Tal Memorial Rd6 – Moro loses to Nakamura, Kramnik joins lead

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 six

It was a tumultuous round with dramatic results on several boards, though not all, and shifts in the leaderboard.

Magnus Carlsen tried to keep his quest for gold alive, but faced an equally resolved Levon Aronian who refused to be the tournament sob story in spite of his two losses. He held his ground and after a long struggle they shook hands.
Teimour Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk also squared off in a protracted fight, but neither was able to create any momentum, and the draw came as no surprise.

Hikaru Nakamura was not content to hold off Morozevich, and kept his own chances live

The first dramatic result was the incredibly hard fought game between the leader Alexander Morozevich and Hikaru Nakamura. Unsurprisingly, Morozevich played his risky brand of chess to create chances against the American’s king, and seemed to be getting just that. As time trouble appeared on the horizon for both players, Nakamura managed to cutoff White’s pieces from his king, and proceeded to setup his own counter chances. A slip by the Russian suddenly left him wide open to Hikaru’s clever optimism, and a few blows later, it was over. Morozevich was unconsolable in the post-game conference.

Annotated game by GM Romain Edouard

Fabiano Caruana has definitely turned a leaf in the event, and followed up his victory over Evgeny Tomashevsky, with another over McShane. Despite having a colossal advantage on the queenside, that seemed to virtually guarantee victory, the Brit showed incredible resourcefulness and seemed very close to saving the game. Fabiano held on and moved to the top half of the crosstable with 3.5/6.

Caruana has shrugged off his first round loss and now has a plus score

The final game of the day seemed like a work of brilliance on both sides, and tragedy, also on both sides, but ultimately ended as it had promised. Vladimir Kramnik imposed his play on Evgeny Tomashevsky, and entered an endgame with a clear pawn up. With precise play, he reached a completely winning position and was offered a choice of two clear winning shots. Instead he went for a third, and then things became murky. Tomashevsky began to fight back like it was his last day on earth, and after an absolutely epic defensive job, could finally see the draw on the horizon.

... but Vladimir Kramnik was not to be denied.

Perhaps this is what caused his tragic blunder, and suddenly Vladimir was winning again, and this time he made no mistakes. This win pushed him to the top with Morozevich at 4.0/6, and no less interestingly, at a temporary rating of 2811, just two points shy of overtaking Aronian as world number two. Considering he has played some of the strongest and most consistent chess so far, missing a few chances perhaps, but never having to save a sinking ship, it is fully deserved.  

Complete round six games

Pictures by Eteri Kublashvili

Standings after six rounds

Tal Memorial 2012 Round five Play of the Day by Daniel King: Morozevich - Nakamura

Schedule and Results

Playchess live commentary plan for the Tal Memorial 2012

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