Ivanchuk beats Nakamura in 7th round Tal Memorial

Vassily Ivanchuk beat Hikaru Nakamura on Wednesday in the 7th round of the Tal Memorial in Moscow. As the other four games ended in draws, the Ukrainian joined Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in the lead. There are two more rounds to go in the Russian capital.

After seven rounds we find the remarkable situation that half of the participants are sharing the lead with a +1 score: Ivanchuk, Aronian, Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen and Karjakin. Svidler and Anand are on 50%, the World Champion by drawing all his games. Kramnik is on -1 while Nakamura and Gelfand are on a disappointing -2. The American, who was on the losing side in round 7, will face none other than Anand and Carlsen in the last two rounds. His tweet of last night cannot be misunderstood:

Quite simply, I have to play better chess.

Nakamura's loss against Ivanchuk was a tough one. Perhaps it also played a role that this game finally changed the equilibrium of all those draws in Moscow, but more importantly, the American grandmaster must have had much higher hopes for this tournament after his cooperation with Kasparov finally became official.

In any case, helped by the splendid video coverage by the Russian Chess Federation the final phase of the Ivanchuk-Nakamura game was pure sports entertainment and the necessary drama after three days without decisive games. An unsuccessful opening experiment had led to a slightly worse middlegame position for Nakamura, who also ended up in timetrouble.

After making his 32nd move, the American was shaking his head, clearly showing his disappointment about how things were going. A few moves later Ivanchuk did something that is, strictly speaking, not allowed with this time control: after 37...Bxc3 38.bxc3 he also played 38...c5 before writing down these three half moves. Nakamura didn't protest but just made his next moves.

[FEN "8/5pk1/6p1/1p6/2p4p/PpPrP2P/4KPP1/2R5 w - - 0 40"]

Ivanchuk played his final move 40...Rxc3! without thinking and stood up. It seemed that Nakamura just couldn't believe what happened, as he only resigned about twenty minutes later.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8.
Nb5 $6 $146 {A strange novelty, as this move doesn't promise White anything.} (
8. Nf3 c5 9. dxc5 (9. h3 cxd4 10. exd4 Nb6 11. Bb3 Nfd5 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Be6
{Almeida Quintana,O (2524)-Krasenkow,M (2631)/Barcelona 2009}) 9... Nxc5 10.
O-O Be6 11. Bxe6 Nxe6 12. Be5 Qxd1 13. Rfxd1 Rfd8 14. Kf1 {Karpov,A (2688)
-Kasparov,G (2838)/New York 2002} Rac8 15. Ke2 h6 16. h3 b6 $11 {Ftacnik}) 8...
c6 9. Bc7 (9. Nc7 $6 Rb8 {and the knight is trapped.} (9... e5 10. dxe5 Qxc7
11. exf6 Qa5+ {is absolutely fine for Black as well.})) 9... Qe8 10. Nc3 e5 11.
dxe5 (11. Bd6 exd4 12. Bxf8 Kxf8 13. Qxd4 Ne4 {with good compensation
(Ivanchuk).}) (11. Nf3 exd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. Bb3 Qe7) 11... Nxe5 12. Be2 Bf5
13. Nf3 Nxf3+ (13... Ne4 $5) 14. Bxf3 Rc8 15. Bg3 (15. Bd6 $2 Rd8) 15... Ne4
16. Bxe4 (16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Qxe4 18. O-O Rfd8 19. Qb3 (19. Qc2 Qb4) (19.
Qe2 Qd3 20. Rfe1) 19... c5 {Ivanchuk}) 16... Bxe4 17. O-O Rd8 18. Qa4 Bd3 19.
Rfd1 b5 20. Qa5 (20. Qxa7 b4 21. Na4 Bc2 22. Rxd8 Qxd8 23. b3 Qd2 24. Rf1 Bd3
25. Qd7 Bc3 {Ivanchuk}) 20... Rd7 21. Rd2 Qe7 (21... Qd8 22. Qxd8 Rfxd8 23.
Rcd1 Bf5 24. Rxd7 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Bxd7 26. Bd6 a5 27. a3 f5 28. f3 Kf7 29. Kf2 {
Ivanchuk}) 22. Rcd1 Rfd8 23. a3 h5 24. h3 h4 25. Bh2 (25. Bc7 Rxc7 26. Rxd3
Rxd3 27. Rxd3 Rd7 28. Rxd7 Qxd7 29. Qb4 $6 Qd2 $1 30. Qxh4 $2 Qe1+ 31. Kh2 Be5+
{Ivanchuk}) 25... Kh7 (25... Bf6 26. e4 {Ivanchuk}) 26. Bc7 (26. e4 Bh6 27. f4
g5 $5 {Ivanchuk}) 26... Rxc7 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Bf6 ({Now after} 28... Rd7
29. Rxd7 Qxd7 30. Qb4 {the pawn on h4 hangs with check.}) 29. Rd2 $6 (29. Qb4
Qxb4 30. axb4 {looks bad for White but might have offered better drawing
chances (Ivanchuk).}) 29... Rd7 30. Rc2 Qe6 31. Qb4 a5 $1 32. Qf4 $6 (32. Qxa5
{is met by} Qb3 $1 33. Re2 Rd3 {with enormous pressure.}) ({Ivanchuk suggested
} 32. Qg4) 32... Kg7 33. Rc1 a4 34. Qb4 (34. Ne4 Bxb2 35. Nc5 Qe7 $19) 34...
Rd3 35. Rc2 $2 {This loses by force.} ({The last chance was} 35. Kf1) 35... Qb3
$1 $19 36. Qxb3 axb3 37. Rc1 Bxc3 38. bxc3 c5 39. Kf1 c4 40. Ke2 Rxc3 0-1

The game Anand-Carlsen, with the nice 'World Champion against the highest rated player' headline, was quite disappointing: a move repetition from move 25 in a Grünfeld. Remarkably, the Indian said

Maybe 11.Nf3 is just inaccurate, I don't know.

while this was a normal developing move in a theoretical position, e.g. from the game Ivanchuk-Svidler, Amber 2010.

Magnus Carlsen agreed that the game wasn't much. At the press conference he said:

I have just one suggestion: turn your attention to the Ivanchuk-Nakamura game, that's gonna be a hell of a lot more interesting!

Gelfand was playing the same QGD variation with White against Kramnik as he played with Black against Aronian the day before. It was Kramnik who deviated and although the game included some interesting tactics, it was always about equal.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2744"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8.
O-O c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Bxc4 Qxd1 $146 (10... a6 11. Ne5 Ncd7 12. Be2 Nxe5 13.
Bxe5 Qa5 14. Bg3 b5 15. Bf3 Ra7 16. Ne2 Bb7 17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. Nd4 Rd7 19. Qc2
Bd6 {was played a round earlier in Aronian,L (2802)-Gelfand,B (2744)/Moscow
RUS 2011}) 11. Rfxd1 b6 12. Nd4 Bb7 13. Rac1 a6 14. b4 Nce4 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16.
a3 Rfc8 17. f3 Bb7 18. e4 a5 19. Nxe6 $5 ({Also interesting was} 19. Nb5 axb4
20. Bd6 {e.g.} Kf8 21. axb4 Ne8 22. e5) 19... axb4 $1 (19... fxe6 20. Bxe6+ Kf8
21. Bxc8 Bxc8 22. Bd6 {is good for White.}) 20. axb4 b5 $1 {A nice response.}
21. Nc7 (21. Bb3 {was also possible:} Rxc1 22. Rxc1 fxe6 23. Rc7) 21... bxc4
22. Nxa8 Bxa8 23. Bd6 Kf8 24. Bxe7+ Kxe7 25. Rd4 c3 26. Rd3 c2 27. Rd2 Nxe4 $1
28. Rdxc2 (28. fxe4 Bxe4 {is also equal.}) 28... Rxc2 29. Rxc2 Nd6 30. Kf2 Kd7
31. Ke3 Nb5 32. Rc5 Bc6 33. Kd3 f6 34. Rh5 h6 35. Kc4 Nc7 36. Ra5 Kd6 37. Kd4
g5 38. Ra1 f5 39. h4 f4 40. hxg5 hxg5 41. Rh1 g4 42. fxg4 Bxg2 43. Rh6+ Ne6+
44. Kd3 Bf3 45. Rf6 Bxg4 46. Ke4 f3 47. Ke3 Ke5 48. Rxf3 Bxf3 1/2-1/2

Karjakin and Aronian drew a Closed Ruy Lopez where Black solved his biggest problems by giving up the bishop pair at the right moment.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 d6 7. c3 O-O 8. Re1
b5 9. Bc2 d5 10. Nbd2 dxe4 11. dxe4 Be6 12. h3 Bc5 $146 (12... Nd7 13. Nf1 Nc5
14. Ne3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 f6 16. Nd5 Bd6 {Carlsen,M (2823)-Aronian,L (2807)/Sao
Paulo/Bilbao 2011}) 13. a4 Ba7 $5 {An interesting new idea.} 14. Nf1 ({If
White immediately takes} 14. axb5 axb5 {then Black suddenly threatens 15...
Bxf2+.}) 14... h6 15. Ne3 Qd6 16. Qe2 {Attacking b5.} Bxe3 {A radical way of
dealing with the b5 weakness but Black's bishop on c4 will be strong.} 17. Bxe3
Bc4 18. Qd2 Rfd8 19. b4 Qe6 20. Qc1 a5 21. bxa5 (21. axb5 Bxb5 22. Qb2 axb4 23.
Rxa8 Rxa8 24. cxb4 Ra2 {Aronian}) 21... bxa4 22. Rxa4 Bb5 23. Ra3 (23. Ra1 Rxa5
24. Qb2 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 Bd3 26. Bxd3 Rxd3 27. Nd2 {Aronian/Karjakin}) 23... Rxa5
24. Rxa5 Nxa5 25. Qa3 Nc4 26. Qc5 c6 27. Qb4 Nxe3 28. Rxe3 Rd7 29. Re1 Qe7 30.
Rb1 Rb7 31. c4 c5 (31... Ba6 32. Qxe7 Rxe7 33. Rb6 Bxc4 34. Rxc6 Be2 35. Nh4 {
Aronian}) 32. Qc3 (32. Qxb5 Rxb5 33. cxb5 c4 (33... Ne8 34. Bb3) 34. b6 Nd7 35.
b7 Nb8) (32. Qa5 Bc6 33. Rxb7 Bxb7 34. Qa7 g6 35. Nxe5 Qxe5 36. Qxb7 Kg7 {
Aronian}) 32... Bc6 33. Qxe5 Rxb1+ 34. Bxb1 Qxe5 35. Nxe5 Bxe4 36. Bxe4 Nxe4
37. Nd3 Nd6 38. Nxc5 Nxc4 1/2-1/2

The last to finish were Svidler and Nepomniachtchi. It was clear that White had an advantage with BR vs. NR but whether it was winning somewhere remained unclear, also during the post-mortem.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Svidler, P."]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2730"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Be2 d5 6. d4 exd4 7. exd4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 dxc4 9. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 10. Nxd1 bxc6 11. Bxc4 Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Ne4+
14. Kc2 $146 (14. Ke1 Nd6 15. Be2 Be6 16. f3 Ke7 17. Kf2 c5 18. Re1 c4 19. f4
Rab8 20. Bg4 f5 21. Bf3 Kf6 {Alavkin,A (2397)-Novozhenin,V (2092)/Murom 2000})
14... O-O (14... Bf5 15. Re1 O-O-O 16. Bd3 Ng3 17. Bxf5+ Nxf5 18. Ne3 Nd4+) 15.
Re1 Nd6 16. Bd3 Nb5 17. b3 Rd8 18. Nc3 Be6 (18... Ba6) 19. Rad1 Nd4+ 20. Kb2 c5
21. Ne4 Rac8 22. Ng5 g6 23. Nxe6 Nxe6 24. Bc4 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Nd4 26. Kc3 (26. b4
Rb8) 26... a5 (26... Kf8 27. Re1 Nf5 28. Ba6 Rc6 29. Bb5 Rc7 (29... Rc8 30. Bd7
) 30. Re8+ Kg7 31. Rd8 Kf6) 27. a3 (27. Re1 Kf8 28. Re5 f6 29. Re4 Rc7) 27...
Kf8 28. Re1 (28. b4 axb4+ 29. axb4 Rd8 30. bxc5 $2 Nb5+ 31. Kc2 Na3+) 28... Nf5
29. Re4 Nd6 30. Rh4 h5 31. Bd3 Ke7 (31... Rc7 32. Ra4 Ra7 33. Kd2 c4 34. bxc4
Nb7 35. c5 Nxc5 $11) 32. Ra4 Ra8 33. Kd2 f5 34. h4 Kf6 35. b4 cxb4 (35... Nb7)
36. axb4 Nb7 37. g3 (37. f4 Ke6 38. Bc4+ Kf6 39. bxa5 Rxa5 (39... Nxa5 40. Bd5
Ra7 41. Kd3) 40. Rxa5 Nxa5 41. Bd5) 37... g5 38. f4 gxf4 39. gxf4 Kg6 40. Ra3
Kf6 41. Ra1 Ke6 42. Ra4 Kf6 43. Ra3 Ke7 44. Ke3 Kf6 45. b5 Re8+ 46. Kd4 Rd8+
47. Kc4 Ke6 48. Be2 Rc8+ 49. Kd4 Rd8+ 50. Ke3 Rb8 51. Bxh5 Rh8 52. Bf3 Nd6 53.
Be2 Rxh4 54. Rxa5 Kd5 55. Ra6 Nc4+ 56. Kf3 Rh3+ 57. Kg2 Rb3 58. Bxc4+ 1/2-1/2

Tal Memorial 2011 | Round 7 Standings

Schedule and pairings