Tal Memorial blitz – A look at some brilliancies

Seventh Tal Memorial in Moscow The event is a ten-player round robin event, is taking place from June 8th to 18th in the Pashkov House (Vozdvizhenka Street 3/5, p.1), Moscow, Russia. Rest days are June 11 and 15. Time control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Games start at 15:00h local time (last round 13:00h). Draw offers are not allowed until after the first time control. The participants are required to comment on their games in the press center after each round. The prize fund is 100,000 Euros.

The Tal Memorial Blitz was a very fun event for all, as remarked, but it was more than simply a source of frenetic clock slamming and flying pieces. It was the source of more than a few spectacular shots. We separated a few for your enjoyment.

The event was held in the elegant Pashkov House in Moscow

All the boards included an arbiter and a cameraman

Sometimes a single move, is all it takes.

Vladimir Kramnik was not in his best blitz form

For the average player this sort of shot is understood, but playing it in blitz and making sure it does not fizzle is another story.

Alexander Grischuk came up with a very nice lesson on the zwischenzug.

Morozevich was in excellent form, and took the event on tiebreak over Carlsen

The last shot of this wrap-up was easily the shot of the blitz tournament. Put yourself in White's shoes: you are 30 moves deep into the blitz, have a minute or less on the clock, and your opponent snaps out Ne6 attacking your queen and knight. A normal person would snap it off without a blink. A normal person that is....

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen enjoy a few words

Pictures by Eteri Kublashvili and Vladimir Barsky

Eteri Kublashvili, 23, is working in the press service of the Russian Chess Federation and as a correspondent at www.russiachess.org. She played chess as a teenager, but then decided to quit. She is currently graduating from the International University of Moscow where she studied linguistics. Here hobbies are photography and travelling.

Schedule and Results

We have worked out the following pairings and schedule for the main event on the basis of the blitz results. They may be modified once the official web site publishes them.

Playchess live commentary plan for the Tal Memorial 2012

Links Official tournament site + video clips 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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