Alekhine R06: Gelfand and Anand strike

The Alekhine Memorial is taking place from April 20th to May 1st 2013. The first part of the event takes place in Paris, France, (April 21-26, rounds one to five), the second in Saint Petersburg, Russia, (April, 26-May 1, rounds six to nine). The super tournament is dedicated to a great Russian chess player Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine, a citizen of Russia and France, and is held at the initiative and with the support of Russian businessmen Gennady Timchenko and Andrey Filatov. Ten grandmasters from seven countries are playing in the Memorial starts with with five rounds in the Louvre Museum in Paris and ends with four rounds in Saint Michael’s Castle in Saint-Petersburg.

Round seven report

Adams, Michael - Vachier Lagrave, Maxime 1/2-1/2
Once again it seems that Adams doesn't fully make use of his resources. His connected passed pawns on the queenside were quite dangerous, but he was afraid of the presence of opposite colored bishops creating problems against his king, so he gave up one of his pawns to exchange them. This still gave him the advantage, but it was not enough.

Vitiugov, Nikita - Aronian, Levon 1/2-1/2
Vitiugov's sixth draw in a row was a little more exciting than his usual games this tournament, despite the fact that the opening was an exchange Slav. Aronian was in a sacrificial mood again and he gave up a pawn to have a safer king and a better pawn structure. Vitiugov gave the pawn back to activate his pieces and achieve equality, and although Aronian might have had some very slight positional advantages, Vitiugov was never much worse.

Svidler, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2-1/2
This Huebner variation of the Nimzo-Indian definitely went in Kramnik's favor. His knight on c4 gave him the positional edge. When he grabbed a pawn on a4, however, his knight became out of place and tactically weak. Although he was resourceful enough to not have any problems his advantage had evaporated and the resulting endgame was equal.

Anand,Vishy - Fressinet, Laurent 1-0
After many failed attempts in the Spanish in recent months to get any sort of advantage, the Scotch makes a comeback. The game can only be categorized as strange, as Fressinet was aggressive on the queenside while weakening his own king on the other flank. White coolly stopped Black's play and started reaping the positional advantages. On move 25 a mistake allowed Black's pieces to activate powerfully, and it seemed that it was now Fressinet who was in the driver's seat in an unusual queen and rook endgame. However Fressinet's play was too passive, and it gave time to Anand to advance his passed d-pawn, completely dominating the position. Black's major pieces were hopeless in stopping the pawn and Anand collected the full point.

Ding Liren shoots his opponent a death stare in a difficult but still complex position

Gelfand, Boris - Ding Liren 1-0
Both players played a very interesting King's Indian until, on move 31, Ding committed a serious error. 31...g5! seemed like it would grant him the advantage, instead the move 31...f6? permitted Gelfand to establish strong pawns that would be a thorn in Black's position. In time trouble Black sacrificed an exchange to obtain counterplay, and White did not react correctly. The follow-up wasn't the best either, however, and Gelfand slowly consolidated his material advantage.

Gelfand has his own stare, questioning why Ding is still in the game

Standings

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You can watch live video of the games, with GM commentary in English, in the above player. Video streams of past rounds can be reviewed on this page. Information and videos provided by Mark Gluhovsky, press attaché of the Alekhine Memorial

Alekhine Memorial 2013 – Schedule, pairings and results

Round 01 – April 21 2013, 14:00h
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2706	½-½	Laurent Fressinet	2709
Ding Liren	2707	1-0	Levon Aronian	2809
Vladimir Kramnik	2801	1-0	Nikita Vitiugov	2712
Viswanathan Anand	2783	0-1	Michael Adams	2727
Peter Svidler	2747	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2739
Round 02 – April 22 2013, 14:00h
Laurent Fressinet	2706	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2739
Michael Adams	2727	1-0	Peter Svidler	2747
Nikita Vitiugov	2712	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	2783
Levon Aronian	2809	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik	2801
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722	1-0	Ding Liren	2707
Round 03 – April 23 2013, 14:00h
Ding Liren	2707	½-½	Laurent Fressinet	2706
Vladimir Kramnik	2801	½-½	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722
Viswanathan Anand	2783	½-½	Levon Aronian	2809
Peter Svidler	2747	½-½	Nikita Vitiugov	2712
Boris Gelfand	2739	1-0	Michael Adams	2727
Round 04 – April 24 2013, 14:00h
Laurent Fressinet	2706	½-½	Michael Adams	2727
Nikita Vitiugov	2712	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2739
Levon Aronian	2809	1-0	Peter Svidler	2747
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	2783
Ding Liren	2707	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik	2801
Round 05 – April 25 2013, 14:00h
Vladimir Kramnik	2801	0-1	Laurent Fressinet	2706
Viswanathan Anand	2783	1-0	Ding Liren	2707
Peter Svidler	2747	0-1	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722
Boris Gelfand	2739	½-½	Levon Aronian	2809
Michael Adams	2727	½-½	Nikita Vitiugov	2712
Round 06 – April 28 2013, 14:00h
Laurent Fressinet	2706	½-½	Nikita Vitiugov	2712
Levon Aronian	2809	½-½	Michael Adams	2727
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2739
Ding Liren	2707	½-½	Peter Svidler	2747
Vladimir Kramnik	2801	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	2783
Round 07 – April 29 2013, 14:00h
Viswanathan Anand	2783	1-0	Laurent Fressinet	2706
Peter Svidler	2747	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik	2801
Boris Gelfand	2739	1-0	Ding Liren	2707
Michael Adams	2727	½-½	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722
Nikita Vitiugov	2712	½-½	Levon Aronian	2809
Round 08 – April 30 2013, 14:00h
Laurent Fressinet	2706	-	Levon Aronian	2809
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722	-	Nikita Vitiugov	2712
Ding Liren	2707	-	Michael Adams	2727
Vladimir Kramnik	2801	-	Boris Gelfand	2739
Viswanathan Anand	2783	-	Peter Svidler	2747
Round 09 – May 01 2013, 14:00h
Peter Svidler	2747	-	Laurent Fressinet	2706
Boris Gelfand	2739	-	Viswanathan Anand	2783
Michael Adams	2727	-	Vladimir Kramnik	2801
Nikita Vitiugov	2712	-	Ding Liren	2707
Levon Aronian	2809	-	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722

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