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Ponomariov meets Aronian in World Cup Final

Former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov will battle Armenian GM Levon Aronian for the first FIDE World Cup championship. Ponomariov advanced to the final after defeating Alexander Grischuk 2-0 in a rapid playoff, which Aronian advanced past French GM Etienne Bacrot after a surprising resignation by Bacrot in what was later found to be a drawn position.

The winner of the World Cup will take home a $100,000 prize, and is assured the top seed in the next FIDE Championship candidate matches. The top ten finishers in the World Cup have all qualified for the candidates matches; these include all four semi-finalists, as well as the other four quarterfinalists: Boris Gelfand, Evgeny Bareev, Sergei Rublevski and Mikhail Gurevich.

In addition, the 9th and 10th place finishers - determined by consolation matches between the losers in the round of 16's matches - also qualified for the candidates matches - and may prove to be two of the most interesting participants.

Magnus Carlsen - one of the world's youngest GMs and a rising star in Norway - clinched his place as a candidate by defeating Russia's Vladimir Malakhov. Carlsen will be the youngest competitor for the World Championship.

The final qualifier was American GM Gata Kamsky, by virtue of a blitz victory over Francisco Vallejo Pons. Kamsky's results in the candidates matches will be followed closely, as he once played a match for the FIDE World Championship against Anatoly Karpov before retiring from chess for several years. At one point, Kamsky was rated as high as 3rd in the world; if he can regain his former form, he will be a strong contender to take the title back to the United States.

Carlsen and Kamsky are currently playing each other in the 9th place match. While both players have already earned spots in the candidates matches, there is a slight prize difference between 9th and 10th. Carlsen won the first game with the white pieces, and leads 1-0.

We will have complete coverage of the World Cup final next week. For now, here is Carlsen's win over Kamsky.

White: Carlsen, M (2570)
Black: Kamsky, G (2690)
FIDE World Cup, Round 7, Game 1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 b5 7. O-O Bb7 8. Qe2 Ne7 9. Re1 Nbc6 10. Nxc6 Nxc6 11. Nd5 exd5 12. exd5+ Ne7 13. c4 b4 14. Bg5 f6 15. Qh5+ g6 16. Qf3 fxg5 17. Qf6 O-O-O 18. Qxh8 Qd6 19. Be4 Kb8 20. Rac1 Qf4 21. g3 Qf7 22. Qd4 d6 23. Qb6 Rd7 24. Qxb4 Nf5 25. Bxf5 gxf5 26. Re6 f4 27. Rce1 Rd8 28. Qb6 Rc8 29. b4 fxg3 30. hxg3 h5 31. b5 Qc7 32. Qxc7+ Kxc7 33. a4 axb5 34. axb5 Kb6 35. Re8 Bg7 36. R8e6 Rd8 37. c5+ Kxc5 38. Re7 Bd4 39. Rxb7 Rf8 40. Rc7+ Kxd5 41. Rd1 Rb8 42. Rg7 g4 43. Rg5+ Kc4 44. Rxh5 Bc5 45. Rg5 Rxb5 46. Rxg4+ Kc3 47. Kg2 Ba3 48. Rgd4 1-0