World Cup 2015 - Game Of the Day - Semifinal Tiebreaks

Opening: :

Player(s): Eljanov, Karjakin

GM Larry Christiansen recaps Day 3 of the Semifinals. What a day in Baku! Must-win situations, missed opportunities, blunders, and all the complete dramatic happenings that playoffs can bring up. Eljanov won the first game (25+10) outplaying Karjakin. It seemed almost done for the amazing Pavel, who has had a fantastic tournament, but Karjakin was able to play very well the second game and tie the result with a win. Down to the 10+10 games, Eljanov lost the first game because of a blunder and again the must-win situation was there, looming over Eljanov this time. In the last game, tragedy happened: Eljanov had a won endgame, and he decided to go for a strange triangulation with his king, in order to gain time on the clock and then convert his advantage to get into the blitz 5+3 mini-match. And there the catastrophe happened: Pavel didn't notice he had repeated the position three times! Karjakin claimed the draw, and all was over. So, it's Russia vs. Russia in the finals. At the beginning if this tournament many commentators were noting how times have changed: only a few Russian top players ready to fight in this World Cup; a lot of strong Chinese players, Americans, but only a small representation of the old super-power of chess. Well, Russia's back, folks, ready to show the world they can still compete at the top level. tomorrow is a rest day; finals game 1 starts October the 1st, at 6AM EDT - 12 noon Europe.