World Cup Baku 2015

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Game six drawn - now the blitz games!

[Hal Bond]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

That was a nail biter! Kaz was pressing but Anton is proving to be a tough defender. Gotta be frustrating for the higher seed. Anton has played more games than any Cannuck at the World Cup.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Game six drawn - now the blitz games!

And if there's no clear winner in the two 5 minute plus 3 second increment blitz games, it's Armageddon time! Hard to believe neither Grischuk nor Jakovenko can put away their IM opponents!

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

And decent chances in round two as well.

I think in a match format Kovalyov has decent chances to advance.

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Anton WINS game 8 and advances to Round 2 .....CONGRATULATIONS Anton - WELL DONE!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

September 13, 2015

Second Round Pairings

The colours have not yet been updated

V. Topalov - S. Zhigalko
Shanglei Lu - Hao Wang
P. Svidler -L. Nisipeanu
T. Radjabov – I. Smirin
Ding Liren – E. Inarkiev
D. Navara – G. Guseinov
L. Aronian – A. Areschchenko
Wei Yi – Y. Vovk
A. Giri – A. Motylev
P. Leko – Wen Yang
Henriquez Villagro – Granda Zuniga
R. Wojtaszek – V. Artemiev
W. So – C. Balogh
N. Vitiugov – Le Quang Liem
E. Tomashevsky – N. Nguyen
Vachier-Lagrave – G. Sargissian
________

H. Nakamura – S. Shankland
L. Fressinet – I. Nepomniachtchi
M. Adams – V. Laznicka
Dominguez Perez – H. Melkumyan
A. Grischuk – V. Fedoseev
P. Eljanov – A. Ipatov
D. Jakovenko – A. Bassem
V. Ivanchuk – M. Rodshtein
F. Caruana – R. Mamedov
S. Mareco – A. Kovalyov
P. Harikrishna – S. P. Sethuraman
S. Mamedyarov – Hou Yifan
V. Kramnik – Bruzon Batista
D. Andreikin – A. Korobov
S. Karjakin – A. Onischuk
Yu Yangyi– I. Lysyj

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

They have betting lines on 25 of the 32 R2 matches but not on Mareco - Kovalyov. There are no 1/200 mismatches this round. Indeed, the biggest favourite to advance to R3 is Wei Yi at 4/9.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

[Caesar Posylek]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

CONGRATULATIONS Anton!!!

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Anton WINS game 8 and advances to Round 2 .....CONGRATULATIONS Anton - WELL DONE!

Here is a quote from FB's Chess News & Views, by Eliseo Tumbaga, earlier this morning:

Anton Kovalyov, Canada's #1 player, had booked his flight home for today, anticipating an exit from the World Cup after the first round. Instead, he knocked out former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the tiebreaks and will have to make changes in his travel plans.

Bob A

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

This is the 6th edition of the 128 player knockout format to the World Cup and 2 of the previous 5 winners, Kamsky in 2007 and Gelfand in 2009, were both eliminated in R1. The other 3 prior winners, Aronian in 2005, Svidler in 2011, and Kramnik in 2013, all advanced to R2.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Both Radjabov and Topalov took very quick (12 and 11 moves) draws with Black. Surely that is a highly debatable strategy given the substantial rating differential with their opponent. All the more so for Topalov who is a very ordinary (2647) blitz player should the match get that far.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

And Peter Svidler takes an early 18 move draw with White. Perhaps he is trying to emulate his 2011 World Cup success by taking quick draws with White and destroying his opponent with Black with his famed Grunfeld. If memory serves me correct, I believe Peter won 5 consecutive Black games at that event (:

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Nakamura, another player who seems to love Black, follows Svidler's lead and takes an 18-move draw with White. This is the 2nd time Nakamura has drawn Shankland with White and they'll play their first game with colours reversed tomorrow. If Shankland is in his Olympiad gold medal form, this could be a very tough opponent for Naka.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

And Peter Svidler takes an early 18 move draw with White. Perhaps he is trying to emulate his 2011 World Cup success by taking quick draws with White and destroying his opponent with Black with his famed Grunfeld. If memory serves me correct, I believe Peter won 5 consecutive Black games at that event (:

Here's an amusing interview and annotated Grunfeld game of Svidler from his 2011 World Cup run. Peter may no longer quite be a top 10 player, but he's without question a top 10 interview (:

http://www.theweekinchess.com/chessn...the-first-time

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Ding LIren is the first top 10 player to secure a full point today (Nakamura, Topalov, Giri, and Aronian have all drawn) with a brilliant win against Ernesto Inarkiev. I, for one, have become a huge fan of Ding Liren games even though he may ultimately cost me my bet with Vlad Dobrich (6 players at 2800).

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2015-...arkiev_Ernesto