Tal Final: Gelfand wins, Carlsen clear second

The Eighth International Tal Memorial Chess Tournament is being held from June, 13 to 24, 2013, with a rest day on June 16. The rounds generally start at 15:00h (=3 p.m.) Moscow time, with the first round starting at 6 p.m. and the final round at 1 p.m. Accommodation is in the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Tverskaya str. 3, while the event takes place in the in New Technologies Center Digital October, Bersenevskaya Embankment 6, in Moscow. The tournament has ten invited players and is a round robin with time controls of one hour and 40 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds for each move starting from move one. Full information on special rules, regulation, prize money, etc. can be found in our initial report.

Round nine report

The Chief Arbiter Andjey Filipovich taking his own pictures before the tournament finishes.

Caruana, Fabiano - Andreikin, Dmitry ½-½
Andreikin chose a very solid version of the Spanish, but he did not relegate himself to simple passive defense. His 18...Nh5!? opened the structure in front of his own king, but allowed hi to quickly achieve f5 and obtain counterplay with the now open g-file. Caruana's maneuvers were slow and rather ineffective, but he was definitely never worse. The players agreed to a draw in a position in which both sides were hard to breach.

Andreiking was Russia's best player, with eight draws and one win.

Karjakin also had eight draws, but one defeat instead of a win against Nakamura.

Karjakin, Sergey - Anand, Vishy ½-½
Anand knew everything there was to know in this variation of the poisoned pawn Najdorf, and was able to hold Karjakin to an uneventful draw as neither player really consumed much time on their clocks. The resulting endgame was very drawn but its hard to suggest a moment in which White could have improved.

"Kramnik with black...?"

"...I got this!" Gelfand had almost no trouble holding Kramnik to a draw.

Kramnik, Vladimir - Gelfand, Boris ½-½
Kramnik's opening play was not the most ambitious. After only a few moves Gelfand had equalized and the symmetrical pawn structure didn't allow the Russian to create many threats or utilize his slight lead in development. After further simplification both sides had a bishop and two rooks with a symmetrical structure, enough for a very drawish position, which was also enhanced by the fact that the remaining bishops were of different color diagonals.

"Ahh, Carlsen, Carlsen... :)" Mamedyarov's Facebook status immediately after the game.

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½
The King's Indian has always been seen as a risky opening suitable for players that need to win with black. This is precisely what Magnus needed as a win would not only give him a share of first place, it would mean that he surpassed Gelfand by virtue of better tiebreaks. Mamedyarov was not partaking in any nonsense however and chose the ultra solid Fianchetto variation, against which Carlsen was simply not well prepared. White early on obtained the pair of bishops and a pleasant initiative. It was due to Carlsen's cunning and some luck as Mamedyarov kept missing the most powerful moves (namely 17.Bb2!) that the Norwegian was able to survive by the skin of his teeth.

Morozevich escaped being last by virtue of a last round win.

Nakamura, Hikaru - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
A very complex game spawned from Nakamura's unusual opening. In what resembled an anti-Moscow variation, White sacrifice his c4 pawn for intiative and quick development. Morozevich soon after the opening gave back his material advantage to secure a passed pawn on c3, but nevertheless because of White's blockade and kingside pressure he stood better. Nakamura made a key mistake with 29.e5?! a move that closed the a1-h8 diagonal and allowed Morozevich to quickly route his rooks to the open h-file, creating major problems for the enemy king. Nakamura found no defense, lost too much material and had to resign.

Despite his three last round lossses, Nakamura maintained his rating and won more games than any other player in the tournament.

Kramnik finished last, but that doesn't make him any less of a Russian hero.

The tournament held a packed commentator room every round.

The top three finishers: Gelfand, Carlsen and Caruana (on tiebreaks: most blacks, followed by most wins)

Someone tell Fabiano he won a trophy.

With a magnificent showing, being rewarded with the first place trophy and €30,000.

Replay last round games

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Final Results

Schedule

All pictures by Etery Kublashvili

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.