[Event "7th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.06.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "McShane, Luke J"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "Berlin defence, open variation"]
[Annotator "Mark Crowther"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5
8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Bf4 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Nc3 Bxd4 14.
Nd5 d6 15. Bg5 Bf6 16. Nxf6+ Nxf6 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Qe4 (18. Bd3 f5 19. Qe3 Be6
20. Qf3 c6 21. Bxf5 Bxf5 22. Qxf5 Qe7 23. Qg4+ Kf8 24. Qd4 f6 25. g3 d5 26. Rd1
Re8 27. Qxa7 Qb4 28. Qd4 Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Re2 30. Rb4 b5 31. c3 h5 32. Kg2 Kf7 33.
Kf3 Re1 34. a4 bxa4 35. Rxa4 Ke6 36. h4 Rb1 37. Rb4 c5 38. Rb8 c4 39. Rb4 Ke5
40. Rb8 Kf5 41. Ke3 Ke5 42. Rb7 Re1+ 43. Kf3 Rb1 44. g4 hxg4+ 45. Kxg4 Rg1+ 46.
Kf3 Rh1 47. Rh7 Rb1 48. h5 Rxb2 49. h6 Rb1 50. Re7+ Kd6 51. Re8 Rh1 52. Rh8 Ke5
53. h7 Kf5 54. Rd8 Rxh7 55. Rxd5+ Ke6 56. Rc5 Rh3+ 57. Ke4 Rxc3 58. Rc6+ Kf7
59. Kd4 Rf3 60. Rxc4 Rxf2 61. Ke3 Ra2 62. Kf4 Kg6 63. Rb4 Ra1 64. Rb5 Rh1 65.
Kg4 f5+ 66. Kf4 Rf1+ 67. Kg3 Kg5 68. Rb8 Rg1+ 69. Kf3 Rf1+ {1/2-1/2 Najer,E 
(2640)-Bacrot,E (2706)/Plovdiv BUL 2012/The Week in Chess 907}) 18... f5 19.
Qe3 {Just out of his preparation Luke McShane spent one hour thinking here. He
saw two alternatives and thought "both were interesting" before settling on
this third option.} (19. Qd4 {with the eventual idea of going for a kingside
attack by trying to get the rook to g3.}) (19. Qf3 {The idea of putting the
Queen here is to prevent the bishop from developing. - McShane.}) 19... Be6 20.
Qg3+ Kf8 (20... Kh8 21. Qc3+ Kg8 22. Re1 {"and it's not exactly over." -
McShane. It seems in spite of a lousy record against Kramnik McShane didn't
entertain the repetition here.} h6 {but "black's king is very loose still." -
McShane.}) 21. Qc3 Ke7 22. Re1 Kd7 23. Bc4 Qh8 (23... Qg8 {also interesting.})
(23... Qe7 24. Qb4 {"White can exploit this pin I think." - McShane.} b6 25.
Qa4+ c6 26. Bd5 {"was one thing I saw."} b5 27. Qa6 Rc8 28. Bf3 Rc7) 24. Bxe6+
fxe6 25. Qb3 {Threatens e6 and b7.} Re8 26. Qxb7 Rb8 27. Qxa7 Qxb2 {"Now we
have another very unclear position. In general of course the big trump which
white has is the fact that the black king is still not very safe. But white
has to be very careful as well because for example if we exchange the queens
then black's central pawns are going to be much stronger than my pawns." -
McShane.} 28. Qa4+ Qb5 29. Qh4 (29. Qxb5+ Rxb5 {is of course very bad for
white.}) 29... Qa5 {"Was a surprise." - McShane. "Do you think black was
playing for a win here?" - Maxim Dlugy. "I'm not sure, I think white is not
worse in general but it's possible that Vladimir was ambitious here. Because
it can very easily go wrong for white. Just the exchange of queens is all it
takes and white could be close to losing."} (29... Qe2 30. Qxh7+ (30. f3 {was
suggested "In general I was very worried about weakening my second rank." -
McShane.} Qxc2 31. Qxh7+ Kc6 {But it's interesting of course.} 32. Qg6 Rb1 33.
Rxb1 Qxb1+ 34. Kf2 {when white has to watch out for f4+ with a discovered
attack on his queen.}) 30... Kc6 31. Rf1 Qxc2 {"This was more or less what I
expected." - McShane.} 32. h4 (32. Qg6 Rb1 (32... Qxa2 33. h4 {and maybe white
is exchanging rooks in slightly better circumstances. But it is still quite
possible black is still able to draw the game.}) 33. Qxe6 Qd3 34. Re1 {and
McShane didn't see a continuation for black.}) 32... Rb1 33. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 34. Kh2
Qxa2 {"Certainly white is in no danger because this pawn [h-pawn] is quite
fast but probably black has a draw here." - McShane.}) (29... Qe5 30. Qxh7+ (
30. Rf1 {There is no good way of defending the h7 pawn for black as he might
like to because in a heavy piece ending going passive is an error.} Rh8 31.
Qa4+ Ke7 32. Qc6 Qc5 33. Qxc5 dxc5 {when McShane thought there were chances
for white in this ending although he wasn't quite sure how serious they were.})
30... Kc6 31. Rf1 Rh8 {is an example of how white has to be careful in this
position.}) 30. Qxh7+ Kc6 31. Rc1 {"Looks a little bit surprising maybe. But I
saw that if I let [the c-pawn] go suddenly I want the rooks to be exchanged.
To improve the chances of promoting [the h-pawn]" - McShane.} (31. Rf1 Qxa2 32.
h4 Qxc2 33. h5 Qc3 {"If I lose this pawn it's going to be quite tough. I mean
black has control of this diagonal, I don't really see how I'm going to
promote the pawn."}) 31... Qxa2 32. Qh5 Qb2 33. Qd1 {"When black has taken the
a-pawn the strategy's a bit different because none of black's pawns are passed.
In practice I think white's position is easier to play regardless of the
assessment. Just because my king is so much safer and it's not clear what kind
of plan black should try." - McShane whose assessment was that the position
was "extremely unclear".} Kd7 34. g3 e5 35. c4 Ke7 36. Qe1 {In general I have
the plan to open up black's king and advance this [h] pawn. - McShane.} Rb3 (
36... f4 {"We though f4 was probably the best." - Maxim Dlugy who mentions a
plan that might be followed by f3 with some additional attacking chances on
white's king.} 37. c5 {"I'm not sure maybe Vlad was playing for a win also." -
McShane.} (37. gxf4 {is not a move white wants to make at all.} Qd4 38. fxe5 $2
Qg4+ 39. Kh1 (39. Kf1 Qh3+ 40. Ke2 Rb2+) 39... Qf3+ 40. Kg1 Rg8+)) 37. c5 d5 (
37... Ke6 {was also possible according to McShane and if black can exchange
the queens white is a bit uncomfortable.}) 38. Rd1 {"None of these pawns are
defended by each other so it's time to get the queen somewhere." - McShane.} c6
39. Qa5 Kd7 40. Qa4 {With the idea of Rxd5.} Rb5 (40... Ra3 41. Rxd5+ Kc7 42.
Rd2 {Vlad mentioned this to me. - McShane.}) 41. Qh4 Rxc5 $6 {"I expected to
be maybe taking a perpetual. We were both a bit surprised that black is in
some trouble here." - McShane.} (41... Qc2 {"and black probably equalises." -
Maxim Dlugy on the analysis in the press room that went on for some time here.
"What he played [Rxc5] doesn't. This is clearly better for white, this
position."}) 42. Qh7+ Kd6 43. Qg6+ {An important finesse.} (43. Qxf5 Rc1 44.
Rxc1 Qxc1+ 45. Kg2 d4 {and black is doing much better than in the game.}) 43...
Kc7 44. Qxf5 e4 45. h4 Rc3 46. Qe5+ Kb7 47. h5 Rb3 {"I was very surprised by
Rb3 I expected Rc2." - McShane.} (47... Rc2 48. Qf4) 48. Qe7+ (48. Qxb2 Rxb2 {
"I saw that white had decent chances but the problem here is that it's
completely obvious what black should do. In general it's much more comfortable
for white with the Queens on." - McShane. "We think it's a winning endgame,
just barely." - Maxim Dlugy.} 49. h6 Kc7 50. g4 Rb8 51. Kg2 Kd6 52. Kg3 Ke5 {
"It's very complicated." - McShane.}) 48... Kb6 49. Qd8+ Kb7 50. Qd7+ Kb6 51.
Qd8+ Kb7 {"Then I couldn't figure out what to do for some time." - McShane.}
52. Qe7+ Kb6 53. Qe8 {This was one of two ideas Luke looked at.} (53. Qd6) (53.
h6 {"h6? You weren't thinking about h6?" - Dlugy. "Actually no" - McShane. "We
were only thinking about h6." - Dlugy.} Rf3 54. Rf1 e3 55. h7 {and finish. "Ah,
that's a bit strange because I was more or less aiming for this position in
the game but...." - McShane. "The thing is black has got no threats." - Dlugy.
"The thing is I saw it in a different position." - McShane.}) 53... Kb7 54. h6
Rf3 55. Qe7+ Ka6 56. Qc5 Kb7 57. Qe7+ Ka6 {Prevents a straightforward win at
least.} (57... Kb6 58. Rf1 e3 59. h7 {was where McShane saw the winning idea
in the last line.} Rxf2 60. Qxe3+) 58. Qc5 Kb7 59. Rc1 {"Was a bad move I
guess." - McShane. "Doesn't give away the whole house." - Dlugy.} (59. h7 {
Dlugy and the audience as they let McShane know the bad news.} e3 60. h8=Q Qxh8
61. Rb1+ Kc7 62. Qe7+ Kc8 63. Qb7+ Kd8 64. Qb8+ {But McShane wasn't looking
for this idea.}) 59... Rf6 60. h7 Rh6 61. Kg2 $2 {"A bad mistake" - Dlugy.
"Once I had some time to think of course. I realised I blundered." - McShane.}
(61. Qe7+ Kb6 62. Qd8+ Kb7 63. Qd7+ Kb6 64. Rxc6+ {"Like I did in the game." -
McShane.} Rxc6 65. Qd8+ {"and then Qd8" - McShane. "Actually it's winning with
Queen on d7, with Queen on d8" - Dlugy. "It's winning in all..." - McShane.
"It's winning completely." - Dlugy.}) 61... Qb3 $2 {Played rather quickly by
Kramnik. He has the right idea but coming from the wrong direction.} (61... Qf6
$1 {and black should at least hold.} 62. Rb1+ Kc8 63. Qa3 Qf3+ 64. Qxf3 exf3+
65. Kxf3 Rxh7 66. g4 {and although McShane thought he had some chances here
the best has certainly gone.}) 62. Qe7+ (62. h8=Q $3 {It's hard to imagine a
human playing this but if you're told it wins it isn't that hard to work out
for a top GM. And a pretty amusing line too.} Qf3+ (62... Rxh8 63. Qxc6+ Ka7
64. Ra1+) 63. Kf1 Rh1+ 64. Qxh1 Qxh1+ 65. Ke2 Qf3+ 66. Ke1 Qh1+ 67. Kd2) 62...
Kb6 63. Qd8+ Kb7 64. Qd7+ Kb6 65. Rxc6+ Rxc6 66. Qd8+ (66. h8=Q Qf3+ 67. Kh2 {
"Wins on the spot." - Dlugy. "I thought I could actually lose if I played that
way." - McShane.} Qxf2+ 68. Kh3 Qf1+ 69. Kh4 Qh1+ 70. Qh3 {"It's very
difficult to play this way with your king floating in mid-air." - McShane who
said the way he played was much simpler.}) 66... Ka7 {"A good fighting move" -
McShane, who points out that later the d-pawn now doesn't drop with check as
it would on Kb7 for instance.} 67. Qd7+ Kb6 68. Qd8+ Ka7 69. h8=Q Qf3+ 70. Kh3
{"For the same reasons [as explained in an earlier exchange] I prefered Kh3"-
McShane preferred to take the Queen ending as easier to calculate here.} (70.
Kh2 Qxf2+ 71. Kh3 Qf1+ 72. Kh4 {and white will win.} (72. Kg4 Rg6+ {and black
wins. It was this kind of miscalculation that McShane was trying to avoid.}))
70... Rh6+ 71. Qxh6 Qh1+ 72. Kg4 Qxh6 73. Qxd5 {"When I decided to go for this
line where I give back the queen I'd expected to give the check. I felt that
this should be winning anyway but of course it's a little bit tricky until
this pawn has dropped off." - McShane. Ian Rogers in commentary recommended
taking this position as being the easiest way too rather than having to
calculate trying to hold on to the queen.} (73. Qa5+ Qa6 {and McShane thought
that the pawn ending is a draw, and he may be right.} 74. Qxa6+ Kxa6 75. Kf5
Kb5 76. g4 d4 $1 {At least we now know what McShane looks at when thinking,
This is a very nice move to find.} 77. Kxe4 Kc4 78. g5 d3 79. g6 d2 80. g7 d1=Q
81. g8=Q+ {and whilst white is a pawn up it's really not what white wants and
probably isn't winning.}) 73... Qf6 74. Qf5 Qd4 75. Qf4 Kb7 76. Kf5 Qd5+ 77.
Qe5 Qf7+ 78. Qf6 Qd5+ 79. Kf4 Qd2+ 80. Kxe4 Qe2+ {"Last kind of trick, make
the king take a walk." - McShane. Kramnik would probably have resigned in
other circumstances, the king will always escape checks.} 81. Kd5 Qa2+ 82. Kd6
Qa3+ 83. Ke6 Qa2+ 84. Ke7 Qe2+ 85. Kf7 Qh5+ 86. Kg7 Qg4+ 87. Qg6 Qd4+ 88. Qf6
Qg4+ 89. Kh6 Qe2 90. Kg5 Kc7 91. f4 Qf3 92. Qe5+ Kd7 93. f5 Qf1 94. f6 1-0

[Event "7th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.06.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E90"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "5.Nf3"]
[Annotator "Mark Crowther"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. g4 Na6
9. Be3 Bd7 10. Nd2 Kh8 11. Be2 Ng8 12. h4 f5 13. gxf5 gxf5 14. exf5 Nc5 15.
Nde4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Bxf5 17. Ng3 Bh6 18. Qd2 Bxe3 19. fxe3 Bd7 20. O-O-O Nf6 21.
Rdf1 Qe7 22. Bd3 b6 23. Bc2 Rf7 24. Nf5 Bxf5 25. Rxf5 Raf8 26. Qg2 Ne8 27. Rh5
e4 $6 {Not necessary, the game hasn't really gone Morozevich's way but he
tried to put some pressure on a clearly nervous Tomashevsky who nevertheless
is number 15 in the world and very strong.} 28. Rg5 Rf2 29. Qg3 R2f3 30. Qg2
Qf6 (30... Rf2 {and I don't think there is much doubt Tomashevsky would have
repeated.}) 31. Rg1 Ng7 $2 {A fairly naive attempt to create complications
from Morozevich.} (31... Rf1+ 32. Bd1 (32. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 33. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 34. Kd2 {
and the game would have been drawn.}) 32... Rxg1 33. Qxg1 Qf7) 32. Rg4 (32.
Rxg7 {isn't even a total loser.} Rf1+ 33. Rxf1 Qxf1+) 32... Rf1+ 33. Rxf1 Qxf1+
34. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 35. Kd2 Rf2+ 36. Kc3 Nf5 37. Rxe4 Kg7 38. Rg4+ Kh6 39. Bxf5 Rxf5
40. Re4 Rf7 {Time trouble is over, Morozevich looked completely uninterested
in defending this lost position and resigned the following move.} 41. b4 a4 1-0

[Event "7th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.06.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[Opening "Queen's Indian"]
[Variation "4.g3"]
[Annotator "Mark Crowther"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Ba6 7. b3 c6 8.
Nc3 d5 9. e4 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 c5 12. Bg2 Nc6 13. dxc5 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2
f5 15. Nxe6 (15. cxb6 Ke7 16. bxa7 Rhd8+ 17. Kc1 h6 18. Nh3 Nd4 19. Rd1 e5 20.
Kb2 Rxa7 21. Rd2 g5 22. Ng1 Bxc4 23. g4 Bxb3 24. Ne2 Ba4 25. Nxd4 Rb7+ 26. Ka3
exd4 27. Rb2 Rxb2 28. Kxb2 d3 29. Ka3 Rd4 {0-1 Saric,A (2514)-Riazantsev,A 
(2634)/Budva MNE 2009/The Week in Chess 749}) (15. Kc3 Ke7 16. b4) 15... Kf7
16. Nf4 bxc5 17. f3 Rad8+ 18. Kc3 e3 {Grischuk was obviously still in
preparation, Aronian was thinking. This is quite tricky.} 19. Nd3 Rhe8 20. Nxc5
e2 (20... Rd2 21. Nxa6 Rxg2 22. Nc7 Rd8 23. Nd5 e2 {also is equal.}) 21. Nxa6
Re3+ 22. Kc2 Red3 23. Rae1 (23. Nc5 Nb4+ 24. Kb2 Rd2+ 25. Kc3 a5) 23... Rd2+
24. Kc1 Rxa2 (24... f4 25. Bh3 Rxa2 26. Nc5 Rdd2 27. Bf5 Nd4 28. Bb1 Rab2) 25.
f4 Rdd2 26. Bxc6 Rac2+ 27. Kb1 Rb2+ 28. Ka1 Ra2+ {Draw by perpetual check is
the natural end.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "7th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.06.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E10"]
[Opening "Queen's pawn game"]
[Annotator "Mark Crowther"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Qc2 c6 8. O-O
b6 9. Bf4 Bb7 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. Nc3 dxc4 12. Nd2 Nd5 13. Nxc4 Nxf4 14. gxf4 Qc7
15. e3 Rad8 16. Rd2 {This had been seen before and agreed drawn.} Nf6 17. Rad1
c5 18. d5 exd5 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 20. Bxd5 g6 21. Ne5 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 Rxd5 23. Rxd5
Rd8 24. Qc4 Rxd5 25. Qxd5 Bf6 26. Nd7 Kg7 27. b3 Bc3 28. a4 Qd8 29. Qd6 Bf6 30.
Kf1 $6 (30. h3 Qe7 31. Qd5 Bc3 32. Kg2 {"It's very, very hard to make progress
I guess." - Carlsen.} Kh6 33. Nb8 Kg7 34. Nc6 Qc7 {"At least you have a slight
advantage." - Carlsen.}) 30... Qe7 31. Qd5 Bc3 32. Ke2 Qh4 {"Should just be a
draw." - Nakamura.} 33. Kd3 Ba1 34. Ne5 Bxe5 35. Qxe5+ Kh6 36. Qc7 Qxf2 37.
Qxf7 Qf1+ 38. Ke4 Qb1+ 39. Kf3 Qh1+ 40. Kg3 Qg1+ 41. Kf3 Qh1+ 42. Kg3 Qg1+ 43.
Kf3 Qh1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "7th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.06.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D85"]
[Opening "Gruenfeld"]
[Variation "modern exchange variation"]
[Annotator "Mark Crowther"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8.
Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Qd2 Qxd2+ 12. Bxd2 Rd8 13. d5 Na6 14. Rc1
{After Rc1 I didn't like my position at all. - Caruana.} f5 $1 15. e5 h6 16.
Bc4 Kh8 17. O-O g5 18. Rfd1 f4 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Ba5 Rg8 21. e6 $2 {Starts to
make white's life complicated.} (21. Rc7 g4 22. Nh4 Bxe5 23. Rxe7 Bf6 24. Rf7 {
and the knight can't be captured because of Bc3+.}) (21. d6 {Caruana's
suggestion.}) (21. Rc7 {seems to be the clearest win.}) 21... Rb8 22. a4 Bb7
23. Rc7 g4 24. Nh4 Bf6 25. Nf5 Bxd5 26. Nxe7 Bxe7 27. Rxe7 Rg5 28. Bc7 Rb4 29.
Re8+ (29. g3 {I didn't see what to do after g3.} f3 30. Bf4) 29... Rg8 30. Be5+
Kh7 31. Re7+ Kg6 32. Rxa7 Re4 33. Bxf4 Bb3 34. Rb1 Bxa4 35. Be3 Bb5 36. e7 Re8
37. Bc5 Rc8 38. Be3 Re8 39. Rd1 h5 40. Rd5 h4 {The players could take stock
after severe time trouble and it seems that black can now probably hold the
position.} 41. h3 gxh3 42. gxh3 R4xe7 43. Rxe7 Rxe7 44. Rg5+ Kf6 45. Rg4 Rh7
46. Bg5+ Kf7 {It seems a bit unnecessary to give up the pawn but black gets to
tie white down for a long time.} 47. Bxh4 Bd7 48. Rf4+ Kg8 49. Kh2 a5 50. Kg3
Rg7+ 51. Kh2 Rh7 52. Rd4 a4 53. Rd3 a3 54. Bf6 a2 55. f4 Rf7 56. Be5 Rh7 57.
Ra3 Be6 58. Kg2 Kf7 59. Ra7+ Kg8 60. Ra6 Bxh3+ 61. Kg3 Bd7 62. Rxa2 Rh3+ 63.
Kg2 Rd3 1/2-1/2

