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Magnus Carlsen finally won a game in the penultimate round of the Tal Memorial. This was the only decisive game and sets up an intriguing game between Ivanchuk and Kramnik which may settle the tournament.

Tal Memorial Moscow (RUS), 5-14 xi 2009												cat. XXI (2764)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	*	½	.	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	5½	2907
2.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2788	½	*	½	½	½	.	½	1	½	1	5	2853
3.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	.	½	*	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	5	2861
4.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	.	½	½	4½	2803
5.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	½	½	0	½	*	1	½	½	½	.	4	2765
6.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	½	.	½	½	0	*	½	1	½	½	4	2758
7.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	.	½	3	2681
8.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	½	0	½	.	½	0	½	*	½	½	3	2673
9.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	0	½	0	½	½	½	.	½	*	½	3	2681
10.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	0	0	½	½	.	½	½	½	½	*	3	2678

Round 8 (November 13, 2009)
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Leko, Peter	½-½	36	E15	Queens Indian
Carlsen, Magnus	- Ponomariov, Ruslan	1-0	31	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Gelfand, Boris	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	28	E06	Catalan
Aronian, Levon	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	58	E06	Catalan
Morozevich, Alexander	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	49	B46	Sicilian Paulsen

Vladimir Kramnik takes a half point lead into the final round over Viswanathan Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk. Rather intriguingly Ivanchuk can overtake Kramnik by beating him in the final round, Ivanchuk has the white pieces. Anand also has white in the final round where he plays Levon Aronian.

Kramnik took a quick draw against Peter Leko. They ploughed down 27 moves of theory and the perpetual check was forced by Kramnik with the novelty he played.

Kramnik,Vladimir - Leko,Peter [E15]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 c5 14.exd5 exd5 15.dxc5 dxc4 16.c6 cxb3 17.Re1 Bb5 18.Nxb3 Bxc6 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Nd4 Bxg2 21.Nf5+ Kh8 22.Rxe7 Bh3 23.Qd4+ Ne5 24.Qxe5+ f6 25.Qe2 Bxf5 26.Rd1 Bg4

27.Rxh7+

Already heading for the draw.

[27.Rxd8 Bxe2 28.Rxf8+ Rxf8 1/2-1/2 Barus,C (2410)-Zarnicki,P (2540)/Yerevan ARM 1996]

27...Kxh7 28.Qxg4 Qe8 29.Rd7+ Rf7 30.Rxf7+ Qxf7 31.Qxc8 Qxa2 32.Qf5+ Kg7 33.Qg4+ Kh7 34.Qh5+ Kg7 35.Qg4+ Kh7 36.Qh5+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Magnus Carlsen won a sharp Sicilian Schevengen against Ruslan Ponomariov. Ponomariov allowed a strong attack with a mistake on move 16. It may be Carlsen wasn't as accurate as he could have been and that Ponomariov had a brief chance on move 22 to get back into the game. This didn't happen and Carlsen brought home the point fairly comfortably after that.

Carlsen,Magnus - Ponomariov,Ruslan [B90]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 12.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.0-0-0 Ne5 11.Qe1

[11.a3 Nfd7 12.g5 Nb6 13.b3 d5 14.exd5 Bxa3+ 15.Kb1 Bb4 16.dxe6 Nd5 17.exf7+ Kxf7 18.g6+ Nxg6 19.Nde2 Be6 20.Bd4 Qc8 21.Ne4 Bxd2 22.Nd6+ Kg8 23.Nxc8 Be3 24.Nb6 Bxd4 25.Nxa8 Bf6 26.Nb6 Nxb6 27.Rd6 Kf7 28.Rxb6 Rd8 29.Nc1 Nf4 30.Bd3 Nd5 31.Rb7+ Kg8 32.Ne2 Nb4 33.Nf4 Bxb3 34.cxb3 Nxd3 35.Nh5 Be5 36.Rd1 Rd5 37.Ng3 a5 38.Nf5 Kh7 39.Ne3 Rd8 40.Rxb5 Bxh2 41.Ng4 Bc7 42.Rb7 Nc5 43.Rxd8 Bxd8 44.Rb5 Ne6 45.Rd5 Kg6 46.f4 Nxf4 47.Rxd8 h5 48.Nh2 Kf5 49.Ra8 Kg5 50.Rxa5+ Kh4 51.b4 Kg3 52.Nf1+ Kg4 53.b5 Nd5 54.Kc2 g5 55.Ra4+ Kf3 56.Rd4 Nb6 57.Nd2+ Kg3 58.Ne4+ Kf4 59.Nd2+ Kf5 60.Rd6 Nc8 61.Rh6 h4 62.b6 Nxb6 63.Rxb6 g4 64.Rb4 Kg5 65.Kd1 1-0 Castejon Caballero,N (2060)-Ortiz Suarez,I (2390)/Parla ESP 2007/The Week in Chess 670]

11...Qc7 12.h4 b4 13.Nce2 Nc4 14.Nf4 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qb6 16.Bc4 Qc5?

Allowing a direct assault on the king.

[16...Qc7 17.Qb3 d5 18.exd5 Qxf4+ 19.Kb1]

17.Qb3 d5?

[17...Qe5 18.Nfxe6 fxe6 19.Bxe6 Bxe6 20.Nxe6 Kd7 21.Nd4 and white is on top.]

18.exd5 Bd6 19.Nfxe6 fxe6 20.dxe6 Be7 21.Qd3

[21.Nf5 0-0 22.Nxe7+ Qxe7 23.g5 Ne8 24.Qe3 Kh8 25.Rhg1 Nd6 26.Rxd6 Qxd6 27.gxh6]

21...0-0

22.Bb3?!

[22.g5 Nh5 23.gxh6]

22...Rd8

[22...Bb7 and black is right back in it.]

23.g5 Nh7

[23...Kh8]

24.gxh6 Qh5 25.Qe4 Qxh6+ 26.Kb1 Ra7 27.Nf5 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Qf6 29.Rd7 Bxd7 30.exd7+ Kf8 31.Qd5 1-0

Boris Gelfand seemed pretty happy with a draw against Viswanathan Anand and this was agreed in 28 moves.

Gelfand,Boris - Anand,Viswanathan [E06]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.Nc3 Na6 12.Ne5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Nd5 14.Rad1 Nab4

[14...Nxf4+ 15.gxf4 Bd6 16.e3 Nb4 17.Nf3 c6 18.Rg1 Nd5 19.Ne4 f5 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.Ne5 Rfd8 22.h4 Nf6 23.Kh3 Rac8 24.Qb3 Qe7 25.Rg5 Ne4 26.Rg2 Rc7 27.Rdg1 Qe8 28.Qb6 Rdc8 29.Qxa5 c5 30.dxc5 Nxc5 31.Qxc5 1-0 Shirov,A (2726)-Landa,K (2613)/Muelheim GER 2009/The Week in Chess 743]

15.Bc1 Nb6 16.Qb3 N4d5 17.Nb5 c6 18.Na3 Nb4 19.e4 Nd7 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Nc4 Qd8 22.Be3 b5 23.Ne5 Qc7 24.Nd3 Qb7 25.Nxb4 Bxb4 26.f3 bxa4 27.Qxa4 Qb5 28.Qc2 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian against Vassily Ivanchuk was quite an interesting Open Catalan. Aronian got a pawn advantage in a rook and pawn ending but Ivanchuk's technique is pretty good and he held the ending pretty comfortably in the end.

Aronian,Levon - Ivanchuk,Vassily [E06]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Bb7 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Nbd2 Bxf4 14.gxf4 Qd6

[14...Nbd7 1-0 Hillarp Persson,T (2543)-Antonsen,M (2442)/Denmark DEN 2009/The Week in Chess 750 (61)]

15.Nb3

[15.e3 1/2-1/2 Mikhailov,V-Grazinys,V (2166)/ICCF Email 2002 (42)]

15...Nbd7 16.Rd1

[16.Ne5 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 c5 18.Nxd7 Nxd7 19.dxc5 Qc6+ 20.f3 Rfc8 21.Qe3 a5 22.Rac1 e5 23.fxe5 Re8 24.Nd4 Qg6+ 25.Kh1 Rxe5 26.Qf4 Rxc5 27.Rxc5 Nxc5 28.Rg1 Ne6 29.Qe5 Qh6 30.Nf5 Qf4 31.Rxg7+ Kh8 32.Qf6 1-0 Lalic,B (2475)-Piza Cortizo,D (2295)/Valencia 1990]

16...a5 17.Ne5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 a4 19.Nc5 Nxc5 20.Qxc5 Qxc5 21.dxc5 Rfd8 22.Nc6 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Kf8 24.Kf3 Ke8 25.Nb4 Nd7 26.c6 Nc5 27.Rc1 Na6 28.Nxa6 Rxa6 29.e4 b4 30.Rc5 f5 31.exf5 exf5 32.Ke3 Ke7 33.Kd4 Kd6 34.Kc4 b3 35.axb3 axb3 36.Rxf5 Rxc6+ 37.Kxb3 Rc1 38.h4 Rf1 39.Rg5 Rxf2 40.Rxg7 Rxf4 41.Rxh7 c5 42.h5 Rh4 43.h6 Kc6 44.Kc3 Kd5 45.Rh8 Rh3+ 46.Kd2 Kc6 47.Ke2 Kb7 48.Kf2 c4 49.Kg2 Rh5 50.Kf3 Rh4 51.Kg3 Rh1 52.Kf4 Rh2 53.Ke5 Rxb2 54.Kd4 Rb6 55.Kxc4 Rg6 56.Kd5 Rf6 57.Ke5 Rc6 58.Rh7+ Kb8

Rook on the longside will draw the game by checking.

1/2-1/2

Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler played quite an interesting Sicilian Taimanov. However the position ended up in a heavy piece ending after 27 moves which was then drawn after 49 moves.

Morozevich,Alexander - Svidler,Peter [B46]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 12.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Bg5 Be7 10.e5 Nd7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Re1 c5 13.b3 Bb7 14.Qh5 h6 15.f4 0-0 16.Qe2

[16.Rad1 c4 17.bxc4 dxc4 18.Be4 Nc5 19.Bxb7 Qxb7 20.Rb1 Qa7 21.Kh1 Rfd8 22.Red1 Rab8 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Rd1 Qb6 25.h3 Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Qb2 27.Qd2 Nd3 28.Ne4 Nb4 29.Nd6 c3 30.Qd4 Nxc2 31.Qe4 Ne1 0-1 Khamatgaleev,A (2380)-Jansa,V (2480)/Pardubice CZE 1997]

16...f6 17.exf6 Rxf6 18.Rad1 Qd6 19.f5 exf5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.Bc4 Nb6 22.Bxd5+ Nxd5 23.Qf3 Rd8 24.c4 Re6 25.Rxe6 Qxe6 26.cxd5 Qe5 27.Qd3

This heavy piece ending is most likely just a draw.

27...Rd6 28.h3 f4 29.Kf2 Kh8 30.Rd2 g5 31.Kf1 Kg7 32.Qc4 h5 33.Qxc5 g4 34.hxg4 hxg4 35.Qd4 Kf6 36.Qd3 a5 37.Rd1 Kg5 38.Kf2 Qb2+ 39.Rd2 Qe5 40.Rd1 Qb2+ 41.Qd2 Qxd2+ 42.Rxd2 Kf5 43.g3 fxg3+ 44.Kxg3 Ke4 45.a3 Rxd5 46.Rxd5 Kxd5 47.b4 axb4 48.axb4 Kc4 49.Kxg4 Kxb4 1/2-1/2

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