Carlsen beats Gelfand in Tal Memorial second round

Magnus Carlsen won against Boris Gelfand in the second round of the Tal Memorial in Moscow, Russia. The Norwegian joined Vassily Ivanchuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead as the other games all ended in draws.

Magnus Carlsen, co-leader after two rounds in Moscow | Photo © RCF

The second round of the super strong Tal Memorial saw only once decisive game. In a very interesting encounter which started as a 4...Bf5 Slav, Magnus Carlsen increased the pressure more and more up to the point when his opponent Boris Gelfand started to make almost inevitable mistakes. In a position with opposite castling both kings got under fire, and Black got two rooks on the first rank in what was a very sharp middlegame:

[Event "6th Tal Memorial 2011"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.17"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2826"]
[BlackElo "2744"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:07:49"]
[BlackClock "0:00:44"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd3
Nbd7 9. O-O (9. Qe2 Bd6 10. Bd2 Qe7 11. c5 Bc7 12. f4 Nh5 13. O-O-O f5 14. b4 {
Kortschnoj,V (2628)-Pelletier,Y (2602)/Biel 2003}) 9... Bd6 10. h3 dxc4 $146 (
10... O-O 11. f4 c5 12. cxd5 exd5 13. f5 g5 14. Qf3 Nb8 15. Kh1 Nc6 16. Nxd5
cxd4 17. exd4 Nxd4 18. Nxf6+ Qxf6 19. Qg4 Qe5 20. g3 Be7 {Tancev,Z (2216)
-Nestorovic,N (2410)/Struga 2009}) 11. Bxc4 Nb6 12. Bb3 e5 13. Qc2 Qe7 14. Bd2
O-O-O {"Now it gets really interesting." (Carlsen)} (14... exd4 15. exd4 O-O-O
16. Bg5) 15. d5 e4 16. dxc6 Qe5 17. f4 exf3 18. Rxf3 {"All more or less forced.
" (Carlsen)} Ng4 19. cxb7+ (19. hxg4 Rh1+ 20. Kf2 Rxa1 21. Ne2 Bc5 22. Rxf7
bxc6) 19... Kb8 20. hxg4 Rh1+ 21. Kf2 Rxa1 22. Ne2 Bc5 23. Bc3 {"I didn't see
what else to do." (Carlsen)} Qe7 ({Gelfand was hesitating between the text
move and} 23... Qg5 {e.g.} 24. Qe4 Qh4+ 25. Ng3 Bd6 26. Be5 Qe7 27. Bxd6+ Qxd6
28. Rxf7 Nd7 (28... Qd2+ 29. Kf3) 29. Qd4 Ne5) 24. g5 Rdd1 25. Ng3 Bd6 26. Qe2
(26. Ne4 $2 Rac1 27. Qe2 Rf1+) 26... Rg1 (26... Bxg3+ 27. Rxg3 Rf1+ 28. Qxf1
Rxf1+ 29. Kxf1 Nd7 {was the most logical according to Carlsen ("it's
completely drawn") and now} 30. Bd5 {is not possible because of} Qd6) 27. Qd3
Bc7 (27... Nd7 28. Ne4 Bh2 (28... Be5 29. Qxd7)) 28. Ne4 Raf1+ (28... Nd7 29.
Qd5) 29. Ke2 Rxf3 30. gxf3 {"Now it's clear that White is better." (Carlsen)}
f5 (30... Be5 31. Bxf7 (31. Bxe5+ Qxe5 32. Qd8+ Kxb7 33. Nd6+ Kc6) 31... Bxc3
32. bxc3) 31. gxf6 gxf6 32. Bxf6 ({After} 32. Nxf6 {Gelfand was planning to
bring the rook back with} Rg5) 32... Qh7 33. Qb5 Rg2+ (33... Nd7 34. Bd4 {"and
White is controlling the board" (Carlsen) e.g.} Qh3 35. Nd2) 34. Kd3 Qd7+ 35.
Qxd7 Nxd7 36. Bd5 Be5 37. f4 ({The simple} 37. Bxe5+ {was perhaps even
stronger:} Nxe5+ 38. Kd4 Nd7 39. Bc6 Rg1 {(all forced for Black)} 40. Bxd7 Rd1+
41. Ke5 Rxd7 42. Nc5 Rd2 43. b4 {and White should win the ending easily.})
37... Bc7 $2 {This loses immediately.} ({Since they didn't mention the
following line at the press conference, it seems like both players missed that
after} 37... Bxf6 38. Nxf6 Nc5+ 39. Kd4 {Black can still fight with} Rc2 $1 {
and take on b7 on the next move, e.g.} 40. b4 Nxb7 41. Nd7+ Kc7 42. Nf8 Nd8 $1
43. Nxg6 Nc6+ 44. Bxc6 Kxc6 {although this might well be lost too.}) 38. Bc6 (
38. Bc6 Nxf6 (38... Nb6 39. Nc5 {threatens mate as well as 40.Bxg2.}) 39. Nxf6
{followed by 40.Nd7+ and the b-pawn promotes.}) 1-0

Boris Gelfand resigns his game against Magnus Carlsen

Before that, Peter Svidler and Vishy Anand had already agreed to a draw. The World Champion has been playing the Caro-Kann a lot lately, and his repertoire seems rock solid.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial 2011"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.17"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:02:00"]
[BlackClock "1:03:00"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O c5 7. Na3 Nec6 8. c4
cxd4 9. Nb5 a6 10. Bg5 $146 (10. Nbxd4 Be4 11. Ng5 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Nc6 13. Qe3
Bg6 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Bf3 Qc5 16. Rd1 h6 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. Qc3 Qc5 19. Qd2 Qe7 {
1/2-1/2 Volokitin,A (2677)-Ponomariov,R (2754)/Kiev 2011}) 10... Qd7 11. Nbxd4
Be4 12. Rc1 h6 13. Bh4 $5 ({The players were following the game Gashimov,V
(2757)-Grischuk,A (2752)/Porto Carras GRE 2011 which went} 13. Be3 Be7 14. cxd5
Bxd5 15. Bc4 O-O 16. Qe2 Rd8 17. Rfd1 Bxc4 18. Qxc4 Qe8 19. Qb3 Rd7 20. a3 Bf8
21. Nxc6 Nxc6 22. Rxd7 Qxd7 23. Rd1 Qc8 24. Rc1 Qd7 25. Rd1 Qc8 26. Rc1 {1/2-1/
2}) 13... Be7 14. Bxe7 Nxe7 ({The problem of} 14... Qxe7 {is} 15. cxd5 Bxd5 16.
Nf5 {(Anand)}) 15. Nd2 Nbc6 16. N4b3 Qc7 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Qd6 Qb6 19. Rfd1 O-O
20. Qc5 (20. Nd2 $2 e3) 20... Qc7 21. Qd6 ({After the game Anand pointed out
that White cannot really avoid the repetition because after} 21. Nd2 {strong is
} Nf5 $1 22. Nxe4 b6 $1 23. Qa3 Qxe5 {and with "something landing on d4" Black
is doing more than fine.}) 21... Qb6 22. Qc5 Qc7 23. Qd6 1/2-1/2

Svidler and Anand at the press conference, where the Russian GM translated the World Champ's words into Russian for the local journalists

Vladimir Kramnik, however, didn't follow his regular repertoire. For this level, the Semi-Tarrasch is a rare guest:

[Event "6th Tal Memorial 2011"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.17"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:54:00"]
[BlackClock "0:53:00"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 $5 {A surprise - Kramnik deviates from
his regular choices, the Nimzo or the QGD.} 5. cxd5 cxd4 {This is a line from
the Semi-Tarrasch.} (5... exd5 {would have been the real Tarrasch}) ({while}
5... Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 {is the main line of the Semi-Tarrasch.}) 6. Qxd4
(6. Nxd4 Nxd5 7. Bd2 Bc5 8. Nb3 Bb6 9. g3 O-O 10. Bg2 Qe7 11. O-O Rd8 12. Rc1
Nc6 13. Qc2 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Bd7 15. Be3 Be8 {Le Quang,L (2689)-Sasikiran,K (2688)
/Guangzhou 2010}) (6. Qa4+ Nbd7 7. Nxd4 exd5 8. Bf4 Bc5 9. e3 O-O 10. Be2 Nb6
11. Qd1 Nc4 12. Qb3 Bxd4 13. exd4 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bc1 Nh5 17. O-O
Qf6 18. Qd1 Nf4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Bxf4 Qxf4 21. Rf2 Rad8 22. Rd2 Bf5 23. d5 Bd3
24. Qe1 b5 25. Nxb5 Rxd5 26. Nc3 {1/2-1/2 Dreev,A (2560)-Khalifman,A (2630)/
Moscow 1993}) 6... exd5 (6... Nxd5 7. e4 Nxc3 8. Qxc3 Nc6 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. O-O
Qb6 11. a4 {was quite popular at top level in the 90s. An example of Kramnik
with the white pieces:} Qc5 12. Qd3 Qd6 13. Qe2 a6 14. e5 Qc7 15. Bd3 Nb4 16.
Be4 Bc6 17. Bd2 Bxe4 18. Qxe4 Nd5 19. Rfc1 Qd7 20. Rc4 Be7 21. Qg4 Kf8 22. Rac1
h5 23. Qd4 Qd8 24. h4 g6 25. Bg5 Kg7 26. Qd2 Bxg5 27. Nxg5 Qe7 28. Qe2 b5 29.
axb5 axb5 30. Rc6 b4 31. Qf3 Ra2 32. Rd1 Rha8 33. Rc2 Ra1 34. Kh2 Rxd1 35. Qxd1
Ra7 36. Rc6 Rc7 37. Ra6 Qc5 38. Qe2 b3 39. Ra8 Qd4 40. Nf3 Qf4+ 41. g3 Rc2 42.
gxf4 Rxe2 43. Ra7 Rxf2+ 44. Kg3 Rxb2 45. Ng5 Rc2 {1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2740)
-Adams,M (2660)/Germany 1997/GER-chT}) 7. e3 {A solid approach.} (7. e4 Nc6 8.
Bb5 Bd7 (8... Nxe4 9. O-O Nf6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Qxd5 O-O 13. Bxc6
bxc6 14. Qxc6 Rb8 {1/2-1/2 Moiseenko,A (2682)-Naiditsch,A (2697)/Montreal 2009}
) 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. exd5 Bxd5 11. O-O Be7 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Re1 Qxd4 14. Nxd4
O-O-O 15. Rxe7 Rxd4 16. Be3 Rd7 17. Rxd7 Nxd7 18. Rc1+ Kb8 19. Bf4+ Ka8 20. Rc7
Rd8 21. h3 a6 22. b4 f6 23. g4 g5 24. Bd6 Nb6 25. Bc5 Nd5 26. Rxh7 b6 27. Bd4
Rd6 28. Rf7 Nf4 29. Bxf6 Nxh3+ 30. Kg2 Nf4+ 31. Kf3 Nh3 32. Kg3 Rd3+ 33. f3 Ng1
34. Bxg5 Ne2+ 35. Kf2 Nc3 36. Bf6 {1-0 Kramnik,V (2780)-Cifuentes Parada,R
(2505)/Villarrobledo 1998}) 7... Nc6 8. Qd3 Bc5 {Black is playing for an early
...d5-d4.} 9. Be2 d4 10. exd4 Nxd4 11. O-O $146 (11. Nxd4 Qxd4 12. Qxd4 Bxd4
13. O-O O-O 14. Rd1 Be5 15. Be3 Bg4 16. f3 Be6 17. Bd4 Bxd4+ 18. Rxd4 Rfd8 {
Gogolis,A (2243)-Kokolias,K (2137)/Athens 2005}) 11... O-O 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13.
Qg3 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Qxe4 15. Bf3 Qb4 16. Bf4 {White is still slightly better due
to his lead in development.} Be6 17. a3 Qb3 18. Rac1 Bd4 (18... Rac8 19. Be5 f6
20. Bc3 Bd5 {might have been safer.}) 19. Rc7 $1 {Now White has some pressure.}
Qxb2 20. Rxb7 Qxa3 {Making it an exchange sacrifice.} 21. Bd6 Qa5 22. Bb4 Qf5
23. Bxf8 Rxf8 {With one extra pawn and no queenside pawns for White it's clear
that Black is close to equality.} 24. Rd1 ({The immediate} 24. Rb8 {looks more
dangerous.}) 24... Bb6 25. Rb8 g6 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Qd6+ Kg8 28. Qd2 h5 29.
Qc3 Kh7 30. h3 Qf4 31. Re1 $6 ({This allows a little trick, but also after} 31.
Qc6 Qf6 {it's impossible to win it with White.}) 31... Bxh3 $1 32. Re4 (32.
gxh3 $4 Qg3+ 33. Kh1 Bxf2 $19) 32... Qd6 33. Qe5 ({Again} 33. gxh3 {loses to}
Qg3+ 34. Kh1 Bxf2) 33... Qxe5 34. Rxe5 Be6 35. Bd5 $5 {Perhaps fearing Black's
a-pawn a bit, Aronian decides to force the draw by entering an
opposite-coloured bishop ending a pawn down.} Bd4 36. Bxe6 (36. Rg5 Bf6) 36...
Bxe5 37. Bxf7 h4 38. Kf1 Kg7 39. Be8 g5 40. Ke2 Kf6 41. Ke3 g4 42. Bd7 Kg5 43.
Ke2 Kf4 44. Kf1 a5 45. Ke2 Bd4 46. Kf1 Bc5 47. Ke2 Bd4 48. Kf1 Bc5 49. Ke2 Bd4
1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian, caught by surprise in the opening

Sergey Karjakin played against Hikaru Nakamura, who played his and The Boss's favourite Najdorf. Karjakin, who sometimes works with Kasparov's former second Yuri Dokhoian, picked a line that was popular a few years ago. Black was never in serious trouble.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial 2011"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.17"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:11:00"]
[BlackClock "1:02:00"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5
Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Nc6 11. O-O-O Qb6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nd4 $146 (
13... Ne7 14. Kb1 O-O 15. h4 Qxf2 16. g4 e4 17. Qxe4 Ng6 18. Rdf1 Rae8 19. Rxf2
Rxe4 {Baratosi,D (2441)-Szabo,G (2509)/Bucharest 2008}) 14. Nxd4 Qxd4 15. Qxd4
exd4 16. f4 h5 17. a4 Kd7 18. a5 Rae8 19. Bd3 h4 20. g4 hxg3 21. hxg3 g5 22. b4
gxf4 23. gxf4 Kc7 24. Kb2 Rxh1 25. Rxh1 Rh8 26. Rf1 b5 27. axb6+ Kxb6 28. Kb3
Ra8 29. Ra1 Bg7 30. Re1 Bf6 31. Rg1 Rb8 32. Re1 Ra8 33. Kb2 Rh8 34. Ra1 Ra8 35.
Kc1 Bg7 36. Kd1 Bh6 37. f5 Bg7 38. Ra5 Ra7 39. Ke2 Bf6 40. Kf3 Ra8 41. Ra1 a5
42. bxa5+ Rxa5 43. Rxa5 1/2-1/2

Maria Fominykh hosts a press conference with... Sergey Karjakin, the famous Russian pentathlon athlete who visited the tournament today and was eager to meet Sergey Karjakin!

In the longest game of the round Ivanchuk slowly outplayed Nepomniachtchi with Black and eventually won a pawn, but the resulting knight ending was probably always a draw.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial 2011"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.17"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2730"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:24:00"]
[BlackClock "0:27:00"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be7 8.
Nc4 b5 9. Ne3 Nf6 10. g3 (10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O Be6 12. a4 b4 13. Ncd5 a5 14. Re1
Rc8 15. c3 bxc3 16. bxc3 Bxd5 17. exd5 Nb8 18. c4 g6 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2720)
-Radjabov,T (2744)/Moscow 2010}) 10... O-O 11. Bg2 b4 12. Ncd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5
Bg5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. O-O Rb8 16. Qd3 a5 17. a3 Be6 18. axb4 $146 (18. Rfd1
Rfc8 19. axb4 axb4 20. c3 bxc3 21. bxc3 Qd8 22. Ne3 Rb3 23. Qd2 {Lang,M (2444)
-Calhau,E (2425)/ICCF email 2008}) 18... axb4 19. Ra6 Rfc8 20. c3 Qd8 21. Rd1
g6 22. Ne3 Rb6 23. h4 h5 24. Kh2 bxc3 25. bxc3 Ne7 26. Rxb6 Qxb6 27. Bh3 Bxh3
28. Kxh3 Kg7 29. Kg2 Qc6 30. c4 Ng8 31. f3 Qc5 32. Nf1 Rb8 33. Qd5 Rb2+ 34. Rd2
Rxd2+ 35. Nxd2 Qb4 36. Nf1 Nf6 37. Qd3 Nd7 38. Qd2 Qc5 39. Ne3 Nf8 40. f4 Nd7
41. f5 $6 {Too optimistic.} (41. Kf3 Qa3 42. Kg2) 41... Nf6 $1 42. fxg6 fxg6 {
Now Black is better because e4 has become weak.} 43. Kf3 Qa3 44. c5 ({If White
waits with} 44. Qe2 {Black will win a pawn anyway, e.g.} Kf7 45. Qd2 Ke7 46.
Qe2 Ng4 47. Qd2 Qb3) 44... Qxc5 45. Qd3 Qc7 46. Ke2 Qc6 47. Qc4 Qd7 48. Qb4 Qc7
49. Qc4 Qb7 50. Kf3 Qf7 51. Ke2 Ng4 52. Qxf7+ Kxf7 {Knight endings should be
evaluated as pawn endings, they say. However, here it's a draw while without
the knights Black would be winning.} 53. Nc4 Ke6 54. Nd2 Nf6 55. Ke3 Kd7 56.
Nf3 Nh7 57. Nh2 Nf6 58. Nf3 Ng4+ 59. Ke2 d5 60. exd5 Kd6 61. Ng5 Kxd5 62. Kf3
Nf6 63. Ke3 Nd7 64. Kd3 Kd6 65. Ke4 Nc5+ 66. Kf3 Ne6 67. Ne4+ Ke7 68. g4 Nd4+
69. Kf2 Kf7 70. Ng5+ Kg7 71. gxh5 gxh5 72. Ke3 Kf6 73. Ke4 Nc6 74. Nf3 Ke6 75.
Ng5+ Kf6 76. Nf3 1/2-1/2

Vassily Ivanchuk tried to win for long, but his opponent didn't crack

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