2009 World Cup: Semi-Finals
Will Ruslan Ponomariov win another knockout tournament?
Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE. Gallery link, ugra-chess.ru.
Only four players remaining. The top-seed is still playing, two Ukrainians stars and one unsung Russian will fight for the crown. Boris Gelfand has played solidly and has lost only one game thus far (Polgar). Ruslan Ponomariov and Sergey Karjakin are trying to advance for another all-Ukrainian battle. In 2002, Ponomariov beat Vassily Ivanchuk to with the FIDE World Championship.
Karjakin may finally get his chance to gain the spotlight. Vladimir Malakhov has overachieved, but it would be wrong to call his performance “lucky”. He is a strong player, solid and incredibly difficult to beat. Malakhov has not lost a single game in the tournament and he has also shown his strength in the rapids with 8.5/9!
Should be a great showdown! Only two tables will remain from the 64 that were arranged at the outset.
Results: https://cup2009.fide.com/results.php
Games (PGN): (all)
Did Gelfand just play the game of the year?
Do these rapid games happen today?
Gelfand is showing the value of experience and being able to use his preparation. He is from the same generation as Anand is demonstrating blended learning.His generation is the one with a background of wide book reading and then adaptation to the internet/database era.
He has shown that he is blending deep understanding along with the massive information retrieval and collation skills required.In addition the experienced players know when to rest as opposed to preparing more.Makes you wonder what would happen if Kasparov came back and competed.Ivanchuk,Anand and Gelfand have been doing well.
On an aside, London Chess Classic:
“Players taking part:
Susan Lalic (England) IM 2310
Sabrina Chevannes (England) WFM 2042
Arianne Caoili (Australia) WIM 2206
Olivia Smith (Wales) WFM 2026
Arlette van Weersel (Netherlands) WIM 2193
Camille de Seroux (Switzerland) 1989
Elena Winkelmann (Germany) 2119
Maria Yurenok (England) WFM 1968
Maria Ikonomopoulou (Greece) 2065
Denise Frick (South Africa) WIM 1920”
https://www.londonchessclassic.com/festival_events/womens_invitational.htm
https://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/12/london-womens-invitational.html