For so many years FIDE is holding knock-out championships, but the audience and even players themselves can’t get used to the fact that after every round a half of the participants are going home. Every time there is a tragedy, despair, defeat of hopes...

It is very difficult to overcome your elimination after the first round when it seems that all the possibilities to move on in the tournament were created. The higher rating you have, the weaker opponent will be. However, difference in ELO rating doesn’t always correspond to the player’s level. It is what some favourites have experienced.

Even after the first game Mamedyarov, Vallejo, Azmaiparashvili, Milov, Volokitin, Nakamura were almost to lose. But if the first three of the above-mentioned people were able to gather themselves up and recover (although, for the FIDE Vice-President win in the second game was a Phyrrhic victory – he left the playing hall after tie breaks), the other three can’t win over their opponents - Pantsulaia, Cao Sang and Ganguly.

On the second day Asrian, Movsesian, Alekseev appeared in this list. After a draw they lost with blacks. Another interesting situation: after playing blacks and having victory, Sutovsky and Bruson lost to Hamdouchi and Kabanov and would play tie breaks. It was an experience for them, and now they are in the second round.

A lot of surprises happened during tie breaks. It is something incredible: 25 out of 64 pairs played rapid chess! And here it started: Balogh Csaba knocked out young Karjakin (the last was almost to cry in the end of the game), Letaio won Jakovenko, who was becoming really strong, Kempinski, Jobava, Ammonatov forced back the older generation – Vaganian, Beliavsky, Krasenkov...

Three pairs played till the decisive blitz game, in which whites had to win. Zviagintsev, Isoria, Navara didn’t manage to do it. Shulman, Erenburg, Nikolic are in the second round. After three days of the World Chess Cup there are only 64 participants. And it is just a beginning!