How would you like to take a long airplane trip to Moscow in order to play two or three chess games, study up on openings to the fullest, try to arrange space to go by air to a town in Siberia (Khanty-Mansiysk, pop. 62,347), face cancellations, get to the airport in Moscow without taking a cab (they are unavailable or may break down on the way to the airport), find a flight, fly in a tiny plane, land, take transportation to the hotel, wait a day, play two or three games against a Grandmaster, lose, and then travel all the way back to the United States?
This was the privilege of a number of Americans who received invitations to play in the World Cup (128 players). New Hampshire’s own Josh Friedel describes his trip with a considerable sense of humor on the US Chess Federation website (USChess.org). His first report bade his readers to wish him luck, but alas, he did not have it and lost to his first opponent, Hao Wang of China. His adventure was no doubt duplicated in one way or another by four other Americans: youngster Ray Robson, the current Samford Award winner; Yuri Shulman, who lost in a playoff; Alexander Ivanov, another New Englander; Jaan Ehlvest, a leading American representative who had to face the formidable Ilya Smirin of Israel; and Robert Hess, a sensation from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Friedel did report that the hotel accommodations were ample, probably because Khanty-Mansiysk is in a prosperous oil-producing region. Also, the players got $6,000 for their migratory experience. Yet, the physical hardship of travel, on top of the thrill of losing, must have been a daunting experience. We wonder why the sponsors could not have a subsidiary tournament to accommodate those eliminated early, though of course, that would be a bit expensive.
Four Americans survived the first round: Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Shabalov, Alexander Onischuck, and Gata Kamsky (winner of the last World Cup). All but Kamsky fell in the second round, but even he struck the dust - against a dark horse, Wesley So, a 16-year-old prodigy from the Philippines who also took out Vasily Ivanchuk of Russia in a prior round. An unfortunate episode occurred in the third round when Chinese players Wang Yue and Li Chao arrived late for their playoff games (they had been smoking outside and had lost track of time) and by the rules had to forfeit, giving Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan and Etienne Bacrot of France a free pass. At this writing, eight players had reached the quarterfinals - Gashimov, Boris Gelfand, Vladimir Malakhov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Svidler, and Sergey Karjakin.
Brevity: M. Brodsky v. I. Drozdov (circa 1988) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Qc7 8.Qd2 Nf6 9.Nc3 0--0 10.Be2 b6 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.0--0 Rad8 13.c5 bxc5 14.Nxc5 Ba8 15.Nd5 Qc8 16.b4 Qb8 17.b5 Ne5 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.f4 1-0. (as White is winning the knight one e5. 19... d6 20.Na6 does not help.)
Winners: MACA Second State Championship/Spiegel Cup Qualifier, Nov. 22: High School - Adam Yedidia, 4-0; 14 and under - Tian Rossi; 11 and under - Siddarth Arun 3.5-.5; 8 and under - Jesse Sun, 4-0. Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial, Nov. 29: Open - 1st/2d E. Perelshteyn and D. Vigorito 3.5-.5; Under 1900 - G. Rochon and D. Ferreira, 3.5-.5; Under 1600 - T. Brinkman, 4.0.
Coming Events: Dec. 11, Waltham Festival of Lights, 404 Wyman St., Waltham, info@walthamchessclub.org; Dec. 12, Legends: Fischer, Boylston Chess Club, 240B Elm St., Somerville, www.boylstonchessclub.org
