Tal Memorial Rd6 – Moro loses to Nakamura, Kramnik joins lead

by ChessBase
6/14/2012 – It was perhaps not the highest level chess, but as far as drama and excitement go, spectators were on the edges of their seats. Morozevich set up a violent attack against Nakamura, but as time trouble came, Nakamura found inspired moves and turned the tables for his first win. Caruana beat McShane and Kramnik exchanged blunders with Tomashevsky to win. Report with GM commentary.

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Seventh Tal Memorial in Moscow

The event is a ten-player round robin event, is taking place from June 8th to 18th in the Pashkov House (Vozdvizhenka Street 3/5, p.1), Moscow, Russia. Rest days are June 11 and 15. Time control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Games start at 15:00h local time (last round 13:00h). Draw offers are not allowed until after the first time control. The participants are required to comment on their games in the press center after each round. The prize fund is 100,000 Euros.

Round 6: Thursday, June 14, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Luke McShane
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0
Ev. Tomashevsky
Alex. Morozevich
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
½-½
Teimour Radjabov

Round six

It was a tumultuous round with dramatic results on several boards, though not all, and shifts in the leaderboard.

Magnus Carlsen tried to keep his quest for gold alive, but faced an equally resolved Levon Aronian who refused to be the tournament sob story in spite of his two losses. He held his ground and after a long struggle they shook hands.
Teimour Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk also squared off in a protracted fight, but neither was able to create any momentum, and the draw came as no surprise.


Hikaru Nakamura was not content to hold off Morozevich, and kept his own chances live

The first dramatic result was the incredibly hard fought game between the leader Alexander Morozevich and Hikaru Nakamura. Unsurprisingly, Morozevich played his risky brand of chess to create chances against the American’s king, and seemed to be getting just that. As time trouble appeared on the horizon for both players, Nakamura managed to cutoff White’s pieces from his king, and proceeded to setup his own counter chances. A slip by the Russian suddenly left him wide open to Hikaru’s clever optimism, and a few blows later, it was over. Morozevich was unconsolable in the post-game conference.

Annotated game by GM Romain Edouard

Fabiano Caruana has definitely turned a leaf in the event, and followed up his victory over Evgeny Tomashevsky, with another over McShane. Despite having a colossal advantage on the queenside, that seemed to virtually guarantee victory, the Brit showed incredible resourcefulness and seemed very close to saving the game. Fabiano held on and moved to the top half of the crosstable with 3.5/6.


Caruana has shrugged off his first round loss and now has a plus score

The final game of the day seemed like a work of brilliance on both sides, and tragedy, also on both sides, but ultimately ended as it had promised. Vladimir Kramnik imposed his play on Evgeny Tomashevsky, and entered an endgame with a clear pawn up. With precise play, he reached a completely winning position and was offered a choice of two clear winning shots. Instead he went for a third, and then things became murky. Tomashevsky began to fight back like it was his last day on earth, and after an absolutely epic defensive job, could finally see the draw on the horizon.


Evgeny Tomashevsky nearly pulled off a heroic save...


... but Vladimir Kramnik was not to be denied.

Perhaps this is what caused his tragic blunder, and suddenly Vladimir was winning again, and this time he made no mistakes. This win pushed him to the top with Morozevich at 4.0/6, and no less interestingly, at a temporary rating of 2811, just two points shy of overtaking Aronian as world number two. Considering he has played some of the strongest and most consistent chess so far, missing a few chances perhaps, but never having to save a sinking ship, it is fully deserved.  

Complete round six games

Pictures by Eteri Kublashvili

Standings after six rounds

Video stream of the round

Once again the Russian organisers are providing unprecedented coverage,
with HD video stream of the action and commentary by grandmasters.
In addition there is excellent commentary by GM Ian Rogers from Sydney.

Tal Memorial 2012 Round five Play of the Day by Daniel King: Morozevich - Nakamura

Schedule and Results

Round 1: Friday, June 8, 2012
Alex. Morozevich
1-0
Fabiano Caruana
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik 
Alexander Grischuk
1-0
Luke McShane
Teimour Radjabov
1-0
Ev. Tomashevsky
Levon Aronian
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
Round 2: Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
Ev. Tomashevsky
½-½
Levon Aronian
Luke McShane
0-1
Teimour Radjabov
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0
Alexander Grischuk
Alex. Morozevich
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Round 3: Sunday, June 10, 2012
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
Alexander Grischuk
0-1
Alex. Morozevich
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian
0-1
Luke McShane
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Ev. Tomashevsky
Round 4: Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Ev. Tomashevsky
Luke McShane
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Levon Aronian
Alex. Morozevich
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Alexander Grischuk
Round 5: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Alexander Grischuk
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
Teimour Radjabov
0-1
Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian
0-1
Alex. Morozevich
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Ev. Tomashevsky
½-½
Luke McShane
Round 6: Thursday, June 14, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Luke McShane
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0
Ev. Tomashevsky
Alex. Morozevich
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Round 7: Saturday, June 16, 2012
Teimour Radjabov
  Fabiano Caruana
Levon Aronian
  Alexander Grischuk
Hikaru Nakamura
  Magnus Carlsen
Ev. Tomashevsky
  Alex. Morozevich
Luke McShane
  Vladimir Kramnik
Round 8: Sunday, June 17, 2012
Fabiano Caruana
  Vladimir Kramnik
Alex. Morozevich
  Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen
  Ev. Tomashevsky
Alexander Grischuk
  Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
  Levon Aronian
Round 9: Monday, June 18, 2012
Levon Aronian
  Fabiano Caruana
Hikaru Nakamura
  Teimour Radjabov
Ev. Tomashevsky
  Alexander Grischuk
Luke McShane
  Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik
  Alex. Morozevich

Playchess live commentary plan for the Tal Memorial 2012

15.06.2012 Free Day  
16.06.2012 Round 7 Lawrence Trent
17.06.2012 Round 8 Daniel King
18.06.2012 Round 9 Yasser Seirawan

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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