Tal Memorial 2009

Tal R01: All games drawn – with plenty of excitement
05.11.2009 – Organisers don't like the 'all games drawn' headline. But in round one of the very strong Tal Memorial all were more or less hard fought. Carlsen, Anand and Leko had at some stage shaky positions against Kramnik, Ivanchuk and Morozevich respectively, but all three pulled it together and held draws. On Playchess the spectators spotted some fairly prominent kibitzers. Round one report.

Tal Memorial begins today – live on Playchess
05.11.2009 – The annual Tal Memorial starts on Thursday, November 5th and ends on November 14th. At category 21 (average Elo 2764) it is one of the strongest of all time and includes Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik and Aronian. After this the World Blitz Championship will be held. We will be broadcasting the moves from Moscow live on Playchess, which soon celebrates a remarkable anniversary. Tournament details.

Tal R02: All games drawn – first win expected tomorrow
06.11.2009 – We are not complaining – yet. Two or three of today's games were quite exciting. But somehow we miss the rush of wins, and a table in which not everyone is in the lead. That will happen tomorrow. It must. Today it was Ponomariov and Ivanchuk who put some token pressure on Aronian and Svidler, but in the end the result was five draws. Round two report.

Tal R03: Anand, Aronian, Kramnik draw first blood
07.11.2009 – At last: after ten drawn games in the first two rounds the public suddenly had three decisive games on the third day. Vishy Anand piled the pressure on Peter Svidler in an Exchange Grünfeld until the latter cracked; Levon Aronian outplayed Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav; and Vladimir Kramnik played another splendid game, defeating Alexander Morozevich with the black pieces. Round three report.

Tal R04: Kramnik beats Svidler, leads in Moscow
08.11.2009 – All games were drawn, except one: Vladimir Kramnik beat Peter Svidler in an Exchange Grünfeld that looked quite effortless on the part of the former World Champion. Magnus Carlsen, it was revealed, is suffering from a throat infection and has played his last three games with A fever. The Norwegian is now on antibiotics. Full report to follow, but here are the games and results.

Tal R06: Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Gelfand win
11.11.2009 – And Vladimir Kramnik has once again taken the sole lead, with plus three and a 2955 performance. In a remarkable game against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Kramnik pressed for 81 moves until the Ukrainian's succumbed to zugzwang. Gelfand laid Aronian's Meran System to waste, Morozevich-Ivanchuk ended in a black victory by the masked chessplayer!

Tal R05: Anand beats Leko, joins Kramnik in the lead
11.11.2009 – Almost exactly a year ago the two were playing for the title of World Champion. Now Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are battling each other for the lead in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. Kramnik worked very hard in an 81-mover against Boris Gelfand, but had to concede a draw. Anand beat Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav and joined Kramnik in the lead. Round five report.

Tal R08: Carlsen beats Ponomariov, moves to sole fourth
13.11.2009 – Feeling better? At last the top seed Magnus Carlsen, 18, has scored a win in this tournament. It came in the form of an explosive English Attack in the Scheveningen, which floored the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in 31 moves (actually with a mate in three). With plus one Carlsen now occupies fourth place alone, behind Kramnik, Anand and Ivanchuk. Full report with annotations.

Tal R07: Ivanchuk beats Gelfand
13.11.2009 – Four draws today, in 23, 31, 36 and 40 moves, with Morozevich holding Anand to a draw and preventing the World Champion from catching up with his predecessor Kramnik. The game of the day was Ivanchuk-Gelfand, two winners of round six. There was only one winner today: Vassily Ivanchuk, who moves up to share second with Anand. Report plus an interview with Alexander Morozevich.

Kramnik wins Tal Memorial 2009, Carlsen number one
14.11.2009 – Aronian beats Anand with the black pieces, Carlsen did the same to Leko, Ponomariov beat Morozevich, while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk. The result: Kramnik wins the tournament, with 6.0/9 and a 2883 performance. Ivanchuk and Carlsen share 2nd-3rd, with the young Norwegian trainee of Garry Kasparov going to number one in the world in the unofficial live rankings. Final round report.

Tal Memorial 2009 – impressions from Moscow
15.11.2009 – We received a number of baffled letters asking us why we did not, as is usually our habit, include large numbers of pictures in our daily reports on the Tal Memorial. Well, our usual photographers unfortunately took ill, and it was only in the final round that WGM Yana Melnikova arrived at the venue and sent us a bunch of photos from the end of the tournament. Here is her report.

World Blitz Championship day one: Anand leads
16.11.2009 – World Champion Vishy Anand, who turns forty in just under a month, is leading this event with 12.0/14 points, two more than his nearest rival Magnus Carlsen. Behind the Norwegian we find a big surprise figure (hint: he is almost twenty years older than Anand), followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk. A photo report will follow, here for now are the results and games.

World Blitz Championship day two: Carlsen takes over
17.11.2009 – Yesterday World Champion Vishy Anand was leading Magnus Carlsen by two points, today the Norwegian caught and overtook his Indian friend, finishing with 21.0 points from 28 games, with just two draws on his account. Both lost a game to Alexandra Kosteniuk. Anand is now second, one point behind, followed by Sergey Karjakin, 1.5 points below Anand. Results, games and statistics.

World Blitz Championship – pictorial impressions from Moscow
17.11.2009 – The Tal Memorial and the World Blitz are tremendously exciting events, followed with great enthusiasm by fans all over the world. But both have been characterised by an unusual dearth of pictures on our news pages. Put it down to the flu. But with our photographers recovered we can return to normal reporting and present you with a big photo report by Misha Savinov.

Kramnik: I am counting on regaining the world title
17.11.2009 – A few days ago former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik won the brutally strong Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow, scoring 6.0/9 with a 2883 performance that increases his FIDE rating by 13.7 points. He is now on fourth place in the "live rankings" – and clearly striving for more. Kramnik talks about the event and his aspirations in this Interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia.

World Blitz Championship: Carlsen wins by three-point margin
18.11.2009 – Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian chess phenomenon, has won this event with 31.0 points from 42 games, three points ahead of World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who himself finished three points ahead of the next-closest rival (Sergey Karjakin). Carlsen's overall performance was 2894, Anand's 2835. In fourth place we find Vladimir Kramnik. Results, games and statistics.

Trials and Tribulations of a Blitz Player
18.11.2009 – Three minutes for the entire game, two seconds' increment per move – this fast version of chess produces its own brand of drama, with wonderful chances and bitter tragedies going hand in hand. There was plenty of that at the World Blitz Championship in Moscow – you can watch it all unfold on the Playchess server. Here are some highlights from day two.

Kramnik: It is especially nice to win in Moscow
19.11.2009 – "I fell ill," the winner of the super-strong 2009 Tal Memorial tournament reveals. "But for some reason I achieved my best results when I had to take tablets to control my temperature." Vladimir Kramnik speaks about his chances in the Candidates tournament, the cooperation Carlsen-Kasparov, and Anand's chances in Sofia. We have added a brief Aronian statement to this Sport Express interview.

Carlsen: I am constantly in touch with Kasparov
19.11.2009 – "Until recently I was a schoolboy," says a candid Magnus Carlsen, "I am not very accustomed to rigid, hard and painstaking work. Only by working with Garry Kasparov have I become aware of just how important it is." The 18-year-old winner of the 2009 World Blitz Championship, and the inofficial world number one player, gives credit where it's due in this Vremya (Time) interview.

World Blitz Championship: Pictorial impressions
19.11.2009 – It was a spectacular event, a three-day frenzy of blitz chess, with World Champion Anand finishing three full points ahead of the field – and one Magnus Carlsen, 18-year-old youth from Norway, three points ahead of him. Oh the excitement! We brought you the results and games of the third and final day. Here now is a photo report by Misha Savinov.

World Blitz Championship: closeup video footage
20.11.2009 – Some watched it live in the GUM mall in Moscow. You probably followed the action on Playchess, perhaps with webcam images from the official site running as well (they had a strange two-minute lag to the game moves). Now you have a chance to see highlights of the World Blitz Championship close up in video with a JavaScript replay board. A unique experience – you don't want to miss it!