Tal Memorial Rd7 – Ivanchuk breaks the gridlock

by ChessBase
11/23/2011 – After three rounds of draws all-round, even the most patient spectator was beginning to wonder when the dry spell would end. It is true the players were all clearly playing for the win, but an actual one and zero somewhere would be nice for a change. Ivanchuk broke the gridlock after Nakamura appeared in subpar form, and subsequently lost as a result. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

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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 7: Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Vishy Anand
½ ½
Magnus Carlsen
Hikaru Nakamura
0-1
Vassily Ivanchuk
Boris Gelfand
½ ½
Vladimir Kramnik
Sergey Karjakin
½ ½
Levon Aronian
Peter Svidler
½ ½
Ian Nepomniachtchi

Round seven


The start of the round shows the audience, stage, and the two displays, one of which
shows even the same video broadcast online viewers are able to enjoy.


The players are well-practiced in dealing with the initial rush of photographers, and
take their time, drinking juice, or pondering their opening moves a bit more than needed.

Fortunately for the audience, one of today's games did not end in a draw. Unfortunately it was less the result of brilliant play from one player than an extremely offday for the other. The ever combative Nakamura just couldn't seem to get his game under control and mostly alternated between close to equal to worse for the better part of the game.


Hikaru Nakamura was unable to get into the groove of things in round seven

Ivanchuk was not in his "one mistake is all it takes" form either, but a final series ended the American's chances of an eleventh hour reprieve.


Ivanchuk joined the leaders at 4.0/7

GM Alejandro Ramirez annotates:


Karjakin has long been an ultra-positional player, but in this year's Tal Memorial has
shown great creativity and boldness.


As things stand, Aronian is positioned to take over the no.2 spot in the world, though
the London Chess Classic may yet change that.

Karjakin was behind several of the most spectacular and creative games in the tournament, however Aronian's novelty 12...Bc5!? dampened his enthusiasm as he dealt with the new situation.


The clash of the titans was not quite what it was hyped to be


It was a solid game, just not the most ambitiously played

The biggest name encounter was of course the game between Anand and Carlsen, however the game proceeded much as Anand's previous ones in this event, and was the quickest to finish after 29 moves.


Both Candidates played a good game, though neither was able to gain an edge

Gelfand and Kramnik had a more intriguing fight, and though it ended in a draw, they both played energetically in a balanced position, maximizing each other's chances to go astray.

Round seven games

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 seven rounds

Remaining Playchess commentator schedule

Date
Commentator
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
½ ½
Magnus Carlsen
Hikaru Nakamura
0-1
Vassily Ivanchuk
Boris Gelfand
½ ½
Vladimir Kramnik
Sergey Karjakin
½ ½
Levon Aronian
Peter Svidler
½ ½
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

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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