Khanty Mansiysk: Former World Championship challenger Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine drew the first blood in the quarterfinals of the World Chess Cup, defeating Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the first game.
Ivanchuk, who is known for his moody play, played a masterpiece with white pieces to go one up in the two-game mini-match and is now just a draw away from attaining a berth in the semifinals of the Cup, which is also a part of the World Championship cycle.
The tension and many-games of the tiebreaker apparently took its toll on a few players.
As a result, Russian Champion Peter Svidler played out a quick draw with top woman Judit Polgar in quick time.
It was a similar story in the encounter between former World Champion Ruslan POnomariov of Ukraine and Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan, who both were seen fighting long tiebreak games before finding themselves in the quarters.
For the records, Peter Svidler drew with Polgar in just 17 moves while Ponomariov signed peace with Gashimov in mere 14 moves.
The other game of the quarters lasted a little longer but Alexander Grischuk of Russia could not break the ice against David Navara of Czech Republic and had to settle for a draw as well.
The star of the day was Ivanchuk who came up with a sparkling performance with white pieces.
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