Boris Gelfand, Ruslan Ponomariov in World Cup Final

Position No. 6085: White to play and win. From the game Viswanathan Anand-Vassily Ivanchuk, World Blitz Championship, Moscow 2009.

Solution to Position No. 6084: White wins with 1 Bxd5 Rxd5 2 c4 Rdd8 3 d5 Ne5 4 Bd4 Rhe8 5 Rxe5 Rxe5 6 Re1 Re8 7 b4. After Black exhausts his pawn moves, he will have to move his King and lose a piece.

After three weeks of play in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the 128-player World Cup has resolved to a four-game final match between top-seeded Boris Gelfand of Israel and seventh-seeded Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine. The match is scheduled to end today, with tiebreaks Monday, if necessary. The winner will earn $96,000 and a chance to reach the 2011 world championship.

The strange format, in which about half of the matches conclude with rapid tiebreakers, is undeniably entertaining, although it does not produce many games worthy of the best grandmasters.

Ponomariov has obviously mastered the format. He won a similar event in 2001 at age 18 and reached the final in 2005.

You can watch the finish at ugra-chess.ru/eng.

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, phenom Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura of Seattle are competing in a round robin in London. Nakamura declined an invitation to the World Cup in order to participate.

Local news

The second Bakersfield Open takes place next Saturday and Sunday in East Hills Mall, 3000 Mall View Road in Bakersfield. A scholastic tournament will be held Saturday only. For full details, call Kenneth Poole at (661) 304-7468.

There were 68 players at the AAA Chess Club’s Winter Scholastic Dec. 5 in Glendale. Boris Kitapszyan (grades K-12), David Meliksetyan (K-7) and Natalie Arshamian (K-3) won their sections. Club founder Nshan Keshishian organized the tournament and his son Harut Keshishian directed.

Sarah Lohmar won the Championship section of the 5th Holiday Tournament last Sunday at John Thomas Dye School in Los Angeles. Other prizes went to Ken Kou, Bryce Porter, Nathaniel Aloisi, Zoey Mao, Samantha McLoughlin, Noah Daniels, Cassandra Carrasco, Henry Mallory and Gisele Stigi. Ivona Jezierska directed.

The Exposition Park Chess Club’s tournament last Sunday attracted 25 players. Winners were Juan Munguia, Manuel Elecciri, Feliciano Jurado, Luis Brioso, Edgar Sacramento, Frank Ottolino and Vincent Flournoy. The club meets from to 4:30 p.m. every Sunday in the public library, 3900 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles. See chess.expoparkla.com for more about the club.

Today’s games

Tatev Abrahamyan-GM Melikset Khachiyan, American Open, Los Angeles 2009: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d3 The Giuoco Pianissimo. d6 6 0-0 0-0 7 Nbd2 a6 8 Bb3 Ba7 9 h3 h6 10 Re1 Nh5 The first aggressive move. 11 Nf1 Qf6 12 Be3 Nf4 13 Ng3 g6 14 d4! Black’s redeployment on the Kingside means less than White’s conquest of the center. h5 15 a4 Kg7 Probably intending 16 . . . Rh8 and . . . g6-g5-g4. 16 Nf1 Good enough for equality, but 16 Qd2! disrupts Black’s plan. Then 16 . . . Rh8? 17 Bxf4 exf4 18 Ne2 g5 19 h4 gxh4 20 Nxf4 h3 21 Ng5! should win for White. Nor is 16 . . . Nxh3+? satisfactory after 17 gxh3 Qxf3 18 Bh6+ Kg8 19 Qg5. Black would have to settle for 16 . . . Re8 17 Bxf4 exf4 18 Ne2 Rxe4 19 Bd5 Re8 20 Nxf4, when White’s pieces are much more active. Rh8 17 dxe5 dxe5 18 Bxa7 Rxa7 19 Ne3 Ne7 20 Nd5 Nexd5 21 exd5 Re8 22 Bc2 Ra8 Also 22 . . . a5 23 c4 b6 24 Ra3 c6 maintains equality. 23 c4 Bd7 24 Re3?! Sharper is 24 Ra3! c6 25 Rae3. c6! 25 d6 After 25 Qd2 cxd5 26 cxd5 Rad8, the pawn at d5 makes a tempting target. c5 26 Be4 Rad8 Welcoming 27 Bxb7 Bf5 28 Qe1 Rxd6, when White must avoid 29 Nxe5?? Rxe5! 30 Rxe5 Nd3. 27 Qd2 Now Black gets the edge. Far from clear is 27 b4!? cxb4 28 c5 Bc6 29 a5. Bc8 28 Rd1 Re6 29 Qc3 Rdxd6 30 Rxd6 Perhaps 30 Rde1 would recover the pawn more favorably. Black cannot save it by 30 . . . Qe7 because 31 h4! makes 32 g3 a very annoying threat. Rxd6 31 Nxe5 If 31 Qxe5 Qxe5 32 Nxe5, Black keeps a small advantage with 32 . . . g5, meeting 33 Nd3 by 33 . . . Rd4. Rd1+ 32 Kh2 Nxh3! An excellent sacrifice that White should refuse. 33 gxh3? Even worse is 33 Rxh3? Bxh3 34 Kxh3 Rd4. White must trade Queens by 33 Nd3 Qxc3 34 bxc3, obtaining fair chances to draw after 33 . . . Ng5 35 Bd5 b6 36 a5 or 35 . . . ... Ne6 36 Bxe6 Bxe6 37 Nxc5 Bxc4 38 Nxb7. Qxf2+ 34 Bg2 Qg1+ 35 Kg3 h4+ 36 Kf3 Even the discovery 36 Kf4 Qf2+ 37 Nf3+ won’t save White. Black replies 37 . . . Rd4+ 38 Re4 g5+! 39 Kxg5 Qg3+ 40 Kh5 Bf5!, setting up 41 . . . Bg6 mate. Rc1! 37 Qd2 b6! 38 Re2?! Losing quickly. However, the toughest defense, 38 Rd3 Bb7+ 39 Rd5, still loses to 39 . . . Rb1 (threatening 40 . . . Qh2) 40 Ng4 Qd4 41 Qxd4+ cxd4 42 Kf4 Bxd5 43 cxd5 d3, reaching a winning endgame. Bb7+ 39 Kg4 Rd1!, White Resigns. White must give up the Queen to stop 40 . . . Rd4+.

GM Fabiano Caruana (Italy)-GM Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2009: 1 e4 This was the first of four 25-minute games after a 1-1 tie in slow games. e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 The Petroff Defense, considered a reliable drawing weapon at the highest level. 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 Nc3 Fashionable only because of disappointment with White’s results in the heavily-analyzed lines beginning 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3. Nxc3 6 dxc3 Be7 7 Be3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0-0 9 0-0-0 Ne5 Most common, although 9 . . . Re8 10 h4 Bg4 also makes sense. 10 h4 Re8 Two games later, Gashimov equalized easily with 10 . . . Bg4 11 Be2 Qc8 12 h5 h6 13 Nxe5 Bxe2. 11 Nxe5 Rare, as Black acquires a valuable e-pawn against the useless one at c2. Many games have tested 11 h5 and 11 Kb1. dxe5 12 Bd3 Of course, trading Queens brings Black closer to a favorable endgame. Instead, White hopes to exploit his lead in development. Bd6?! Black should consider 12 . . . Be6 13 Qe2 Qc8. 13 Be4! How will Black develop his Queenside without dropping the pawn at b7? f5 14 Bd5+ Be6 15 Bxe6+ Not 15 Bxb7?? f4. Rxe6 16 Qd5 Qc8 Maybe 16 . . . Qe8 17 Qxb7 Rb8 18 Qd5 Rb5 19 Qc4 f4 improves. 17 g4! Inviting 17 . . . fxg4 18 Rhg1 h5?! 19 f3 gxf3? 20 Rg6 Kf7 21 Rdg1 Bf8 22 Qxf3+, with a winning attack. f4 Critical. White would obtain the initiative without risk after 17 . . . Kh8 18 gxf5 Rf6 19 Rhg1 Rxf5 20 Rg5. 18 Bxf4! exf4 19 Rhe1 A promising sacrifice, as Black’s King must leave his shelter. Kf7 20 Rd4! Threatening 21 Rde4 and preventing 20 . . . Ke7 because of 21 Rxe6+ Qxe6 22 Re4. c6 21 Qb3! Stronger than 21 Qf5+ Rf6 22 Qd3, when 22 . . . Re6! 23 Rxe6 Qxe6 24 Rxd6 Qe1+ 25 Qd1 Qxf2 saves Black. Kf6 Unpleasant, but necessary. Not 21 . . . Ke7? because 22 Rxe6+ Qxe6 23 Qxb7+ regains a Rook. 22 Rxd6?? Spoiling a brilliant attack. Correct is 22 g5+ Kf5 23 Rde1, putting Black in great danger. The computer suggests 23 . . . Be5, but 24 Rd7 threatens 25 Qc4 or 25 c4 to bring the Queen into the attack. Best appears 23 . . . Bc5 24 Qc4! Bxd4 25 Qd3+ Re4 26 cxd4 Qe6 27 f3 Re8 28 Re1 Qd5! 29 c3 c5. White will recover the Rook, but his advantage may not be decisive. Rxd6 23 g5+ Kg6 Not 23 . . . Kf5?? 24 Qf7+ Kg4 25 Re4 Qf5? 26 f3+. 24 h5+ No better is 24 Qb4 Re6. Kxg5 25 h6 As 25 Qf7 Qf8 gets nowhere. Qe8! A striking turnaround. After 26 Rxe8 Rxe8, White must give up his Queen to prevent 27 . . . Re1 mate. 26 Rg1+ Kxh6 27 Rh1+ Kg6 28 Qxb7 Qf8 29 Rg1+ Kf6 30 Qb4 g5, White Resigns. Gashimov scored 2 1/2 - 1/2 to win the tiebreaker.