6/9/2012 – Kramnik once said that the biggest lesson he learned from the elite was how resiliently they defended. Today Carlsen showed the same gumption as he saved a nightmare position in which Morozevich had doubled rooks on his seventh. McShane cracked at move 40 against Radjabov, while Kramnik played a model game in an impressive win over Grischuk. Illustrated report with 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.
Round 2:
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
Ev. Tomashevsky
½-½
Levon Aronian
Luke McShane
0-1
Teimour Radjabov
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0
Alexander Grischuk
Alex. Morozevich
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Round two
After an opening blunder by Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Morozevich soon reached
a nearly decisive advantage in which he doubled his rooks on Black’s seventh
rank. It was literally a textbook position on the deadliness of rooks on the
seventh, and it was all Black could do to avoid drifting into outright zugzwang.
Magnus in deep thought after being on the ropes for nearly the entire game
Yet, in his DVD My
Path to the Top, Kramnik explained that the foremost lesson he learned on
what separated the top players from the rest were their defensive skills and
ability to continuously find ways to keep a game alive. Magnus had to show that
in spades to survive today, and eventually Morozevich slipped after which the
danger passed.
Morozevich realizing the magnitude of his blunder
Carlsen was out of danger, and even had threats of his own – what
a crazy game!
While the Russian will understandably be disappointed, Magnus also has to be
a bit concerned that he got into serious trouble in the opening in both his
first two games.
Luke McShane was not so fortunate as he managed to keep Teimor Radjabov at
bay for most of the game, only to blunder it right before the time control.
The Azeri found the winning shot on move 40 after which the shellshocked Brit
stared at the board for the next 38 minutes before making a move.
Poor McShane just could not get over the last move and just stared and stared
for
over a half an hour. It took him 38 minutes to shake out of it and play a move.
For Radjabov, it marks a perfect 2.0/2 start
The other win of the day was Vladimir Kramnik’s white win over Alexander
Grischuk. Not many players have the courage to play a King’s Indian against
Kramnik after the latter scared off even Garry Kasparov from the opening.
Vladimir Kramnik was in scintillating form as he made his win seem effortless
Kramnik had said that after his game yesterday, he felt he was now in sync
and ready to play, and he showed it as he played a model game combining all
the themes with poetic harmony.
Annotated game by GM Alejandro Ramirez
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Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,173,500
54%
2421
---
1.d4
952,126
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
283,503
56%
2440
---
1.c4
183,155
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,796
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,442
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,921
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,851
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,771
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,234
54%
2405
---
1.e3
1,075
49%
2409
---
1.d3
961
50%
2378
---
1.g4
668
46%
2360
---
1.h4
465
54%
2381
---
1.c3
436
51%
2426
---
1.h3
283
56%
2419
---
1.a4
116
60%
2462
---
1.f3
99
47%
2428
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
42
62%
2482
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3Nf62.c4g63.Nc3Bg74.e4d65.d40-06.Be2e57.0-0Nc68.d5Ne79.b4Nh510.g3This line of the King's indian was very topical in the
late 90s. Kramnik was at the forefront of the theoretical discussions on the
White side, and was responsible for the popularity of 10. Re1. It is
interesting to see him revert to the 'old' line once more, as he did against
Giri last year.f511.Ng5Nf612.Bf3c613.Bg213.Ba3was how his game
against Giri followed, Bg2 is an improvement.13...h614.Ne6Bxe615.dxe6Nxe416.Nxe4fxe417.b5!These positions are always tricky. Black seems
to not only win a pawn (the weakened one on e6) on many occasions, but also
creates a powerful and threatening pawn center. In reality, in many cases this
pawn center is doomed to fall under the pressure of White's powerful bishops,
and when the pawn is recovered the structural advantage is beyond doubt. The
point of b5 is to open the a1-f8 diagonal for the Bishop, hitting the knight
on e7 which protects the pawn center.Rf618.Bxe4Rxe619.Qa4d520.Rd1
Black is pinned all over the place. He would like to simply give back the pawn
to achieve equality, but this is not so simple.Kh720...Qc821.cxd5cxd522.Rxd5!Nxd523.Bxd5Kh724.Bxe6Qxe625.Be3is simply unpleasant. The
bishop on g7 is bad unless Black plays e4, and when he does that he will have
a terrible weakness there. His weak is also exposed as a major piece going
into the 7th rank will pose many problems.20...d421.Rb1Qc822.bxc6bxc623.Ba3is not to anyone's liking, as the white squared bishop dominates
the board.21.cxd5cxd522.Qb3pins and more pins.Rb623.a4!23.Bxd5Rd624.Bf3Rxd1+25.Bxd1e426.Rb1Nd5with counterplay, would have
made Grischuk a happy man. Even though White might still be better here, Black
has obtained an important amount of activity, while White's pieces look clumsy.
This is not what Kramnik wants.23...a623...d424.a5loses b723...Qd724.Ba3d425.Bc5Rf626.f4doesn't lose a pawn proper, but looks quite
ugly. f4 isn't even entirely necessary either.24.Ba3axb525.Bxe7Qxe726.Rxd5The pawn center is destroyed, and although Black has retained his extra
pawn, therei s no doubt who stands better. The powerful bishop on e4 controls
many diagonals, pressuring the g6 pawn and the b7 pawn. The king on h7 does
not feel secure. Black's rooks are inactive and clumsy. It is difficult to
play this position, very difficult.b427.a5Qf728.h4Black is already
helpess against the threat to play h5.h528...Kh829.Rd8++-28...Kg829.h5gxh530.Rad1and black can't defend against Rd8+ and axb6.29.Qd1
a simple shot, but very powerful. The queen defends the rook on a1, prepares
to support the other one on d7, and targets h5. Black's position is beyond
hopeless and Grischuk resigned. A complete demolition from the greatest expert
on the white side of this variation. When one thinks of 'model games' to
follow in the King's Indian for white, I'm sure this one will often come up.1–0
Levon Aronian, and Evgeny Tomashevsky drew quietly, while Hikaru Nakmaura kept
his younger rival, Fabiano Caruana, under pressure trying to wring water from
stone until giving up after 107 moves and shaking hands.
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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