Tal Memorial Rd3 – A black day for white

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 three

Live on the video broadcast, were commentators Ilya Levitov, president of the Russian
Chess Federation, GM Evgeny Bareev, and author (non-chess) Shenderevich.

It was as bloody a round as one could hope for, with three of the five games ending in a decisive result, and one of the draws actually ending in a decisive position, but more on that later.

Both Nepomniachtchi and Anand were visibly nervous during their game...

... and both fidgeted and looked about more than usual.

The first game to end was the draw between Anand and Nepomniachtchi. They played a Gruenfeld in which the Russian soon equalized. When offered the chance to repeat the position, he chose not to wake the lion and drew without a fuss.

Gelfand chose to take the fight to his opponent

World championship challenger, Boris Gelfand, was feeling a bit more optimistic, or excessively so possibly, as he gambled with gusto on his initiative. As is often the case when attacking without the proper positional justification, the weaknesses he created ended up biting him in the rear and, and cost him the game when he was unable to make Karjakin buckle.

Svidler and Nakamura

Peter Svidler took advantage of an error in judgement by Hikaru Nakamura, after the American went after some material that turned out to be bitterly poisoned. When he attempted to return it, it was insufficient and the Russian converted his advantage.

Ivanchuk lost his share of the lead when he lost patience

Aronian is creeping up the Elo ladder and is poised to overtake Anand

Ivanchuk was perhaps not happy to see Aronian equalize with such ease with the Berlin, and despite not being worse (nor better) chose to try and force the issue some. This quickly proved to be a mistake, and the Armenian showed great technique in converting the point.

The final and most dramatic game of the round, was between Carlsen and Kramnik. Carlsen played very originally, and baited Kramnik into pushing forward for an attack. The ex-world champion went for it, and gained great space on all fronts, also meaning empty spaces around his own king. His threats were real though, and the complications forced both players to calculate an inordinate number of variations.

It may seem as if Magnus is looking down upon his opponent, but he was actually
peering past Kramnik's empty seat at the next board.

Kramnik has had great trouble against Carlsen, but their games are never boring

Another battle of generations

The young Norwegian did well, but at the very end, with very little time, and sacrificial possibilities around his king, he nervously claimed a repetition precisely when he was winning according to the engines. To be fair, Kramnik also did not see it, and even in the post-mortem neither found a conclusive continuation.

The end of the game between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik: the latter plays his final move, 41.Qa6+, and the exhausted Carlsen sinks into disconsolate thought. He then writes down his own move, 41...Kc8, as the arbiter approaches. Carlsen tells him it is a repetition, and the arbiter places the two kings in the middle of the board, to signify a draw. Carlsen tells him to do inform Kramnik, who has left the stage to the left. When the two return Kramnik immediately nods and stretches out his hand to accept the draw.

In the press conference after the match the two players go through the critical position at the end of the game. Both sort of agree that Black cannot win, even after 41.Qa6 Kb8. In the end Russian Chess Federation President Ilya Levitov quickly saves the analysis in the ChessBase program the players have been using.

Standings after three rounds

Remaining Playchess commentator schedule

GM Daniel King provides commentary on Kramnik-Nepomniachtchi on Playchess

Schedule and Results

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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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