Tal Round 7: Peace in Moscow

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.

[Event "10th Tal Mem 2016"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2016.10.04"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2016.09.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 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 $5 {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+ $5 19. Kxf2 Qh4+ 20. g3 Qxh3 21. Qf3 $1 $11) 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+ $18) (16... Na7 17. Bxh6 $18) 17. Bxh6 Bf8 18. Bg5 {with pressure on the kingside, even though White's advantage isn't decisive my any means.}) 16. Qg4 $5 {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 $5 {and maneuvering the knight back ot the kingside was also worthy of attention.} f5 $5) 18... exd4 19. Nxd4 c5 20. Ne2 $1 {The best square for hte knight, as it threatens to reroute to f4 and control d5.} h5 21. Ne3 Nf6 22. Ng3 (22. f3 $5) 22... h4 $1 23. Nh5 Nxh5 24. Qxh5 Qe6 $1 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 $6 32. c3 $6 (32. Rxd6 $1 { was missed by the players.} Rxc2 33. Rxa6 {and now} Nc4 34. b3 $1 Bf6 35. Rxf6 Nxa5 36. Bh6 $3 (36. Nxg7 Kxg7 37. Rf3 $14) 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.} 1/2-1/2

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

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

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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Tal Round 7: Peace in Moscow

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Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.7 - 9

Round Seven

Replay today's games

Standings after Round Seven

Schedule and pairings

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