Chess World Cup 2000

The FIDE World Cup 2000 was a 24-player Category XVI chess tournament played between 1 September and 13 September 2000 in Shenyang, China. The tournament was organized by FIDE, hosted by the Chinese Chess Association, and billed as the First Chess World Cup. Viswanathan Anand defeated Evgeny Bareev in the final to win the inaugural title and a $50,000 cash prize.[1]

First Chess World Cup
Tournament information
SportChess
LocationShenyang
Dates1 September 2000–13 September 2000
Administrator(s)FIDE
Tournament
format(s)
Multi-stage tournament
Host(s)Chinese Chess Association
Participants24
Purse$200,000
Final positions
ChampionsViswanathan Anand
Runner-upEvgeny Bareev

Format

The 24 players were split into four groups of six players each, with every player playing each other player in his group once. The top two finishers in each group were sent forward to the knockout stages, with ties being resolved by playoffs. From the quarterfinals onward, each knockout match consisted of two games, with ties being broken by a set of speed games.[2]

Participants

All players are Grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.

  1.  Viswanathan Anand (IND), 2762
  2.  Alexander Morozevich (RUS), 2756
  3.  Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR), 2719
  4.  Evgeny Bareev (RUS), 2702
  5.  Peter Svidler (RUS), 2689
  6.  Boris Gelfand (ISR), 2681
  7.  Nigel Short (ENG), 2677
  8.  Alexey Dreev (RUS), 2676
  9.  Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO), 2673
  10.  Ye Jiangchuan (CHN), 2670
  11.  Xu Jun (CHN), 2668
  12.  Alexander Khalifman (RUS), 2667
  13.  Mikhail Gurevich (BEL), 2667
  14.  Sergei Movsesian (CZE), 2666
  15.  Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA), 2657
  16.  Alexei Fedorov (BLR), 2646
  17.  Boris Gulko (USA), 2643
  18.  Zhang Zhong (CHN), 2636
  19.  Gilberto Milos (BRA), 2633
  20.  Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR), 2630
  21.  Pavel Tregubov (RUS), 2620
  22.  Aleksej Aleksandrov (BLR), 2591
  23.  Aimen Rizouk (ALG), 2350, IM
  24.  Mohamed Tissir (MAR), 2342, no title

Ratings are as per the July 2000 FIDE ratings list[3].

Calendar
RoundDates
Group Stage1-5 September
Quarterfinals7-8 September
Semifinals9-10 September
Final12-13 September

Group stage

Nine out of the top 10 seeds finished the group stages with a plus or equal score – the lone exception, Alexander Morozevich, crashed out of the tournament with a single point in 5 games. The reigning FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman also suffered a disappointing showing, with losses to Anand and Gelfand. The dark horse of the tournament was 19th-seeded Gilberto Milos, a chess grandmaster from Brazil and five-time South American chess champion. Milos' upset win over Morozevich would propel him to the top of Group A, and eventually, into the semifinals of the World Cup. The top seed in each of the other groups advanced to the quarterfinals.[4]

Group A Pts. Group B Pts. Group C Pts. Group D Pts.
Gilberto Milos 3½ Ye Jiangchuan 3½ Evgeny Bareev 3½ Viswanathan Anand 3½
Zurab Azmaiparashvili 3 Vassily Ivanchuk 3 Sergei Movsesian 3 Boris Gelfand 3
Boris Gulko 2½ Nigel Short 3 Peter Svidler 3 Vladislav Tkachiev 3
Alexey Dreev 2½ Mikhail Gurevich 2 Zhang Zhong 2½ Pavel Tregubov 2½
Aleksej Aleksandrov 2½ Xu Jun 2 Alexei Fedorov 2 Alexander Khalifman 2
Alexander Morozevich 1 Ruslan Ponomariov 1½ Aimen Rizouk 1 Mohamed Tissir 1

Playoffs

Anand, the tournament's hitherto-untroubled No. 1 seed, breezed through the quarterfinal round against his longtime rival Vassily Ivanchuk. But Boris Gelfand gave Anand a challenge in the semi-final, and the match was not settled until a sudden-death blitz game. In the other half of the bracket, Bareev dropped the first game but managed to win his quarterfinal match against Azmaiparashvili before facing a relentless Gilberto Milos in the semifinals. Bareev eventually edged past the Brazilian, drawing both classical games before winning the first rapid playoff thanks to a distressing blunder (79. Nd5??) from Milos that cost him his queen and the match.[5][6]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
         
Viswanathan Anand 1½
Vassily Ivanchuk ½
Viswanathan Anand 3½
Boris Gelfand 2½
Boris Gelfand 2½
Ye Jiangchuan 1½
Viswanathan Anand 1½
Evgeny Bareev ½
Sergei Movsesian 2
Gilberto Milos 3
Gilberto Milos 1½
Evgeny Bareev 2½
Zurab Azmaiparashvili 1½
Evgeny Bareev 2½

Final
Anand–Bareev, 2000 World Cup
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8
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
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Final game, after 37...e2; Anand played 38 Rf6+ and Bareev resigned (38... Ke7 39 f5 e1Q 40 Re6+)

The first game of the World Cup final between Viswanathan Anand and Evgeny Bareev played out to a draw after 33 moves. In the second game, Anand – playing the white side of the French defence – sacrificed the exchange for two pawns to gain a slight advantage. But Bareev's fate was not sealed until 36... Re8?? - a shocking blunder that gave Anand a completely winning position.[7]

NameRating12Total
 Viswanathan Anand (IND) 2762 ½ 1 1½
 Evgeny Bareev (RUS) 2702 ½ 0 ½

References
  1. "The Hindu: FIDE World Cup from August 31".
  2. "The Week In Chess: 1st FIDE World Cup".
  3. "FIDE Rating List July 2000".
  4. "365Chess.com - FIDE World Cup 2000".
  5. "The Week In Chess (2): 1st FIDE World Cup".
  6. "Gilberto Milos vs Evgeny Bareev, WCC 2000: 0-1".
  7. "Lichess Study: Anand v. Bareev, 2000". Archived from the original on 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
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