Gata Wins World Cup!!
By Jennifer Shahade   
December 16, 2007
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Photo Misha Savinov.


Gata Kamsky drew the final game of his World Cup final match against Alexei Shirov, (Khanty-Mansiysk, December 13-16), to win the 2007 World Cup! This earns him the right to play Topalov in a 2008 match, and 120,000$. After winning, Gata celebrated by eating dinner at a restaraunt in downtown Khanty-Mansisyk with his second GM Emil Sutovsky and four or five members of World Cup press team. He didn't go all out though: he had just a little champagne, a simple dinner of meat and potatoes.

Gata naturally chose to avoid the razor sharp Sicilian lines and went for a Rossolimo variation. Often players in need of a draw often avoid imbalances, but it was Gata who initiated the material imbalance with 27.f4:

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Position after 27.f4


Check out the full game below- more details coming soon.

1490


Look for a Chess Life Magazine article by Vladimir Barsky and Alexander Shabalov on the World Cup.