Chessable

7th Mikhail Tal Memorial 2012 (6)

Kramnik joins Morozevich in the lead of Tal Memorial after 6 rounds.

Hikaru Nakamura threw the event wide open in beating Morozevich in Round 6. Photo ©

Hikaru Nakamura threw the event wide open in beating Morozevich in Round 6. Photo © | http://www.russiachess.org

The 7th Tal Memorial round 6 saw the leader Alexander Morozevich play incredibly creatively against Hikarua Nakamura but eventually he blundered in time trouble with 38.Qd1? and lost.

Round 6 Thur June 14th 3pm Moscow time 12pm BST
Carlsen1/2Aronian
Kramnik1-0Tomashevsky
Grischuk1/2Radjabov
Caruana1-0McShane
Morozevich0-1Nakamura

Vladimir Kramnik finally beat Evgeny Tomashevsky in an ending that the latter came close to drawing to join Morozevich in the lead. Magnus Carlsen drew with Levon Aronian in a Berlin Defence. Carlsen confirmed that the Kings tournament has been either postponed or cancelled. Caruana outlasted McShane in a game where the Englishman had a number of drawing chances in a position that looked quite bad for a long time. Grischuk drew with Radjabov.

Round 6 Standings: 1st-2nd Morozevich, Kramnik 4 points, 3rd-5th Carlsen, Radjabov, Caruana 3.5pts, 6th Nakamura 3pts, 7th-8th Aronian, Grischuk 2.5pts, 9th McShane 2pts, 10th Tomashevsky 1.5pts

Report finished. Games, results, photos and reports. Rest day Friday 15th June 2012.

Round 7 Saturday June 16, 2012 3pm Moscow time 12pm BST
Aronian-Grischuk
Radjabov-Caruana
Nakamura-Carlsen
Tomashevsky-Morozevich
McShane-Kramnik

Alexander Morozevich 0-1 Hikaru Nakamura

Alexander Morozevich

Alexander Morozevich. Photo © http://video.russiachess.org.

Alexander Morozevich seemed pretty annoyed that in spite of making most of the running against Hikaru Nakamura he contrived to find virtually the only losing continuation in time trouble. Nakamura admitted he completely underestimated Morozevich's attacking chances but a 45 minute think and mind bending complications allowed him to escape. Then with both in time trouble Morozevich played 38.Qd1? and the game was all over. Certainly the game of the day.

Nakamura: I'm just not very happy with the way I played, I thought I was a little bit better in the opening then I allowed this whole idea with 23.f5 which at this level to miscalculate things as...

"OK you missed f5 and then you easily won. You can still miss something!" - Morozevich who was clearly annoyed at the result.

Morozevich,Alexander - Nakamura,Hikaru [D20]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.1), 14.06.2012

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Bg4 8.f3 Be6 9.Nbc3 Qd7 10.Ne4 Bd5 11.Nc5 Qc8 12.a3 e6 13.Qc2 Bxc5 14.dxc5

Nakamura was prepared for all this "until Alexander played at the board 14.dxc5 whereas I'd only looked at 14.Qxc5. During the game I was actually wondering what to do if he took with the d-pawn but hoping he wouldn't play it because already I'd be on my own."

[14.Qxc5 Nd7 "and black has a completely comfortable position." - Morozevich. "OK, this is all I looked at." - Nakmura.]

14...Nd7 15.f4 Bxg2 16.Rg1 Bf3 17.Be3

"I think Be3 is correct." - Nakamura.

[17.Rxg7 Qd8 18.Be3 Qh4+ 19.Rg3 0-0-0 20.Nc3 Ndb8 21.Bf1 Bg4 22.Qf2 Bf5 23.b4 a6 24.b5 axb5 25.Nxb5 Rhg8 26.Rxg8 Qxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Rxg8 with an eventual draw Dreev,A (2630)-Salov,V (2680)/Elista RUS 1998.; 17.Rxg7 Bxe2 18.Bxe2 Qd8 19.Rxh7 Rxh7 20.Qxh7 Nf8 "Yes but it's probably quite playable for you." - Morozevich. "I don't know actually, where's your queen go here?" - Nakamura. 21.Qh3 Nd4 22.Bd3 Qd5 23.Be3 is probably nothing for white.]

17...g6 18.0-0-0 Ne7 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Qxe4

Hikaru Nakamura

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Alexander Morozevich

Position after 20.Qxe4

"Key moment in the whole game." - Nakamura.

20...b6?!

"In retrospect 20...b6 was probably a bad move because I simply underestimated this whole idea with 23.f5 in the game."

21.Nc3

[21.c6 Nc5 22.Bxc5 bxc5 23.Rd7 Qa6 after which Morozevich couldn't find anything.]

21...0-0 22.c6 Nb8

[22...Nc5 "Even here there was the chance to bail-out with 22...Nc5." - Nakamura. 23.Bxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7 Nf5 25.Qc4 is about equal.]

23.f5

Hikaru Nakamura

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Alexander Morozevich

Position after 23.f5

"Here I used up all my time because I suddenly realised... originally I thought I was completely fine in this position and then I realised I wasn't." - Nakamura.

23...Nxf5 24.Bg5

"Originally I thought I was completely fine in this position then I realised I wasn't." - Nakamura

24...Qe8

Forced.

[24...h6 was originally what Nakamura wanted to play. 25.Bf6 b5 "but I think I simply get mated here." - Nakamura. 26.Rdf1 Qa6 (26...Qe8) 27.Rxf5 exf5 28.Qf4 (28.Qh4 Kh7 29.Rg3 h5 30.Rg5 is just mate.) ]

25.Qf4

"I was shocked when Alex went 25.Qf4." - Nakamura.

[25.Rd8 Qxd8 26.Bxd8 Rxd8 27.Nb5 a6 28.Nd6 an idea that Morozevich didn't see but Nakamura suggested after the game but it does seem to be more or less fine for black. (28.Nxc7 Ra7 29.Nxe6 (29.Na8!! Nxc6 30.Nxb6 Ncd4 is more or less equal.) 29...fxe6 30.Qc4 Rd5 31.c7 Rxc7 32.Qxc7 Rc5+) 28...Nxd6 29.exd6 Rxd6 30.Rd1 Ra7! again holds. 31.Rd2 Rxc6+ 32.Kb1 Rd6 33.Rxd6 cxd6 34.Qd4 and the players couldn't agree who had the winning chances here, each taking the other's side.]

25...f6

A key defensive idea allowing black to defend along his second rank in some lines.

[25...Qxc6 was another idea here not looked at by the players.]

26.Bxf6 Qxc6 27.Kb1 Nd7 28.Ne4 Nc5

Hikaru Nakamura

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Alexander Morozevich

Position after 28...Nc5

29.Nxc5?!

[29.Ng5 "was a much better move." - GM Maxim Dlugy. 29...h6 30.Qg4 Ne3 is the defence. (30...hxg5; 30...Rxf6 31.exf6 hxg5 32.Qxg5 Qe4+ 33.Ka2 is important. 33...Nd4 34.Rxd4!) ]

29...bxc5 30.h4 Rf7

[30...Rab8 31.h5 c4 32.hxg6 h6 33.Rc1 c3 "Ah of course this makes a lot more sense." - Nakamura. "I was getting a bit low on time here so I was just trying to play sensible moves, exchange pieces."]

31.h5 Rd7 32.hxg6 h6 33.Rxd7 Qxd7 34.Qf3

[34.Ka1 Suggested Dlugy. "OK we will not analyse this." - Morozevich.]

34...Rb8 35.Rd1 Qe8

"Here I wanted to attack the pawn on c5 but I did not find a nice way to do it." - Morozevich.

36.Rd2 c4

Here Nakamura thought this might be a mistake.

37.Ka2

[37.Rc2 Rb3 is actually fine for black but Nakamura didn't see it during the game. (37...Nd4 38.Qe3!; 37...Qb5 38.Qc3) ]

37...a5!

Actually stops Qd1, Morozevich thought accidently.

38.Qd1?

Hikaru Nakamura

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Alexander Morozevich

Position after 38...Qd1?

"Already I think it's quite unpleasant." - Nakamura. "Qd1 is the only move that loses here." - Morozevich who seems to be right. "Any other move is not losing, yeah?" - Morozevich. "Maybe I don't know." - Nakamura. "I thought at time control I found the only move that is losing. Just a study-like move. Even Ka1, Kb1 still is not losing but Qd1 is the only move." - Morozevich.

[38.Qc3]

38...c3 39.bxc3 Ne3!

This is the move that really hurts.

40.Qe2 Nd5

[40...Qxg6 "Here I should just play Qg6 which wins immediately." - Nakamura. 41.Qd3! and it isn't over. Nd5 does seem best.]

41.Qd3 a4

Now white's king is in terrible danger. "He was lucky to have this move." - Morozevich still bemoaning how unlucky a choice his 38.Qd1 actually was.

42.Rb2 Rxb2+ 43.Kxb2 Qb8+ 44.Kc1 Qb3 45.Qa6 Qxc3+ 46.Kd1 Ne3+ 47.Ke2 Qc4+

"Too many pawns." - Nakamura.

0-1

Vladimir Kramnik beat Evgeny Tomashevsky

Tomashevsky against Kramnik

Tomashevsky against Kramnik. Photo © http://video.russiachess.org.

Vladimir Kramnik got himself into a tie for the lead with a determined performance against Evgeny Tomashevsky. Kramnik eventually got a little something after Tomashevsky went wrong and was in fact winning quite easily after 42.Re6. Insteand Kramnik chose quite a different method and Tomashevsky was just one accurate move away from a draw on a couple of occasions. However it was very stressful defending for so long and in the end Tomashevsky missed something and Kramnik got his win.

Kramnik,Vladimir - Tomashevsky,Evgeny [D45]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.4), 14.06.2012

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e3 e6 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 c5 8.0-0 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.dxc5 Qxd1 11.Rxd1 Bxc5 12.Nd2 0-0

[12...Nbd7 1-0 Schwarz,M (2402)-Diermair,A (2391)/Leoben AUT 2007/The Week in Chess 644 (37)]

13.Nb3 Bb4 14.Bd2 Nbd7 15.a3 Nc5

Black was consuming a lot of time here but the right setup is important.

16.Nc1 Bxc3 17.Bxc3 Rfc8 18.Bd4 Bd5 19.f3 Bc4 20.Kf2 Bxe2 21.Kxe2 Nd5 22.Rd2 f6

[22...Nb6 was certainly worth considering.]

23.Bxc5 Rxc5 24.Nd3 Rc7 25.a4 bxa4 26.Rxa4 Kf7 27.Ra5 Raa7 28.Nc5 Nb4 29.Rd6

Evgeny Tomashevsky

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Vladimir Kramnik

Position after 29.Rd6

Now Kramnik is really starting to put the pressure on.

29...Rc8 30.f4 Rac7 31.Nxe6 Rc2+ 32.Kf3 Rxb2 33.Nd4 Rc7 34.Rb6 Nd3 35.Rxb2 Nxb2 36.Rxa6

This is not an easy ending to defend at all.

36...Nc4 37.g4 Nd2+ 38.Ke2 Ne4 39.h4 Rb7 40.g5 Kg6 41.Kf3 Re7

Evgeny Tomashevsky

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Vladimir Kramnik

Position after 41...Re7

42.h5+?!

There are plenty of ways to go about this but Kramnik seems to have missed a trick here.

[42.Re6 ought to have been much easier.]

42...Kxh5 43.Nf5 Nd2+ 44.Ke2 Rd7 45.gxf6 gxf6 46.Rxf6 Kg4 47.Nh6+ Kg3 48.Rf8 Ne4 49.Rg8+ Kh3 50.Ng4 Kh4 51.Ne5 Ra7 52.Nf3+ Kh5 53.Kd3 Nf2+ 54.Kd4 Ra4+ 55.Kd5 Ra5+

[55...Nd1 56.Rg5+ Kh6 57.Re5 Nxe3+ 58.Rxe3 Rxf4 and Tomashevsky would have held.]

56.Ke6 Ng4 57.e4 Ra6+ 58.Ke7 Ra7+ 59.Kd6 Ra6+ 60.Kc7 h6 61.e5 Nf6 62.Rd8 Kg4 63.Nd4 Ra7+ 64.Kd6 Ne4+ 65.Kd5 Nc3+ 66.Kc4 Kxf4 67.e6 Rc7+ 68.Kd3

Evgeny Tomashevsky

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Vladimir Kramnik

Position after 68.Kd3

68...Ke5?

Such a shame for Tomashevsky.

[68...Na4]]

69.Rd7!

Just so now Kramnik wins anyway.

69...Nd5 70.e7 Rc3+ 71.Kd2 Rc8 72.Nc6+ Ke6 73.Rxd5 Rxc6 74.e8Q+ Kxd5

This ending isn't even a practical chance at this level.

75.Kd3 Re6 76.Qb5+ Kd6 77.Kd4 Ke7 78.Qf5 Rf6 79.Qh7+ Kf8 80.Ke5 Ra6

Now the rook is hunted down combined with mate threats.

81.Qb7 Rg6 82.Qh7 Ra6 83.Qd3 1-0

Magnus Carlsen draw Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian. Photo © http://video.russiachess.org.

Magnus Carlsen thought he had a little something against Levon Aronian's Berlin Defence but it never amounted to very much. Aronian wasn't mucking about and turned down complications and went straight for the draw, he gave up the exchange in order to find his way to an unbreakable fortress.

Carlsen: I think in a way it was normal for a Berlin Defence. White doesn't have anything special. I think in general if you're optimistic with white you can claim that you have some initiative and I think also you can be optimistic with black you will claim that you are the one with the initiative because both sides obviously have their trumps, I thought I was absolutely better but I didn't see anything clear and at some point I wondered whether I could be worse.

The press learned yesterday that the Kings tournament that was planned, at least on those dates that were announced will not occur. Did you find out about it yesterday or earlier?

Carlsen: I found out about it a few days ago. I'm obviously not very happy not being able to play that tournament but it's an unfortunate situation for them and there's nothing to do about it.

Carlsen,Magnus - Aronian,Levon [C67]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.2), 14.06.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.b3 Be6 11.Bb2 Bb4 12.Ne2 Bd5 13.Ne1

[13.Nfd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Rd8 15.Nf5 Rg8 16.Rad1 Be4 17.Ne3 Ke7 18.Bd4 c5 19.Bb2 Bd2 20.Bc1 Bxc1 21.Rxc1 g5 22.f3 1/2-1/2 Nisipeanu,L (2664)-Levin,F (2481)/Baden-Baden GER 2010/The Week in Chess 805]

13...h5 14.Nd3 Be7 15.Nef4 Rh6 16.c4 Be4 17.Rad1 g5

[17...Nh4 18.Rfe1 Bh7 19.e6 f6 Aronian wanted to "play more enterprisingly like this but considering the results of the last few games I decided to play more academically, in classical style."]

18.Rfe1 Bxd3 19.Nxd3 b5 20.c5

Levon Aronian

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Magnus Carlsen

Position after 20.c5

c5 was the right move. - Aronian.

20...Ng7 21.b4 a5 22.a3 Ne6 23.g3

"g4 will give black some squares but also some weaknesses." - Carlsen. The players added that it prevents the idea of Kf8-g7 for which black now doesn't have time.

[23.f3 Kf8 24.g3 Kg7 25.f4 gxf4 26.Nxf4 "Then you can do anything!" - Carlsen. (26.gxf4 Kg6) ]

23...g4 24.Kg2 Rg6 25.Nf4 Rg5 26.Bc1 Rf5 27.h3 gxh3+ 28.Nxh3 axb4 29.axb4 Ra4 30.Bd2 Ra3 31.f4 h4 32.Re3 Rxe3

[32...Ra2 33.g4 Rxf4 34.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 35.Kf3 Nd5 36.Rb3 (36.Rd3 Kd7 37.e6+ at some moment worried Aronian.) ]

33.Bxe3 hxg3 34.Kxg3 Rh5 35.Bf2 f5 36.exf6 Bxf6 37.Kg4 Rxh3

Levon Aronian

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Magnus Carlsen

Position after 37...Rxh3

[37...Rd5 "Was a normal move but I wanted to make a firm draw." - Aronian.]

38.Kxh3 Nxf4+ 39.Kg4 Nd5 40.Bd4 Kf7 41.Kf5 Ne7+ 42.Ke4 Bxd4 43.Kxd4 Ke6 44.Re1+ Kd7 45.Ke5 Nd5 46.Re4 Kc8

Black's king gets to hide and protect his pawns.

47.Ke6 Nc3 48.Rh4 Nd5 49.Rd4 Kd8 50.Rg4 Kc8 51.Rh4 Kb7 52.Kd7 Nf6+ 53.Kd8 Nd5 54.Rg4 Kb8 55.Rd4 Kb7 56.Kd7 Nc3 57.Ke6 Kc8

One of only two moves to draw. "A very simple move but it's probably the only one that makes a draw." - Carlsen. "Why do you think so? Why not 57.Na2? Actually 57.Ne2 is also a draw. Ah, no, no, no it isn't." - Aronian.

[57...Na2 also draws.; 57...Ne2? 58.Rd2 Nc3 59.Rd3 Na2 (59...Nd5 60.Rxd5 cxd5 61.Kxd5 is a lost king and pawn ending.) 60.Rb3 Nc1 61.Ra3 Kb8 62.Ke5 Kb7 63.Ke4 Ne2 64.Re3 Nc1 65.Kd4 Kc8 and the knight is trapped.]

58.Rd3 Nd5 59.Rd4 Nc3 60.Rd3 Nd5 1/2-1/2

Fabiano Caruana beat Luke McShane

Luke McShane at the first time control

Luke McShane at the first time control. Photo © http://video.russiachess.org.

Fabiano Caruana won a fluctuating struggle with Luke McShane. Caruana got a very big opening advantage but couldn't quite find the accuracy to finish things off. Caruana was close to winning at various stages but McShane kept being allow new good drawing chances until very near the end.

Caruana,Fabiano - McShane,Luke J [A54]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.5), 14.06.2012
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd2 Qe7 6.Nb3 Bf5

McShane had two games with black in a row and Caruana wanted a piece of what Tomashevsky had. McShane was the first to deviate.

[6...h6 7.g3 g6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.h3 0-0 10.Be3 c6 11.Qd2 Kh7 12.g4 d5 13.g5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 Qd6 15.c5 Qe6 16.f3 b5 17.e3 Nbd7 18.h4 b4 19.Ne2 Nh5 20.Bh3 f5 21.fxe4 dxe4 22.Nf4 Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Nf6 24.Bf1 a5 25.Nc1 Nh5 26.Ne2 Ba6 27.Bd6 Bh6 28.Nf4 Bxf4 29.Bxf4 Nxf4 30.Bxa6 Nh5 31.Be2 Ng3 32.Rg1 f4 33.exf4 e3 34.Qd3 Nxe2 35.Qxe2 Rxf4 36.h5 Rxd4 37.Rd1 Rxd1+ 38.Qxd1 g5 39.Rxg5 Qf6 40.Qd3+ Kh8 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 Tomashevsky,E (2738)-McShane,L (2706)/Moscow RUS 2012]

7.Bg5 Nbd7 8.e3 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 a6 11.Na5 Rb8 12.b4 Bg7 13.Be2 0-0 14.Rb1 Bg6

"I think the opening went very well for me and I felt I had a very pleasant position. At some point it wasn't clear what black would play." - Caruana.

15.h4

"After 15.h4 I have many ideas, for instance b5 or c5. And he's really tied, he can't move, he's tied to defending his b7 pawn and there's no real ideas. " - Caruana.

15...g4

"After 15...g4 white must have a big advantage but I'm not sure of exacrly the best way to continue." - Caruana. "I agree, couldn't you just take on g4 actually?" - McShane.

16.h5

"I was very happy after you played 16.h5 and 17.b5 myself as I thought I had some chances." - McShane.

[16.Bxg4 Nxg4 17.Qxg4 Nf6 18.Qd1 Nh5 "Somehow I was worried about Nh5." - Caruana. 19.Ne2 "White is much better but I felt this may be my best chance." - McShane. 19...Nxg3 20.Nxg3 c5 with counterplay but objectively should be better for white.]

16...Bxh5 17.b5 axb5 18.Rxb5 Bg6 19.Nxb7 Rfc8

"Suddenly it got complicated." - Caruana.

20.Na5 Ra8 21.Nc6 Qe8 22.a4

"I wasn't sure how to procede here but what I played was pretty logical." - Caruana.

22...Nf8?

Luke McShane

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 22...Nf8?

"I forgot about 23.Nd5." - McShane.

[22...Ra6 23.Nb4 Raa8 "I wasn't really sure because c6 is a bit unpleasant. I only saw this idea after I played a4." - Caruana.; 22...h5 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.cxd5 Nb6 25.Rxb6 cxb6 26.Bxd6 Rxc6 27.dxc6 Qxc6 is nothing for white.]

23.Nd5! Nxd5 24.cxd5

This is now pretty horrible for black.

24...f5 25.a5

[25.Bh4 was more accurate according to Caruana as it wins a tempo. 25...Kh7 26.a5]

25...Bf7 26.Qc2 Ng6 27.Bh4

[27.Kd2 Kh7 "Once I get to a7 it doesn't matter what you have on the kingside." - Caruana.]

27...Nxh4 28.Rxh4 h5 29.g3 Bf6 30.Rh1 h4 31.gxh4 Kh8 32.Kd2 Qg8 33.Bc4 g3 34.Rg1 g2 35.Kc3

Luke McShane

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 35.Kc3

"At some point I really misplayed it and here I was really worried about Qg4." - Caruana.

35...Bxh4

"I wasn't sure 34...Bxh4 was wrong." - McShane.

[35...Qg4 36.Qe2 (36.Rb2 "I thought I would play Rb2 and start pushing also and we'll see." - Caruana.) 36...Qf3 which looks close to equal.]

36.Qe2 Qg5 37.Rb2 Bh5?

[37...Rg8 38.a6 Bh5 (38...f4 39.a7 f3 40.Qd2 Kg7 41.Rb7 Rgc8) 39.Rxg2 "Maybe it's a better version." - Caruana.]

38.Rxg2

"And here I must be winning." - Caruana.

38...Bxe2 39.Rxg5 Bxg5 40.Rxe2?!

[40.Bxe2 Caruana thought his last move before time control was strange. 40...Bh4 (40...Kg7 41.a6 Rh8 42.a7 Rh2 43.Ba6 wins. 43...Bh4 44.f4 (44.Bb7 Rxa7 45.Nxa7 Bxf2 46.Nb5) ) 41.Bc4 (41.Bf1) ]

40...Kg7 41.a6 Rh8 42.a7 Rh1 43.Kb2 Bh4

"At some point I realised it got unclear again." - Caruana.

44.Rc2

Luke McShane

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 44.Rc2

44...Kf6?

[44...f4 45.exf4 Rh2 46.Ba6 (46.f3 Rxc2+ 47.Kxc2 exf3 48.Kd2 Bf2 49.Bd3 equal.) 46...Bxf2 47.Bb7 Rxa7 48.Nxa7 Bxd4+ 49.Kb1 Rh1+ 50.Rc1 Rxc1+ 51.Kxc1 Bxa7 with equality.]

45.Ba6 Kg5 46.Bb7 Rxa7 47.Nxa7 Rf1 48.Nc6 Rxf2 49.Na5

"In the game it was also not so clear but it felt like I should win." - Caruana.

49...f4 50.Nc4

Luke McShane

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 50.Nc4

50...Rxc2+?

[50...f3?; 50...Kg4 Seems like it should draw. 51.exf4 Kf3 52.Rxf2+ Kxf2 53.Kc2]

51.Kxc2 fxe3?

[51...Kg4 52.Kd2 Kf3 53.exf4 (53.Ba6 fxe3+) 53...Bg3 54.f5 e3+ 55.Nxe3 Bf4 56.Kd3 Bxe3 still draws. Probably this was the final chance for McShane]

52.Nxe3 Bf2 53.Kd2 Kf4 54.Nc2 Kf3 55.Ba6 Bh4

Now white is winning.

56.Be2+ Kf2 57.Bh5 Bg5+ 58.Kc3 Bf6 59.Na3 Ke3 60.Nb5 Bh4 61.Nxc7 Be1+ 62.Kc4 Kd2 63.Nb5 e3 64.Nxd6 e2 65.Nf7 Bf2 66.Bxe2 Kxe2 67.d6 1-0

Grischuk draw Radjabov

Grischuk playing against Radjabov

Grischuk playing against Radjabov. Photo © http://video.russiachess.org.

Alexander Grischuk didn't make much progress against Teimour Radjabov who played quite solidly in a passive position.

Grischuk,Alexander - Radjabov,Teimour [B30]
7th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.3), 14.06.2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 d6 6.e5 dxe5 7.Nxe5 Qd5 8.Nf3

[8.Nc4 Ba6 9.Bb2 Qe4+ 10.Ne3 Nf6 11.d3 Qf4 12.Nd2 Nd5 13.Qe2 Be7 14.g3 Qg5 15.h4 Qh6 16.Ng4 Qh5 17.c4 Nb4 18.Nf6+ Bxf6 19.Qxh5 Bxb2 20.0-0 0-0 21.Qxc5 Rab8 22.Qxa7 Ra8 23.Qc5 Nxd3 24.Qe3 Nb4 25.Rab1 Bf6 26.Ne4 Be7 27.Rb2 Bc8 28.a4 Ra5 29.Rd1 h6 30.Nd6 Ba6 31.Qb6 Bxd6 32.Rxd6 1-0 Sarwat,W (2407)-Hamed,M/Cairo EGY 2000]

8...Qe4+ 9.Kf1 Qf5

[9...Nf6 10.d3 Ba6 11.Qe2 Qd5 12.Nc3 Qd8 13.Ne4 Be7 14.Bb2 Qc7 15.Re1 Rd8 16.Nfg5 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 0-0 18.h4 f6 19.Qe3 Qa5 20.Bc3 Qb6 21.h5 e5 22.Nd2 Bd6 23.h6 g5 24.Ne4 c4 25.bxc4 Qxe3 26.Rxe3 Be7 27.g3 g4 28.f3 gxf3 29.g4 Bc8 30.Rxf3 Bxg4 31.Rg1 f5 32.Bxe5 Kf7 33.Rxg4 Ke6 34.Ng5+ Bxg5 35.Rxg5 Kxe5 36.Rg7 Kd4 37.Rxh7 Kc3 38.Rxa7 Kxc2 39.h7 c5 40.Kf2 Rxd3 41.Rxd3 Kxd3 42.Rg7 Rh8 43.Kf3 Kxc4 44.Kf4 Kb4 45.Kxf5 Ka3 46.Kg6 1-0 Caruana,F (2409)-Vazquez Igarza,R (2513)/Madrid 2006.]

10.Na3

[10.Nc3 Nf6 11.d3 Be7 12.Qe2 Nd5 13.Bd2 Nb4 was 0-1 in McShane,L-Radjabov from round 2.]

10...Nf6 11.d3 Nd5 12.Nc4 Ba6 13.Qe2 Bxc4 14.bxc4 Qf6 15.Rb1 Nc3 16.Bb2 Rb8 17.Qe1

Teimour Radjabov

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Alexander Grischuk

Position after 17.Qe1

Grischuk took a long time here.

17...Bd6 18.Bxc3 Rxb1 19.Bxf6 Rxe1+ 20.Kxe1 gxf6 21.Ke2 Kd7 22.Rb1 Kc7

White has a little something but it isn't anywhere near enough.

23.g4 h6 24.Nd2 h5 25.gxh5 Rxh5 26.Nf3 Rh8 27.a4 a5 28.Rg1 Kd7 29.Nd2 Rxh2 30.Nb3 Rh8 31.Rg7 Ke7 32.Nxa5 Ra8 33.Nb7 Rxa4 34.Nxd6 Kxd6 35.Rxf7 f5 36.Rf8 Ra2 37.Kd2 Ra1 38.Rd8+ Kc7 39.Re8 Kd6 40.Rd8+ Kc7 41.Re8 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 0 1 1 . . 4 2916
2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2801 . * ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 . 1 4 2911
3. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2835 ½ ½ * 1 ½ . ½ ½ . . 2842
4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2784 ½ ½ 0 * . . . ½ 1 1 2825
5. Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2770 0 . ½ . * ½ . ½ 1 1 2821
6. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2775 1 ½ . . ½ * 0 . ½ ½ 3 2768
7. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2825 0 ½ ½ . . 1 * . 0 ½ 2713
8. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2761 0 0 ½ ½ ½ . . * 1 . 2720
9. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2706 . . . 0 0 ½ 1 0 * ½ 2 2650
10. Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2738 . 0 . 0 0 ½ ½ . ½ * 2583
Round 6 (June 14, 2012)
Morozevich, Alexander - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 47 D20 QGA
Kramnik, Vladimir - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1-0 83 D45 Anti-Meran Variations
Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 60 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Caruana, Fabiano - McShane, Luke J 1-0 67 A54 Old Indian Defence
Grischuk, Alexander - Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ 41 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo

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