e6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8. d3 O-O 9. dxe6 fxe6 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. O-O Rae8 12. Nc3 e5 13. f5 Nd4 14. Qd1 Nxf5 15. Bg5 Ng4 16. Qd2 Nd4 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Rae1 Nxf3+ 20. Rxf3 Rxf3 21. gxf3 Nh6 22. f4 exf4 23. Nf6+ Qxf6 24. Rxe8+ Kf7 25. Re4 g5 26. h4 Nf5 27. hxg5 Qxg5+ 28. Qg2 Qh4 29. Re2 Kf6 30. Qxb7 Qg3+ 31. Qg2 Nd4 32. Rf2 Kg5 33. Kf1 Nf5 34. Qf3 h5 35. b4 Qxf3 36. Rxf3 Kg4 37. Rf2 Ne3+ 38. Ke2 Kg3 39. bxc5 Nf5 40. Rf3+ Kg4 41. Rf1 h4 42. Kf2 Nd4 43. Rg1+ Kf5 44. Rg7 h3 45. Rxa7 Nc6 46. Rh7 Kg4 47. Rh6 Ne5 48. c6 Nxd3+ 49. Ke2 1-0

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Nicholas Chan vs Mas Hafizulhelmi (Game 2)

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Qb3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Nd4 6. Qd1 O-O 7. e3 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Ne6 9. e4 Qe7 10. Ne2 Nc5 11. d3 Qd6 12. d4 Ncxe4 13. Qc2 Nxf2 14. Kxf2 Ng4+ 15. Ke1 Re8 16. Qf5 exd4 17. Bd5 Nf6 18. cxd4 c6 19. Bf3 Qxd4 20. Rb1 Qxc4 21. Bb2 d5 22. Qf4 Ne4 23. Rc1 Qxa2 24. Bh5 Be6 25. Rf1 Qxb2 0-1

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Mas Hafizulhelmi vs Nicholas Chan (Game 3)

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Nd2 O-O 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. O-O Ne8 9. a4 Rb8 10. f4 a6 11. a5 Nc7 12. Nc4 Nb5 13. Na4 Nf6 14. Bd3 e6 15. Nab6 exd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 f5 18. c3 Nc7 19. Nb6 Bd7 20. Be3 Be8 21. Qd2 Na8 22.Nc4 Bb5 23.Bf2 Re8 24.Rfe1 Qc7 25.Ne3 Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Bh6 27.g3 Qd7 28.Nc4 Qb5 29.Re6 Bf8 30.Rae1 Nc7 31.R6e2 Rxe2 32 Rxe2 Ne8 33 Re6 Rd8 34. h3 Ng7 35. Re2 Nh5 36. Kg2 Bh6 37. Kf3 Rf8 38. Re6 Nf6 39.Qe2 Qb3 40.Be3 Ne4 41.g4 Bg7 42.g5 Bg7 43.h4 Kf7 44.Bc1 Rd7 45.h5 Rd8 46.Kg2 Qb5 47. Kh3 Qb3 48.Ne3 Qb5 49.Nc4 Bh8 50. Kg2 Rd7 51. Kf3 Bg7 52. Be3 Qb3 53. Qd3 Qa2? 54. hxg6+ hxg6 55. Rxe4 fxe4+ 56. Qxe4 Re7 57. Qd3 Kg8 58. Nxd6 Qxb2 59.Qxg6 Qh2 ½-½

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Nicholas Chan vs Mas Hafizulhelmi (Game 4)

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 a5 5. g3 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. d4 O-O 8. Bg2 c6 9. O-O a4 10. Qa2 b6 11. Rd1 Ba6 12.Ne5 Nfd7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.cxd5 cxd5 15. e4 Bc4 16. Qb1 Nf6 17. e5 Nd7 18. Re1 b5 19. Qc2 Qb6 20. Qd1 Nb8 21. Qg4 Kh8 22. Be3 Nc6 23. Ne2 Bxe2 24. Rxe2 Na5 25. Rd1 Rac8 26. h4 Rc4 27. h5 Nb3 28.Bf1 b4 29.axb4 Qxb4 30.f3 Rfc8 31.Qf4 Kg8 32.Rf2 R4c7 33.Bd3 Bf8 34.Kg2 Na5 35.Ra1 Qb3 36. Bb1 Qb5 37.Kh2 Nb3 38.Ra2 Nc1 39.Ra1 Ne2 40.Qg4 Qxb2 41.h6 Qxa1 42.hxg7 Qxb1 43.hxf8+=Q Kxf8 44.Bh6+ Ke7 45.Rxe2 Rc2 46.Bd2 R2c4 47. Qg5+ Kd7 48. Qf4 Qf5 49. Qe3 f6 50.g4 Qg5 51.Qd3 Qh4+ 52.Kg2 f5 53.Be1 Qe7 54.gxf5 Qg5+ 55. Kf1 Qxf5 56.Qa3 Qf8 57. Qd3 Rb8 58. Qxh7+ Qe7 59. Qh6 Rb3 60. Bh4 Rxf3+ 61. Kg2 Qf8 62.Qg6 Qf5 63. Qg7+ Qf7 64. Qg4 Rcc3 65. Rb2 Kc6 66. Be1 Rce3 67. Rc2+ Kd7 68. Bh4 Re4 69. Qg5 Rxh4 70. Qxh4 Qg6+ 71. Kxf3 Qd3+ 72. Kf4 Qxc2 73. Qh8 Qf2+ 74. Kg4 Qxd4+ 75. Kg3 Qd3+ 76. Kg2 Qe2+ 77. Kg3 a3 78. Qb8 Qd3+ 79. Kh4 Qc4+ 80. Kg5 Qc7 81. Qb5+ Kd8 82. Qa6 Qxe5+ 83. Kg6 Qf5+ 84. Kg7 Qg5+ 85. Kf7 Qe7+ 86. Kg6 Qb4 87. Kf7 Kc7 88. Qa7+ Kc6 89. Kf6 Kb5 90. Kxe6 Qc5 91. Qh7 a2 92. Qd3+ Qc4 93. Qa3 d4+ 94. Kd7 Qa4 0-1 -The Star

Chess: Carlsen number one

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As the youngest chess player ever, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (19) now tops the list over the world's top players, after his match at the London Chess Classic against British Michael Adams on Monday ended in a draw.
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Carlsen whose 19th birthday was on November 30th, is also the first player from a western nation to reach the top since Bobby Fisher in1972.
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The Norwegian will meet Nigel Short on Tuesday in the last round of the tournament.
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(NRK/Aftenposten)
Rolleiv Solholm
http://www.norwaypost.no

GM Boris Gelfand wins Chess World Cup

Dec 15 - Justifying his top billing Grand Boris Gelfand of Israel won the Chess World Cup, defeating former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in the tie-breaker of the final here.

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After the first three games ended in a draw, the fourth game under normal time control was intense but also ended in a draw leading to the tie-breaker which was also not devoid of venom.

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Gelfand enjoyed early lead in the rapid tie-break games and was almost closed to shut the doors on Pono when suddenly in the last (fourth) game of the rapid games the giant rose and squared the one point advantage that the Israeli had.

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The stage was thus set for the tie-break blitz games that have been known to give the seeds a taste of their own medicine. Gelfand won the second set of Blitz tie-breaker 2-0 after drawing the first set 1-1.

World Cup final

Chess

By QUAH SENG SUN

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DID anyone manage to watch the games of the Chess World Cup live from Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, in the past week?

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Someone dropped me a line to say that he visited the official website, where he downloaded the games of the first two rounds and played quickly through many of them. Then, he noticed that from the third round onwards, the field of players dwindled from 32 to just four players.

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“I just felt that the tournament became less interesting with fewer players,” he wrote. “I know the stakes may have gone higher but I miss the thrill of moving from game to game, like in the earlier rounds.”

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I know what he meant. He missed the hustle and bustle of a crowded chess room. In a virtual chess room, like what you’d get on an Internet chess server, there could be hundreds of people playing blitz chess at the same time. You would be able to watch hundreds of games and participate with other players too.
Showdown: Boris Gelfand and Rusland Ponomariov (below) are battling it out at the final of this year’s Chess World Cup.

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So when all he saw on the Chess World Cup website were just two games between four players at the semi-final stage, it was quite a letdown. Moreover, except for the rapid chess play-off games, the main games used classical time control and were ploddingly slow. As a result, they were not so interesting to watch.

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Well, the final started yesterday between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Pono­mariov. This is played over four games with classical time control and if they are tied, they players will proceed to rapid chess play-offs. If they are still tied, then it will go down to the blitz and sudden-death games.

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In 1990, Gelfand was one of more than 10 Soviet grandmasters who were on transit in Kuala Lumpur en route to play in the Manila chess inter-zonal tournament. Today, he is an Israeli citizen.

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Gelfand went to Khanty-Mansiysk as the joint top seed, being one of two players with the highest ratings in the tournament. He has played to his top billing and is in crushing top form. Until the final, the only time he was seen to struggle was in the fourth round when his French opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, pushed him to play four rapid chess games and two blitz rounds.

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On the other hand, Ponomariov’s progress in this event took him through four gruelling tie-breaking matches, including the semi-final match with Vladimir Malakhov.

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Ponomariov is a former Fide world chess champion from Ukraine. In 2002, he beat Vassily Ivanchuk by 4½-2½ to win this title at the age of 18, making him the first teenager to ever become a world chess champion. In the same year, he came second behind Garry Kasparov in a very strong tournament held at Linares, Spain.

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By the way, you may want to know what happened to Wesley So, that talented 16-year-old Filipino kid who created waves in this event. Well, soon after I had spoken so much about him last week, the lad’s brilliant run ended in the fourth round at the hands of Vladimir Malakhov. Malakhov, a physicist by profession, later downed Peter Svidler in the quarter-final and met his match in the semi-final against Ponomariov.

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So who will be the eventual winner of this year’s Chess World Cup: Gelfand or Pono­mariov? Hard to say, but let’s watch at the official website http://cup2009.fide.com/java/pgn/mon.php. The final match will be played until Sunday or Monday (if it goes to tie-breaks).

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In the meantime, here are two illustrative games from the finalists.

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White: Sergey Karjakin
Black: Boris Gelfand

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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.h3 a5 9.a4 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Re1 Ra6 (This is a very interesting move because if White plays 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Rxe7, then Black’s 13 … Rg6 threatens checkmate in one move) 12.Qh5 Nb4 13.Na3 Rg6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qf3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qe4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxd4 Qg5 20.g3 Qf5 21.g4 h5 22.Re4 d5 23.Kh2 Qf3 24.Ree1 hxg4 25.Qe3 gxh3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 27.Rg1 Rxf2+ 28.Kxh3 Rxg1 29.Rxg1 Nxc2 30.Nb5 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Rxd3 (This is a rout. Black is three points to the good and White has no compensation at all) 32.Nd6 Ne3+ 33.Kf4 Nc4 0-1

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White: Ruslan Ponomariov
Black: Vladimir Malakhov

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1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Be2 dxc4 6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bb3 e6 8. O-O Bb7 9. d4 c5 10. e4 Be7 11. e5 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Qe2 Bb7 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ng5 Nc6 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Bf8 18. Qh3 Qc7 19. Rd1 Rd8 20. Be3 Bg7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Nxe6 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qf7 24. Nxg7+ Qxg7 25. Bc5 Qf7 26. e6 Qf5 27. Qxf5 gxf5 28. Rd7 Bc8 29. Rc7 Bxe6 30. Rxc6 Kf7 31. Rxa6 Rd8 32. h3 f4 33. a4 Rd5 34. b4 bxa4 35. Rxa4 f3 36. Ra3 fxg2 37. Kxg2 Rh5 38. Rf3+ Ke8 39. Rc3 Bd7 40. Re3+ Kd8 41. Be7+ Kc7 42. h4 Rf5 43. Kg3 Bc6 44. Bc5 h5 45. f4 Bb5 46. Re7+ Kc6 47. Rg7 Kd5 48. Kf3 Bd3 49. Rd7+ Kc4 50. Ke3 Bb1 51. Rd1 Bc2 52. Rc1 Kb3 53. Rxc2 1-0