The line-up for the 2012 Tal Memorial has been confirmed, with 10 players taking part in the event in Moscow from 7-19 June.
The final entry spots went to Alexander Grischuk, Alexander Morozevich, Evgeny Tomashevsky and the winner of the controversial fan vote Luke McShane.
Luke McShane's participation is dependent on his arranging leave from his full-time job in the City of London!
The full line-up:
| Name |
Nat |
Rank |
Elo |
| Magnus Carlsen |
NOR |
1 |
2835 |
| Levon Aronian |
ARM |
2 |
2820 |
| Vladimir Kramnik |
RUS |
3 |
2801 |
| Teimour Radjabov |
AZE |
5 |
2784 |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
USA |
6 |
2771 |
| Fabiano Caruana |
ITA |
7 |
2767 |
| Alexander Morozevich |
RUS |
9 |
2765 |
| Alexander Grischuk |
RUS |
11 |
2761 |
| Evgeny Tomashevsky |
RUS |
17 |
2736 |
| Luke McShane |
ENG |
58 |
2691 |
Last year Magnus Carlsen won the tournament, narrowly beating Lev Aronian on superior tie-breaks after both finished with a score of 5½/9. The only other returning players from 2011 are Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura , both of whom had a disappointing result that they will want to improve upon this year.
A happy Carlsen after winning in 2011
Who is your favourite to win the 2012 tournament in honour of the great Mikhail Tal?