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Chess
Ivanchuk's experience versus Ponomariov's dynamism
By Arvind Aaron
MOSCOW, JAN. 15. The FIDE World Chess Championship finals beginning here on Wednesday will be one where the experience of Vassily Ivanchuk is pitted against the youth and dynamism of Ruslan Ponomariov as two players from Ukraine are ready to chart a new course in their chess careers.
If the world title is important since only 15 players have actually managed to achieve it in 116 years, the ``challenger'' or the losing finalist also gains huge recognition since very few people have actually managed to get that far.
Ponomariov will be making history when he makes the first move with the white pieces on Wednesday as the youngest ever to play the World championship. At 18, he lowered the age for qualifying to play for the World chess title by two years. If he wins the title, he will beat Garry Kasparov's record of winning the title at 21.
In the eight game series, the first player to reach 4.5 points will be crowned the 16th World chess champion. It is pertinent to note that FIDE does not recognise Vladimir Kramnik as World champion and at Teheran in December 2000 crowned Anand as the 15th World chess champion. In case of a tie, they will play the tie-break which has happened only once to decide a World champion back in 1998.
The 1969-born Ivanchuk who will soon turn 33 will play 18-year-old countryman for the FIDE World chess title. The winner will get about half a million dollars and the loser about quarter million dollars. Ivanchuk qualified for the finals shocking title holder Viswanathan Anand 2.5-1.5 in the four games while Ponomariov did the same against Peter Svidler.
The last time players from the same nation played for the World title under FIDE was in 1990 when Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov played their last series of matches at New York in the United States and Lyon in France. In twelve years, Ukraine has made it big in World chess winning the last World team championship last year at Yerevan in October ending Russia's tenure.
The pulse of the match will be felt back in Ukraine, not in its capital Kiev but the chess city of Lvov where Ivanchuk and the scores of Grandmasters hail from. Ukraine's chess strength is such that Ponomariov who had not won a national championship is now playing for the World chess title.
For the first time under the knock out format eight games will decide the title, and not six. Eight is the standard number under which FIDE operated the candidates quarterfinals and semifinal matches from the sixties till the early nineties.
The history of scores in the knock out six game finals have been as follows: Lausanne 1998: V.Anand (Ind) lost to A.Karpov (Rus) 3-3, 0-2 on tie-break, Las Vegas 1999: V.Akopian (Arm) lost to A.Khalifman (Rus) 2.5-3.5, Teheran 2000: V.Anand bt. A.Shirov 3.5-0.5.
A longer match will benefit the better player and the better fit player. The month long interlude between the semifinals and the finals would have cooled the nerves completely. Better and more accurate preparation will be on the anvil this time.
The players have met only once at the chessboard. It was a World Cup, group classical game at Shenyang, China played on September 5, 2000. Ivanchuk won that game and qualified for the knock out stage but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by the ultimate winner Anand.
Ponomariov has come up in a big way since then winning the tournaments he played. Ivanchuk, a three-time champion of the Linares Tournament has been a member of the world's elite league for a long time. His strength is his unpredictability in openings and top stars often cry that they are unable to prepare against him. Ponomariov and his trainer Gennady Kuzmin have a tough task in spotting what he might play and should wait patiently for their moment to arise.
There may not be too many short draws in this match but both sides would be willing to accept them when seated behind the black pieces. Ivanchuk is playing much more steadily than ever but if there are too many decisive results, it might be in his favour. The opening game at Hotel Metropole may see a nervous beginning from both sides and opening choices may be bland and of the less sharp variety.
Both players are playing the match of their careers. It is an area where no Ukrainian has been before. Hypothetically speaking Ponomariov's victory may help FIDE to promote the sport in a better way but Ivanchuk will be no easy meat.
The schedule of the event is, the first four games will be played on January 16, 17, 18, 19 and the last four will be played on 21, 22, 23 and 24. In case of a 4-4 tie, tie-break games will be played on January 25. The closing ceremony is slated for January 25. January 20 will be a free day.
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