Americans in the World Cup: Two Advance, Three Go To Tiebreak
November 22, 2009
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GM Akobian will play a tiebreak tomorrow against GM Tregubov
In round 1 of the World Cup , the two highest rated Americans contenders advanced without a tiebreak, defending champion Gata Kamsky and GM Alexander Onischuk. Yuri Shulman, Varuzhan Akobian and Alexander Shabalov both tied their matches, and will contest playoffs tomorrow (at 3 PM local, 5 AM EST).

Overall, this was not the happiest round for USA since Akobian and Shabalov were both leading 1-0 yesterday. Our young contenders, Robson, Hess and Friedel as well as veterans Ivanov and Ehlvest are unfortunately, eliminated. Scroll down to play through the second games of the American matches. 

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15-year-old GM-elect Ray Robson is eliminated in his first stab at the World Cup


Good luck to Shulman, Akobian and Shabalov in winning the rapid tiebreaks tomorrow!

 World Cup, Round 1  Results

Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) 1.5-0.5  Ivanov, Alexander (USA)
Friedel, Joshua E (USA) 0-2  Wang, Hao (CHN)
Jobava, Baadur (GEO) 1.5-0.5  Robson, Ray (USA)
Hess, Robert L (USA) 0.5-1.5 Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
Kamsky, Gata (USA) 1.5-0.5  Antonio, Rogelio Jr (PHI)
Onischuk, Alexander (USA) 1.5-0.5  Flores, Diego (ARG)
Smirin, Ilia (ISR) 1.5-0.5  Ehlvest, Jaan (USA)
Shabalov, Alexander (USA) 1-1  Baklan, Vladimir (UKR)
Savchenko, Boris (RUS) 1-1  Shulman, Yuri (USA)
Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) 1-1 Tregubov, Pavel V. (RUS)


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See the official website, chessdom.com and the Internet Chess Club for live coverage. Also read Josh Friedel's nightmare travel story.