Anand beats Dreev to enter final

Defending champion Vishwanathan Anand advanced to the final of the chess World Cup, edging out Russian Grandmaster Alexey Dreev 1.5-0.5 after a blitz tie-breaker, in Hyderabad, on Friday.

In the final, Anand will meet Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, who beat Alexander Belyavski of Slovenia in the other semi-final, in a protracted 60-move Ruy Lopez game.

The Uzbek had agreed to a draw yesterday but played an aggressive game with white pieces today. Kasimdzhanov had the advantage of three pawns when Beliavsky resigned.

After splitting points in the first two rounds of the semi-final, the deadlock between Anand and Dreev continued in the rapid round tie-breaker at 1-1 after two games.

In the 10-minute blitz round that followed, Anand drew the first game before beating Dreev in the second to emerge victorious.

Earlier in the day, Grandmaster Koneru Humpy stumbled when it mattered most and lost her women's semi-final match 0.5-1.5 to defending champion Xu Yuhua of China.

In the title clash on Saturday, Yuhua will take on Stefanova Antoneta of Bulgaria, who defeated Svetlana Mateeva of Russia 2-0 in the other semi-final.

The players had met in the final of the last edition of the tournament.

Humpy, who drew her first game on Thursday, could not match the counterplay of the reigning champion who pooled her resources well while cashing in on some weak moves to win the game in 57 moves.

"I committed some mistakes and lost the game," a crestfallen Humpy said after the match.

Humpy admitted that her opponent uneashed a very strong counter-attack and she crumbled under pressure after losing material.

Yuhua marshalled her pieces with mastery and took advantage of the three hanging pawns of Humpy by combining her forces well. The Chinese virtually won the game once Humpy blundered in the 21st move by shifting her bishop to a weak square.

"I played a technically superior game and won," Yuhua said.

Humpy's father Ashok, who also doubles up as her coach, said the 16-year-old played some bad moves while opting for some change in the opening.

"Some of the irregular moves and a few mistakes cost her the game," he said.

Humpy was baffled by some strong moves of Yuhua, who unleashed her knights with great ferocity to weaken the Indian's pawn structure and occupy more space on the board.

Yuhua made most of the weak pawns of Humpy and exchanged the queens for an advantageous position and was up by a piece in the process to further compound Humpy's trouble.

The junior world champion resigned after Yuhua's passed pawn got full protection while her own rook was being threatened by the bishop and two of her pawns were ineffective and blocked.

Humpy impressed in the tournament nevertheless winning four games and drawing the fifth in the qualifying rounds. In qarter-finals she won the first round and lost the second only to grab the two games in the first tie-breaker against Li Ruofan of China to enter the last four stage.

Stefenova, who won her first game yesterday, had, in fact, offered for a draw which was declined by her opponent. The Bulgarian then surged ahead with intelligent formation of pieces and combinations to win the game in 41 moves.

"I am glad to win the match. Svetlana blundered early in the game and I capitalised on the mistake," she said.

Stefanova, who won seven out of the nine games she played in this tournament, said she is prepared well for final.

Stefanova had a good record in the league round and in the quarter-finals brushed aside Pin Wang.

The final promises to be an interesting affair as Stefanova gets an opportunity to avenge the defeat she suffered to Yuhua in the final of the inaugural edition of the tournament in China.

Results of the semi-final games on Friday:
Game Two
Men: Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 1.0) drew with Alexey Dreev (Rus, 1.0); Kasimdzanov Rustam (Uzb, 1.5) bt Alexander Beliavsky (Rus, 0.5).

Women: Koneru Humpy (Ind, 0.5) lost to Xu Yuhua (Chi,1.5); Stefanova Antoneta (Bul, 2.0) bt Svetlana Matveeva (Rus, 0.0).

Moves

Anand, Viswanathan (white) vs Dreev, Alexey
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 7. Bxc4 e6 8. Nf3 Be7 9. O-O O- 0 10. Qd2 b6 11. d5 Na5 12. Bd3 exd5 13. Rfe1 Nc6 14. Rad1 Bg4 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nxd5 Bxf3 1/2-1/2.

Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (white) vs Bliavsky, Alexander G
Result: 1-0
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. b3 d5 16. Bg5 dxe4 17. Nxe5 h6 18. Nxd7 hxg5 19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Bxe4 c6 21. b4 a5 22. a3 axb4 23. axb4 Rxa1 24. Qxa1 Bc8 25. Bc2 Rxe1+ 26. Qxe1 g4 27. hxg4 Bxg4 28. Qe3 Be6 29. Be4 Bc4 30. Bf3 Be7 31. Ne4 Qf5 32. g3 Bd5 33. Kg2 Kg7 34. Kg1 Kf8 35. Kg2 Kg7 36. Qe2 Bc4 37. Qe1 Bd5 38. Qe3 Kf8 39. Kg1 Kg7 40. Bg2 Qg4 41. Nd2 Bg5 42. f4 Qd1+ 43. Nf1 Bf6 44. Bxd5 cxd5 45. Kf2 Qc2+ 46. Qd2 Qb1 47. Ne3 Qh1 48. Qd1 Qh2+ 49. Ng2 Qh3 50. Qf3 Qc8 51. Ne3 g5 52. Nxd5 g4 53. Qe2 Bd8 54. Qd3 f5 55. Ne3 Qa8 56. Nxf5+ Kf8 57. Qe2 Qh1 58. Ne3 Qc1 59. Qxg4 Qxc3 60. Qf5+ 1-0.

Stefanova, Antoaneta (white) Svetlana Matveeva
Result: 1-0
1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Be3 d6 5. Qd2 b5 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bd3 Qc7 8. a4 b4 9. Ne2 a5 10. c3 Rb8 11. Ng3 h5 12. h3 Ngf6 13. O-O e5 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. cxb4 Rxb4 16. Qc2 O-O 17. Rfc1 Qd8 18. Bd2 Rb8 19. Qxc6 h4 20. Nxh4 Rxb2 21. Nf3 Rb3 22. Qc2 Rb8 23. Qc7 Ra8 24. Bb5 Re8 25. Qxd8 Rxd8 26. Bc6 Ra6 27. Rab1 Bf8 28. Rb5 Ba3 29. Rc2 Nc5 30. Rbxc5 Bxc5 31. Rxc5 Nd7 32. Rc1 f6 33. Bb5 Ra8 34. Bc4+ Kg7 35. Bd5 Ra7 36. Be3 Ra6 37. Rc7 Kh8 38. Nh4 Nf8 39. Bc5 f5 40. Be7 Re8 41. Bf7 1-0.

Koneru, Humpy (white) vs Xu, Yuhua
Result: 0-1
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Re1 Qc7 9. c3 b5 10. Nf1 d4 11. cxd4 cxd4 12. e5 Nd5 13. Qe2 Bb7 14. Bd2 Nb6 15. Rac1 Qd7 16. h4 Na4 17. Rb1 Rfc8 18. h5 Nb4 19. a3 Na6 20. h6 g6 21. Bg5 Bxf3 22. Bxf3 Bxg5 23. Bxa8 Rxa8 24. Nh2 Nc7 25. Ng4 Nd5 26. Qf3 Qd8 27. Qe4 Nc5 28. Qe2 Rc8 29. f4 Be7 30. Rec1 a5 31. Rc2 Nb3 32. Re1 a4 33. Rxc8 Qxc8 34. Nf6+ Nxf6 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. g4 Qc5 37. Qe4 Be7 38. f5 Qd6 39. fxe6 fxe6 40. Qf3 Bg5 41. Qa8+ Qd8 42. Qxd8+ Bxd8 43. Rxe6 Kf7 44. Re5 Nc1 45. Rxb5 Nxd3 46. Kf1 Be7 47. b3 axb3 48. Rxb3 Nc5 49. Rb8 g5 50. Ra8 d3 51. a4 Ne4 52. a5 Ng3+ 53. Ke1 Bb4+ 54. Kd1 Ne4 55. Kc1 Nf2 56. Rd8 Bxa5 57. Rd7+ Ke6 0-1.

Earlier reports
Day 8: Anand, Humpy draw first semi-final games
Day 7: Anand in semis | Humpy wins tie-break
Day 6: Humpy scores; Anand settles for a draw
Day 5: Anand squeezes into last eight
Day 4: Anand, Humpy win easily
Day 3: Anand back in contention
Day 2: Sasikiran shocks Anand
Day 1: Meenakshi beats world champ; Anand splits point