Kramnik Beats Morozevich; Petrosian Memorial Not Decided Yet

On Monday, Alexander Grischuk couldn't secure tournament victory at the Petrosian Memorial yet. While he drew with Levon Aronian, runner-up Vladimir Kramnik won against Alexander Morozevich.

The tournament will see the ultimate showdown between Grischuk and Kramnik on Tuesday, and if the latter wins, he will finish on the same number of points as his opponent.

Let's start with the game of the round: Kramnik vs Morozevich. On Twitter it was stated that Morozevich has a very bad score against Kramnik, but according to the database, in classical games it's not so serious: +4 =9 -3 in favor of Kramnik. (Did they really only meet for the first time in 2000?)

In any case, an off-form Morozevich was no match for a Kramnik in an aggressive mood. In a Bogo-Indian, the 14th world champion castled kingside, pointed his bishops towards the enemy king, started pushing pawns and then brought a promising exchange sacrifice.

It must be said that Morozevich defended quite well for a long time, but at some point the pressure became too much. Snatching a pawn on g2, and especially opening the long diagonal, were questionable decisions made in time trouble.

Meanwhile, Grischuk was in defense mode against Aronian. In one of the modern lines of the Grünfeld, 8.Be3 and 9.Nd2 (something Vishy Anand might consider playing as well in the match!), the tournament leader played against one of the most basic rules in chess: don't move the queen too much in the opening.

Well, it just wasn't “too” much. After 20.Rfd1 White, who had sacrificed two pawns, was completely developed, while Black's Ra8, Rf8 and Bc8 hadn't moved yet. White won back one pawn, then another, but by then, with accurate play Grischuk had equalized.

Leko-Inarkiev saw a new idea in the 5.Bf4 Queen's Gambit Declined, one of Black's main weapons at top level these days. Black refrained from trading the light-squared bishops, which makes so much sense in this pawn structure. His idea became clear quickly: pushing ...e5 could not be prevented.

It's a concept that might be tried more often, because it was only a few moves later that Black erred. Leko got an advantage and maybe could have won Black's d-pawn somewhere.

Ding Liren played quiet 7.b3 line of the the Fianchetto Grünfeld, and Gelfand's response was very principled: putting pressure on d4 before White's bishop had arrived on b2. It looks like a good way to equalize quickly; in the game there was a massive trade of pieces that led to a level endgame.

2014 Petrosian Memorial | Round 6 Standings

#	Name	Rtg	Perf	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pts	SB
1	Grischuk,Alexander	2795	3017			½	½	1	1	1	1	5.0/6
2	Kramnik,Vladimir	2760	2858			½	½	½	½	1	1	4.0/6
3	Ding,Liren	2730	2755	½	½		½	½	½	½		3.0/6	9.75
4	Aronian,Levon	2797	2750	½	½	½		½	½		½	3.0/6	9.50
5	Gelfand,Boris	2759	2749	0	½	½	½			½	1	3.0/6	7.50
6	Leko,Peter	2731	2691	0	½	½	½			½	½	2.5/6
7	Inarkiev,Ernesto	2688	2630	0	0	½		½	½		½	2.0/6
8	Morozevich,Alexander	2724	2656	0	0		½	0	½	½		1.5/6

2014 Petrosian Memorial | Pairings & Results

The Petrosian Memorial is held 3-11 November in Moscow. The prize fund is € 100,000 sponsored by Tashir Group.| Games via TWIC