Tal Memorial Rd2 – Kramnik wins model game; Carlsen escapes Moro

by ChessBase
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

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.

Complete round two games

Pictures by Eteri Kublashvili and official video feed

Tal Memorial 2012 Round 2 Play of the day by Daniel King: Kramnik - Grischuk


Every day, GM Daniel King will be selecting a "play of the day" that he will analyze

Video stream of the round

Once again the Russian organisers are providing unprecedented coverage,
with HD video stream of the action and commentary by grandmasters.
In addition there is excellent commentary by GM Ian Rogers from Sydney.

Schedule and Results

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 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 3: Sunday, June 10, 2012
Magnus Carlsen
  Fabiano Caruana
Alexander Grischuk
  Alex. Morozevich
Teimour Radjabov
  Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian
  Luke McShane
Hikaru Nakamura
  Ev. Tomashevsky
Round 4: Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
  Ev. Tomashevsky
Luke McShane
  Hikaru Nakamura
Vladimir Kramnik
  Levon Aronian
Alex. Morozevich
  Teimour Radjabov
Magnus Carlsen
  Alexander Grischuk
Round 5: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Alexander Grischuk
  Fabiano Caruana
Teimour Radjabov
  Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian
  Alex. Morozevich
Hikaru Nakamura
  Vladimir Kramnik
Ev. Tomashevsky
  Luke McShane
Round 6: Thursday, June 14, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
  Luke McShane
Vladimir Kramnik
  Ev. Tomashevsky
Alex. Morozevich
  Hikaru Nakamura
Magnus Carlsen
  Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
  Teimour Radjabov
Round 7: Saturday, June 16, 2012
Teimour Radjabov
  Fabiano Caruana
Levon Aronian
  Alexander Grischuk
Hikaru Nakamura
  Magnus Carlsen
Ev. Tomashevsky
  Alex. Morozevich
Luke McShane
  Vladimir Kramnik
Round 8: Sunday, June 17, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
  Vladimir Kramnik
Alex. Morozevich
  Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen
  Ev. Tomashevsky
Alexander Grischuk
  Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
  Levon Aronian
Round 9: Monday, June 18, 2012
Levon Aronian
  Fabiano Caruana
Hikaru Nakamura
  Teimour Radjabov
Ev. Tomashevsky
  Alexander Grischuk
Luke McShane
  Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik
  Alex. Morozevich

Playchess live commentary plan for the Tal Memorial 2012

10.06.2012 Round 3 Lawrence Trent
11.06.2012 Free Day  
12.06.2012 Round 4 Daniel King
13.06.2012 Round 5 Robert Ris
14.06.2012 Round 6 Robert Ris
15.06.2012 Free Day  
16.06.2012 Round 7 Lawrence Trent
17.06.2012 Round 8 Daniel King
18.06.2012 Round 9 Yasser Seirawan

Links

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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