Lev Aronian Takes The Tal Memorial Lead
At last! A flash of sacrificial endgame brilliance from Lev Aronian led to a win against Peter Svidler, and gave him the sole lead going into the final round of the Tal Memorial.
Aronian sacrificed his knight for two pawns, eventually winning another, and his passed pawns were unstoppable.
All the other games in round eight were drawn, leaving Aronian with a half-point advantage over his nearest rivals, Carlsen, Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi and Ivanchuk.
Chess.com will have live coverage of the final round at www.chess.com/tv
Lev Aronian leads the Tal Memorial, and is currently #2 in the live rankings
Magnus Carlsen (left) couldn't beat the tournament's surprise package, Ian Nepomniachtchi
Vishy Anand (left) drew with Hikaru Nakamura - his eighth straight draw
Vladimir Kramnik (left) drew with Sergey Karjakin
The standings before the final round:
| Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2802 | 5 |
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2826 | 4½ |
| Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2763 | 4½ |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2775 | 4½ |
| Nepomniachtchi, Ian | RUS | 2730 | 4½ |
| Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2811 | 4 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2755 | 3½ |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2800 | 3½ |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2758 | 3 |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2744 | 3 |
The pairings for the final round tomorrow (25 November):
| Hikaru Nakamura |
v | Magnus Carlsen |
| Boris Gelfand |
v | Vishy Anand |
| Sergey Karjakin |
v | Vassily Ivanchuk |
| Peter Svidler |
v | Vladimir Kramnik |
| Nepomniachtchi |
v | Levon Aronian |
In the case of tied scores, the following tie-break methods are used:
- Number of games with black
- Result of direct encounter
- Koya system
- Sonnenborn-Berger
- Number of wins
The final round starts at 13:00 local time (09:00 UTC). Chess.com/tv will have live coverage starting at 14 local, 10 UTC, 5 EST, 2 Pacific.
The time control is 40 moves in 100 minutes, followed by 20 moves in 50 minutes, then 15 minutes to finish, with a 30 second increment from the start of the game. The total prize fund is €100,000 with the winner receiving €30,000.
The official site (in Russian). Pictures from Chess-News.ru.
