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Sixth Tal Memorial in Moscow
This event is a ten-player round robin event, is taking place from November
16th to 25th in Moscow, Russia. 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. |
Results
Round 6: Tuesday,
November 22, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
½ ½ |
Peter Svidler |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
½ ½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
Levon Aronian |
½ ½ |
Boris Gelfand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½ ½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
½ ½ |
Vishy Anand |
Round six
Much to the chagrin of the spectators, the sixth round was the third in succession
with draws all-round. Much like the previous ones, it was not devoid of action,
and one cannot fault the players for lack of trying.

The game Ivanchuk-Anand was the quickest to finish, and if you are tempted
to fault Anand for lack of combativity, there was more to it than appeared on
the surface. For one, Ivanchuk was the one who chose an unambitious and quiet
line to face Anand's QGD Lasker, however as Anand explained, this was not because
he sought a quick draw. "He does this very often, playing harmless
positions and then concentrating heavily. If you make a small mistake he will
play the ending very well. The thing is, today it was not only harmless, but
also very dry. In Bilbao, for instance, he outmaneuvered me, so today I wanted
to be more careful. Vassily is quite dangerous in harmless positions!"

Gelfand was calmer and more controlled after his enthusiasm got the better
of him
in a couple of earlier rounds.
Aronian-Gelfand was a quiet affair, and though the Armenian managed to maintain
a slight advantage throughout the game, Gelfand was less adventurous and held
with ease.

Both Nakamura and Kramnik players might appear to be indifferent, however
their
games are bloody affairs.
Kramnik and Nakamura have had a history of exciting hard-fought games, and
this time was no exception. Nakamura chose to eschew the King's Indian as Black,
preferring to surprise his opponent with a Gruenfeld instead. Although Kramnik
appeared to get an attractive, albeit unusual, position, Hikaru had plenty pf
play as he demonstrated, ultimately drawing.

Nepomniachtchi held back Karjakin's attempts at a brilliancy
Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi have some history together as competitors, especially
after Nepomniachtchi took the Russian title in 2010 when Karjakin had seemed
all but assured of victory. Their games are also interesting affairs as Nepomniachtchi
tends to inject a greater dose of tactics than is usual at this level. Oddly,
it was Karjakin who rocked the boat when he chose a positional queen sacrifice
early in the game leading to a very unbalanced position. Perhaps because it
took place so early in the game, their sense of danger was raised a little higher,
and they both avoided the pitfalls that each could have fallen victim too. A
fun game and a credit to both players.

Svidler put Carlsen on the spot for most of their game, but was unable to
convert
The last game to end was also one of the tensest, as Svidler took on Carlsen
with Black, and after a misfired novelty, was on the intitiative with serious
threats against the Norwegian. The complications were fascinating, and it was
certainly the center of attention as many wondered whether Carlsen would succumb
to the threats.

One of the wonderful things about the high quality video coverage...

...is the moments you catch the players unawares and at their truest.

A penny for your thoughts, Magnus!
In the end, he played with great precision in a minefield and held the draw.
Well worth watching.
Note: You can click on the evaluation profile below the board
to jump to the corresponding position. The evaluations were collected from computers
of spectators watching the game with the Fritz 13 feature "Let's Check"
enabled. These computer analyses are then available to all watching it through
Fritz 13.
You can relive the entire round, or follow the next, in high definition in
this extraordinary broadcast
page provided by the Russian Chess Federation. All the pictures
above are screen grabs from this video.
Standings after six rounds

Remaining Playchess commentator schedule
Date |
Commentator |
23.11.2011 |
Robert Ris |
24.11.2011 |
Dejan Bojkov |
25.11.2011 |
Daniel King |
Schedule and Results
Round
1: Wednesday November 16, 2011 |
Levon Aronian |
½ ½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik |
0-1 |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
½ ½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
Hikaru Nakamura |
½ ½ |
Boris Gelfand |
|
Round
2: Thursday, November 17, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Boris Gelfand |
Sergey Karjakin |
½ ½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Peter Svidler |
½ ½ |
Vishy Anand |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
½ ½ |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Levon Aronian |
½ ½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Round
3: Friday, November 18, 2011 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½ ½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
0-1 |
Levon Aronian |
Vishy Anand |
½ ½ |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
Hikaru Nakamura |
0-1 |
Peter Svidler |
Boris Gelfand |
0-1 |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Round
4: Saturday, November 19, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
½ ½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
Peter Svidler |
½ ½ |
Boris Gelfand |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
½ ½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Levon Aronian |
½ ½ |
Vishy Anand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½ ½ |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
|
Round
5: Sunday, November 20, 2011 |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
½ ½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vishy Anand |
½ ½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Hikaru Nakamura |
½ ½ |
Levon Aronian |
Boris Gelfand |
½ ½ |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
Sergey Karjakin |
½ ½ |
Peter Svidler |
|
Round
6: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
½ ½ |
Peter Svidler |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
½ ½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
Levon Aronian |
½ ½ |
Boris Gelfand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½ ½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
½ ½ |
Vishy Anand |
|
Round
7: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 |
Vishy Anand |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Boris Gelfand |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Levon Aronian |
Peter Svidler |
|
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
|
Round
8: Thursday, November 24, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
Levon Aronian |
|
Peter Svidler |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
|
Boris Gelfand |
Vishy Anand |
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Round
9: Friday, November 25, 2011 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Boris Gelfand |
|
Vishy Anand |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Peter Svidler |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
|
Levon Aronian |
|
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