World Cup 2005 r4.1

Games and such at ChessBase. (Not my report.) Grischuk played a very powerful game to beat Kamsky today. The finishing combination was very nice, but it was very strong from start to finish. Kamsky has been getting by on talent and grit and this was the first 2700+ opponent of his comeback, so a rough time was to be expected. He's a famously hard worker, but it's tough to get up to speed when you've got a family. He'll have less than a month after the World Cup to patch holes before going Corus Wijk aan Zee.

There's an interview with Gata on the World Cup site, and also an interesting one by America's Onischuk, who talks about Kamsky's comeback. I agree with his impression that Kamsky has been playing a sort of "old" chess so far. But surviving a super-sharp player like Smirin in rapid and blitz shows his instincts are still there. When the Turin Olympiad rolls around the US will have a strong young team. Nakamura will continue to rise, Kamsky and Onischuk are super solid, and Akobian could make it aboard. The USCF recently released new team qualification guidelines but I haven't sifted through them yet.

Bareev played a line against Carlsen that has been doing horribly and didn't fare much better. He had to force a draw. That Nimzo line has roots in the Kasparov-Short WCh match. Sakaev was playing creatively and managed to get himself entirely tangled up against Rublevsky, who kicked the ball softly toward the open goal. Thanks, chum! Ponomariov ground down van Wely in his finest style. Pono is looking very good so far.