Nakamura wins Tal Blitz

by ChessBase
6/13/2013 – In a wonderful showing the American dominated the Tal Memorial blitz from beginning to finish. Vishy Anand came second, with Kramnik being third. This tournament determined the starting positions for the players in the standard tournament which begins tomorrow, the highlight game being Carlsen vs. Kramnik. Pictures, standings and schedule.

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The Eighth International Tal Memorial Chess Tournament is being held from June, 13 to 24, 2013, with a rest day on June 16. The rounds generally start at 15:00h (=3 p.m.) Moscow time, with the first round starting at 6 p.m. and the final round at 1 p.m. Accommodation is in the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Tverskaya str. 3, while the event takes place in the in New Technologies Center Digital October, Bersenevskaya Embankment 6, in Moscow. The tournament has ten invited players and is a round robin with time controls of one hour and 40 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds for each move starting from move one. Full information on special rules, regulation, prize money, etc. can be found in our initial report.

Blitz Tournament

The draw for the tournament starting positions was determined by the Tal Memorial Blitz, which had its own prize fund of 15.000 euros. The time control was 3 minutes with 2 seconds increment. The blitz attracted a big number of espectators, among which was former World Champion Boris Spassky and former World Women's Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Nakamura demolished Morozevich in the first round of the blitz with a relatively quiet opening.

No strangers to battling each other: Anand vs. Gelfand ended in a draw in which Gelfand had strong winning chances.

Mamedyarov won the recent Rapid World Championship, but was not up to par in this blitz.

From the very start of the tournament the lead was captured by American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. After three rounds he had 2.5/3, but he drew three rounds in a row and allowed Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand to catch up with him. Sensing that he couldn't afford more draws, the American finished brilliantly with three victories and ended half a point ahead of Vishy Anand. Kramnik lost to Karjakin and was relegated to third place while Carlsen, who had a less than stellar blitz showing, came tied for fourth.

Carlsen was the focus of attention, as usual.

Caruana consulting with his coach, GM Chuchelov, prior to the start of the blitz.

Blitz Final Standings

All Blitz Games

Participants

No.
Player Country
Rating
w-rank
1
Magnus Carlsen Norway
2864
1
2
Vladimir Kramnik Russia
2803
3
3
Viswanathan Anand India
2786
4
4
Hikaru Nakamura USA
2784
5
5
Sergey Karjakin Russia
2782
7
6
Fabiano Caruana Italy
2774
9
7
Alexander Morozevich Russia
2760
10
8
Boris Gelfand Israel
2755
12
9
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Azerbaidjan
2753
14
10
Dmitry Andreikin Russia
2713
29

Schedule

Round 01 – June 13 2013, 15:00h
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
-
Alexander Morozevich 2760
Vishy Anand 2786
-
Fabiano Caruana 2774
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Sergey Karjakin 2782
Magnus Carlsen 2864
-
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
Round 02 –June 14 2013, 15:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2760
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
Sergey Karjakin 2782
-
Magnus Carlsen 2864
Fabiano Caruana 2774
-
Boris Gelfand 2755
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
-
Vishy Anand 2786
Round 03 – June 15 2013, 15:00h
Vishy Anand 2786
-
Alexander Morozevich 2760
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
Magnus Carlsen 2864
-
Fabiano Caruana 2774
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
-
Sergey Karjakin 2782
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
-
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
Round 04 – June 17 2013, 15:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2760
-
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
Sergey Karjakin 2782
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
Fabiano Caruana 2774
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
-
Magnus Carlsen 2864
Vishy Anand 2786
-
Boris Gelfand 2755
Round 05 – June 18 2013, 15:00h
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Alexander Morozevich 2760
Magnus Carlsen 2864
-
Vishy Anand 2786
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
-
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
-
Fabiano Caruana 2774
Michael Adams 2727
-
Sergey Karjakin 2782
Round 06 – June 19 2013, 15:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2760
-
Sergey Karjakin 2782
Fabiano Caruana 2774
-
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
Vishy Anand 2786
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Magnus Carlsen 2864
Round 07 – June 21 2013, 15:00h
Magnus Carlsen 2864
-
Alexander Morozevich 2760
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
-
Boris Gelfand 2755
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
-
Vishy Anand 2786
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
-
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
Sergey Karjakin 2782
-
Fabiano Caruana 2774
Round 08 – June 22 2013, 15:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2760
-
Fabiano Caruana 2774
Dmitry Andreikin 2713
-
Sergey Karjakin 2782
Vishy Anand 2786
-
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
Boris Gelfand 2755
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
Magnus Carlsen 2864
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
Round 09 – June 23 2013, 13:00h
Hikaru Nakamura 2784
-
Alexander Morozevich 2760
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2753
-
Magnus Carlsen 2864
Vladimir Kramnik 2803
-
Boris Gelfand 2755
Sergey Karjakin 2782
-
Vishy Anand 2786
Fabiano Caruana 2774
-
Dmitry Andreikin 2713

All pictures by Etery Kublashvili


Links

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