[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.13"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Ponomariov, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B80"]
[WhiteElo "2801"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[Annotator "Humphreys,Michael"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2
Nbd7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Ne5 {10...Bb7 is more popular.} 11. Qe1 {Played after
a long thought from Carlsen, this move appears to be a novelty.} Qc7 12. h4 b4
13. Nce2 Nc4 14. Nf4 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Qb6 {It would be too soon for Black's
bishop to leave the c8-h3 diagonal. On 15...Bb7, White might already consider
the thematic sacrifice 16.Ndxe6! with a strong attack. It should also be
mentioned that 15...e5 would not win a piece, due to 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 and
Black cannot meet the positional threats of Nd4-c6 and f3-f4. After 15... Qb6,
the threat of e6-e5 is real, as can be seen on the note to White's next move.}
16. Bc4 {Intending to meet 16...e5 with the powerful 17.Bxf7+! The point
behind Ponomariov's last move would have been illustrated after, for example:
16.Kb1?! e5! 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Be7 19.Nf5 Qxe3 20.Nxe3 Bd8! when Black has a
good position.} Qc5 $2 {This move is certainly a mistake, since it adds
strength to a future sacrifice on e6. If a white knight lands on that square,
it will do so with the gain of tempo due to the position of the black queen.}
17. Qb3 $1 {White has a clear advantage since an upcoming sacrifice on e6 is
now unavoidable.} d5 {It could be that Black's best is 17...Ra7 when the rook
provides at least some protection along the second rank, though the sacrifice
of any of white's minor pieces would have been very strong.} 18. exd5 Bd6 19.
Nfxe6 fxe6 20. dxe6 Be7 21. Qd3 O-O 22. Bb3 $2 {This move came as quite a
shock to the computer-armed spectators who were kibitzing on playchess. com.
Either 22.g5! or 22.Qg6! would have been winning for White.} Rd8 $4 {After 22..
.Bb7! Ponomariov could have kept himself in the game, though White would still
enjoy the better chances.} 23. g5 Nh7 24. gxh6 Qh5 25. Qe4 Qxh6+ 26. Kb1 Ra7
27. Nf5 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Qf6 29. Rd7 Bxd7 30. exd7+ Kf8 31. Qd5 1-0

[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.13"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[Annotator "Humphreys,Michael"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 {
This move is considered somewhat unambitious compared to the immediate
recapture of the c4-pawn, though Alexey Shirov recently won with the white
pieces in this line.} Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 a5 11. Nc3 Na6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13.
Kxg2 Nd5 14. Rad1 Nab4 {Played after fifteen minutes of thought by the World
Champion. The previously mentioned Shirov game continued with the immediate
removal of white's bishop 15...Nxf4+ and only two moves later did black occupy
the b4-square with his remaining knight. In that game however, White was able
to make use of the open g-file and e5-outpost and won convincingly in
Shirov-Landa, Budesliga 2009.} 15. Bc1 {Now that White's queen's rook has been
activated behind the potentially open d-file, retreating the bishop to c1 will
not impede his development.} Nb6 16. Qb3 N4d5 17. Nb5 c6 18. Na3 Nb4 19. e4 Nd7
20. Nxd7 Qxd7 21. Nc4 Qd8 22. Be3 {Optically speaking, White has a slight
advantage based on more space, and slightly better minor pieces. However,
after the pawn break on Black's next move, play quickly levels off.} b5 $1 23.
Ne5 Qc7 24. Nd3 Qb7 25. Nxb4 Bxb4 26. f3 bxa4 27. Qxa4 Qb5 28. Qc2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.13"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Ivanchuk, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[Annotator "Humphreys,Michael"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Bb7 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. Nbd2 Bxf4 {Ordinarily n
black captures on f4, he does so only with a knight. For example, as in the
recently popular variation:13...Nd5 14.Nb3 Nxf4 15.gxf4 Nd7 16.Rd1 with
perhaps a small edge for white.} 14. gxf4 Qd6 15. Nb3 Nbd7 16. Rd1 a5 17. Ne5
Bxg2 18. Kxg2 a4 19. Nc5 Nxc5 20. Qxc5 Qxc5 21. dxc5 Rfd8 22. Nc6 Rxd1 23. Rxd1
Kf8 24. Kf3 {Although, White has played logically and possesses slightly the
more active pieces, this small advantage is unlikely to amount to anything
tangible.} Ke8 25. Nb4 Nd7 26. c6 Nc5 27. Rc1 Na6 28. Nxa6 Rxa6 29. e4 b4 30.
Rc5 f5 31. exf5 exf5 32. Ke3 Ke7 33. Kd4 Kd6 34. Kc4 b3 35. axb3 axb3 36. Rxf5
Rxc6+ 37. Kxb3 Rc1 38. h4 Rf1 39. Rg5 Rxf2 40. Rxg7 Rxf4 41. Rxh7 c5 42. h5 Rh4
43. h6 Kc6 44. Kc3 Kd5 45. Rh8 Rh3+ 46. Kd2 Kc6 47. Ke2 Kb7 48. Kf2 c4 49. Kg2
Rh5 50. Kf3 Rh4 51. Kg3 Rh1 52. Kf4 Rh2 53. Ke5 Rxb2 54. Kd4 Rb6 55. Kxc4 Rg6
56. Kd5 Rf6 57. Ke5 Rc6 58. Rh7+ Kb8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.13"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Morozevich, A."]
[Black "Svidler, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2754"]
[Annotator "Humphreys,Michael"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
O-O Nf6 9. Bg5 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Re1 c5 13. b3 Bb7 14. Qh5 h6
15. f4 O-O 16. Qe2 f6 17. exf6 Rxf6 18. Rad1 Qd6 19. f5 {Although this move is
given as best by Fritz, it leads to drawish simplifications. Maintaining the
tension with 19.g3 might have kept more complexity in the position.} exf5 20.
Nxd5 Bxd5 21. Bc4 Nb6 22. Bxd5+ Nxd5 23. Qf3 Rd8 24. c4 Re6 25. Rxe6 Qxe6 26.
cxd5 Qe5 27. Qd3 Rd6 28. h3 f4 {With the reduced material, a draw is the most
likely result.} 29. Kf2 Kh8 30. Rd2 g5 31. Kf1 Kg7 32. Qc4 h5 33. Qxc5 g4 34.
hxg4 hxg4 35. Qd4 Kf6 36. Qd3 a5 37. Rd1 Kg5 38. Kf2 Qb2+ 39. Rd2 Qe5 40. Rd1
Qb2+ 41. Qd2 Qxd2+ 42. Rxd2 Kf5 43. g3 fxg3+ 44. Kxg3 Ke4 45. a3 Rxd5 46. Rxd5
Kxd5 47. b4 axb4 48. axb4 Kc4 49. Kxg4 Kxb4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.13"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Leko, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[Annotator "Humphreys,Michael"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]

{In the penultimate round against Peter Leko, tournament leader Vladimir
Kramnik decided to avoid any risks and entered a known drawing line against
the Queen's Indian Defence.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+
6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3 d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O
Rc8 13. e4 c5 14. exd5 exd5 15. dxc5 dxc4 16. c6 cxb3 17. Re1 Bb5 18. Nxb3 {18.
axb3 is more combative.} Bxc6 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Nd4 Bxg2 21. Nf5+ Kh8 22. Rxe7
Bh3 23. Qd4+ Ne5 24. Qxe5+ f6 25. Qe2 Bxf5 26. Rd1 Bg4 27. Rxh7+ {Following:
27.Rxd8 Bxe2 28.Rxf8+ Rxf8 29.Rxe2 the game is similarly drawn.} Kxh7 28. Qxg4
Qe8 29. Rd7+ Rf7 30. Rxf7+ Qxf7 31. Qxc8 Qxa2 32. Qf5+ Kg7 33. Qg4+ Kh7 34.
Qh5+ Kg7 35. Qg4+ Kh7 36. Qh5+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

