6/17/2012 – If yesterday was sizzling, today was incendiary. No one could have expected McShane to run over Moro as he did, nor Caruana to take the lead by beating Kramnik with ease. While Nakamura blundered to Grischuk and lost, Carlsen took herculean risks in an endgame to try and beat Tomashevsky, but the Russian found all the right moves. Report, video, and GM commentary.
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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
8: Sunday, June 17, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Vladimir Kramnik
Alex. Morozevich
0-1
Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Ev. Tomashevsky
Alexander Grischuk
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Levon Aronian
Round eight
To call the eighth round incendiary is almost light. It is certainly hard to imagine a more astonishing one. The seventh round seemed to have used up the surprise factor, but then again, what could be odder than both leaders losing in the same round, except losing again in the very next!
Alexander Grischuk lost in thought before the round
With five leaders, and two rounds to go, the stage was set for upsets and players to be upset, and it was all there. The only table that didn’t have a leader playing was Alexander Grischuk against Hikaru Nakamura, but the American was in no mood for a quiet game, and the Sicilian Dragon said it all. Being the kind of opening where the smallest misstep can have huge consequences, it was a logical looking move that turned out to be the culprit, and it was all downhill from there for Nakamura.
Annotated game by GM Gilberto Milos
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Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,165,570
54%
2421
---
1.d4
946,474
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
281,312
56%
2441
---
1.c4
181,937
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,688
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,236
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,886
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,796
51%
2384
---
1.b4
1,753
48%
2380
---
1.a3
1,197
54%
2403
---
1.e3
1,068
48%
2408
---
1.d3
948
50%
2378
---
1.g4
662
46%
2361
---
1.h4
446
53%
2374
---
1.c3
426
51%
2425
---
1.h3
279
56%
2416
---
1.a4
108
60%
2468
---
1.f3
91
47%
2431
---
1.Nh3
89
66%
2508
---
1.Na3
42
62%
2482
---
Please, wait...
1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3g6Nakamura always plays for
the win and again he is taking risks even with black. This is a winning
attitude but sometimes it can backfire.6.Be3Bg77.f3Nc68.Qd20-09.g4This is as good as 0-0-0 and Bc4.Nxd49...Be6Is an important
alternative here.10.Bxd4Be611.Nd5Karpov's idea played againt Mestel
in 1982.Bxd512.exd5Qc713.h4Rac814.Rh2e515.dxe6fxe616.0-0-0!
An important detail.The natural16.h5would be answered withd5!
Mestel played ...Qc6 and lost against Karpov.16...Qc617.0-0-0Qxf318.hxg6hxg619.Bg2Ne420.Bxf3Nxd221.Bxb7Bxd422.Bxc8Rxc823.Kxd2Bxb224.Rb1Bc3+25.Kd3Be526.Rf2Rc3+27.Kd2Rc728.g5d529.Rb8+Kg730.Re8Bc3+31.Kd1Bd432.Rf3Rf733.Rxf7+Kxf734.Rc8e535.Ke2Bb636.Rc6Bd837.Rd6Bb638.a4Bg139.a5Bd440.Kd31-0 (40) Karpov,A (2720)-Mestel,
A (2500) London 198217.0-0-0Ne418.fxe4Bxd4With good play for black.16...e5It seems that occupying the center with pawns is not so important in
this position. Perhaps Black should play16...Nd517.Bxg7Qxg7as in the
game Oll - Georgiev Ki, Biel, 1993. Black's king is more protected here.17.Be3Qf718.Kb1d5Continuing with the idea.An important and probably
better option was18...Nxg419.fxg4Qxf1winning a pawn but White
continues his attack and is better after20.h519.h5e419...d420.hxg6hxg621.Bh6is excellent for White.20.hxg6This is good and very human.The computer already gives White a decisive advantage after the strange20.h6!?Bh821.g5Nh521...Nd722.Rf2exf323.Rxf3Qxf324.Bg2Qf525.Bxd5+Rf726.Bxf7+Qxf727.Qxd722.Bh3Rcd823.fxe4though it is hard to
imagine any human playing this.20...hxg621.Be2Qe621...exf322.Bxf3Ne423.Bxe4dxe4is a better defense but White is still much better after24.Rhh124.Rdh1?Qf1+22.Bd4Rc723.Rdh1This is a dream position
for White. All his pieces are playing, he has a decisive attack and his king
is completely protected.Rff724.a3Prophylaxis protecting the eight rank.24.Qg5would win immediately as the g6 pawn cannot be protected.Ne8?
is mate after25.Rh8+Bxh826.Rxh8#24...b625.fxe4From now on Grishuk
plays perfectly until the end. There were other ways to win but he gave no
chances to his opponent.Qxe425...Nxe426.Rh8+Bxh827.Rxh8#26.g5Nh5The tricky26...Nh7is met with27.Rh4!27.Rxh7?Qxd4!27...Qe628.Rxh7winning a piece.27.Bxg7Kxg728.Bxh5gxh529.Rxh5Qc4
Nakamura tries some ideas but the positions is lost.30.Qd1Qe431.g6Rfe731...Kxg6is no better after32.Rg1+Kf633.Rh6+Ke534.Re132.R5h4Qe533.Rh7+Kg834.R7h5Qe435.Qd21–0
Levon Aronian has been unable to get the motor started
Teimour Radjabov had the unenviable task of having to beat Levon Aronian, and the nervy game saw the advantage swing both ways before they finally concluded a double-edged draw.
Luke McShane has justified the confidence vote that gave him the spot in the Tal Memorial
Whatever had been ailing Luke McShane in the beginning of the tournament with his 0-2, the win over Kramnik the previous round had been just what the doctor prescribed.
Alexander Morozevich came with his very own cheerleading squad
They certainly knew how to make him feel special
Alexander Morozevich had no doubt hoped to put an end to his unexpected losing streak, but the Englishman came out firing all cannons as he sacrificed the exchange and then blew open the Russian’s king with a sacrificial attack before the time control. It marks his second straight win, and shockingly, Morozevich’s third straight loss.
The humor of the situation was not lost on Fabiano Caruana holding back a smile
They say misery loves company, and Morozevich was not alone to go down almost incomprehensibly. Fabiano Caruana found himself up a pawn fairly early against Vladimir Kramnik, who had next to no compensation for his material deficit. The Italian prodigy set about converting his endgame, when a final terrible blunder by the Russian at move 40 ended it on the spot. As Kramnik faces Morozevich in the last round, it guarantees that at least one of them will end the losing streak. As to Caruana, it made him the unexpected leader going into the last round.
Carlsen tried his best, but was unable to break Tomashevsky
The only other player who could challenge his supremacy was Magnus Carlsen who had achieved a very healthy advantage against Evgeny Tomashevsky but found himself with an endgame that many GM pundits thought would go nowhere. As he pressed on, it became clear that he had his own thoughts on the position and he boldly sacrificed pawns to force Black’s hand. The Russian made no mistakes though, and he held on to the draw, but the post-game conference was the most enlightening moment. When told by journalists that the opinion of several strong players, and even the computers was that he had put himself in danger of losing, he energetically dismissed this as complete nonsense, and that the only side in danger of losing throughout the endgame had been Black.
Caruana enters the final round as the leader with 5.0/8, followed by Carlsen and Radjabov with 4.5/8.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
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Videos by Nico Zwirs: Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 b6 and Robert Ris: French Advance Variation with 6.Na3. Alexander Donchenko analyses his winning game against Fabiano Caruana from the Saint Louis Masters 2024. “Lucky bag" with another 43 analyses by Edouard,
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