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Tal Memorial 01: Kramnik, Morozevich, Ivanchuk win
18.08.2008 – The annual Tal Memorial has started, in the heart of Moscow, a round robin with ten players averaging 2745 Elo points. In the first round there was plenty of fighting spirit and action. Vladimir Kramnik beat his old nemesis Alexei Shirov, Alexander Morozevich positionally outplayed Evgeny Alekseev and Vassily Ivanchuk played a crusher against Gata Kamsky. Round one report |
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Tal Memorial 02: Kamsky beats Shirov with black
19.08.2008 – Four games were drawn today in Moscow, one game resulted in a traumatic second loss for firebrand Alexei Shirov, who, playing with the white pieces, sacrificed a pawn unsuccessfully against US grandmaster Gata Kamsky. Yesterday's winners Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich and Vladimir Kramnik lead with 1.5/2. Express report. |
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Tal Memorial 03: Morozevich beats Kramnik, Leko beats Shirov
21.08.2008 – It was a stunner: Vladimir Kramnik played the new move in a Semi-Slav, saw some promising moments and then went down with flying colours in 31 moves to Alexander Morozevich. Peter Leko scored his first victory, against the luckless Alexei Shirov, who has zero points so far. Kamsky had a win against Gelfand but spoiled it to a draw. Round three report. |
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Tal Memorial 05: Ponomariov and Mamedyarov win
22.08.2008 – Ruslan Ponomariov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov both had drawn all their games so far. Peter Leko was on plus one, Gata Kamsky on 50%. Leko lost a Marshall Gamit to Ponomariov, Kamsky the white side of a Sicilian Scheveningen to Mamedyarov. Morozevich still leads. The round was particularly exciting since we had Levon Aronian commenting on Radio ChessBase. You can watch the rerun. |
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Tal Memorial 04: All games drawn, Morozevich leads
22.08.2008 – After a shock defeat or bad spell in a tournament it is usually advisable to avoid the risks involved in a quick comeback attempt and instead steady your nerves with a rock-solid draw. Vladimir Kramnik did it against Ruslan Ponomariov, and Alexei Shirov used it to score his first half-point against Boris Gelfand. The table remains unchanged with Morozevich ahead by half a point. Round four report. |
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Tal Memorial 06: Morozevich, Ivanchuk and Gelfand win
24.08.2008 – Two black wins: Boris Gelfand overwhelmed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a Semi-Slav (Anti-Meran); and Peter Leko was taken to the cleaners by Vassily Ivanchuk in a Closed Ruy Lopez (Chigorin). Ruslan Ponomariov was basically lost after eleven moves in a wildly tactcial Nimzo Indian against Alexander Morozevich, who moves to number one in the world on the Live Rating list. Round six report. |
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Tal Memorial 07: Ivanchuk beats Morozevich, takes lead
25.08.2008 – What a round: four out of five games decided, the only draw a cliff-hanger. Ponomariov beat Shirov, Leko beat Kamsky (with black!), Alekseev beat Mamedyarov. A heart-stopping victory by Vassily Ivanchuk over player-on-fire Alexander Morozevich pushed the latter down from number one in the world on the Live List to number two behind Vishy Anand. High drama in Moscow. |
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Tal Memorial 09: Ivanchuk wins by a full point
27.08.2008 – Ivanchuk-Shirov: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4 e6 6.0-0 a6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Ne5 Ke7 10.Be2 Bd7 11.Bf3 Nc6 12.Nxc6+ draw. That was it, Vassily Ivanchuk won the 2008 Tal Memorial a full point ahead of his nearest rivals (Morozevich, Gelfand, Ponomariov and Kramnik). His performance of 2861 took Ivanchuk to number two in the live world rankings. Final report. |
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Tal Memorial 08: Kamsky beats Morozevich, Kramnik, Shirov win
27.08.2008 – The orbital flight that took him to number one in the world is over, Alexander Morozevich came crashing down to earth with a second loss, this time with the white pieces against Gata Kamsky. Vladimir Kramnik chalked up a second win, this time against Evgeny Alekseev, while Alexei Shirov improve his dismal last-place score with a win against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Round eight report. |
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Tal Memorial Blitz: Ivanchuk wins again, ahead of Kramnik and Carlsen
01.09.2008 – A big qualifier with dozens of international stars, then the final with 18 players and an average rating of 2726. The Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament in Moscow was one of the strongest ever held. After the first half Vladimir Kramnik led, ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The second half was all Vassily Ivanchuk – the Ukrainian beat both Kramnik and Carlsen to win the event. Games, photos and videos. |
