Ian Nepomniachtchi wins Tal Memorial

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 nine

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

The final round of the Tal Memorial saw Ian Nepomniachtchi crowned victor for what is probably his greatest tournament result to date, taking sole first in an elite field. That said, the small list of results, showing four draws and a loss by Kramnik, do little to convey the drama of the day, and the number of bullets Ian had to dodge to secure gold.

The player who was in the worst form against the player in the best. The result should be clear, no?

Never count out Boris Gelfand and his huge heart

It started with his game against Boris Gelfand. One could never underestimate the great Israeli, who just a few years ago qualified for a match against World Champion Vishy Anand against all expectations, outdoing other wishfuls such as Grischuk, Aronian, and more, and tying the main title match before succumbing in the rapid tiebreaks. Still, the Israeli was having one of his worst tournaments in years, unable to get a break, in sharp contrast with the Russian leader, so all should fine, right?

Boris Gelfand - Ian Nepomniachtchi

After shaking hands and getting up, Nepomniachtchi took a deep breath knowing that his tournament luck had shone strongly to see him through this. The only person left who could truly threaten him was Anish Giri, whose son Daniel was born just days ago.

Anish Giri had had a great tournament so far. Would he be able to pull off an upset in the 11th hour?

Anish Giri certainly had more than his fair share of things on his mind. Aside from wanting to return home to see his newborn son, the fate of the Tal Memorial also lay in his hands. The game between the leader Nepomniachtchi and Gelfand had ended in a draw, but his game was well underway and he held a serious advantage with black against the Chinese player Li Chao. If he managed to win it, he would draw level with Nepomniachtchi and force a blitz tiebreaker.

Provided Nepo didn't win, this game could be decisive for the gold

Li Chao - Anish Giri (annotations by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

A tough draw for obvious reasons, but the young Dutchman can take solace in his clear second place and for the overall excellent tournament he had.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov managed to return to 50% at Kramnik's expense

The round was not entirely winless, in spite of the close-calls by the leaders. Vladimir Kramnik, who may have felt he missed a chance in his game against Tomashevsky, lost to Mamedyarov after a quick series of mistakes that sent his position spiraling.

S. Mamedyarov - Vladimir Kramnik

Kramnik's event was certainly not without excitement as he finished on 50%, with two wins and two losses

Both Anand and Aronian, here being wished a happy birthday, drew their game and finished on 5.0/9

Tomashevsky had a difficult event himself, but showed his technique and grit in his epic defense against Kramnik in round eight

Peter Svidler drew his game with Tomashevsky and finished on 50% with one loss and one win

The three winners: Levon Aronian in third, Anish Giri in second, and the winner Ian Nepomniachtchi

Replay today's games (with times per move)

Select games from the list below the board

Standings after round nine

Schedule and pairings

Links Official tournament site All blitz games in PGN All games in PGN 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.