Gelfand Captures World Cup
December 14, 2009
It came down to the wire in the World Cup Gelfand-Ponomariov final. After four drawn regular games, and split rapid games, Gelfand finally prevailed in the second set of blitz games. With this win, Gelfand earns a spot in the 2011 Candidates Match along with the loser of Topalov/Anand, Kamsky, top two in 2008/09 Grand Prix, two by rating, and an organizer's choice. See more details here (pdf). Gelfand also picked up $120,000 (net $96,000 due to a 20% payment to FIDE) for his victory while Ponomariov's takehome was $80,000, net $64,000.

Rapid Games


3902

3900

3901

 3905

Blitz games

3906

3908

3909

3907

Look for more details, photos and games on the official website.


Also see American contender GM Josh Friedel's account on getting to the World Cup, "A Long Road to Siberia" and his round one loss to Wang Hao, "All the Way to Siberia For This?"