Grandmaster Gata Kamksy of the United States deservedly won the World Chess Cup defeating Alexei Shirov of Spain 2.5-1.5 in the finals in Khanty Mansiysk (Russia) on Sunday.
Kamksy, who had won the second game, drew the third and fourth to win one of the most sought after titles in the game.
Apart from the winner's cheque of $ 1,20,000, the American also earned the right to a match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria as part of the next world championship cycle.
Kamsky remained undefeated throughout the World Cup and was indeed the most consistent player of the event.
The Russian-born American was stretched to the tie-breaker only once in round three against Russian Peter Svidler. Kamksy won that match in rapid games.
It has been one of the most emphatic performances ever by a world cup winner as Kamsky defeated Boris Avrukh of Israel in round 1 by 1.5-0.5 margin, disposed off Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria with a similar margin in the second round.
Svidler lasted till rapid tie-break and eventually he managed three draws besides losing one rapid game.
Former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov was the next to bow to the techniques of Kamsky in the quarterfinals and in the semifinal young gun Magnus Carlsen found an unbeatable customer in Kamsky.
Against Shirov in the fourth game it was more a matter of holding nerves and Kamsky was quite at ease after going for the Rossolimo variation in the Sicilian defense with his white pieces.
Shirov did not get many chances to play as Kamksy was always on guard against getting in to a wild position and held his pieces together.
A couple of middle game exchanges did not improve things for Shirov as he was saddled with a backward pawn on the queen side and when Kamsky sacrificed an exchange to generate play for his pieces, it was clear that he was home.
Shirov tried to stay in the match for some time but finally caved in after Kamksy got perpetual checks. The game lasted 35 moves.
Earlier, in the third game Shirov had his chances but did not manage things well. It was a Ruy Lopez opening where Kamksy played black and faced the heat with his slightly defected pawn structure.
Kamsky's discomfiture was clear as, in trying to clarify the situation he made a couple of inaccuracies, yielding the center to Shirov. Black's position became objectively inferior, and maybe even losing.
However, here Kamsky's natural calmness along with Shirov's impatience started to tell. In mutual time trouble Gata spiced up the position by abandoning his queenside and activating all the pieces.
Prior to the time control, Alexei lost the grip on the position completely, and after the 41st move the players agreed to a draw.
The World Chess Cup started with 128 players with five Indians including P Harikrishna, Krishnan Sasikiran, GN Gopal, Abhijit Kunte and Surya Shekhar Ganguly.
Only Krishnan Sasikiran went past the first round and in fact ended up playing till the fourth round when he was eliminated by Ponomariov.
© 2024 Rediff.com -