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Gata Kamsky won the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk
The World Chess Cup has ended in Khanty-Mansiysk. Gata Kamsky won the final match against Alexey Shirov with a score of 2.5:1.5 and received the right to a match with Veselin Topalov. This match is part of the ongoing cycle of the individual world championship, and the winner will play the final match for the world title against the winner of the Anand-Kramnik main match.Kamsky's victory is a kind of finale of his return to big chess. But if his participation in the previous World Championship in Argentina in 2005 was unconvincing, as well as a number of subsequent ones, then in Khanty-Mansiysk he was, as they say, on horseback. Let us remind the reader that Kamsky, who emigrated to the USA in the early 90s, continued to play successfully in competitions, and his highest achievement was the final match for the FIDE world champion title in 1995 with Anatoly Karpov. After losing the match, Gata withdrew from “big chess” for several years in order to obtain a higher education.
The break was not in vain. Watching him play in the short "Swiss" games typical of the USA, it was felt that Kamsky's weak point was the opening. This was confirmed both in later competitions and in the candidates match with Boris Gelfand, which took place this year in Elista. In Khanty-Mansiysk, everything went differently, when Kamsky’s most successful move turned out to be the conclusion of a creative alliance with Emil Sutovsky, who dropped out of the World Cup in the second round. Emil became his coach, and Gata's path to the final turned out to be extremely confident - winning five matches in regular time with a score of 1.5:0.5 and only in one match with Peter Svidler a tie-break was required.
However, Alexey Shirov took exactly the same path. It is known that in terms of creativity these chess players differ like ice and fire, but in the final match, one might say, the scythe met the stone. The cool, self-possessed Kamsky managed to extinguish Shirov’s flame. It is significant that in the only effective game, which was the second, Gata called fire on himself and repelled Alexey’s attack, gaining a strategically won position.
So, the chess world is waiting for the most exciting match between Kamsky and Topalov, where ice and fire will meet again. Kamsky's first move turned out to be very harsh - when communicating with the press, Gata said that he would not play this match in Sofia. Will American sponsors support the emigrant, given the chance to host a match of such an outstanding level in the USA, commensurate with the times of the legendary Robert Fischer?
Well, this year’s super-busy chess calendar is not exhausted. In Moscow in the Central House of Chess Player named after. Botvinnik today starts the super finals of the men's and women's Russian championships with the participation of the country's strongest chess players. The champions will be announced the day before the New Year.