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Home » Chess News » Events » 7th Mikhail Tal Memorial 2012 » Morozevich beats Aronian and Carlsen beats Radjabov in Tal Memorial Round 5

Levon Aronian lost to Alexander Morozevich

Alexander Morozevich is known as a risk taker, and today as the leader of the event, and in contrast to the other joint leader Teimour Radjabov, he really went for it with the black pieces. Morozevich quite rightly has complained about his lack of invitations, he seems to be taking his frustration out on this field with nasty opening innovations and a go getting style. Levon Aronian again played his part in a fantastically complicated struggle only to end up on the losing side. Morozevich lined up a kingside attack in a stonewall structure only to have Aronian sacrifice in order to disintegrate the centre and pick up four pawns. The position remained utterly unclear for a long time but Morozevich handled his clock much better and retained a few minutes to deal with the complications going up to the first time control, Aronian was eventually surviving on the 30 second increment and his position just disintegrated, it being too complicated to play with so little time. "I shouldn't get into time-trouble in such a complex position". - Aronian summed it up.

Aronian,Levon - Morozevich,Alexander [D31]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.2), 13.06.2012

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nd7 5.Nf3 f5 6.Bd3 Nh6 7.b3 Bd6 8.Bb2

[8.Qc2 0-0 9.Bb2 Kh8 10.h3 a6 11.0-0-0 b5 12.c5 Bc7 13.Ne2 Qf6 14.Kb1 a5 15.a3 Ba6 16.b4 axb4 17.axb4 Ra7 18.Qc3 Nf7 19.Kc2 Rfa8 20.Ra1 Kg8 21.Kb1 g6 22.Bc2 e5 23.dxe5 Nfxe5 24.Nc1 Nxf3 25.Qxf6 Nd2+ 26.Ka2 Bc8+ 27.Ba3 Rxa3+ 28.Kb2 Nc4+ 0-1 Korchnoi,V (2639)-Popov,V (2545)/St Petersburg RUS 2001]

8...0-0 9.0-0 Rf6

Not surprisingly this hasn't been seen before. Black simply goes for it on the kingside.

[9...Qe7 10.a4 Kh8 11.Qc1 dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.g3 Qe7 16.Ba3 Be6 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.Rd1 Qe7 19.Qa3 Qxa3 20.Rxa3 Bxc4 21.bxc4 Rad8 22.Rd4 Rxd4 23.exd4 Rd8 24.Ne2 Nf7 25.Re3 Nd6 26.c5 Ne4 27.g4 g6 28.f3 Nf6 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.Re5 Rd5 31.Re6 Nd7 32.Re8+ Kg7 33.Re7+ Kg8 34.a5 f4 35.Kf2 h5 36.a6 Kf8 37.Re4 bxa6 38.Nxf4 Rf5 39.Ne6+ Kg8 40.Nd8 Rf6 41.Re7 Nf8 42.Rxa7 Ng6 43.d5 cxd5 44.c6 Ne5 45.c7 Rxf3+ 46.Ke2 Rc3 47.Ra8 1-0 Savchenko,S (2571)-Richter,M (2399)/Istanbul 2007.]

10.Qc2 Nf7 11.Nd2 e5!?

[11...Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Rh6+ 13.Kg1 Qh4 14.f4 Qh2+ 15.Kf2 and the king gets away.]

12.Bxf5

Very risky from Aronian too.

12...e4 13.Bxh7+!?

Trying to rip the initiative away from black at the cost of a piece. Aronian will pick up 4 pawns almost straight away.

[13.Bxd7 Rh6! (13...Bxd7 seems to have been considered by the players. 14.cxd5 Rh6 15.g3 cxd5 16.Nxd5 Qg5 17.Nf4 Bxf4 18.exf4 Qh5 19.h4 Nd6) 14.f4 Bxd7 is unclear.]

13...Kxh7 14.cxd5 Rg6

[14...Qc7 15.f4 cxd5 16.Rac1 Nb6 17.Nxd5 with an edge to white.]

15.Ndxe4 Nf6 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.f4 Nh6

[17...Bh3 18.Rf2 Re8 19.e4 looks unclear.; 17...Bd7]

18.Ne4 Qf5 19.dxc6 Be7!? 20.c7 Rc6 21.Qb1 Rxc7 22.Nc3 Qxb1 23.Raxb1 Rd7 24.Rbd1 b6 25.e4 Bb7 26.h3 Ng8!

Aronian was down to less than a couple of minutes when this arrived on the board. He then used most of the rest of the time trying to meet it. Seemed to come as a surprise. The position is about equal.

27.e5

[27.d5 Was what I thought Aronian might play on the board. At least he holds onto most of the pawns and his play is extremely straightforward for the next few moves. 27...Nf6 (27...Bb4) 28.a3 Bc5+ 29.Kh1 a5 30.Rfe1 Nh5 31.Kh2 Nxf4 32.Na4 Re8 33.Nxc5 bxc5 34.Bc1]

27...Rc8 28.d5 Bb4

Morozevich had a few minutes left here which he used to full advantage.

29.e6

Down to the increment not surprisingly Aronian goes under.

[29.d6 Bxc3 30.Bxc3 Rxc3 31.e6 Rd8 32.e7 Nxe7 33.dxe7 Re8 34.Rd7 Bc6 35.Rxa7]

29...Rdd8 30.Ne4 Rxd5 31.Ng5+ Kg6 32.Rxd5 Bxd5 33.Rd1 Ne7 34.Bd4 Rc2 35.g4 Bd2 36.Rf1 Bc1 37.Nf3 Bxf4 38.Nh4+ Kg5 39.Nf3+ Kh6 40.h4 Rxa2 0-1

Teimour Radjabov 0-1 Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen won a signature grind with the black pieces against Teimour Radjabov. Carlsen was trying to get into contention and Radjabov hold his position at the top. Caution with white seems to be a Radjabov weakness, for a player so highly rated he doesn't press as hard as he should sometimes. His 12.0-0 seemed to allow Carlsen to equalise and pretty soon Radjabov was eating up time as Carlsen put on small amounts of pressure that added up to a lot in the end. Radjabov tried to put off major decisions until move 40 and thus missed a chance to bail out to a rook and pawn ending that Carlsen thought should be drawn. After that Carlsen used his fantastic endgame ability to gradually improve his position and win his first game of the event.

Radjabov,Teimour - Carlsen,Magnus [C45]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.1), 13.06.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6

[5.Nb3 was expected by Carlsen which was the way Radjabov played against Tomashevsky in the first round.]

5...Qf6 6.Qf3 bxc6 7.Qg3 d6 8.Nc3 Qg6 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.Na4 Bd4 11.c3 Bb6 12.0-0?!

A new move from Radjabov and Carlsen didn't think it was any good. Where did white go wrong? "I don't know, I don't really know this line. I've looked at it a little bit but actually a good friend of mine told me today that Teimour wouldn't play the Scotch. So I wasn't very well prepared." but after some thought Carlsen said "Castles is definitely inaccurate, if white is to pose black any problems at all he has to do something else because now it's just very comfortable." - Carlsen.

[12.f3 Nd7 13.Bf4 f6 14.Bc4 Ne5 15.Qxg6+ 1/2-1/2 Radjabov,T (2761)-Aronian,L (2750)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2009/The Week in Chess 741]

12...Qxg3 13.hxg3 Ng4 14.Bf4 f6 15.Rad1 h5 16.Be2 Be6 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.a3 Ke7 19.f3 Ne5 20.Kf2 b5

"I'm not entirely sure about b5. Here I was maybe a little too comfortable with my position so maybe I played a little too quickly." - Carlsen.

21.Bxe5 fxe5 22.Ke3

"As it went on it's known from some old game of Capablanca that such positions are good for black. I remember some game where he got a pawn structure I think like this and his pawns... well more and more pieces were exchanged but he always captured towards the centre and at the end it was impossible to deal with." - Carlsen.

22...h4 23.gxh4 Rxh4 24.Rh1 Rah8 25.Rxh4 Rxh4 26.Rc1

"And now I had to think because he's going c4 and in general I thought Bc4 would be a good reply." - Carlsen,

26...Rh2

[26...Bc4 27.Bxc4 bxc4 28.a4 "and one of my pieces will be tied down to this pawn and it wasn't so clear to me that black can do anything." - Carlsen. 28...Kd8 29.a5 Kc8 30.a6 Kb8 31.Ra1 Ka7 32.Ra4 isn't anything for black.]

27.Kf2 Rh8

"Here I was sure he was going to play 28.c4." - Carlsen.

28.Ke3

[28.c4 bxc4 29.Bxc4 Bxc4 30.Rxc4 Kd7 31.b4 Ra8 32.Rc3 d5 "Trying to push d4 and later c5 but at least here I think it should be very close to a draw." - Carlsen.]

28...g5 29.Bd3 Kd7

Still c4 can be played with very little difference to the last line. "I think it was also a factor that he had spent a lot of time in the middlegame, obviously he didn't like his position. I think here he was hoping to hold it with passive defence also he didn't want to make any commital decisions before the time control." - Carlsen.

30.Ra1 Bb3

"Now I felt that I had to prevent a4" - Carlsen.

31.Rc1 Kc8 32.Kf2 Kb7 33.Kg3 Be6 34.Ra1

[34.c4 "At this point I don't think c4 is very good." - Carlsen. 34...Kb6 "and I don't have to release the tension" - Carlsen.]

34...Kb6 35.Rc1 c5 36.Ra1

[36.c4 c6 and Carlsen likes his position: "The pawns are slowly but surely advancing."]

36...c4 37.Bc2 Kc5

"I played Kc5 not because I thought the king would be particularly well placed but I felt that I should prevent a4." - Carlsen.

38.Re1

[38.a4 b4 "Which I think is advantageous to me." - Carlsen.]

38...c6

"So he just kept waiting trying to prevent d5" - Carlsen.

39.Bb1 Kb6 40.Bc2 Kc7

"I'm just going to f6 [with the king] and going to play d5" - Carlsen.

41.Kf2 Kd7 42.a4

"Here he decided that he could not just stand still and I think actually this was a good idea." - Carlsen.

42...bxa4 43.Ra1

"Ra1 is an important move actually." - Carlsen.

[43.Bxa4 Rb8 44.Re2 Ra8 "and white's rook is very passive. While on a2 it is in a way passive as it has to protect b2 but nevertheless it has some prospects." - Carlsen.]

43...Rb8 44.Ra2 d5

[44...a3 45.bxa3 Magnus looke at this. "One way to look at it is that I'm eliminating a weak pawn on b2 and giving him a passed pawn instead. Obviously it's not as black and white as that." 45...d5 46.exd5 cxd5 47.a4 d4 48.Be4 and Carlsen thought "it wouldn't be so easy."]

45.exd5 cxd5 46.Bxa4+

"He kind of activates his bishop after this but I need to push d4 anyhow." - Carlsen.

46...Kd6 47.Bc2 d4 48.Be4 Rb6

"I thought white has drawing chances here but it's very, very unpleasant to be white." - Carlsen.

49.Ke2

"He wants to put his king to c1 and then activate his rook.

49...g4 50.fxg4?

After this it's probably....

[50.Kd2 g3 "Here I think he was probably concerned about g3 and this might be unpleasant for white actually. In some lines Bh3 is even a motif. Nevertheless white definitely has chances here." - Carlsen.; 50.Kf2 is probably a better chance. 50...gxf3?! Carlsen's second thought was not to take on f3 here. (50...Bd5 keeping his options open.) 51.gxf3 Bd5 although even here it's highly unpleasant.]

50...Bxg4+ 51.Kd2 Be6

"I want to exchange bishops." - Carlsen.

52.Kc2

"After Kc2 I think it's lost." - Carlsen.

[52.Kc1 d3 (52...Bd5 53.Bxd5 Kxd5 54.cxd4 exd4 and Carlsen thought "even this" was winning. I think it's lost with this, on the other side it would be e and f pawns I think when they're so far advanced... because f and g pawns against h even when they're advanced this far is a draw but with e and f pawns I think it's winning." Carlsen trying to remember the technical endings he has learned, maybe a lesson for us all? 55.Ra5+ Ke4 56.Rc5 Kd3 wins as opposed to drawing in a later line.) 53.Ra5 preventing the bishop exchange.]

52...Bd5 53.Bxd5 d3+

"I think at this point he missed this intermediate check." - Carlsen.

[53...Kxd5 54.cxd4 exd4 55.Ra5+ Ke4 56.Rc5 is probably a draw.]

54.Kd2 Kxd5 55.Ke3 Rg6 56.Ra5+

"Now it's very simple." - Carlsen.

56...Ke6 57.Ke4

[57.Ra6+ Kf5 58.Rxg6 Kxg6 59.b3 cxb3 60.Kxd3 e4+ and one of the pawns will queen.; 57.Rc5 Rxg2 58.Rxc4 d2]

57...Rg4+ 58.Kf3 Rf4+ 59.Ke3 Rf1

White tried to find a move here and as his clock ticked down with one move to go he resigned rather than lose on time.

[59...Rf1 60.g3 Re1+ 61.Kd2 Re2+ 62.Kc1 e4]

0-1

Evgeny Tomashevsky draw Luke McShane

Evgeny Tomashevsky didn't remember the theory after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 e4 and Luke McShane didn't know it. This led to a very confusing game where it was very hard to understand quite what each player should be doing, and they weren't much help in telling us afterwards. McShane had the better of the play but somewhere just before first time control he lost his advantage and with major pieces and both kings exposed a draw was the result.

Tomashevsky,Evgeny - McShane,Luke J [A54]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.5), 13.06.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 e4

Asked to explain the game McShane said. "It's a tough one because neither of us really know what was happening. The early middlegame was extremely complicated with a lot of unsual ideas for both sides. At some point I felt that I had the initiative but somewhere along the line I lost it and maybe I made a mistake or maybe it was an illusion. It's very hard to tell."

5.Nd2

[5.Ng5 is playable but Tomashevsky couldn't remember his analysis.]

5...Qe7 6.Nb3 h6

Prevently Bg5.

[6...c6]

7.g3 g6 8.Bg2 Bg7

"It maybe looks ridiculous to spend a lot of time on these moves but if I get it wrong then I'm just going to lose my pawn. So I actually have to be very careful." - McShane.

9.h3

Played with the dual idea of Be3 or g4 but then somehow the g4 move stopped being a candidate for no apparent reason according to Tomashevsky. Rublevsky asked him after the game why not g4 as it was clearly a better move than Be3.

[9.0-0]

9...0-0 10.Be3?!

"A really empty move without ideas." - Tomshevsky.

[10.g4 Re8 11.g5 Nh7 12.gxh6 Bh8 13.Nxe4 Qh4 14.Ng3 unclear but this looks better for white than maybe it is.]

10...c6 11.Qd2

[11.d5 "I thought d5 was also interesting." - McShane. 11...c5 12.Nd2 Nfd7 (12...Nh5 13.g4 f5 14.gxh5 f4 was feared by Tomashevsky.) 13.Ndxe4 (13.Bxe4 f5 14.Bd3 Ne5 15.Nf3 Nxf3+ 16.exf3 f4 17.gxf4 Bxc3+ 18.bxc3 was an amusing line from McShane.) 13...f5]

11...Kh7 12.g4 d5 13.g5 hxg5 14.Bxg5

Tomashevsky said that after not playing the best black was probably better. Then later he thought he was better and close to winning.

14...Qd6 15.c5 Qe6 16.f3 b5!

Both players said this was strong. "I was very pleased when I found it." - McShane. "White' king is going too castle queenside sooner or later, that much is clear, and so when I play b5 it means that white's never going to be safe on the queenside." - McShane who added that if he didn't play in this way black was probably "going to get mated fast."

17.e3

The commentators didn't like this move.

17...Nbd7 18.h4 b4 19.Ne2 Nh5 20.Bh3 f5

"I thought f5 was good to provoke but when it happened I wondered why I did it." - Tomashevsky.

21.fxe4 dxe4 22.Nf4 Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Nf6

"It's hard to play well in such a position." - Tomashevsky.

24.Bf1 a5 25.Nc1 Nh5 26.Ne2 Ba6 27.Bd6 Bh6 28.Nf4

"Probably white's lost here." - Tomashevsky.

28...Bxf4 29.Bxf4 Nxf4

[29...Bxf1 30.Rxf1 b3 (30...Nf6 31.Rg1 Rh8 32.Be5 Kg7 33.Qg2 Rh6 34.h5 Maybe better to do what I did - McShane.) 31.a3 a4]

30.Bxa6

[30.exf4 e3 31.Qh2 e2 32.Bg2 looks good for black. 32...Kg7 33.Qg3 Rh8 34.h5 Rad8]

30...Nh5 31.Be2 Ng3

[31...f4 32.Bxh5 gxh5 33.exf4 Rg8 34.Qe2 Rg4 35.0-0-0 Rf8 36.Kb1 Rfxf4 37.d5 cxd5 38.Qb5]

32.Rg1 f4 33.exf4 e3

[33...Nf5?! 34.Bg4 (34.h5) ]

34.Qd3 Nxe2 35.Qxe2

[35.Kxe2 Rxf4 36.h5 Rf2+ 37.Ke1 Rg8 is good for black. (37...Raf8 McShane is maybe even better. 38.Rxg6 Rf1+ 39.Qxf1 Rxf1+ 40.Kxf1 Qf5+ 41.Kg2 Qf2+ 42.Kh3 Qf3+ 43.Rg3 Qf5+ 44.Kg2 Qf2+ 45.Kh3) ]

35...Rxf4

Tempting but this doesn't seem to be right.

[35...Qe4]

36.h5 Rxd4 37.Rd1 Rxd1+ 38.Qxd1 g5 39.Rxg5 Qf6 40.Qd3+ Kh8

After the time scramble is over the position is equal. Both sides just have to show a little care.

41.Qxe3 Qxb2 42.Rg6 Qa1+ 43.Kf2 Rf8+ 44.Kg3 Qc3 45.Rh6+ Kg7 46.Rg6+ Kh7 47.Rh6+ Kg7 48.Rg6+ 1/2-1/2

Alexander Grischuk draw Fabiano Caruana

Fabniano Caruana wasted a fantastically successful opening following an innovation as black against Alexander Grischuk. Caruana got much the better position and a huge time advantage and then let Grischuk off the hook with the astonishingly lax 19...Qe7? which allowed the most obvious move on the board 20.Nc7. His position was still good enough to hold the draw, in fact probably it was disappointment that was his greatest threat. Caruana still looked a little shell shocked at the press conference as Grischuk admitted he thought he was lost. There was a clock malfunction almost at the end, not sure what inflence this had on their decision to repeat in a level position.

.

Grischuk,Alexander - Caruana,Fabiano [D92]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.4), 13.06.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.Rc1 Be6

A very unusual move with very few games.

[6...Nc6 7.e3 Be6 8.h3 h6 9.b3 Rc8 10.Be2 g5 11.Bh2 Bf5 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 c6 14.0-0 Ne4 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Qd2 Qb6 19.b4 Qe6 20.Rc5 b6 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Rc1 Qd7 23.Rc3 Rxc3 24.Qxc3 1/2-1/2 Rogers,I (2575)-Sokolov,I (2670)/Yerevan ARM 1996]

7.Ng5

[7.Qb3 c5 8.Qxb7 Qb6 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.e3 dxc4 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Ng5 Bd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bxc4 Nxf4 15.exf4 Bxb2 16.Rc2 Bf6 17.0-0 Nc6 18.Bd5 Nb4 19.Rxc5 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 Rxa2 21.Ne4 Bg7 22.Rd7 e6 23.g3 Ra4 24.Ng5 Bf6 25.h4 Bxg5 26.hxg5 Rfa8 27.Rc1 Ra1 28.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 29.Kg2 Kg7 30.Rc7 Ra2 1/2-1/2 Ding,L (2574)-Le Quang,L (2681)/Manila 2010/CBM 138 Extra]

7...c5 8.dxc5 d4 9.Nb5 Nc6 10.Nc7 Bf5 11.Nxa8 e5 12.Bd2 e4

A fantastic piece of preparation. Grischuk got into terrible time trouble trying to work things out.

13.e3 h6 14.Nh3 Bxh3 15.gxh3 Ne5 16.Bg2 Nd3+ 17.Kf1 Nxc1 18.Qxc1 d3 19.Bc3

Grischuk thought he was losing here. There is no doubt he is struggling both on the clock and the board.

19...Qe7?

Now Caruana simply "forgot about 20.Nc7". A very strange oversight.

[19...Re8 keeping white bottled up is the obvious continuation.]

20.Nc7!

Maybe it doesn't deserve an exclamation mark but this solves all of white's problems.

20...Qxc7 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Bxe4 Rd8 23.Bd5 Qxc5

Black must have been sick to let white out but he still has compensation, especially on the clock.

24.Qd1 Rxd5

[24...b5 25.Qxd3 bxc4 26.Qxg6+ was Grischuk's dream in this position. So now we know where the time goes...]

25.cxd5 Qxd5 26.Rg1 Kg7 27.Qb3 Qe4 28.Rg4 Qh1+ 29.Rg1 Qe4 30.Rg4 Qh1+ 31.Rg1 Qe4

Grischuk was happy to repeat.

1/2-1/2

Hikaru Nakamura against Vladimir Kramnik

For the second day in a row Hikaru Nakamura found himself having to reinvent the wheel over the board. This time it was in a sharp English Opening where Nakamura changed his mind as to what he was going to play at the last moment. Vladimir Kramnik said he couldn't remember the theory but he still managed to reproduce it over the board. The position ended up being an intricate ending with bishops of opposite colours and rooks which traded to a draw.

Nakamura,Hikaru - Kramnik,Vladimir [A33]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.3), 13.06.2012

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5

Nakamura changed his mind over the board and played this, which has a lot of theory to it.

6...d5 7.Bf4 e5 8.cxd5 exf4 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Rd1+ Bd7 12.Nd6 Kc7 13.Nxf7 Rg8 14.Ne5 Rb8 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.g3 Rxb2 17.Bh3 Nf6 18.0-0 Bb4 19.Rc1 Rd8 20.Bg2

Still all theory. Kramnik claimed he didn't remember the theory but here we are anyway. Nakamura had used a huge amount of time to get here.

[20.gxf4 Kramnik thought that this was better and that black would then have to play some precise moves to equalise. 20...Rdd2 21.Bf5 Bxc3 22.Rxc3 Rxe2 23.Rfc1 Rxf2 24.Rxc6+ Kd8 (24...Kb8 25.Rc8+ Kb7 26.R1c7+ Kb6 27.Rc6+ Kb7 28.R8c7+ Ka8 29.Rxg7 Rfe2; 24...Kb7 25.Bc8+ Kb8 26.Ba6) ]

20...Rdd2

[20...Bxc3 21.Rxc3 Nd5 22.Ra3 Kb6 23.Rc1 a5 24.Rb3+ Rxb3 25.axb3 fxg3 26.hxg3 Nb4 27.Be4 h6 28.f4 Rd2 29.Kf2 Rb2 30.Rc3 Nd5 31.Bxd5 cxd5 32.Rc8 d4 33.Rg8 d3 34.Rxg7 Kc5 35.Rd7 dxe2 36.Rd3 Kb4 37.f5 Rc2 38.Rf3 Rc8 39.Kxe2 a4 40.bxa4 Kxa4 41.Ke3 Kb4 42.Kd4 1-0 Prudnikova,S (2421)-Maksimovic,S (2278)/Herceg Novi YUG 2000]

21.gxf4

Nakamura is just trying to draw. "At this point I was already starting to lose my mind, I'd used maybe 50 minutes or an hour and Vladimir had used no time. I was just trying to find a way out. With proper play it's a draw as I think I proved in the game." - Nakamura. "Of course I was more making it look like I know what I'm doing, I didn't really remember the theory. Just tried to play quickly so I could psychologically pressurise my opponent." - Kramnik.

[21.a3 Bd6 (21...Bxa3 Forces a draw - Kramnik. 22.Nb1; 21...Bxc3 22.Rxc3) 22.gxf4 Rbc2 23.a4 Ba3 24.Rxc2 Rxc2 25.Nb1 Bb2 26.e3 a5 27.Bf3 Rc4 28.Rd1 Nd7 29.Rd2 Bf6 30.Kg2 Nc5 31.Na3 Rc3 32.Nb1 Rc4 33.Na3 Rxa4 34.Rc2 Be7 35.Nc4 Nd3 36.Nb2 Ne1+ 37.Kg3 Rb4 38.Rxc6+ Kd7 39.Ra6 Nxf3 40.Kxf3 Rxb2 41.Rxa5 Bf6 42.Kg3 Ke6 43.Rc5 h6 44.h4 Rd2 45.Rb5 Rd5 46.Rb6+ Kf7 47.e4 Ra5 48.e5 Ra3+ 49.f3 Be7 50.h5 Ra1 51.Kh2 Ra7 52.Kg3 Rc7 53.Ra6 Rc1 54.Kh2 Bc5 55.f5 Be3 56.Ra4 Rf1 57.Kg2 Rg1+ 58.Kh3 Rg5 59.f4 Rxh5+ 60.Kg4 Rh1 61.Ra3 h5+ 62.Kg5 Bc5 63.Ra6 h4 64.f6 gxf6+ 1/2-1/2 Krivonosovs,V (2490)-Lepikhov,A (2515)/ICCF corr 1994/Corr 2002]

21...Rbc2 22.Ne4 Rxe2 23.Nxf6 gxf6 24.Rxc2 Rxc2 25.Be4 Rxa2 26.Rc1 c5 27.Bxh7 Rd2 28.h4 a5

Black is just not in time for any winning chances.

29.h5 Rd8 30.Kg2 a4 31.h6 Rh8 32.Bc2 Rxh6 33.Bxa4 Rh8 34.Bb3 Rd8 35.Rd1 Bd2 36.Ba2 Bxf4 37.Rxd8 Kxd8

An easy draw.

38.Kf3 Be5 39.Ke4 Kd7 40.f4 Bxf4 1/2-1/2

7th Mikhail Tal Memorial Moscow (RUS), 8-18 vi 2012															cat. XXII (2776)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2769	*	½	.	½	1	1	.	1	.	.	4	3035
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2835	½	*	½	1	½	½	.	.	.	.	3	2849
3.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2801	.	½	*	½	.	1	½	½	.	.	3	2868
4.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2784	½	0	½	*	.	.	.	.	1	1	3	2841
5.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2770	0	½	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	1	2½	2775
6.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2761	0	½	0	.	½	*	.	.	1	.	2	2704
7.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2775	.	.	½	.	½	.	*	0	½	½	2	2696
8.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2825	0	.	½	.	.	.	1	*	0	½	2	2685
9.	McShane, Luke J	g	ENG	2706	.	.	.	0	.	0	½	1	*	½	2	2704
10.	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2738	.	.	.	0	0	.	½	½	½	*	1½	2623

Round 5 (June 13, 2012)
Radjabov, Teimour	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	59	C45	Scotch Game
Grischuk, Alexander	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	31	D92	Gruenfeld 5.Bf4
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	40	A33	English Symmetrical
Aronian, Levon	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	40	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	- McShane, Luke J	½-½	48	A54	Old Indian Defence

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