World Cup (2009) |
The 2009 FIDE World Cup was a 127-player (Dusko Pavasovic withdrew) knockout tournament, held from 21 November to 14 December in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The winner would qualify for the Candidates tournament in 2011. The early rounds had two games each, plus tiebreak games if necessary. The final match was of four games, plus tiebreak games. Players received 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added per move from move 1. The tiebreaks were four 25 min + 10-sec increment Rapid games, then if necessary up to five pairs of 5+3 Blitz games, and an Armageddon game where White had 5 minutes to Black's 4 (with 3 seconds increment from move 61), but a draw counted as a win for Black. The total prize fund was $1,600,000, with the winner taking home $120,000 from the final, minus 20% tax to FIDE. Games started at 3 pm. Chief arbiter: Ashot Vardapetyan. On his way to the final, Gelfand eliminated Andrei Anatolyevich Obodchuk in Round 1, Farrukh Amonatov in Round 2, Judit Polgar in Round 3, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Round 4, Dmitry Jakovenko in the quarterfinal and Sergey Karjakin in the semifinal. Ruslan Ponomariov eliminated Essam El Gindy in Round 1, Varuzhan Eduardovich Akobian in Round 2, Alexander Motylev in Round 3, Etienne Bacrot in Round 4, Vugar Gashimov in the quarterfinal, and Vladimir Malakhov in the semifinal. The final match took place 10-14 December. After 1-1 in the Classical games, and 1-1 in the Rapid games, Boris Gelfand won the second pair of Blitz games and qualified for the World Championship Candidates (2011). Elo Classic Rapid Blitz
Gelfand 2758 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 10 11 7
Ponomariov 2739 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 01 00 5 Regulations: https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/...
Mark Weeks: https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/a8...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/gel...
Planet Catur: http://planetcatur.blogspot.com/200...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/world...
Ruchess: https://ruchess.ru/championship/det...
TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew...
FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament...
Wikipedia article: Chess World Cup 2009Previous: World Cup (2007). Next: World Cup (2011)
|
|
page 1 of 20; games 1-25 of 490 |
     |
 |
 |
page 1 of 20; games 1-25 of 490 |
     |
|

|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 128 OF 128 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Dec-14-09 | | ercliderc: <Eyal: <Overall, I don't think Gelfand gained so much rating points from this tournament>> with Gelfand being the top seed and with unrated tiebreak games as means to advance in this format mathematically it was somewhat expected for him to win the tourney according to his rating, without gaining points. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | Eyal: Oh, I'm sure Gelfand hasn't any reason to be disappointed about it... In the 2007 World Cup, btw, both finalists (Kamsky and Shirov) reached the final with only one tiebreak on the way - and the final itself was decided without one. Here, including the final, Gelfand played tiebreaks 4 times and Pono 5. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | Eyal: Btw, according to chessvibes this probably earned Gelfand an invitation to Linares as well. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | siamesedream: Gelfand: "The World Cup is the best souvenir!":
http://www.ugra-chess.ru/eng/interv... |
|
Dec-14-09
 | | HeMateMe: <returnoftheking:> Is Gashimov your 'wild card' pick? I think the other places are all determined, based on current Grand Prix points, and other factors. The organizers allowed themselves one wild card choice, to complete the field, must be +2700. Is Radjabov already in on Grand Prix points? I thought he would be the wild card, if he does not qualify through GP. Perhaps someone rated higher than Gashimov will be the wild card. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | Eyal: It's going to be hosted by Azerbaijan, so the assumption is that since they have the right to pick the wild card, it would be an Azeri player. Radjabov hasn't qualified yet from the 2nd spot of the GP, but with one tournament to go he has the best chances (http://grandprix.fide.com/gp-standi... - note that the best 3 results out of 4 count). |
|
Dec-14-09 | | bharatiy: and where and when is the one last tournament? |
|
Dec-14-09 | | visayanbraindoctor: We often forgot the past, even the recent past. In 1991, Gelfand at the age of 23 reached the Candidates Matches, beating Nikolic and losing only to Short who was then at his prime. In the FIDE Candidates Matches of 1994-1995, Gelfand mowed down Adams and Kramnik. It took a Karpov to stop him in the Candidates finals. As for the World Cup being gruelingly exhausting, yes it is. However, have there been even more trying Qualifiers in the past? Zurich 1953 had 30 rounds of classical chess and lasted more than a month! I wonder how the top players on the World Cup would do in a tournament like Zurich. All the faint-hearted ones would probably end at the bottom due to lack of motivation, and perhaps also the early all-out attackers who have not learned to conserve their energy for the later rounds. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | ashalpha: Gelfand seems to bring his best to any chance to win the World Championship. He placed joint second in Mexico, and did very well in the past Candidates. I think it is more a matter of motivation for an extremely able and solid player. He just cannot seem to mitivate himself sometimes for ordinary tournaments but a chance at the World Championship and he is interested again. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | redwhitechess: Congratulation, Boris G-Spotted it! World cup is a good exercise because only a good classical, rapid,and blitz player can win it. |
|
Dec-14-09 | | PaperBridge: A splendid Chanukah for Gelfand! |
|
Dec-15-09 | | pulsar: Congratulations to GM Boris Gelfand! |
|
Dec-15-09 | | DUS: Yes, congratulations to GM Gelfand! This was a great victory, the final section was very interesting and against so strong opponent, Ruslan Ponomariov. I read somewhere that Gelfand is of the same generation and not less talented than Anand and Ivanchuk, but he has been less lucky than the other two players. I am very glad now he had this great success. |
|
Dec-15-09 | | Rolfo: Congrats to Gelfand. He kept himself warm from the Siberian cold by wearing a fantastic foxtail fur hat .. Could make a difference :) |
|
Dec-15-09 | | virginmind: excellent gelfand...excellent job!
"i just like to play chess. therefore i work much" - isn't this the secret to any fullfillment in life? enjoying what you're doing, making a job of what you like, pushing hard to do best what you like. this is what brings us happiness. bravo gelfy. |
|
Dec-15-09 | | dunkenchess: Congratulations to GM Gelfand! Great! |
|
Dec-15-09 | | Matsumoto: Carlsen is world number 1! |
|
Dec-15-09 | | acirce: <Zurich 1953 had 30 rounds of classical chess and lasted more than a month!> With 30 rounds (and adjournments), I certainly hope it lasted more than a month. |
|
Dec-15-09 | | whiteshark: <Zurich 1953> there is a wonderful page on this tournament, http://blunderprone.blogspot.com/se... |
|
Dec-15-09 | | Hovik2009: Thanks a lot <whiteshark> for the link, It is really wonderful. |
|
Dec-15-09 | | Rolfo: Gelfand's cooperation with new second Rodsthein seems to work out well |
|
Dec-15-09
 | | moronovich: >Rolfo> It was Rodsthein who bought him the hat . I quess :) |
|
Dec-16-09 | | Chessforeva: 3D games: http://chessforeva.appspot.com/C0_p... |
|
Dec-25-09 | | whiteshark: "I have always said that the knockout system is not an ideal scheme. And I hope the system which is going to replace it will be a stepping stone to a fairer scheme of identifying the champion." -- Alexander Khalifman
on 'his' website http://www.gmchess.com/ |
|
Apr-23-10 | | rapidcitychess: Wait,wait,wait. Gelfand, not Topy, should be playing in the WC!! |
|
 |
 |
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 128 OF 128 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
|
|
|
NOTE: Create an account today
to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users.
Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username,
then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.
|
Please observe our posting guidelines:
- No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
- No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
- No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
- Nothing in violation of United States law.
- No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
- No trolling.
- The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
- Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.
Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic.
This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general,
visit the Kibitzer's Café.
|
Messages posted by Chessgames members
do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. |
Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes!
Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC
|