Las Vegas World Chess Championships 1999
Official site: http://www.worldfide.com/
Game downloads: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
Alexander Khalifman wins World Championships
 World Champion 1999 |
We have a new World Champion!
He is Alexander Khalifman of Russia. Khalifman drew game six of the final with
the white pieces to take the title. Akopian tried to unbalance the game and win with
black, but he never came close.
Congratulations!
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The game that won the World Championship in GIF format:
Khalifman,A (2628) - Akopian,V (2646)
FIDE WCh KO Las Vegas USA, 28.08.1999
Modern Benoni
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 a6 7.a4 g6 8.Nd2 Nbd7 9.e4 Bg7 10.Be2
0-0 11.0-0 Re8 12.Qc2 Rb8 13.Ra3 Qe7 14.h3 h6 15.a5 g5 16.Nc4 Ne5 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.f4 Qd4+
19.Kh2 b5 20.axb6 Rxb6 21.e5 dxe5 22.fxg5 hxg5 23.Bxg5 e4 24.Na4 Rd6 25.Rg3 Nxd5 26.Bh5
Rf8 27.Nc3 Kh8 28.Rxf7 Rxf7 29.Bxf7 Be5 30.Nxd5 Rxd5 31.Bxd5 Qxd5 32.Qd2 Qxd2 33.Bxd2 Kh7
34.Bc3 Bf4 35.Be1 e3 36.Kg1 Bxg3 37.Bxg3 a5 38.Bf4 e2 39.Kf2 Bb7 40.Kxe2 Bxg2 ½-½
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Not GOOD for sale (yet)
Khalifman Wins Game 4!
Friday 27th August 1999
In the fourth game of the World Chess Championship final Alexander Khalifman won a
complicated game to take the lead in the finals.
He now stands strongly in his attempt to become the World Champion needing only
one point from the two remaining games.
Tonight Akopian simply must try and equalise which will be his last with the white
pieces.
Game in GIF:
Khalifman,A (2628) - Akopian,V (2646)
FIDE WCh KO Las Vegas USA (7.4), 26.08.1999
King's Indian Defence E92
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.Be3 exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 10.Bf2
d5 11.exd5 cxd5 12.0-0 Nc6 13.c5 Nh5 14.Qd2 Be5 15.g3 Ng7 16.Rfd1 Be6 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.f4
Bf6 19.Nb5 Be7 20.Rac1 a6 21.Nd4 Bf6 22.Nf3 Qa5 23.Qxa5 Nxa5 24.b4 Nc6 25.Rb1 h6 26.a4 g5
27.fxg5 hxg5 28.g4 Ne5 29.Nxe5 Bxe5 30.Be3 Rf8 31.Rf1 Bf4 32.Bxf4 gxf4 33.Bf3 Rf7 34.a5
Rd8 35.Rbe1 d4 36.Re4 d3 37.Bd1 d2 38.Rfxf4 Rxf4 39.Rxf4 Ne8 40.Kf2 Nc7 41.h4 e5 42.Rc4
Nd5 43.Kf3 Rf8+ 44.Ke2 Rd8 45.Kf3 Rf8+ 46.Ke2 Rd8 47.Rc2 Nf4+ 48.Ke3 Nd5+ 49.Ke2 Nf4+
50.Kf3 Kf7 51.c6 bxc6 52.Rxc6 Rd3+ 53.Ke4 Ke7 54.h5 Rd4+ 55.Kxe5 Rxb4 56.Rc7+ Kf8 57.Rd7
Ng2 58.h6 Kg8 59.g5 Ne3 60.g6 Rb5+ 61.Ke4 1-0
Akopian Levels !
Wednesday 25th August
We have a match! Akopian, of Armenia won the third game of the match to level the
scores. The game was a long one, lasting 84 moves and with mistakes on both
sides but the fact remains that Akopian played a beautiful endgame to win.
This is a good result for chess, and a good result for all who want to see this
tournament succeed.
Game 2 a short draw
Tuesday 24th August
The second game of the 1999 World Chess Championship final was drawn in 18 moves.
The opening choice was interesting for chess fans as it was a little known
variation of the Nimzo Indian Defence.
Khalifman,A (2628) - Akopian,V (2646) [E38]
FIDE WCh KO Las Vegas USA (7.2), 23.08.1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Qc7 6.Nf3
Bxc5 7.g3 Qb6 8.e3 Be7 9.Bg2 a6 10.0-0 Qc7 11.b3 d6
12.Bb2 Nbd7 13.Ng5 Rb8 14.Rac1 0-0 15.Rfd1 b6 16.Nce4
Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bb7 18.Qc3 ½-½
Khalifman leads 1.5 - 0.5.
And They're off.... Monday 23 rd August
The first game in the final of the 1999 World Chess Championship was played on Sunday
in Las Vegas. Playing white the Armenian player Vladimir Akopian chose to sacrifice
a piece in the opening - although at the TWIC this has been called a 'gross blunder', the
result was that with careful play Alexander Khalifman was able to convert and win the
first game with black. There are five games to go.
Report on the game
The long awaited review of the semi-finals by World Champion Garry Kasparov appeared at
his internet site on Sunday evening as well. The report was better balanced than his
fifth round report, but still had a swipe at both the organisers and the players who have
made it through to the final. Brilliant analysis however from Kasparov makes his
site compulsive reading for anyone interested in chess.
Las Vegas Saturday 21st August
The Calm Before The Storm
There is a lot of opinion being bandied around about the legitamacy of the 1999 World
Championship in Las Vegas.
The newsgroups have been buzzing, web sites have been buzzing, newspapers have been
buzzing... it is described from one extreme of being a 'farce' to the other extreme of
being the TRUE World Championship.
In our opinion, the 1999 Las Vegas World Chess Championships is a perfectly fair way for
the World Governing Body to award the title of World Chess Champion.
That is not to say however that the achievement of the winner - be it Akopian or
Khalifman should be regarded as comparible to the achievements of the long list of
Botvinnik, Smuslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov the previous
holders of the FIDE World Title. Neither should the achievement of Akopian or Khalifman be
compared with Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca or Alekhine who held the title of World
Champion before FIDE assumed control of the title.
But both Khalifman or Akopian should be considered as the only current World Champion, we
believe this because Kasparov, the self styled World Chess Champion does not open a
challenge to his title to the rest of the chess world, not even the top hundred, or the
top fifty players in the world, or the top ten or even the top five - no - Kasparov's
title is only allowed to be challenged by one person - Vishwanathan Anand who Kasparov has
hand picked for a defence of his title in October this year. ANyone with any sense of fair
play will appreciate that with several million chess players world wide and to have a
competition that consists solely of two players makes a total mockery of the term
"World Chess Champion".
Meanwhile in Las Vegas the players are having a well desrved day off, although they will
probably be working hard in preparation for the most important week's work in their lives
that lies ahead.
The final consists of six games, the first of which will take place on August 22 with
games on the 23rd and 24th as well, the 25th will be a day off and the final three games
will be on the 26th, 27th and 28th of August. Should the six games not produce a winner, a
play-off will take place on August 29 adn the same day the new FIDE 1999 World Chess
Champion will be crowned.
Khalifman v Akopian! Friday
20.8.99
Nisipeanu's dream is over, he finally bowed out of the 1999 World Chess Championships
after Alexander Khalifman of Russia won the play-off to join Akopian in the final.
Khalifman won a stunning (looking) first game, which showed him playing a sacrificial
game following a provocative opening by Nisipeanu. In the second Khalifman played
actively and secured the draw without too much trouble, although I am sure it did not seem
that at the time.
So the final is going to be between two relative unknowns in the chess world, Akopian
from Armenia a former World Junior Champion and Khalifman, a player with great ability who
has never been given the opportunity to show what he can do at the highest level in
tournaments.
The final will be over six games, and should produce some excellent fighting chess.
Good stuff.
Nisipeanu Levels Thursday
19.8.99
Needing a win at all costs in the fourth game of the semi-finals Nisipeanu did exactly
that - he won a long game against Russian Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman to tie the match
score and force a play-off.
Nisipeanu showed excellent technique in converting a better endgame despite everey
effort of his opponent. To these eyes Khalifman was just a bit too eager to swop off
in a Scotch Opening - notorious for endgame wins with white. The positions reached
in this opening show a great need for activity with the black pieces, witness Nigel
Short's and Anatoly Karpov's approach when faced with this opening against Garry Kasparov.
Khalifman however drifted into an endgame where he had no counter-play, his opponent
however showed remarkable tenacity and nerves to be able to convert, this young man is
really showing us what he is made of in this tournament.
Khalifman will still be favourite to go through to the final of the World Chess
Championships to face Akopian who had a free day after having knocked outr Adams with a
round to spare.
Adams OUT ! Wednesday 18.8.99
The last surviving member of the elite is on his way back home after failing to beat
Akopian in the third game of their four game semi-final.
Adams did try hard but it never really looked like he was going to win
this game the above position is the final one.
Khalifman Wins!
GM Alexander Khalifman won the third game of his semi-final match against GM Nisipeanu,
this was Nisipeanu's first loss of the tournament and now MUST play for the win in game
four.
It was an impressive performance by Khalifman (to these eyes) and worth giving the
whole game in full:
White "Khalifman,A"
Black "Nisipeanu,LD"
WhiteElo "2628"
BlackElo "2584"
"1999.07.31"
Queen's Indian Defence - Petrosian / Kasparov Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.
Nxc6 Bxc6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 Qb8 12. g3 Bc5 13. Bxc5 bxc5 14.O-O-O Nf6 15. f4 O-O 16. Bg2
e5 17. f5 Qd8 18. Bf3 Rb8 19. Rd2 g6 20. Rf1 Kh8 21. g4 gxf5 22. exf5 Bxf3 23. Rxf3 Nxg4
24. f6 Nxf6 25. Qf5 Rb6 26.Qxe5 Re8 27. Qxc5 Qe7 28. Qxe7 Rxe7 29. c5 Rc6 30. b4 a5 31.
Kc2 axb4 32.axb4 Kg7 33. Kb3 Re5 34. Rdf2 Rce6 35. Rf5 Kg6 36. Rxe5 Rxe5 37. b5 Re3 38.Re2
Rf3 39. b6 Nd5 40. b7 Rxc3+ 41. Kb2 Rc4 42. b8=Q 1-0
Final position.
Official site: http://www.worldfide.com/
Game downloads: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
Well known chess guru, mad dog and Englishman Adamskibobs has contacted
Chesscom and has signaled his willingness to write ....something.....on this site.
While it must be admitted that the communication received from the said
gentleman was written in the wee hours of the morning, it did seem to this reader's eyes
that he was at least a little serious.
He wishes to write an OPEN LETTER to Yasser Seirawan (who
seemingly is some sort of GM who lives in America) about .... well about something or
another. I can't say too much of course in case the said Adamskibobs takes fright
and calls me a Jock Jew or something....
Las Vegas round six Tuesday
(Semi finals - best of four games).
The second round games were drawn in both matches, Akopian leads Mickey Adams by 1½ to
½. Tonight's game will be incredibly important for the World Championships
credibility, Adams has the white pieces and must surely play for the win.
World Champion Garry Kasparov has been outspoken about his opinion of the Las Vegas
World Championships, he has criticised the format and the players who are left in, even
going as far as to say that Adams, one of the best players in the entire world was never
expected to win the event.
Kasparov still has to announce details of his own World Championship match against
Vishy Anand.
Kramnik OUT ! Sunday
Mickey Adams of Cornwall, Britain's highest ever rated player
successfully ousted GM Vladimir Kramnik from the World Chess Championships in Las Vegas
last night.
Having drawn their two games at normal rates on Friday, Kramnik and Adams then drew two
games at 25 minutes plus ten seconds a move, then in the two games played at fifteen
minute Adams triumphed in both to go through to the semi-finals where he will meet
Akopian
In the other semi-final Khalifman of Russia will meet Nisipeanu the unknown from
Romania
Shirov OUT ! Friday
Highlight GIF
So the bookies favourite is out. This may have come as a surprise
but very very good play led to Shirov's opponent Nisipeanu winning this game and so
passing throuh to the next round where he will meet Alexander Khalifman.
Kramnik and Adams DREW their second game and now will play a two game
play-off today.
Las Legas Round 4 Results 10.8.99
Round 4 Monday 9th August 1999
FIDE WCh KO Las Vegas USA
Ivanchuk,V 2702 - Nisipeanu,LD 2584 * ½-½
Gelfand,B 2713 - Khalifman,A 2628 * ½-½
Zvjaginsev,V 2652 - Polgar,Ju 2671 * ½-½
Akopian,V 2646 - Georgiev,Ki 2650 * ½-½
Fedorov,A 2659 - Movsesian,S 2659 * ½-½
Dreev,A 2679 - Adams,Mi 2708 * ½-½
Kramnik,V 2760 - Topalov,V 2690 * ½-½
Short,N 2675 - Shirov,A 2734 * 0-1
Seven draws! Only one decisive result. yet some very real chess battles
going on.
Shirov v Short was a particularly blood-thirsty game with Shirov giving up his queen
for a rook in this position:
This looks pretty amazing to me, there was some suggestion that Short may
have missed the best line later in the game, but Shirov won. Nigel may come back
though.
Kramnik - Topalov ended in a draw although to the patser's eye Topalov
look visually better at several points. The draw was agreed in the following position
after 50.Kb3. kramnik must now be favourite to take this tie.
Georgiev v Akopian was also a draw, but after 45 moves in the following
position I would have bet that Georgiev would have converted:
ADAMSKI Threatens to
write! 