On behalf of the World Chess Federation, I am very happy to welcome the winner of one of the year’s most prestigious tournaments – World Chess Cup – Levon Aronian...

World Chess Cup 2005 with the participation of the strongest chess players has finished. Ugra and Khanty-Mansiysk were glad to welcome famous and respected guests. We tried to create the most comfortable conditions for participants.

Please find the photos from the final day of the World Chess Cup: Round 7 tie-breaks and Closing ceremony.

This shy boy impressed chess world once again by entering in the final of the World Chess Cup 2005. Now he has a unique chance to become the second chess player in the world who managed to win two the most prestigious knockout tournaments.

It is amazing but true: the only “original” Spanish chess player taking part in the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk is Fransisco Vallejo Pons or Paco as he is called usually. Actually it was Spain that has recently presented the world a number of very interesting tournaments but … no chess player. Except Vallejo who became a real mascot of the country!

Against the background of his young opponents 46-years-old Gurevich looked like a “fossil”, master and keeper of traditions on the stage of the Arts Centre in Khanty-Mansiysk. At the same time it was formally here where Mikhail achieved the highest result in his long and bright career having qualified for the first time for the World Cup holders.

The fact that Armenian GM, who lives in Berlin, entered in the final cannot be called sensational. Aronian is playing great, and this, of course, influenced on his Elo rating. Besides, he belongs to the generation of 22-23 years old geniuses that should win something serious, as many people think.    Read more...

This knockout tournament occurred to be incredibly successful for the Russian participants – six of them managed to find themselves in the Top 16 but then… they started headily leaving one by one. Only three players reached the Quarterfinals and only one - Alexander Grischuk - the Semifinals. Despite his youth, 22 years-old Moscow fellow conquered many peaks but he did not manage to become Number 1 in the World Championship nor even in the World Cup. However Grischuk considers this situation philosophically: everything that has to happen during his life will surely happen. One should work very hard and want this to happen very much…

A will and a wish to win – those are main strong qualities of Alexei Dreev, which allowed him to break to the number of 16th best players at the World Cup. Being not in his best form, a many times Olympic champion of Russian team continues to fight and win his opponents, who don’t play the same strength.

Some 10 years ago he used to be considered one of the most successful chess players of his gen-eration – Boris Gelfand has been a regular winner of interzonals, and played in the World Cham-pionship candidates matches. Now, in Khanty-Mansiysk, he has been one of very few players of older generation (couldn’t find a better term), who made an effort to stop the attack of 20-year old Grandmasters, occupying top places of the World Chess Cup pedestal.