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There were just two decisive games, both wins for black from 8 games in the 4th round of the FIDE World Cup. Peter Svidler managed to beat Alexei Shirov in the tie of the round. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is making quiet progress through the tournament.

There were just two decisive games, both wins for black from 8 games in the quarter finals of the FIDE World Cup. Peter Svidler managed to beat Alexei Shirov in the tie of the round. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is making quiet progress through the tournament.

Alexei Shirov's attack against Peter Svidler was repulsed calmly by the Russian who went on to win in 36 moves.

Shirov,A (2719) - Svidler,P (2754) [D87]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Rc1 Rd8 12.Bf4 Be5 13.Bg3 Bxg3 14.hxg3

A novelty, this move doesn't open the f-file and so may not be such an improvement.

[14.fxg3 Rf8 15.h3 Na5 16.Bd3 e5 17.Qd2 Qe7 18.g4 Bd7 19.d5 c4 20.Bc2 f6 21.Ng3 b6 22.Bd1 Nb7 23.Be2 Nd6 24.Rf2 Rac8 25.Rcf1 Kg7 26.Qe3 h6 27.Rb1 Rc5 28.Bd1 Ra5 29.Qd2 Be8 30.Be2 Qc7 31.Rbf1 Rf7 32.h4 Qe7 33.Qc2 b5 34.Qb1 Qd8 35.Bd1 Qb6 36.Kh2 Qc5 37.Qc1 Ra6 38.Qd2 Rb6 39.Bc2 Rbb7 40.Qc1 a5 41.a3 Rb8 42.Bd1 Bd7 43.Be2 Rh8 44.Qa1 h5 45.gxh5 f5 46.exf5 gxf5 47.Qb1 Qe3 48.Bg4 Qd3 49.Qe1 Re8 50.Rf3 Qxd5 51.Bxf5 e4 52.Bxe4 Qe5 53.h6+ Kf8 54.Rxf7+ Nxf7 55.Qf2 Re7 56.Bg6 Be8 57.Qf6 Qxf6 58.Rxf6 Kg8 59.Nf5 1-0 Caruana,F (2670)-Morozevich,A (2751)/Biel SUI 2009/The Week in Chess 768]

14...e5 15.Bd5

[15.d5 is an obvious alternative.]

15...Be6 16.dxe5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Nxe5 18.c4 a6 19.Re1 b5 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Nc3 c4 22.Qd4?!

Really going for it. White's attack looks really scarey but in the end with best play it probably works out better for black.

[22.d6 Rxd6 23.Nd5 Qd7 24.Rxe5 Rd8 25.a4 bxa4 26.Rxc4 Rxd5 27.Qxd5 Qxd5 28.Rxd5 Rxd5 29.Rxa4]

22...Nd3 23.Ne4?!

[23.Nxb5 is an alternative.]

23...Qa7 24.Nf6+ Kh8 25.Qh4

25...Kg7!

[25...Qxf2+ 26.Kh2 h5 27.Qg5 May have been what Shirov expected.]

26.Re3 Rd6 27.Rf3 h6

Black has correctly caculated his way through the complications. Now white is in trouble.

28.Ne4

[28.Rf1 Ne5 29.Re3 Rxf6 30.Rxe5 Qc5 is winning for black.]

28...Rxd5 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.Rc3

[30.Rf1 would be miserable but perhaps is necessary.]

30...Ne5 31.Rf4 Qxa2 32.Kh2 Qe2

[32...Ra6]

33.Qh4 Ra6 34.g4

It's been over for some time but now black just wins huge chunks of material.

34...g5 35.Nxg5 hxg5 36.Qxg5+ Rg6 0-1

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has made extremely smooth progress so far. Today was no exception. Viktor Laznicka got a position where it wasn't really apparent what his plan should be. Gradually Mamedyarov put on the pressure and broke through just before first time control.

Laznicka,V (2637) - Mamedyarov,S (2719) [D38]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd2 a6 8.Qc2 Re8 9.a3 Bd6 10.h3

[10.Rd1 h6 11.h3 1/2-1/2 Kaidanov,G (2629)-Goldin,A (2621)/Seattle USA 2003/The Week in Chess 428]

10...h6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bd3 Bd7 13.b4 Na7 14.Na4 b6 15.Nc3 Nb5 16.Ne2 Ne4 17.a4 Na7 18.0-0 Nc6 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 Nb4 22.Nc3 Nxd3 23.Qxd3 Be6 24.Ne5 f6 25.Nc6 Qd7 26.f3 Qf7 27.f4 Rxa1 28.Rxa1 Bd7 29.Ra2

From here abouts white seems content with a draw and starts to play somewhat aimlessly. Pretty soon his position starts to get difficult.

29...h5 30.Kf2 h4 31.Kg1 g6 32.Re2 Kg7

[32...Bf5 33.Qd2 Qe6 34.Qd1 Ra8]

33.Qb1 Bf5 34.Qd1

[34.Qe1 Bd3 35.Rd2 Bc4 36.Rf2]

34...Qe6 35.Qd2 Ra8 36.Re1 Ra3

37.Rf1?

Now white probably has to allow a very scarely looking attack because this just seems to lose.

[37.Qb2 Bxh3 38.gxh3 Qxh3 39.Nd1 Qg3+ 40.Kf1 h3 41.Qf2 Bxf4 42.Qxg3 Bxg3 43.Nf2 Rb3 44.Rc1 h2 45.Kg2 Bd6 46.Ng4 Rxb5 47.Rc2 Rb1 48.Nxh2 b5]

37...Rb3 38.Ra1 Ba3 39.Ra2 Bb1 40.Nxb1

This definitely loses other options aren't that appetising either.

[40.Rxa3 Rxa3 41.Nxb1 (41.Nb4 Be4) 41...Ra1 42.Qe1 Qe4]

40...Rxb1+ 41.Kh2 Bc1 42.Qe1 Qe4 43.Ra7 Qxf4+!!

Not too tough to calculate but pretty none the less.

44.Kh1 Qf2

[44...Qe4 is even better]]

45.Rxc7+?

[45.Qxf2 Bxe3+ 46.Qg1 Rxg1+ 47.Kh2 Kh6 48.Ra2 Rd1 49.g3 hxg3+]

45...Kh6 46.Qd1

[46.Qxf2 Bxe3+ 47.Kh2 Bxf2 48.g4 Bg3+ 49.Kg2 Bxc7 is also winning.]

46...Qe2 47.Qg1 Qxe3 48.Qf1 Qf4 49.Qd3 Ra1 0-1

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Boris Gelfand drew quite an interesting Petroff Defence. I'm sure the final position is drawish but I would have liked to see a few more moves to see how it should play out.

Vachier Lagrave,M (2718) - Gelfand,B (2758) [C43]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.0-0 Bd6 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.Qh5 f5 11.Rb1 b6 12.Re1 c6 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.c4 Be8 15.Qh3 dxc4 16.Bxf5

[16.Bxc4+ Bf7 17.Be6 Bxe6 18.Rxe6 Rae8 19.Qb3 Rxe6 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 21.Qe8+ Rf8 22.Qe6+ Rf7 23.Qe8+ Rf8 1/2-1/2 Shirov,A (2710)-Kramnik,V (2790)/Cazorla ESP 1998]

16...g6 17.Bg4 Bf7 18.Re3 Rae8 19.Bh6 Bf4 20.Bxf8 Bxe3 21.fxe3 Rxf8 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Rxf7 Kxf7

[23...Rxf7 24.Be6 Qb4 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.Qxh7+ Kf6 27.Qh4+ Kg7 28.h3 Qb1+ 29.Kh2 Qxc2 30.Qe7+ Kh6 31.Qh4+]

24.Qxh7+ Ke8 25.Qxg6+ Kd8 26.e4 Qf6

[26...Rf6]

27.Qxf6+ Rxf6 28.Bf5 b5 29.Kf2 b4 30.Ke3 a5 31.Kd2 a4 1/2-1/2

Vugar Gashimov and Fabio Caruana drew in 37 moves of an Open Ruy Lopez.

Gashimov,V (2758) - Caruana,F (2652) [C80]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.a4

[11.Re1 0-0 12.Nd4 Qd7 13.Bc2 Bg4 14.N2f3 Ne6 15.Nxc6 Qxc6 16.h3 Bh5 17.Nd4 Nxd4 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qxh5+ Kg8 20.cxd4 Qc2 21.Qd1 Qf5 22.Be3 Rac8 23.Rc1 f6 24.Rc6 fxe5 25.dxe5 Rfd8 26.Bd4 a5 27.Re3 Rf8 28.Rf3 Qe4 29.Rg3 Rf4 30.Rcg6 Bf8 31.Be3 Rh4 32.Bh6 Rxh6 33.Rxh6 Qxe5 34.Rh5 Qe6 35.Qd3 Qe1+ 36.Kh2 Qe4 37.Rxd5 Qe6 38.Rh5 Be7 39.Qh7+ Kf7 40.Qxg7+ Ke8 41.Re5 Qd6 42.Rxe7+ Qxe7 43.Qg8+ Kd7 44.Rd3+ Kc6 45.Qxc8 Qe5+ 46.g3 Kb6 47.Re3 Qc5 48.Re6+ c6 1-0 Jimenez,J (2292)-Rodi,L (2225)/Buenos Aires ARG 2000]

11...b4 12.Nd4 Nxb3 13.Nxc6 Qd7 14.Nxb3 Qxc6 15.cxb4 Bxb4 16.Be3 0-0 17.f4 Qd7 18.Bc5 Rfb8 19.Bxb4 Rxb4 20.Nc5 Qe7 21.Nd3 Rd4 22.f5 Bd7 23.Qf3 f6 24.Rfe1 Rf8 25.Rac1 fxe5 26.Nxe5 Rxf5 27.Nxd7 Qxd7 28.Rxc7 Rxf3 29.Rxd7 Rf7 30.Rd8+ Rf8 31.Rd7 Rf7

A draw is the natural result.

1/2-1/2

Wesley So against Viktor Malakhov was a draw after 65 moves of a Gruenfeld. The position was balanced throughout.

So,W (2640) - Malakhov,V (2706) [D10]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 a6 8.a4 a5 9.Qb3 e6 10.Rd1 Na6

[10...Nbd7 11.Qc2 Qc7 12.b3 dxc4 13.bxc4 e5 14.Ba3 Re8 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Bd6 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Qd7 18.Rab1 Qe6 19.Ne2 Qf5 20.Qxf5 gxf5 21.Nd4 Ne4 22.Bxe4 Rxe4 23.c5 Re8 24.Bc7 Bf8 25.Nb3 Be6 26.Nxa5 Rec8 27.Bb6 Bxc5 28.Nxb7 Bxb6 29.Rxb6 Rcb8 30.h3 Rxa4 31.Rd8+ Rxd8 32.Nxd8 Bd5 33.Nxc6 Bxc6 34.Rxc6 f4 1/2-1/2 Zilberman,Y (2505)-Murey,J (2487)/Ramat Aviv ISR 2000]

11.Bd2 Re8 12.Rac1 Nb4 13.Na2 Nxa2 14.Qxa2 Ne4 15.Be1 Nd6 16.b3 Qe7 17.Ne5 Bd7 18.b4 axb4 19.Bxb4 Red8 20.a5 Be8 21.Qb3 Bf8 22.Bc5 f6 23.Nf3 Rdb8 24.Ra1 Qd8 25.Rdb1 Bf7 26.cxd5 exd5 27.Qb4 Ne4 28.Bxf8 Qxf8 29.Qb6 Nc3 30.Rb2 Nxe2+ 31.Rxe2 Ra6 32.Qc7 Qd8 33.Qxd8+ Rxd8 34.Rb2 Rda8 35.Rxb7 Rxa5 36.Rxa5 Rxa5 37.h4 c5 38.dxc5 Rxc5 39.Nd4 h5 40.Kh2 Rc8 41.Rd7 Re8 42.g3 Kf8 43.Kg2 Re4 44.Kf1 Re8 45.Ke2 Ra8 46.Kf3 Ra2 47.Rd6 Ke7 48.Rb6 Be8 49.Re6+ Kf7 50.Rd6 Ra5 51.Kf4 Ke7 52.Re6+ Kf7 53.Rd6 Ke7 54.Rb6 Bd7 55.Rb8 Rc5 56.Ra8 Rc1 57.f3 Rf1 58.Rh8 Bg4 59.Rg8 Kf7 60.Rd8 Bxf3 61.Nxf3 g5+ 62.hxg5 fxg5+ 63.Kxg5 Rxf3 64.Rxd5 Rxg3+ 65.Kxh5 Rxe3

It's pretty unclear to me who was playing for a win but now there is no material left.

1/2-1/2

The games Sergey Karjakin vs Nikita Vitiugov, Etienne Bacrot vs Ruslan Ponomariov and Alexander Grischuk vs Dmitry Jakovenko were all variants of the description "bunch of theory, novelty, white has nothing, quick draw".

Karjakin,Sergey (2723) - Vitiugov,N (2694) [C11]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Qb6 10.Ne2 b4 11.axb4 Qxb4

[11...cxb4 12.g4 b3 13.c3 h5 14.gxh5 Rxh5 15.Ng3 Rh8 16.f5 Nb4 17.Kf2 Nc2 18.Rd1 exf5 19.Nxf5 Nf6 20.Nxg7+ Bxg7 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Bg5 Bg4 23.Bg2 Qd6 24.Bf4 Qd7 25.Bg3 Qf5 26.Qf4 Qxf4 27.Bxf4 0-0-0 28.Rd2 a5 29.Bf1 Kb7 30.Bd3 Rdg8 31.Bg3 Rh5 32.Rf1 Bf5 33.Bxf5 Rxf5 34.Re2 a4 35.Kg2 Rg4 36.Ne5 Rxg3+ 37.hxg3 Rxf1 38.Kxf1 Bxe5 39.Rxe5 a3 40.Rxd5 Ne3+ 0-1 Konguvel,P (2400)-Barua,D (2464)/New Delhi IND 2006]

12.c3 Qb7 13.Nc1 Be7 14.Bd3 c4 15.Bb1 Rb8 16.Ra2 Nb4 17.Ra1 Nc6 18.Ra2 1/2-1/2

Bacrot,E (2700) - Ponomariov,R (2739) [D38]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e3 0-0 10.Be2 Be6 11.a3 Bd6 12.Nb5 Bg4 13.Rc1 Ne7 14.Nxd6 Qxd6 15.Qb4 Qxb4+ 16.axb4 c6 17.b5 Rfc8 18.Kd2 cxb5

[18...Kf8 19.h3 Bxf3 20.gxf3 cxb5 21.Bxb5 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rc8 23.Ra1 a6 24.Ba4 f5 25.Bb3 Rc6 26.Ra5 b5 27.Ra1 Ke8 28.h4 Rg6 29.h5 Rc6 30.Kd3 Kf8 31.e4 fxe4+ 32.fxe4 Rf6 33.exd5 Rf3+ 34.Kc2 Rxf2+ 35.Kc3 Rf3+ 36.Kb4 Nf5 37.Rxa6 Nxd4 38.Ba2 Ke7 39.Kc5 Rd3 40.Rg6 Rd2 41.d6+ Kd8 42.Bd5 Nf5 43.Be4 Rf2 44.Kc6 Nd4+ 45.Kd5 Nf5 46.Ke5 Nh4 47.Rxg7 Nf3+ 48.Kd5 Rd2+ 49.Kc5 Nd4 50.Bd5 b4 51.Rg4 Nf5 52.Rg8+ Kd7 53.Bc6+ Ke6 54.Re8+ Kf6 55.d7 Ng7 56.Bd5 1-0 Javakhishvili,L (2305)-Lomineishvili,M (2437)/Batumi GEO 2001/The Week in Chess 348]

19.Bxb5 f6 20.Rxc8+ 1/2-1/2

Grischuk,A (2736) - Jakovenko,D (2736) [E06]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.1), 30.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.Nc3 Na6 12.Rfd1 Nb4 13.Ne5 Bd5

[13...Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Nfd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5+ 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Bd2 Rfd8 18.Nc4 Bb4 19.e4 Bxd2 20.Rxd2 Nb4 21.f3 f6 22.Kf2 Rd7 23.Rad1 b6 24.d5 exd5 25.exd5 Rad8 26.d6 cxd6 27.b3 d5 28.Nxb6 Rd6 29.Nc4 Rc6 30.Nxa5 Rc3 31.Nc4 Rxb3 32.Ne3 d4 33.Nf5 d3 34.Rc1 g6 35.Ne3 Nd5 1/2-1/2 Polovodin,I (2440)-Asrian,K (2515)/St Petersburg RUS 1997]

14.Nxd5 1/2-1/2

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