Grandmaster Lenier Dominiguez of Cuba provided the biggest sensation of the third round by ousting Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev of France at in the World Chess championship in Tripoli, Libya, on Thursday.
Top seeded Bulgarian Grandmaster Veselin Topalov's winning spree was halted by Grandmaster Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia but the drawn result was enough to take the former to the pre-quarter-finals stage as he had won the crucial first round between the two.
Earlier report
Topalov maintains clean slate
That there were no major surprises proved that the top players in the championship have adapted themselves quite well to the new FIDE time control and the knock-out system.
The stakes in the championship are quite high with the winner's purse being US $ 100000 while the loser of the third round will get US $15000.
Dominiguez stole the show from even the likes of second seed Adams and Topalov with his back to back victories over Tkachiev, a formidable opponent. Having lost the first game, it wasn't anyway easy for Tkachiev to make a come back even as he tried valiantly.
The Caro Kann defence by the Cuban led to extreme complexities with Tkachiev having a better pawn structure and Dominiguez better placed pieces in the middle game.
As the game progressed in to wild tactics, Dominiguez found Tkachieve off guard and eventually won an exchange. To add to the woes of the French, the position had simplified beyond repairs. The game lasted 33 moves.
Topalov had little difficulty in securing the required draw against Movsesian,who played white. Going for the Italian game, Movsesian failed to get much and signed his ouster papers after getting a slightly worse position in 27 moves.
Speaking about his chances in the event now, Topalov said, "It is still very tough; there are many stalwarts here."
Asked about Indian performances, the Bulgarian replied; "They all appear very good and this time I think they will be amongst medals in the Olympiad with Anand leading them.
Adams got the better of Hichem Hamdouchi of Morocco in similar fashion. The Englishman also had the cushion of the first round victory and played solidly in the Ruy Lopez to net himself a pawn. Not wanting to risk his rating further, Hamdouchi settled for the peace on his 37th turn through repetition of moves.
Quite a few matches went in to the tiebreak stage, scheduled to be held later today. Prominent among them are Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine versus Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and the duel between two very talented youths, Etienne Bacrot of France and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.
Available results round 3, game 1:
Sergei Movsesian (Svk) lost to Veselin Topalov (Bul) 1.5-0.5; Levon Aronian (Arm) drew with Smirnov Pavel (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Michael Adams (Eng) beat Hichem Hamdouchi (Mar) 1.5-0.5; Valerij Phillipov (Rus) drew with Alexander Grishchuk (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Vadim Zvjaginsev (Rus) lost to Michal Krasenkow (Pol) 0.5-1.5; Lenier Dominiguez (Cub) beat Vladislav Tkachiev (Fra) 2-0; Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze) drew with Liviu-Dieter Nisipianu (Rom) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Andrei Kharlov (Rus) beat Rafael Leitao (Bra) 1.5-0.5; Konstantin Sakaev (Rus) drew with Alexei Dreev (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Vladimir Akopian (Arm) beat Alexander Moiseenko (Ukr) 1.5-0.5; Ye Ziangchuan (Chn) lost to Zoltan Almasi (Hun) 1.5-0.5; Alexander Beliavsky (Slo) playing Ashot Anastesian (Arm); Alexander Lastin (Rus) playing Hikaru Nakamuka (Usa); Teimour Radjabov (Aze) drew with Etienned Bacrot (Fra) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Zdenko Kozul (Cro).playing Sergei Rublevsky (Rus).
