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Final US Hope Kamsky Eliminated in World Cup

Gata Kamsky dropped his first 4th round game against GM Alexander Grischuk and earned only a draw in the second, falling to the Russian 1.5-0.5 in the FIDE World Cup. Kamsky was the final American to be eliminated from winning the tournament, with Yuri Shulman being eliminated in the 3rd round - also by Grischuk.

Along with Grischuk, two other players have already clinched spots in the quarterfinals. Former FIDE Champion Ruslan Ponomariov defeated experienced GM Loek Van Wely 2-0, while Sergei Rublevsky defeated countrymate Konstantin Sakaev 1.5-0.5 to go through.

Five other 4th round matches are heading to tiebreaks, with the winner of each moving on to the quarterfinals. These matches feature a mix of top players, with nine of the 10 competitors rated over 2650, and the tenth a young rising star.

Evgeny Bareev is battling young Norwegian star Magnus Carlsen, who has suprised many with his deep run in this event. Another match features the top two players in France, Etienne Bacrot and Joel Lautier, fighting for one spot in the quarterfinals. The other matches are: Francisco Vallejo Pons vs. Levon Aronian; Alexey Dreev vs. Boris Gelfand; and Mikhail Gurevich vs. Vladimir Malakhov.

Although they can no longer win the tournament, Kamsky and the other players who lost in the fourth round still have something to play for. As 10 players will qualify from this event into the Candidates Matches for the next World Championship cycle, there will be consolation matches to rank the final 16 players. In order to qualify for the cycle, a 4th round loser such as Kamsky would now have to win two consecutive matches. Prize money will also increase in every place, from $21,000 for 16th, to $100,000 for first.

We will have complete coverage of the final rounds over the next two weeks. For now, here is Grischuk's victory over Kamsky.

White: Grischuk, A (2720)
Black: Kamsky, G (2690)
FIDE World Cup, Round 4, Game 1
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 h6 11. Nc3 Re8 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Qc8 14. c3 Nd8 15. d4 Bf6 16. Nh2 exd4 17. Ng4 Bg5 18. cxd4 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 Kf8 21. Bxg5 hxg5 22. Qe3 f6 23. Re1 Qd7 24. h4 Nf7 25. Qe6 Rd8 26. h5 f5 27. Nf6 gxf6 28. Qxf6 Re8 29. Re6 Qd8 30. Qxf5 g4 31. Rf6 Re7 32. h6 Qd7 33. Qg6 1-0