Tal Round 7: Peace in Moscow

by Alejandro Ramirez
10/4/2016 – As the title suggests, there were five draws today in Moscow after we had been spoiled with hard-fought, violent rounds. Several of the games saw little to no chances for either side to win, or even create real threats. Nepomniachtchi keeps his half point lead over Giri, who had amazing news yesterday! On the rest day his son Daniel was born! Congratulations to him and Sopiko.
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X Jubilee Tal Memorial is taking place from 25 September to 6 October 2016 in the Moscow Museum of Russian Impressionism. The tournament will be a continuation of the program "Chess in Museums", which is being implemented by the Russian Chess Federation together with the Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko. The General Partner of the Russian Chess Federation for the X Tal Memorial is the state company "Russian Highways" ("Avtodor").

The prize fund for the event is 200 thousand USD.

The tournament is a round-robin over nine rounds played at 100 minutes for 40 moves plus 50 minutes for 20 moves and 15 minutes until the end of the game with 30 seconds for each move starting from the first. The chief arbiter is International Arbiter Anatoly Bykhovsky.

Round Seven

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Round 7 - Oct. 4 - 14h CET
1
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish
½-½
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
½-½
GM
 Aronian Levon
2795
3
3
6
2746
GM
 Li Chao B
½-½
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
2740
2
4
7
2776
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
½-½
GM
 Svidler Peter
2745
1
5
8
2743
GM
 Gelfand Boris
½-½
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9

Giri, Anish ½-½ Kramnik, Vladimir
Giri's dxc5 idea against what Kramnik used vs. Nakamura in the Olympiad wasn't particularly successful. The isolated pawn that Kramnik got was not a huge cause of concern and the Russian player held the draw.

Kramnik's new line seems to keep yielding results

Yesterday marked a big milestone in Anish Giri's life: Daniel Giri was born! Congratulations to Anish and Sopiko.

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Aronian, Levon
This game's structure was almost a carbon copy of the Giri-Kramnik: an isolated d-pawn for Black with White having a lightsquared bishop against a knight. Aronian traded the d-pawn rather quickly in this game, though, and obtained near full equality.

No problems in the IQP

Li Chao ½-½ Nepomniachtchi, Ian
Cool prep by Nepomniachtchi, using an MVL idea that was improved on by Chirila earlier this year. At the end the quick liquidation of many pieces led to a completely drawn rook endgame.

Li Chao is very proficient in the black side of the Grunfeld...

But so is Nepo!

Anand, Viswanathan ½-½ Svidler, Peter
Perhaps the liveliest of today's games.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.d3 d6 10.a5 Be6 11.Nbd2 11.Bxe6 was Topalov's twist against Svidler at the Sinquefield Cup, but 11.Nbd2 remains by far as the main move. 11...Bxb3 Svidler chooses a move that is not as common as 11...Qc8 or 11...Rb8, but certailny deserves attention. 12.Nxb3 Re8 13.h3 h6 14.Nh4!? an interesting juncture. White is daring Black to capture on e4. 14.d4 was Anand-Adams from 2006. 14...Bf8 14...Nxe4 15.Nf5 15.Rxe4 Bxh4 16.Rc4 regains a pawn but surely isn't what White was intending. Nd4 17.Nxd4 exd4 18.Rxb4 Bxf2+!? 19.Kxf2 Qh4+ 20.g3 Qxh3 21.Qf3!= 15...Ng5 15...Nf6 16.Qf3 Qd7 how else to defend the knight? 16...Nd4 17.Nxe7+ Rxe7 18.Nxd4 exd4 19.Rxe7 Qxe7 20.Qxa8++- 16...Na7 17.Bxh6+- 17.Bxh6 Bf8 18.Bg5 with pressure on the kingside, even though White's advantage isn't decisive my any means. 16.Qg4!? And Black has to be very careful. Again it is possible that the attack is not as serious as it looks, but Black must be incredibly accurate and at best he reaches an equal position. 15.Nf5 Ne7 16.Ne3 Qd7 17.Ng4 Nh7 17...Nxg4 18.hxg4 is slightly better for White, who can break on g5 when he wants to. 18.d4 18.Nd2!? and maneuvering the knight back ot the kingside was also worthy of attention. f5!? 18...exd4 19.Nxd4 c5 20.Ne2! The best square for hte knight, as it threatens to reroute to f4 and control d5. h5 21.Ne3 Nf6 22.Ng3 22.f3!? 22...h4! 23.Nh5 Nxh5 24.Qxh5 Qe6! 25.Qxh4 Ng6 26.Qg4 Qxe4 27.Qxe4 Rxe4 A nice defense so far by Svidler, really avoiding any major problems. The endgame is close to equal, but still a bit more pleasant for White due to the passive position of the bishop on f8 and how easily attackable d5 and d6 are. 28.Rd1 Rae8 29.Kf1 Be7 30.g3 Ne5 31.Nf5 Rc4?! 32.c3?! 32.Rxd6! was missed by the players. Rxc2 33.Rxa6 and now Nc4 34.b3! Bf6 35.Rxf6 Nxa5 36.Bh6‼ 36.Nxg7 Kxg7 37.Rf3 36...gxf6 37.Rxa5 is a much better endgame for White, but still needs accuracy after c4 32.Nxe7+ Rxe7 33.Rxd6 Rxc2 34.Rxa6 Nc4 with sufficient counterplay. 32...bxc3 33.bxc3 Rxc3 34.Nxd6 Bxd6 35.Rxd6 Nc4 36.Rxa6 Rc2 again, Black simply has too much counterplay in this line. 37.Rc6 Ree2 38.Be3 Nxe3+ 39.fxe3 Rh2 40.Kg1 Rcg2+ 41.Kf1 Rxg3 42.a6 Rxe3 43.Kg1 Rexh3 44.Ra4 Rh1+ Black has to force the draw or the a-pawn will just win. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2776Svidler,P2745½–½2016C8810th Tal Mem 20167.4

There were some chances for Anand today, but he needed to be extremely precise

Gelfand, Boris ½-½ Tomashevsky, Evgeny
The players found a way to repeat in a closed Catalan that had no particular interest.

The Israeli player gets his first half point in the last six rounds, doubling his score!

Replay today's games

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Bf4 b6 10.Rd1 Ba6 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Ne5 Rc8 13.Nc6 Nh5 14.Bc1 Nb8 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Qd2 Nc6 17.b3 Rfd8 18.Ba3 Qd7 19.Nc3 Nf6 20.Bb2 h6 21.Rac1 Qe7 22.Rc2 Qe8 23.Qe1 Rd7 24.Qd2 Rdd8 25.Qe1 Rd7 26.Qd2 Rdd8 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2743Tomashevsky,E2731½–½2016E0010th Tal Mem 20167.1
Giri,A2755Kramnik,V2808½–½2016D5510th Tal Mem 20167.2
Mamedyarov,S2761Aronian,L2795½–½2016D3710th Tal Mem 20167.3
Anand,V2776Svidler,P2745½–½2016C8810th Tal Mem 20167.4
Li,C2746Nepomniachtchi,I2740½–½2016D9010th Tal Mem 20167.5

Select games from the list below the board

Standings after Round Seven

Schedule and pairings

Round 1 - Sept. 26 - 14h CET
Bo.
No.
Rtg
 
Name
Result
 
Name
Rtg
No.
1
1
2745
GM
 Svidler Peter
½-½
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
2
2740
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
1-0
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9
3
3
2795
GM
 Aronian Levon
½-½ 
GM
 Gelfand Boris
2743
8
4
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish
½-½
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
2776
7
5
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
½-½
GM
 Li Chao B
2746
6
Round 2 - Sept. 27 - 14h CET
1
10
2808
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
½-½
GM
 Li Chao B
2746
6
2
7
2776
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
1-0
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2761
5
3
8
2743
GM
 Gelfand Boris
0-1 
GM
 Giri Anish
2755
4
4
9
2731
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
½-½
GM
 Aronian Levon
2795
3
5
1
2745
GM
 Svidler Peter
½-½
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
2740
2
Rest day
Round 3 - Sept. 29 - 14h CET
1
2
2740
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
1-0
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
3
2795
GM
 Aronian Levon
½-½
GM
 Svidler Peter
2745
1
3
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish
1-0
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9
4
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
1-0
GM
 Gelfand Boris
2743
8
5
6
2746
GM
 Li Chao B
½-½
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
2776
7
Round 4 - Sept. 30 - 14h CET
1
10
2808
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
1-0
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
2776
7
2
8
2743
GM
 Gelfand Boris
0-1
GM
 Li Chao B
2746
6
3
9
2731
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
½-½
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2761
5
4
1
2745
GM
 Svidler Peter
0-1
GM
 Giri Anish
2755
4
5
2
2740
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
½-½
GM
 Aronian Levon
2795
3
Round 5 - Oct. 1 - 14h CET
1
3
2795
GM
 Aronian Levon
½-½
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish
½-½
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
2740
2
3
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
½-½
GM
 Svidler Peter
2745
1
4
6
2746
GM
 Li Chao B
½-½
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9
5
7
2776
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
1-0
GM
 Gelfand Boris
2743
8
Round 6 - Oct. 2 - 14h CET
1
10
2808
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
1-0
GM
 Gelfand Boris
2743
8
2
9
2731
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
½-½
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
2776
7
3
1
2745
GM
 Svidler Peter
1-0
GM
 Li Chao B
2746
6
4
2
2740
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
1-0
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2761
5
5
3
2795
GM
 Aronian Levon
1-0
GM
 Giri Anish
2755
4
Rest day
Round 7 - Oct. 4 - 14h CET
1
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish
½-½
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
½-½
GM
 Aronian Levon
2795
3
3
6
2746
GM
 Li Chao B
½-½
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
2740
2
4
7
2776
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
½-½
GM
 Svidler Peter
2745
1
5
8
2743
GM
 Gelfand Boris
½-½
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9
Round 8 - Oct. 5 - 14h CET
1
10
2808
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir  
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
2731
9
2
1
2745
GM
 Svidler Peter  
GM
 Gelfand Boris
2743
8
3
2
2740
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian  
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
2776
7
4
3
2795
GM
 Aronian Levon  
GM
 Li Chao B
2746
6
5
4
2755
GM
 Giri Anish  
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2761
5
Round 9 - Oct 6 - 12h CET
1
5
2761
GM
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
 
GM
 Kramnik Vladimir
2808
10
2
6
2746
GM
 Li Chao B
 
GM
 Giri Anish
2755
4
3
7
2776
GM
 Anand Viswanathan
 
GM
 Aronian Levon
2795
3
4
8
2743
GM
 Gelfand Boris
 
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian
2740
2
5
9
2731
GM
 Tomashevsky Evgeny
 
GM
 Svidler Peter
2745
1

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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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