Gelfand wins World Cup

By: BOBBY ANG

(Abridged version, as published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, December 18, 2009)

The Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, at 2758 the top seed among 128 players competing, lived up to his billing by defeating host player Andre Obodchuk (1.5-0.5), the tough Tajik Farrukh Amonatov (1.5-0.5), Judit Polgar (3.5-1.5), top Frenchman Vachier-Lagrave (4.5-3.5), Dmitry Jakovenko (3.5-1.5), Sergey Karjakin (2.0-0.0), and, in the finals, Ruslan Ponomariov 7.0-5.0.

Gelfand showed good form and opening preparation all throughout the competition -- he lost only one game, when he forgot just how dangerous an attacker Judit Polgar is:

Polgar, Judit (2680) vs Gelfand, Boris (2758) [C24]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.2), 28.11.2009
ANNOTATED GAME. REQUIRES JAVA





Lest the reader get the wrong impression, we should point out that aside from this mishap Gelfand showed tactical alertness on a very high level. Witness this crush of Sergey Karjakin.

Karjakin, Sergey (2723) vs Gelfand, Boris (2758) [C55]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.1), 06.12.2009
ANNOTATED GAME. REQUIRES JAVA





The game which I think represents best Gelfand’s style is the following, from the mini-match Gelfand vs Polgar. Judit came up with a novelty in a well-known position (10...Ne4), triggering some exchanges which should be good for Black. However, Boris put his finger on Black’s weakness, that White can easily put pressure on the d-file because of having more space, so he exchanges off the dark-squared bishops to win the square d6, and establishes a strong central position for his pieces. From this strength came sudden tactics and precise simplification to a won endgame. Polgar had no chance.

Gelfand, Boris (2758) vs Polgar, Judit (2680) [E15]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.1), 27.11.2009
ANNOTATED GAME. REQUIRES JAVA






Boris Gelfand is already 41 years old (born June 24, 1968 in Minsk, Belarus) but as you can see is not yet a spent force. He has qualified several times for the Candidates Tournaments for the World Chess Championship but the closest he ever got is joint 2nd place with Vladimir Kramnik (third after tie breaks) in the 2007 World Championships. I wonder if his luck is about to change.