6/8/2012 – After an exciting blitz tournament to open the Tal Memorial, the question was whether the players could keep the energy level that high. The answer? White registered four wins. Nakamura lost to Aronian after a fatal oversight, while Radjabov outwitted Tomashevsky. Still, Morozevich's inspired win over Caruana was the game of the day. Illustrated report with videos and GM analysis.
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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.
View from the venue
Round
1: Friday, June 8, 2012
Alex. Morozevich
1-0
Fabiano Caruana
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk
1-0
Luke McShane
Teimour Radjabov
1-0
Ev. Tomashevsky
Levon Aronian
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
Round one
After a thrilling opening blitz tournament, the only question was whether the momentum built could be maintained. A quick glance at the scores of the day certainly favors it. The roster of players known for their uncompromising play doesn’t hurt either.
Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen shake hands before their game
The first game of the day to end was also the highest profile game of the day: Carlsen-Kramnik. It was hardly boring, and the number one found himself in dire straits in which the game might end before move 25 as Kramnik put it in the press conference. The game took an incredibly volatile turn, and the Russian chose to take the repetition when his time began to dwindle and he could see no concrete path to an edge.
Teimor Radjabov has been fairly inactive of late, but showed that rust is not a factor
The next game to finish was a class of elite chess at its finest as Radjabov managed to show just how wrong a superficial analysis of a position can be, when he took apart Tomashevsky with clinical precision.
Two games annotated by GM Alejandro Ramirez
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Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,170,319
54%
2421
---
1.d4
949,867
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
282,628
56%
2440
---
1.c4
182,731
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,745
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,347
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,917
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,816
51%
2384
---
1.b4
1,759
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,222
54%
2404
---
1.e3
1,073
49%
2409
---
1.d3
955
50%
2378
---
1.g4
666
46%
2361
---
1.h4
449
53%
2374
---
1.c3
435
51%
2426
---
1.h3
283
56%
2419
---
1.a4
114
60%
2465
---
1.f3
93
46%
2435
---
1.Nh3
90
66%
2505
---
1.Na3
42
62%
2482
---
Please, wait...
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.d4exd44.Nxd4Bc55.Nb3Only the third most popular
choice. Nxc6 and Be3 have taken the center stage for quite some time.Bb66.Nc3d67.Qe2Since White plans to castle queenside, there isn't much use in
developing the light squared bishop just yet.Nge78.Be30-09.0-0-0
Tomashevsky had already reached this rare position three times, and had drawn
all of them. Against Radjabov himself in 2010 he chose Be6, but in this game
he stuck to what gave him good results against Areshchenko and Rublevsky.f510.exf5 A new move, and one supposes Radjabov has
a deep idea of whats going on in the position.Bxf510...Nxf5doesn't develop the bishop, but puts an awkward question on the e3 one. White
doesn't want to capture on b6 but doesn't seem to have much of a choice.11.Bxb6axb612.Kb1Qf6with chances for both sides.11.h3Bd712.Qd2Bxe313.Qxe3Kh814.Bd3Qe815.f4Qf716.Rhf1Rae817.Qd2Nb418.Be4 Both sides
have played very logical chess. Indeed, maybe had you been given the black
pieces you might actually reach this position against White's play! At this
point, however, it starts becoming unclear what exactly to do with Black. He
has a little more space and would love to occupy f5, but g4 will always be
around the corner.Bc6 Challenging the bishop, which makes
sense.18...a5!19.a319.Kb1a420.Nc1a3is not terribly human.19...a420.Nd4Ned5!?This idea is tactically sound, and seems to solve
all of Black's problems.19.Rde1Bxe420.Nxe4Qc421.a3Nbc622.Qc3 This precise move underlines the minor problems with Black's
position. Tomashevsky could trade queens now, but the resulting endgame is
slightly unpleasant.Qd522...Qxc323.Nxc3and now not
only does Black not have a useful move, he has to worry about c7 after a
possible N to b5 or d5. White has a lot of time to improve his position,
starting with g4.23.Nbd2Nf524.g4Nfd425.Qd3! Fearless. Radjabov doesn't
mind the enemy queen invading on a2, and instead focuses on getting a strong
hold of the center. It's possible that White is already better here, since
Black's knights are rather awkward and Ng5 is a potential threat.b525...Qa226.Ng526.Nc3!?26...Qa1+?!27.Nb1g628.f5with
an attack as the queen on a1 is horribly misplaced.26.Kb1
The Azerbaijani plays it safe, but it might have been possible to immediately
punish b5.26.Nc3Qc526...Qg827.Nxb5seems like White can get away
with this.27.b4!seemed very strong.26...b427.a4
White has a nice structure, controlling so many squares.
Meanwhile Black has some issues in maintaining control of some central squares.
His centralized knights and queen look powerful, but soon it will become
apparent how fragile they really are.h628.Nb3 a devilish trap, but not the most exact.28.Nf3was more precise. Nh4
and f5 are strong ideas. The pawn is taboo because of:Rxf429.Neg5!And
Black can resign.28...Re7? Falling for it!28...Re6
was necessary, so as to meet29.Ned2withRxf4!And Black can continue
playing with a rook for two minor pieces after the continuation30.Rxf4Rxe1+31.Ka2Qg8Nf3 was a threat...32.Rxd4Nxd433.Qxd4a5and although
White has an obvious advantage, he still has to untangle and he isn't winning
just yet.29.Ned2 Surprise! The pinned knight on d4 cannot
be helped.Rxe1+29...Rxf430.Rxe7Rxf1+31.Nxf1Nxe732.Qxd429...Rfe830.Rxe7Rxe731.Nf3Re432.Rd130.Rxe1The threat is
Re4. It is unstoppable.g531.f5A very fine and precise game by Teimour. I
am surprised how quickly Black got into problems from a seemingly innocuous
position. It just shows you how way you must be while playing chess! Even more
surprising was the weakness the knights proved to be - even though centralized,
they were clumsy and helpless.1–0
Hikaru Nakamura did not hide his bellicose intentions but was possibly overeager
Hikaru Nakamura came out swinging against Levon Aronian, but underestimated his opponent’s resources, and was punished by an oversight as he rushed to attack.
Tal Memorial 2012 Round 1 Play of the day by Daniel King: Aronian - Nakamura
Every day, GM Daniel King will be selecting a "play of the day" that he will analyze
Last year saw the rocket comeback of Morozevich and this year the rise of Caruana
The most exciting game of the day was Alexander Morozevich’s win over Fabiano Caruana. In spite of the incredible complications Morozevich stamped the game with, the truth is they never really seemed out of control and instead it was a masterpiece of dynamic play as he weaved his way ahead, snuffing out Caruana’s attempts to create threats of his own.
Luke McShane, voted into the tournament via popular vote, and recently breaking 2700 for the first time, had a tough lesson at the hands of Alexander Grischuk. The opening just got out of hand and little by little Grischuk accumulated a huge advantage that he had no trouble converting.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
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