Tal Memorial R3: Three black wins and a 'ridiculous' game

Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin are sharing the lead after three rounds at the Tal Memorial in Moscow, Russia. On Friday three games were won by Black (Gelfand-Karjakin 0-1, Nakamura-Svidler 0-1 and Ivanchuk-Aronian 0-1) while the most spectacular game (or 'ridiculous', as a young and talented top GM wrote us) between Kramnik and Carlsen ended in a draw.

What a round! It felt like the Tal Memorial finally started on Friday, with five great games and bloody fights at the highest level. Well, perhaps except from what the world's number one rated player was showing.

Carlsen wasn't satisfied with his play in the opening against Vladimir Kramnik, and indeed it looked very strange. Manoeuvres like Nb8-c6-b8 and Bc8-d7-e6-d7-c8 before move 20 are hard to explain, and provoked our editor GM Anish Giri to use the word 'ririculous' (probably partly tongue-in-cheek).

Carlsen: a bit too creative in the opening!?

What followed, however, was a fantastic, razor-sharp fight with sacrifices and countersacrifices.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2826"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

{Only a few hours after this game finished, Anish Giri sent us an analysis for
his column in our PDF & PGN magazine 'ChessVibes Training' (see ChessVibes.com/
training). We can reveal the first sentence of his intro: 'I can hardly recall
a more ridiculous game than this one being played on such a high level.' :-)}
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 h6 {A useful waiting move.} 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e4 Nc6 6.
Nge2 Bc5 7. d3 d6 $146 8. h3 Nh7 $5 ({After} 8... O-O 9. O-O {White gets easy
play with Kh2 and f2-f4, as pointed out by Carlsen, e.g.} Nh7 10. a3 a6 11. b4
Ba7 12. Kh2 f5 13. f4) 9. a3 a6 10. O-O Ng5 11. Kh2 Ne6 {Black has lost a lot
of time but his pieces do control the d4 square quite well.} 12. f4 {"Here I
just couldn't find a decent move for Black." (Carlsen)} Bd7 ({Better was} 12...
Ba7 13. b4 Ned4 {as the players agreed after the game.}) 13. b4 Ba7 14. Nd5
Ned4 15. Nec3 Be6 (15... h5 $5) (15... exf4 $5) ({Carlsen was thinking about}
15... O-O {"but then I might mate you by force with} 16. fxe5 Nxe5 17. Qh5 {"
(Kamnik)}) 16. f5 {Otherwise Carlsen would have played 16...f6 "and I can
survive, at least for a while."} Bd7 17. Rb1 (17. Qh5 Nb3) 17... Nb8 {This is
not a game that one can explain to a novice.} ({After} 17... f6 {Carlsen was
worried about} 18. Nxf6+ $1 ({even stronger than} 18. b5 Ne7 19. Nxf6+ gxf6 20.
Qh5+) 18... gxf6 (18... Qxf6 19. Nd5 Qf7 20. Nxc7+ Ke7 21. f6+ gxf6 22. b5) 19.
Qh5+ Kf8 20. Bxh6+ Rxh6 21. Qxh6+ Kf7 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Nd5 Be8 24. Nxc7 $18)
18. c5 (18. f6 $5 g6 19. Ne7 $5 c6 20. c5) 18... dxc5 19. bxc5 (19. Qh5 $5)
19... Bc8 {The concept of development sees a whole different interpretation in
this game.} ({Kramnik expected} 19... Bxc5 20. Rxb7 Bd6 21. Qg4 Kf8) 20. Qh5 ({
According to Giri} 20. Qg4 $1 {was 'just crushing' and he supported it with
convincing lines.}) 20... Nd7 21. Na4 (21. Bg5 Qxg5 22. Nxc7+ Kd8 {was very
interesting too e.g.} 23. Qxf7 Kxc7 24. Nd5+ Kb8 25. f6) 21... c6 (21... Nf6
22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. Be3) 22. Ndb6 ({Kramnik thought he should have played} 22.
Ne3 {but Carlsen planned} Nxc5 23. f6 g5 24. Nxc5 Bxc5 25. Nc4 Qc7) 22... Nxc5
23. f6 g5 ({Kramnik showed that after} 23... gxf6 24. Bg5 $1 {is killing.}) 24.
Bxg5 (24. Nxc8 $1 {Giri} Qxc8 25. Nxc5 Bxc5 26. h4 {Carlsen}) 24... Nxa4 25.
Nxa8 (25. Nxa4 b5 26. Nc3 Qd6 27. Bxh6 Be6) 25... b5 26. Be3 (26. Bxh6 Be6 (
26... Ne6) 27. Qxe5) 26... Bb8 ({After} 26... Qd6 27. g4 {"look very
dangerous" (Kramnik).}) 27. g4 ({Kramnik wasn't sure about this;} 27. Rbc1 Bb7
28. Qg4 {was an alternative.}) 27... Rg8 28. Qxh6 Be6 29. Rbc1 ({The
prophylactic} 29. Kh1 {gives Black time for} c5 30. Bxd4 Qxd4 31. Qh7 Rf8 32.
g5) 29... Kd7 $1 {The king tries to find a safe spot on the queenside and
while doing that it might eat a white knight.} 30. Bxd4 $1 exd4+ 31. e5 Nc3 (
31... Bxe5+ 32. Kh1 Qxa8 33. Rfe1 {is too dangerous for Black.}) 32. Rxc3 {
What a game!} (32. Qf4 $6 Ba7 33. g5 Qxa8 34. h4 {won't work for White,
according to both players.}) 32... Bxe5+ 33. Kh1 dxc3 34. Qe3 Qb8 (34... Bb8 $2
35. Qc5 {wins on the spot.}) 35. Qc5 $2 ({Kramnik: "I was thinking about} 35.
d4 {just to confuse you."} Bd6 36. d5 $1 cxd5 37. Nb6+ Kd8 (37... Kc6 38. Nxd5
Bxd5 39. Qxc3+) 38. Nxd5 Bxd5 39. Bxd5 Qc7 {is kind of equal according to the
players.}) 35... Qd6 36. Qa7+ Kd8 {White is suddenly in trouble again as there
is no way he can use his knight in the attack.} (36... Ke8 37. Qxa6 (37. Nb6 $5
) 37... Kf8 38. Nb6 {Kramnik} Qd8 $1 {followed by 39...Bb8 Houdini}) 37. Qxa6
Bd4 (37... Bd5 38. Nb6 Bxg2+ 39. Kxg2 {was Kramnik's idea.}) 38. Qa5+ Kc8 39.
Qa6+ Kd8 $2 ({After} 39... Kb8 40. Nb6 {Giri suspected that Magnus missed} Bc8
$1 {which was confirmed by a tweet from Carlsen: 'Draw vs Kramnik in another
insanely complicated game today. Didn't see Bc8 at the end, would have played
on if I had.'} (40... Qc5 $2 41. Qa8+ Kc7 42. Qa7+ {will mate}) 41. Nxc8 Rxc8
42. a4 b4 43. Qc4 Qc5 $19 {Giri}) 40. Qa5+ Kc8 41. Qa6+ {[This game contained
only a fraction of Anish Giri's full analysis for CVT.]} 1/2-1/2

Carlsen and Kramnik agree to a draw...

...and enjoy the game a bit longer in the live post-mortem, with Ilya Levitov as host

At this level just about every round will have at least one 'grandmaster draw' like the following.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D97"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2730"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 a6 8. Be2
b5 9. Qb3 Nc6 (9... c5 10. dxc5 Be6 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Be3 Rc8 13. Rd1 b4 14. Nd5
Bxd5 15. exd5 Nxc5 16. O-O Qd6 17. Rc1 Qb8 18. Bxc5 Nd7 19. Bxa6 Rxc5 20. Qd2
Qd6 21. Rxc5 Nxc5 22. Bc4 Na4 23. Bb3 Nc5 24. Bc4 Na4 25. Bb3 {1/2-1/2 (25)
Onischuk,A (2669)-Caruana,F (2712)/Poikovsky 2011}) 10. e5 Be6 11. Qd1 (11.
exf6 Bxb3 12. fxg7 Kxg7 13. axb3 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxd4 15. O-O) 11... Nd5 12. O-O
Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bd5 $146 (13... Na5 14. Ng5 Bd5 15. Bd3 c5 16. f4 cxd4 17. cxd4
e6 18. Ne4 Nc6 19. Be3 Nb4 20. Bb1 Bxe4 21. Bxe4 Nd5 22. Qf3 Rc8 {Ruschukov,B
(1962)-Filev,G (2370)/Sofia 2010}) 14. Be3 Na5 15. Nd2 c5 16. Bf3 cxd4 17. cxd4
Nc4 {Nepomniachtchi also considered two rook moves:} (17... Rc8 18. Ne4 Nc4 {
and here} 19. Nc5 {is not good because of} Bxe5 $1 20. dxe5 Nxe3 21. fxe3 {and
now first} Bxf3 $1 {e.g.} (21... Rxc5 22. Qd4) 22. Qd4 Ba8) (17... Ra7 18. Ne4
Qa8 19. Nc5 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Qxf3 21. gxf3 Nc4 22. Rfc1 {is about equal.}) 18.
Nxc4 bxc4 19. Rc1 e6 20. Qa4 (20. Be2 $5 Qh4 21. Qa4) 20... Bxf3 (20... Rc8 $5
21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxa6 Rc6) 21. gxf3 Qd5 22. Rxc4 Qxf3 23. Rfc1 (23. Qc6 Qg4+
24. Qg2 Qe2 25. Rfc1 Qxa2 {is risky, and now the trick} 26. Qxa8 $2 Rxa8 27.
Rc8+ Rxc8 28. Rxc8+ Bf8 29. Bh6 {fails to} Qb1+ 30. Kg2 Qb7+) 23... Qg4+ 24.
Kh1 (24. Kf1 Qh3+) 24... Qe4+ 25. Kg1 Qg4+ 26. Kh1 Qe4+ 27. Kg1 1/2-1/2

Hikaru Nakamura seemed to be getting an advantage against Peter Svidler's Grünfeld, but somehow everything in the game, all the tactics, worked in Black's favour. It did show once again Svidler's fantastic feel for this opening.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D86"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2755"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.
Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Bd7 12. Rb1 Qc7 {A line recommended by
Boris Avrukh.} 13. Bd3 Rfd8 $146 (13... Rad8 14. Qd2 Bc8 15. Rfc1 Qd6 16. d5
Ne5 17. c4 b6 {Cvitan,O (2507)-Bosiocic,M (2593)/Sibenik 2011}) 14. Qd2 a6 (
14... e6 15. Rfc1 Be8 16. Bg5 Rd7 17. Bb5 a6 18. Bxc6 Qxc6 19. Qe3 {Svidler}) (
{The classic approach with} 14... cxd4 15. cxd4 Qa5 16. Qxa5 Nxa5 {give White
the better game:} 17. Rfc1 Rac8 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 (18... Bxc8 19. d5) 19. Bd2 {
(Svidler)}) 15. f4 e6 16. dxc5 (16. f5 exf5 17. exf5 cxd4 18. cxd4 Qa5 {Svidler
}) 16... Na5 17. Nd4 (17. Bd4 Bb5 (17... Bf8 18. Kh1 Bxc5 19. f5) 18. Bxb5 axb5
19. Rxb5 e5 20. fxe5 Nc4 {Svidler} 21. Qf4 $5) 17... e5 18. fxe5 Qxe5 19. Qb2 (
19. c4 Be8 20. Qxa5 Rxd4 {Svidler}) (19. Qf2 $5 {might give White an edge.})
19... Rac8 20. Qb4 (20. Qb6 Qxc5 (20... Qc7) 21. Nf5 Qxb6 22. Ne7+ Kf8 23. Bxb6
Kxe7 24. Bxa5 b5 $1 25. Bxd8+ Rxd8 {Svidler}) 20... Qxc5 $1 {This just works.}
(20... Qc7 21. Rxf7 Kxf7 22. Bc4+ Nxc4 (22... Ke8 23. Rf1) 23. Qxc4+ Ke7 24.
Bg5+ Bf6 25. Bxf6+ Kxf6 26. Rf1+ Kg7 27. Qf7+ Kh8 $11 {Svidler}) 21. Qxc5 Rxc5
22. Ne2 Rc6 23. Bb6 Rxb6 $1 {The logical follow-up.} 24. Rxb6 Bc6 {Black has
enough compensation and in fact it's easier to play than for White.} 25. Rf3 (
25. Nf4 Bh6 26. Bb1 Nc4 27. Rb4 b5 {with domination (Svidler)}) 25... f5 26.
Rb4 (26. Ng3 Bxc3 27. Rb1 Be5 28. Re1 f4 29. Ne2 g5 {Svidler}) 26... Bf8 27.
Rd4 (27. Ng3 Bxb4 28. cxb4 fxe4 29. Nxe4 Rd4 $11 {Svidler}) 27... Bc5 28. Re3
$6 (28. Rf4 {might still hold.}) 28... Re8 $1 {Increasing the pressure - Black
is better now.} 29. e5 Bd5 $1 30. Kf2 $6 (30. a4 Nc6 31. Kf1 {was perhaps a
better chance.}) 30... Bxa2 $1 {Again the tactics work for Black.} 31. Ra4
Bxe3+ 32. Kxe3 Rxe5+ 33. Kf4 Bb3 $1 {That's it - White is lost.} 34. Kxe5 Bxa4
35. Kd6 Bc6 36. g3 Kg7 37. Nd4 Be4 38. Bxe4 fxe4 39. Nc2 Nc4+ 40. Kd5 Nd2 41.
Kc5 Kf6 42. Kb6 Ke5 43. Kxb7 Kd5 44. Ne3+ Kc5 45. Kxa6 Nb1 46. Kb7 Nxc3 47. Kc8
Kd4 48. Ng2 Ke5 0-1

Nakamura, unlucky to see all the tactics work for Black

Svidler showing his game to the Russian journalists and online spectators

A few years ago Levon Aronian said that he plays the Berlin Wall if he likes to play for a win. Against Vassily Ivanchuk, his 11...Bd7 (deviating from a recent draw between Anand and Nakamura) was in the same spirit and later the Armenian managed to provoke his opponent to weaken his pawns in the center.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bf4 Bd7 $146 (11... Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13.
Ng5 Rh6 14. g3 Bxg5 15. Bxg5 Rg6 16. h4 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bf4 Nxh4 19. f3
Rd8 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Kf2 Nf5 22. Rh1 Ng7 23. Bd2 Bf5 24. Nd1 Bxc2 25. Ne3 Bd3
26. Ng2 Ne6 27. Rxh5 Rg7 28. Bc3 Ke7 29. Rh6 Rf7 30. g4 Bb1 31. a3 f5 32. g5
Nxg5 33. Nf4 Ke8 34. Rg6 Nh7 35. Rg8+ Rf8 36. Rg7 Rf7 {1/2-1/2 Anand,V (2817)
-Nakamura,H (2753)/Sao Paulo/Bilbao 2011}) 12. Rad1 Rd8 13. b3 Be7 14. Rfe1 Bb4
15. Bd2 Bc8 16. Ne2 Bxd2 17. Nxd2 Ne7 18. Nc4 Nd5 19. a3 Ke7 20. f3 h4 21. Kf2
Rh5 22. Rd2 Re8 23. Nd4 Kf8 24. a4 a6 25. a5 Nb4 26. Ne2 Nd5 27. Nd4 Ne7 28.
Re4 Rh6 29. f4 Nd5 30. Kf3 Rg6 31. f5 Rh6 32. Re1 c5 (32... Rh5 $5) 33. Ne2 Ne7
34. Nf4 (34. f6 $5 gxf6 35. Nf4) 34... Nxf5 35. c3 Ne7 36. Red1 Ng6 37. Nd3 $6
(37. Rd5) 37... Be6 38. Re1 Rh5 39. Kf2 Rf5+ 40. Kg1 Bxc4 41. bxc4 Nxe5 42.
Rde2 f6 43. Re4 b6 44. axb6 cxb6 45. Rxh4 Ng6 46. Rhe4 Rxe4 47. Rxe4 Kf7 48.
Re2 Ne5 49. g4 Rf3 50. Nxe5+ fxe5 51. Kg2 Rxc3 52. Rf2+ Kg6 53. Rb2 a5 54.
Rxb6+ Kg5 55. Rb5 a4 56. Rxc5 Kf4 57. Ra5 a3 0-1

Aronian, one of the leaders after a good win against Ivanchuk

The longest game of the round was the following. The phase between moves 30 and 40 was critical: Gelfand overplayed his hand while Karjakin responded with impressive accuracy.

[Event "6th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2011.11.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2744"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 a5 11. Nc3 Na6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Nd5 14. Rad1 Nxf4+
15. gxf4 Bd6 16. Rd3 $146 (16. e3 Qh4 17. Qe2 Bxe5 18. fxe5 f6 19. exf6 Rxf6
20. f4 Nb4 21. Kh1 Rg6 22. Rg1 Rxg1+ 23. Rxg1 Qe7 24. Rg5 {Caruana,F (2712)
-Karjakin,S (2772)/Poikovsky 2011}) 16... Qe8 17. Rf3 Nb4 18. Nb5 f6 19. Nd3
Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Rd8 21. Rh3 f5 22. e3 Qc6+ 23. Kg1 Bb4 24. Rg3 Qd7 25. Qb3 c6 26.
Nc3 b5 27. Rc1 Rb8 28. axb5 cxb5 29. d5 Rfe8 30. dxe6 Qxe6 31. Nd5 $6 (31.
Qxe6+ Rxe6 32. Ne2 Ree8 33. Nd4 Rbc8 $11) 31... Kh8 32. Rc7 $6 (32. e4 $1 Qxe4
33. Re3 Qd4 34. Rd3 Qa7 35. Nxb4 axb4 36. Qd5) 32... Rbd8 33. e4 Bf8 $1 34. Qc3
b4 35. Qd4 Rd7 36. Qa7 Rxc7 37. Nxc7 Qf7 38. Qxa5 Rc8 39. Nd5 fxe4 40. Ne3 Qxf4
$17 41. Qd5 Bd6 42. Qb7 Qf8 43. Rh3 Re8 44. Rh5 Qf3 45. Rg5 Rg8 46. Qc6 Qf4 47.
Rg2 Be5 48. Qc4 Rb8 49. b3 h6 50. Rg3 Rf8 51. Rg2 Ra8 52. Qc6 Ra1+ 53. Nf1 Qf5
54. Qb6 Rd1 (54... Bxh2+ $1 55. Kxh2 Qh5+ 56. Kg1 (56. Kg3 Qe5+ $1) 56... Rxf1+
57. Kxf1 Qd1#) 55. Qa6 Bd4 56. Qe2 Rd3 57. Rg3 Rc3 58. Qd2 Be5 59. Ne3 Qe6 0-1

Strong defence from Karjakin refuted Gelfand's moves

Schedule and pairings

Macauley Peterson sent us this photo from yesterday's meeting between Sergey Karjakin and Sergey Karjakin. The chess player gave a chess set to the pentathlon athlete, who gave an épée to the chess player.