ANNOTATED GAME: Gata Kamsky vs Wesley So

BY: BOBBY ANG

(Abridged version, as published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, December 11, 2009)

In the third round our hero Wesley So was paired against Gata Kamsky, formerly from the Soviet Union and now representing the United States of America. In terms of rating and ranking he might be placed below Wesley’s 2nd-round opponent Vassily Ivanchuk (2739 vs 2695, no. 12 worldwide vs no. 41), but Kamsky might be harder to beat than "Chuckie," for he is a pragmatist, the type who strives to play 60 good moves in a game and does not waste time searching for the truth in each and every position. You see Ivanchuk in terms of understanding and knowledge is probably in the world top 3 (together with Anand and Kramnik) but sometimes gets carried away with his calculations, falls into time trouble, and blunders badly.

And Kamsky is not lacking in credentials. Here are the highlights of his career:

1. Gata Kamsky was born in June 2, 1974 to a Tatar family in Russia. His real surname is Sabirov, and from infancy carried used "Kamsky," which is the stage name of his grandparents, members of a travelling Tatar theater group. He was Soviet Junior Champion twice before 1989, when he and his father "defected" to the United States after playing in the New York Open.

2. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 at the age of 22, he played a 20-game match against Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 title at Elista in Kalmykia, losing 7.5-10.5 (+3=9"6).

3. After losing the match to Karpov, Kamsky gave up chess to finish his studies. He attended medical school for a year, then transferred to the Touro Law Center in New York where he graduated with a law degree in 1999.

4. He returned to international chess play by taking part in the 1999 FIDE Knockout World Championship event in Las Vegas.

5. Kamsky played in the FIDE Chess World Cup 2005, and qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2007. He won his first round match against Étienne Bacrot by a score of three wins no losses and one draw (+3-0=1), but was eliminated when he lost his second-round match to Boris Gelfand +0-2=3.

6. In Nov.-Dec. 2007, Kamsky won the Chess World Cup 2007. This earned him a match against Veselin Topalov in 2009 for the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship 2010. The match was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in February 2009, and was won by Topalov 4.5-2.5.

7. He is the defending champion in this, the 2009 FIDE World Cup and, rating notwithstanding, is considered one of the favorites to win.

Whereas there was talk that Wesley So was lucky to beat Ivanchuk in the second round (completely unjustified in my belief), there was none of that here, for Wesley clearly outplayed Kamsky in the decisive first match game.

Kamsky, Gata (2695) - So, Wesley (2640) [C11]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
ANNOTATED. REQUIRES JAVA TO VIEW THE GAME





The next day Wesley So held a draw and completed the upset. Gata Kamsky went home to the United States and Wesley advanced to the 4th round, down to 16 players from the starting line of 128.

In a post-round press conference Gata Kamsky fielded some questions from the press:

Question: How come that you became another victim of the new star of the Cup -- So?

Answer: Everything is clear: my opponent was better prepared and I was always choosing the wrong openings. In the first game I was playing recklessly and got the problematic position. I was thinking that could manage to win the fellow on class. But he turned out to be very serious chess player. Second game: I had to solve difficult problem: it is almost impossible to win a good player with black. I played "Dutch defense," sacrificed a pawn and got some chances. But at one point I went too far and the advantages for my opponent were clear enough and I offered a draw not to suffer…

Question: Perhaps you underestimated your opponent?

Answer: No, it is not the case. So was playing better and he deserved the victory

Wesley So, the whole Philippines is proud of you, most especially me.