MOSCOW, Jan. 23.- To become world chess champion, 18-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov only needed a draw against fellow Ukrainian Vasyl Ivanchuk in the seventh game of their FIDE championship match Wednesday. So he was happy to accept his opponent’s draw offer even though his position was clearly better.
The result gave Ponomariov a 4.5-2.5 victory in the match. He will receive dlrs 400,000 and the loser’s share for Ivanchuk is dlrs 200,000.
Ponomariov is the youngest men’s champion ever. Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia won the women’s world championship at age 17 in 1978. Ponomariov made his first move, 1.e4 across from an empty chair. Ivanchuk did not walk onto the stage until four minutes later. He then stared at the position for another five minutes before making his first move.
Not until the photographers had left following a brief start-of-game photo opportunity did Ivanchuk make his first move, an Alekhine Defense. This opening is considered extremely risky for Black and is rarely seen at the highest levels. But since Ivanchuk had to win at all costs with Black, it was a sensible decision.
Ponomariov was well-prepared and demonstrated why the Alekhine has such a poor reputation. Ivanchuk’s attempts to create an unbalanced position succeeded, but the imbalance was all in his opponent’s favor. On move 18, with a position that offered only the possibility of a loss if he played on, Ivanchuk conceded the inevitable and offered his opponent a draw. Ponomariov accepted.
Ponomariov is often compared to former world champion Anatoly Karpov, because of his appearance and his positional style.
Ivanchuk, who is known as one of the most imaginative players in the game today, has a history of blundering in pressure-filled matches. In three previous attempts at the title in FIDE’s knockout system, he was eliminated early by much weaker players.
Ivanchuk lived up to his ambivalent reputation in this match. He lost horribly in the first game but otherwise played creative chess throughout. He had winning positions in games two and five, only to blunder them away. After losing the championship Wednesday, Ivanchuk said the result in the match “was already achieved in game five.” Ivanchuk characterized his play overall by saying, “I didn’t make reasonable decisions.” Ponomariov characterized his play as “principled.”
The players won the right to compete in the finals by emerging from a marathon series of two-game knockout matches involving 128 players last year in the Kremlin. FIDE’s format has often been criticized for producing a high number of upsets. But it is a favorite of FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who provides the financial backing.
Ilyumzhinov, who is also president of the impoverished Russian republic of Kalmykia, became president of a nearly bankrupt FIDE in 1995. The Russian media have accused Ilyumzhinov of flaunting his wealth and promoting himself while stifling dissent in Kalmykia and ignoring its serious economic problems.
In a press conference after today’s game, Ilyumzhinov accepted credit for rescuing FIDE from bankruptcy. “When I became president, FIDE couldn’t even pay salaries.” He also claimed to have brought dlrs 40 million into FIDE. He insisted, however, that it was not all his money, and that he had raised it from a variety of sources.
Since 1993, chess has been in a state of civil war with two world champions and two camps. That year, then-world champion Garry Kasparov broke away from FIDE to form the Professional Chess Association and defended his title twice under its auspices before it was dissolved in 1998.
In 2000, Kasparov lost a title match to Vladimir Kramnik sponsored by Braingames.net, an internet startup company. Kasparov and Kramnik, the world’s top two-rated players, have repeatedly mocked the FIDE championship as a farce while FIDE has lambasted the Kasparov-Kramnik match as a private sideshow.
Ponomariov and Kasparov will face each other for the first time next month at the prestigious Linares tournament in Spain. Ivanchuk will also be there along with outgoing FIDE champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Ponomariov declined to rate his chances against Kasparov. Ponomariov-Ivanchuk, FIDE world championship finals, game seven
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c4 Nb6 6.e6 fxe6 7.Nc3 g6 8.Be3 Bg7 9.h4 0-0 10.h5 e5 11.d5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Bxd4 g5N 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.h6+ Kg8 16.Qd2 e5 17.Rh5 g4 18.Qg5+ Qxg5 19.Rxg5+ Kh8 20.Rg7 Rf6 21.Rxc7 Rxh6 22.b4 draw
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On the net: http://wcc2001.fide.com
