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Adams beats Kasimdzhanov to equalise in World Chess Championship
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - Michael Adams of England made another stunning comeback Sunday, equalising the match score with a fifth-game win against Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan in the World Chess Federation's Championship finals.
"I think I played quite well today. I didn't give him any chances,'' Adams told The Associated Press.
Adams now stands even with Kasimdzhanov at 2.5 points apiece after making a similar desperately needed recovery win in the third game of the six-game finals.
The sixth game will be played Monday. If it ends in a draw, two rapid 25-minute games and possibly two 5-minute blitz games and a sudden death game will be played on Tuesday to finish off the monthlong contest.
Adams started Sunday's game as white with the solid Ruy Lopez move, opening with his king's pawn and then bringing his knight to f3 and bishop to b5 in order to castle early.
Kasimdzhanov responded with the Chigorin variation, a passive line that caused some grandmasters in the audience to shake their heads.
"I was surprised by Kasimdzhanov, because in my opinion and in the opinion of many leading players, this old system just leaves black worse,'' said Georgian grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili.
Pushing a pawn up to d4 and another to c4 were among the early moves that allowed Adams' pieces to develop and gave him stronger position, Azmaiparashvili said.
Another grandmaster, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, said white continued to increase its advantages throughout the middle game as Adams launched a fortified attack on black's king.
But Radjabov, 17, who was knocked out by Adams in the semifinals, said white could possibly have won earlier if its knight had captured an inadequately defended black pawn on c5 on the 34th move instead of moving his knight to e5.
After a series of exchanges in the endgame that took the queens off the board, Adams was left with a pawn advantage that included a heavily protected passed pawn.
Kasimdzhanov resigned on move 46 after three hours of play.
Adams, 32, who is nicknamed "Spiderman'' for the intricate webs he weaves on the board to trap his opponents, climbed two places to No. 6 on the World Chess Federation's ladder on July 1.
With a new Elo rating of 2,738 points, he is now the favorite to win the championship title and its US$100,000 prize after the initial tournament favorite Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was upset by Kasimdzhanov.
Kasimdzhanov, 24 - who was ranked No. 26 in the tournament and 54th in the world with an Elo rating of 2,640 points - will play white in Monday's game, which starts at 2:30 p.m. (1130 GMT).
The runner-up receives US$70,000 of the total US$1.5 million in prize money. However, the World Chess Federation, known by its French initials FIDE, takes 20 percent of all prize money.
Only two of FIDE's top 10 players, Adams and Topalov, competed in the tournament.
Many top players, including the last FIDE champion, Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, decided not to compete, apparently angry that the world's strongest player, Garry Kasparov of Russia, is to be allowed to play the winner without taking part in the qualifying rounds.
Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. Under a 2002 plan to reunify the chess world, known as the Prague Agreement, Kasparov will play the winner of the Tripoli knockout in a future competition.
The winner of that match will then play the winner of a September contest between Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Peter Leko of Hungary.
Kramnik beat Kasparov in 2000 to become the Classical World Champion, a title not recognised by FIDE.
The Libyan tournament's legitimacy has also been eroded by an effective ban on Israelis. Libya said players from the "Zionist enemy'' were not welcome. Libya is hosting the competition as part of its efforts to dispel its image as a pariah state and end decades of international isolation. - AP
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - Michael Adams of England made another stunning comeback Sunday, equalising the match score with a fifth-game win against Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan in the World Chess Federation's Championship finals.
"I think I played quite well today. I didn't give him any chances,'' Adams told The Associated Press.
Adams now stands even with Kasimdzhanov at 2.5 points apiece after making a similar desperately needed recovery win in the third game of the six-game finals.
The sixth game will be played Monday. If it ends in a draw, two rapid 25-minute games and possibly two 5-minute blitz games and a sudden death game will be played on Tuesday to finish off the monthlong contest.
Adams started Sunday's game as white with the solid Ruy Lopez move, opening with his king's pawn and then bringing his knight to f3 and bishop to b5 in order to castle early.
Kasimdzhanov responded with the Chigorin variation, a passive line that caused some grandmasters in the audience to shake their heads.
"I was surprised by Kasimdzhanov, because in my opinion and in the opinion of many leading players, this old system just leaves black worse,'' said Georgian grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili.
Pushing a pawn up to d4 and another to c4 were among the early moves that allowed Adams' pieces to develop and gave him stronger position, Azmaiparashvili said.
Another grandmaster, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, said white continued to increase its advantages throughout the middle game as Adams launched a fortified attack on black's king.
But Radjabov, 17, who was knocked out by Adams in the semifinals, said white could possibly have won earlier if its knight had captured an inadequately defended black pawn on c5 on the 34th move instead of moving his knight to e5.
After a series of exchanges in the endgame that took the queens off the board, Adams was left with a pawn advantage that included a heavily protected passed pawn.
Kasimdzhanov resigned on move 46 after three hours of play.
Adams, 32, who is nicknamed "Spiderman'' for the intricate webs he weaves on the board to trap his opponents, climbed two places to No. 6 on the World Chess Federation's ladder on July 1.
With a new Elo rating of 2,738 points, he is now the favorite to win the championship title and its US$100,000 prize after the initial tournament favorite Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was upset by Kasimdzhanov.
Kasimdzhanov, 24 - who was ranked No. 26 in the tournament and 54th in the world with an Elo rating of 2,640 points - will play white in Monday's game, which starts at 2:30 p.m. (1130 GMT).
The runner-up receives US$70,000 of the total US$1.5 million in prize money. However, the World Chess Federation, known by its French initials FIDE, takes 20 percent of all prize money.
Only two of FIDE's top 10 players, Adams and Topalov, competed in the tournament.
Many top players, including the last FIDE champion, Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, decided not to compete, apparently angry that the world's strongest player, Garry Kasparov of Russia, is to be allowed to play the winner without taking part in the qualifying rounds.
Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. Under a 2002 plan to reunify the chess world, known as the Prague Agreement, Kasparov will play the winner of the Tripoli knockout in a future competition.
The winner of that match will then play the winner of a September contest between Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Peter Leko of Hungary.
Kramnik beat Kasparov in 2000 to become the Classical World Champion, a title not recognised by FIDE.
The Libyan tournament's legitimacy has also been eroded by an effective ban on Israelis. Libya said players from the "Zionist enemy'' were not welcome. Libya is hosting the competition as part of its efforts to dispel its image as a pariah state and end decades of international isolation. - AP
of the year.