2008 WUC Chess: Day 5 Chess Legend Karpov Visits the Tournament
March 10th, 2008
Chess Legend Karpov visited the Tournament
Round 7 of the World University Chess Championship should have cast light upon the situation before the final rounds, but it has only complicated matters both in the men’s and especially women’s tournament. Bocharov and Smirnov still share the lead, but a number of their pursuers has doubled. As for the girls, now four players are at the head of the field: Pogonina, Wang Yu, Vasilevich and Dulamsuren … It is a rare case that the favourites have the game with each other when there are only 2 rounds to go. The players who have come to Novokuznetsk are a real mixed lot and it was quite conceivable that Pogonina (2476) and Wang Yu (2391) would do it somewhere in the third or fourth round at the latest. But they both went down and then came back to their “rightful” top board. There is another long-standing tradition in chess, that people never win games on their birthday. And it remained unbreakable. Natalia (who turned 23 today) had a few uneasy minutes in the game. White had a very strong attack on the kingside, Black did not offer any counterplay for quite a while. But at the end of the day everything turned out well for her. She had a draw and a birthday cake.
Vasilevich and Dulamsuren took advantage of the leaders’ hitch. They beat their opponents quite easily. Irina playing with White won the game against Zhang Jilin and took revenge on the Chinese players. Yuanjindulan with Black won her game against Tashimova. For a long time the latter played classical chess which was highly unusual for her and when she managed to check herself it was too late. The long arm of coincidence has brought them to the top board tomorrow. It is worth reminding that by FISU regulations in round 8 and 9 players of the same team can not be paired against each other. So Pogonina and Vasilevich (as well as Kovanova) will not be on the same board and it gives Russia extra chances.
The victory in the team classification for the hosts is assured though. They are three points clear of the Mongolian players who are currently in the second place. And it is a huge gap. The Chinese are another half a point behind, Kazkhstan is four points behind the leaders. No doubt now the Russian players concentrate their hopes on winning the personal titles. The World University Chess Champion is an honorary one! Today the fight for the title in the men’s tournament could have become theoretical rather than practical. If the first seed Bocharov had won his game against Lysyj (and he had all the chances), he would have assumed the final lead. Smirnov who tied with him for the first place could not put pressure on the Kazakh player Zhumbaev (Rinat is one of the real revelations of the championship) and agreed to a draw to avoid the worst. After his game Pavel, really agitated, circled round the table where the other two Russians had a clash.
And his “walks” paid off! The match ended in a draw. Again Dmitry could not cope with the stress in the endless time trouble (it is a FIDE regulated tournament and from some point on the players have 30 seconds per move), he blundered away two pawns in one move and got a good telling-off from his trainer. “You should have been a “pen”-player!”, said Khasin in a temper, but when he realised that Bocharov was still in the lead (applying tie-breaking procedures) he calmed down. The third board also saw a draw. Maletin could have provided Zhu Zhinchao with a real challenge, but he failed. Other games in the men’s tournament (board 16 including) produced decisive results. Obviously the guys are not tired with playing yet!
Chess Legend Karpov
Ranking
Men Round 7 Lysyi – Bocharov ½, Smirnov – Zhumbaev ½, Maletin – Zhu Tsinchao ½, А. Filippov – Alavi 0-1, Pokasaniev – Liang Chon 0-1, Kuderinov – Mechitaryan 1-0, etc. Classification. Round 7 1-2. Bocharov, Smirnov – 5.5 3-4. Lysyj, Zhumbaev –5 5-10. Maletin, Zhou Jianchao, Alavi, Pokasaniev, Kuderinov , Batchudun – 4.5 etc. Women Round 7 Van Yu – Pogonina Ѕ, Vasilevich – Zhang Jilin 1-0, Bensdorp – Kovanova Ѕ, Tashimova – Dulamsuren 0-1, Seps – Mongontul 0-1, etc. Classification Round 7 1-4. Pogonina, Wang Yu, Vasilevich, Dulamsuren – 5; 5-8. Mongontuul, Zhang Jilin, Kovanova, Bensdorp – 4.5, etc. Team Classification Round 7 1. Russia – 21, 2. Mongolia – 18, 3. China – 17.5, 4. Kazakhstan – 17, 5. Iran – 15.5, 6. the Netherlands – 14, 7. Switzerland – 9, etc.
