Adams eliminated in World Chess semifinals

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 9:29 a.m.

Vladimir Akopian eliminated England's Michael Adams in the semifinals Tuesday of the World Chess Championship at Caesars Palace here.

Akopian of Armenia won for the second time with the black pieces in this four-game mini-match.

He is now guaranteed $396,000 with a chance at the top prize of $660,000 and the title of World Chess Champion. Adams, the fifth seed, will take home $172,800.

Adams seemed to obtain a good position early in Tuesday's game. He made an unwise exchange, however, and the Armenian seized his opportunity, gaining an advantage that he nursed to victory.

As a youth, Akopian, now 27, won world junior championships in the under-16, under-18 and under-20 divisions. He will begin a match Sunday for the adult title.

Alexander Khalifman moved within one game of playing Akopian for the championship as he defeated 46th-seeded Liviu Nisipeanu of Romania.

Grandmaster Larry Christiansen described the game as "another display of power chess" by the Russian player. Khalifman obtained an edge in the opening and gradually improved his position until it was sufficient for victory.

Nisipeanu, who is virtually unknown outside of his homeland, has upset superstars Alexei Shirov of Spain and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine here.

The 23-year-old Romanian now faces a win or go home situation in Wednesday's fourth game. He has already attained the greatest chess success in his country's history.

Khalifman said that the media in his native Russia have expressed concern that all of their great players, such as Vladimir Kramnik, Evgeny Bareev, Sergei Rublevsky and Valery Salov, have been eliminated.

These players were all seeded in the top 20, but the 36th-ranked Khalifman has upheld the Russian chess tradition very well.

Khalifman stated that despite his success here, he is no longer a professional player. His main love and business is the Grandmaster Chess School that he has founded in St. Petersburg.

The Federation Internationale des Echecs is sponsoring this tournament. It is the second time an elimination style event has been used to determine the world champion.

For the first time, the current champion, who previously played a long match against a challenger every three years, will not have the opportunity to defend his title.

The federation plans to have a championship every year.

Garry Kasparov, generally recognized as the world's best player, and Anatoly Karpov, the current world champion, are not playing here. They are involved in disputes with the federation.

The score of the third game of the semifinals between Adams, playing white, and Akopian:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 a6 11. Re1 Qc7 12. Bb3 Bd7 13. Qf3 Bd6 14. h3 O-O-O 15. c3 h6 16. a4 Kb8 17. Qe2 g5 18. Be3 Bh2+ 19. Kh1 Bf4 20. Bxf4 gxf4 21. Qe5 Qxe5 22. Rxe5 Bc6 23. Rd1 Rhg8 24. f3 Bd5 25. Bc2 Kc7 26. h4 Kd6 27. Ree1 Kc7 28. a5 Nh5 29. Kh2 Ng3 30. Ba4 Bc6 31. Bb3 Bd5 32. Ba4 Bc6 33. Nxc6 bxc6 34. Bc2 Rd5 35. Rxd5 cxd5 36. Bd3 Rb8 37. b4 Kb7 38. c4 dxc4 39. Bxc4 Ka7 40. Rb1 Rc8 41. Bb3 Rc3 42. Ba4 e5 43. Be8 f5 44. h5 e4 45. fxe4 fxe4 46. Bg6 e3 47. Kh3 e2 48. Kg4 Nf1 49. Kxf4 Ne3 50. Kf3 e1Q 51. Rxe1 Nc2+ 52. Kf2 Nxe1 53. Kxe1 Rc4 54. Kf2 Rxb4 55. Kf3 Ra4 56. g4 Rxa5 57. Bf5 Rb5 58. Kf4 a5 59. g5 Rb4+ 60. Be4 hxg5+ 61. Kf5 g4 62. h6 g3 63. h7 Rb8 64. Kf4 a4 65. Kxg3 a3 0-1