SENSATIONAL WESLEY

Chess Piece -- Bobby Ang

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in the oil-boom town of Khanty-Mansiysk, in that general part of Russia we usually refer to as Siberia, from Nov. 20 up to Dec. 15, 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event comprising of 128 players with six rounds of matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. Aside from the huge cash prizes, the winner of the World Chess Cup automatically qualifies for the Candidates’ match-tournament, from which the challenger to the world championship title will come from.

While the knockout format of the World Cup has been endlessly criticized in the chess media, the truth is that only the top-echelon players are complaining -- most of the chess world love the World Cup, as it gives the lesser-known players a chance to make a name for themselves as well as earn some good money.

In the 1999 FIDE World Championship (this became the World Cup later), Alexander Khalifman gave his career a second lease on life by winning all the marbles, and the appearance of new names Vladimir Akopian, Sergei Movsesian, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (who upset two of the top seeds Ivanchuk and Shirov) were the big stories.

Next year was the turn of the unknown Alexander Grischuk to breakthrough into the world consciousness with a fantastic series of games to reach the semifinals.

This year, the sensation of the tournament is a Filipino, 16-year-old Wesley So. So sit tight and let me tell you the story from the very beginning, starting with Wesley’s first round match-up against GM Gadir Gusienov of Azerbaijan, rated 2625, just a tad lower than the Filipino’s 2640.

Gadir is certainly no pushover. He was born in 1986 and became a member of the Azerbaijan national team in 2002, participating in all of his country’s Olympiad or European Championship teams. His blitz rating of 3286 (!) in the Internet Chess Club also makes him among the top blitz practitioners of the world.

Game 1 was a one-sided positional crush by Wesley, who got an opening edge and did not let his opponent off the hook.

So, Wesley (2640) �“ Guseinov, Gadir (2625) [E90]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.1), 21.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0�“0 5.e4 d6 6.h3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.exd5 Qe7+ 10.Be3 Bh6 11.0�“0 Bxe3 12.Qe2 Nbd7 13.Rae1 a6 14.Qxe3 Qxe3 15.Rxe3 b5 16.Nd2 [16.cxb5 Nb6! recovers the pawn with easy play] 16...Ne5 17.Be2 Nxc4 18.Bxc4 bxc4 19.Nxc4 Rd8 20.g4 Bb7 21.Rd1 h6 22.f4 (White’s advantage is becoming threatening. After dislodging the f6-knight he can double rooks on the e-file and establish a cramp on Black’s position) 22...Re8 23.Rxe8+ Nxe8 24.Ne4 Rd8 25.Rd3 Kf8 26.a4 Ke7 27.Re3 Kf8 28.Nb6 f5 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.Nc3 Nc7 31.a5 Kf7 32.Kf2 Bc8 33.Nc4 Ne8 34.Re1 Nf6 35.Rb1 Ke7 36.b4 cxb4 37.Rxb4 Bd7 38.Nb6 Rg8 39.Rb1 Kd8? 40.Nc4 Kc7? 41.Rb6 (winning a crucial pawn and the game) 41...h5 42.Rxd6 Ne4+ 43.Nxe4 fxe4 44.Rxa6 Bxh3 45.Ra7+ Kb8 46.Rh7 Rc8 47.Ne5 Rc3 48.a6 e3+ 49.Ke2 Ra3 50.a7+! Ka8 [50...Rxa7 51.Nc6+] 51.Rxh5 1�“0

Guseinov threw caution to the winds in game 2 and managed to cash in when Wesley erred just before reaching the time control at move 40.

Guseinov, Gadir (2625) �“ So, Wesley (2640) [C07]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.2), 22.11.2009

1.e4 e6 (A surprise. Till now Wesley had been a strict Sicilian player when facing 1.e4) 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Qe2 Qc7 10.Nf3 dxe4 11.Qxe4 Nf6 12.Qh4 (I don’t like this line for Black -- his opponent gets freer play at no material investment) 12...h6 13.0�“0 c5 14.Bg5 Nd5 15.Be4 Rb8 16.c4 Nf4 17.Rfd1 Rxb2 18.Kf1 (Threatening Rxd6, which was not playable previously because of the zwischenzug ...Ne2+) 18...Rf8 19.Rxd6 hxg5 20.Rxd7 Qxd7 21.Qxg5 f5 22.Qxf4 fxe4 23.Qxe4 Rf6 24.Re1 (black has already weathered the storm but still needs to be careful as his king is exposed) 24...Qb7 25.Qh7 Qf7 26.Qh8+ Qf8 27.Qh5+ Kd8 28.Qe5 Rb6 29.Rd1+ Kc8 30.Qe4 Kc7 31.Qe3 Rf4 32.Qc3 Kc8 33.Qd3 Qe7 34.h4 Rb7 35.Re1 Rb4 36.Kg1 Qd7 37.Qa3 Kb7 38.Qe3 Qd6 39.Ne5 Qd4 40.Qg3 Qd2?? [The position is not so easy to hold, what with threats of Nd3 and Qxg7+, but probably 40...Kc8! will hold. After 41.Nd3 Rxh4 42.Nxb4 cxb4 White is still better but as they say all rook endings are drawn] 41.Nd3 Rd4 42.Qxg7+ Ka8 43.Qf8+ Kb7 44.Nxc5+ [44.Nxc5+ Kc7 (44...Kc6 45.Qc8+ Kb6 46.Qb7+ Kxc5 47.Qc7#; 44...Kb6 45.Qb8+ Kxc5 46.Qc7#) 45.Nxe6+ Kc6 46.Qc8+ Kb6 47.Qc7+ Ka6 48.Nc5#] 1�“0

As per the rules of the competition, in case the match is tied after two regular games, then four tie-break games will be played, with a time control of 25 minutes for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move.

In the first tie-break game Wesley once again essayed the French Defense, but this time quickly took the initiative in a queenless endgame and completely outclassed Guseinov.

Guseinov, Gadir (2625) �“ So, Wesley (2640) [C05]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.3), 23.11.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Bd3 c5 5.dxc5 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nxe4 7.Bxe4 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Bxc5 9.Ke2 Nd7 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.Bd3 b6 12.Bb5+ Ke7 13.Ne5 Bb7 14.f3 a6 15.Ba4 b5 16.Bb3 Bd6 17.Nd3 Rac8 18.c3 a5 19.a3 Rhd8 20.Be3 Nd5 21.Bd4 g5! 22.Rac1 (Not really a mistake, but a clear sign that he is understimating Black’s kingside pawn demonstration. Maybe best here is 22.h4) 22...h5 23.g3 h4 24.gxh4 gxh4 25.Bf2 Rh8 26.h3 Rh5 27.Bd4? [White has to play 27.Rhg1 ] 27...Rg8 28.Rcg1 Rg3! 29.Bxd5 Bxd5 30.Ne1 Rf5 31.Bf2? (Another mistake, and this one leads to a surprisingly quick decision) 31...Bc4+ 32.Kd2 Rd5+ 33.Kc1 Bf4+ 34.Kc2 Rd2+ 0�“1

The second game was even more one-sided. Wesley met Guseinov’s Pirc with the Austrian Attack and just made it look like a forced win.

So,Wesley (2640) - Guseinov,Gadir (2625) [B06]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.4), 23.11.2009

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.e5 Nd5 8.Nxd5 cxd5 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 e6 11.c3N Nc6 12.0�“0 0�“0 13.Be3 f6 14.exf6 Qxf6 15.Rae1 (In his book on "The Ultimate Pirc" GM John Nunn ends his analysis at this point and comments that this is the game Mortensen vs Titov from the Debrecen European Championship 1992, and that White has the edge. Wesley So proves the assessment right) 15...Rae8 16.Qg4 a6 17.h4 Ne7 18.h5 Nf5 19.Bd2 gxh5 20.Qxh5 Qh4? (Guseinov wants to get the queens off the board to fend off any kingside attack, but he has assessed the resulting position incorrectly and White’s position becomes easy to play. 20...Qg6 is better) 21.Qxh4 Nxh4 22.g3 Nf5 23.Kg2 (You may find this hard to believe, but white’s position is already close to winning) 23...Re7 24.Rh1 Nh6 25.Rh5 Ree8 26.g4! Kf7 27.Kg3 Ng8 [27...Rh8 28.Reh1 is no good either] 28.Rxh7 Nf6 29.Rhh1 Rh8 30.Rxh8 Rxh8 31.f5 e5 [31...exf5 32.Bxf5 b5 33.Rf1 the f-file becomes the new avenue of operations for white] 32.dxe5 dxe5 33.g5 [33.Rxe5? Nh5+] 33...Nd7 34.f6 Bf8 35.Bf5 Nb6 36.Rxe5 (White can give up the exchange as his two passed pawns supported by the two bishops is much too powerful for Black’s scattered forces) 36...Bd6 37.Bf4 Bxe5 38.Bxe5 Rg8 39.Kf4 Nc4 40.Bd4 Nxb2 41.Bg4 Nc4 42.Bh5+ Ke6 43.f7 Rf8 44.g6 Nd6 45.Bg4+ Ke7 46.Bc5 1�“0

After this second consecutive win Wesley needed only a draw to qualify for the next round. Instead a furious counter-attack decided the match in his favor for a clean 3-0 sweep.

Guseinov, Gadir (2625) �“ So, Wesley (2640) [B47]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.5), 23.11.2009

1.e4 c5

Back to the tried and true.

2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 a6 8.0�“0 Be7 9.Be3 0�“0 10.f4 d6 11.Kh1 Bd7 12.Nb3

Guseinov has already adopted this formation against the Sicilian Scheveningen several times, so it is quite possible Wesley has a prepared line.

12...b5 13.a3 b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.g4 h6 16.Nd4 Rab8 17.h4

Storm clouds in the kingside. Who would think that it is Black who will get in his attack first?

17...h5! 18.gxh5

Not 18.g5 Ng4.

18...Rfc8 19.Bf3

[19.h6!]

19...e5! 20.fxe5

[20.Nb3 d5!]

20...dxe5 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.exf5 e4! 23.Bg2 Qg3 24.Bf2 Qe5 25.Bg1 Bd6 26.Rc1 Rc4 27.Qe2 Rbc8 28.Qe3 Nxh5 29.Ne2 Rxc2 30.Rxc2 Rxc2 31.Qg5 Rxe2 32.Qxh5


And now one final blow to force capitulation. 32...Rxg2! [32...Rxg2 33.Kxg2 Qg3+ 34.Kh1 Qh3+ 35.Bh2 Qxh2#] 0�“1

Next we will discuss Wesley’s match with chess legend Vassily Ivanchuk. Beg, borrow or steal, but make sure to get your copy of BusinessWorld on Monday!

Reader comments/suggestions are solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com