Tal Memorial 2012 / Round 1
by National Life Master Loal Davis
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Hard fights right down the line – virtually all games. Out of five games there were four decisive results. Even the single draw was (at least in the beginning) a hard fight with a likely win for Kramnik playing Black. If my analysis/variation is correct, Black could have brought home the point.
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Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik |
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For the four decisive games (annotated), please see Comments.
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One Response to Tal Memorial 2012 / Round 1
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[Event "Tal Memorial 2012"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2012.06.08"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2738"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Qe2 Nge7 8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O-O f5 10. exf5 Bxf5 11. h3 Bd7 12. Qd2 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Kh8 14. Bd3 Qe8 15. f4 Qf7 16. Rhf1 Rae8 17. Qd2 Nb4 18. Be4 Bc6 19. Rde1 Bxe4 20. Nxe4 Qc4 21. a3 Nbc6 22. Qc3 Qd5 23. Nbd2 Nf5 24. g4 Nfd4 25. Qd3 b5 26. Kb1 b4 27. a4 h6 28. Nb3 Re7 {With this slip, Black gets tied into knots with the pin against his knight on d4.} 29. Ned2 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 g5 31. f5 {Re4 is coming and the black Knight falls.} 1-0
[Event "Tal Memorial 2012"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2012.06.08"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2825"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8.
d3 O-O 9. Be3 f5 10. Rc1 Kh8 11. a3 Bf6 12. Bc5 Re8 13. b4 Be6 14. Re1 Qd7 15.
e4 a6 16. Bh3 g6 17. Be3 Qg7 18. Ng5 Bg8 19. Nf3 f4 20. Bxb6 cxb6 21. Nd5 g5
22. Bd7 Re6 23. Bxe6 Bxe6 24. Nxf6 Qxf6 25. Rxc6 {Beautiful. White gives back
the exchange to eliminate the e5 Pawn.} bxc6 26. Qa1 a5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Nxe5 axb4 29. axb4 c5 30. bxc5 bxc5 31. gxf4 gxf4 32. Kg2 Ra3 33. Kf3 c4 34. Kxf4 cxd3 35. Rd1 Ra2 36. Nxd3 Bc4 37. f3 Rxh2 38. Ne5 Ba2 39. Rd7 Rh6 40. Nf7+ Bxf7 41. Rxf7 {At this level this position is an absolute win for White. Nakamura plays it out to the bitter end.} Kg8 42. Rf5 Rh1 43. e5 h5 44. Rg5+ Kf8 45. Kf5 h4 46. Rh5 Kg7 47. f4 h3 48. Ke6 Kg6 49. Rg5+ Kh6 50. Kf5 Rh2 51. Rg8 Rh1 52. e6 h2 53. Rg2 1-0
[Event "Tal Memorial 2012"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2012.06.08"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C81"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 Na5 11. c3 Nxb3 12. axb3 O-O 13. Nd4 Qe8 14. f3 Nc5 15. b4 Nb7 16. Be3 Bd7 17. Na3 c6 18. Nac2 a5 19. f4 Qc8 20. h3 Re8 21. Bf2 Bf8 22. Qf3 Ra6 23. Ne3 Qa8 24. Ndc2 Qd8 25. bxa5 Nc5 26. b4 Ne4 27. Rd3 f6 28. Bh4 g5 29. fxg5 fxg5 30. Bg3 Bg7 31. Bh2 Rf8 32. Qe2 Rf2 33. Qe1 g4 34. Rd4 Rf8 35. Rad1 Qe8 36. Nxg4 Bf5 {This can’t be right.} (36… Bxg4 37. hxg4 Bxe5) 37. Nce3 Bg6 38. Nf1 {This retreat doesn’t seem necessary.} (38. c4 bxc4 (38… dxc4 39. Nxc4 bxc4 40. Rxe4 Bxe4 41. Qxe4) 39. b5 cxb5 40. Nxd5 {White’s powerful center appears to be winning.}) 38… h5 39. Nge3 Ra7 (39… Bxe5) 40. Ng3 (40. c4 {again appears the way to go.}) 40… Bxe5 41. Nxe4 Bxd4 42. cxd4 Qxe4 43. Be5 {This Bishop proves a tough piece for the remainder of the game. Maybe Black should strive to execute a counter exchange sacrifice to get rid of it.} Kh7 44. Rc1 Raf7 (44… Be8) 45. Kh2 Rf2 46. Rxc6 R8f3 47. Rc7+ Bf7 48. Kh1 (48. a6 {looks like a hard Pawn to stop.}) 48… Rf1+ 49. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 50. Nxf1 Kg6 51. Rc6+ Kh7 52. Ng3 Qb1+ 53. Kh2 h4 54. Ne2 Qxb4 55. Rc7 Kg8 56. a6 { A tough but well played fight.} 1-0
[Event "Tal Memorial 2012"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2012.06.08"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "McShane, Luke J"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2761"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. e3 a6 8. d4
Ba7 9. h3 Rb8 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. b3 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 b5 13. Qe2 bxc4 14. Qxc4 {
Black labors with three Pawn islands and difficulty in harmonizing the
development of his remaining forces.} a5 15. Bb2 Bd7 16. Rac1 Bc5 17. Rfd1 Re8 18. Na4 Bxa4 19. Qxa4 Bb6 20. Bc6 {White’s Bishops rake the board.} Re7 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Qg4+ Kh8 23. Rc4 Re5 24. Rd5 Qe7 25. Qf3 Rg8 26. Kg2 Rg6 27. b4 axb4 28. Rxb4 Kg7 29. a4 Qe6 30. h4 f5 31. Rf4 Rf6 32. Kh2 h6 33. h5 Kf8 34. Kg2 Kg7 35. Kh2 Kf8 36. Kg2 Kg7 37. Qd1 Kf8 38. Kf1 Qc8 39. Qd3 Kg7 40. Kg2 Rxd5 41. Bxd5 Qe8 42. Rxf5 Rxf5 43. Qxf5 Qe7 44. Bb3 Qf6 45. Qd5 c5 46. Bc4 Ba5 47. f4 Qe7 48. Kf2 Bc3 49. Ke2 Bb4 50. g4 Qd7 51. Kd3 Qe7 52. g5 hxg5 53. fxg5 Be1 54. g6 fxg6 55. Qg8+ Kf6 56. Qxg6+ Ke5 57. h6 {Grischuk is playing this very well.} d5 58. Qg7+ Qf6 59. Bxd5 Bh4 60. Kc4 Kd6 61. Qxf6+ Bxf6 {Opposite colored Bishops, but too many passed Pawns to watch.} 62. a5 Kc7 63. h7 1-0