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Home » Chess News » Events » Tal Memorial Mini-Site 2009 » Ivanchuk wins in "bit rubbish" round

Vassily Ivanchuk beat Boris Gelfand to move level with Viswanathan Anand and half a point behind the leader Vladimir Kramnik with two rounds to go.

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	1	1	.	5	2926
2.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2788	½	*	½	½	.	.	½	½	1	1	4½	2860
3.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	.	½	*	½	1	.	½	1	½	½	4½	2865
4.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	½	½	½	*	½	½	.	½	½	.	3½	2763
5.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	½	.	0	½	*	1	½	½	.	½	3½	2762
6.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	½	.	.	½	0	*	½	½	½	1	3½	2760
7.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	0	½	½	.	½	½	*	.	½	½	3	2714
8.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	0	½	0	½	½	½	.	*	.	½	2½	2668
9.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	0	0	½	½	.	½	½	.	*	½	2½	2666
10.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	.	0	½	.	½	0	½	½	½	*	2½	2657

Round 7 (November 12, 2009)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	36	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Gelfand, Boris	1-0	43	D11	Slav Defence
Aronian, Levon	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	23	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Ponomariov, Ruslan	- Leko, Peter	½-½	31	E06	Catalan
Svidler, Peter	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	40	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo

I would describe round 7 as being "a bit rubbish really". There was only one decisive game allowing, Vassily Ivanchuk to move to within half a point of the leader Vladimir Kramnik and level with Viswanathan Anand.

The only decisive game of the day saw Vassily Ivanchuk win and then eventually convert an extra pawn. For most of the game Boris Gelfand should have been able to hold but his position deteriorated prior to the first time control. I can't really say definitely where Gelfand went wrong, perhaps 36...Rc6 was the correct defence.

Ivanchuk,V (2739) - Gelfand,B (2758) [D11]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 12.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.e4 e5 12.d5 Nb6 13.Bd3

[13.Bb3 cxd5 14.exd5 h6 15.Be3 Rc8 16.Rac1 a6 1/2-1/2 Koneru,H (2612)-Movsesian,S (2677)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2008/The Week in Chess 690]

13...cxd5 14.exd5 h6 15.Be3 Rc8 16.Rac1 Nc4 17.Bxc4 Rxc4 18.Qe2 Rc8 19.Bxa7

Going pawn grabbing. At the moment black has enough compensation and white has to be certain the bishop will be able to return into play.

19...b6

[19...Qa5]

20.Nb5 Rc5 21.Rfd1 Qd7 22.Nxd6

[22.Rxc5 Bxc5 23.a3 Nxd5 24.Qc4 Qc6 25.Qxd5 Qxb5 26.b4 Bxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Qa6 28.Qd7 Ra8 29.Qf5 g6 30.Qxe5 Qxa7]

22...Qxd6 23.Rxc5 Qxc5 24.Qe3 Qc2 25.Qb3 Qxb3 26.axb3 Rd8 27.d6 b5

[27...Nd7 28.Rc1 f5]

28.f3 Ra8 29.Be3 Nd7 30.Rd5 Rb8

[30...f6 31.Rxb5 Ra6 32.f4 Rxd6 33.f5]

31.f4 exf4 32.Bxf4 f6 33.Rd2 Kf7 34.Kf2 Ke6 35.Ke3 Rc8 36.Kd4

36...g5

Maybe the decisive error.

[36...Rc6 37.Re2+ Ne5]

37.Re2+ Ne5 38.Bxe5 fxe5+ 39.Rxe5+ Kxd6 40.Rxb5 Rc2 41.g4 Rxb2

[41...Kc6 42.Rf5 Rd2+ 43.Kc3 Rd6 44.b4]

42.Rb6+ Kc7 43.Kc3 1-0

Leader Vladimir Kramnik innovated with 9...Qd8 in a Queen's Gambit Ragozin against Levon Aronian and the upshot was that pieces came off very quickly and a draw was agreed on move 23.

Aronian,L (2786) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D37]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Bxc4 c5 9.e5 Qd8N

[9...Qe7 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.d5 exd5 14.Bxd5 0-0 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qc2 Bg4 17.Qxc6 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 1/2-1/2 Feller,S (2282)-Ninov,N (2493)/Saint Lo FRA 2005/The Week in Chess 559]

10.d5 exd5 11.Bxd5 0-0 12.Rc1 Nc6 13.0-0 Nd4 14.Be4 Re8 15.Nd5 Bf5 16.Bxf5 Qxd5 17.Nxd4 Rxe5 18.Nb5 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rxf5 20.a3

[20.Nd6 Rg5 21.Nxb7 Rb8 22.Rd7 Re5 23.a3 Bd2 24.Rd1 c4 25.g3 Rb5 26.Nd8 Rxb2]

20...c4 21.axb4 Rxb5 22.Rxc4 a5 23.g3

Neither player is going to get much out of this position.

1/2-1/2

After Alexander Morozevich was comprehensively outplayed yesterday Viswanthan Anand may have hoped that he was on "tilt". Instead Morozevich's Queen's Gambit Accepted was very solid indeed and after 36 uneventful moves a draw was agreed.

Anand,V (2788) - Morozevich,A (2750) [D37]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0-0 Be7 9.dxc5 0-0 10.Qc2 Bxc5 11.Rd1 Qc7

[11...Bd7 12.Ne4 Nb4 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Qe2 Bc6 15.e4 Rfd8 16.Rxd8+ Qxd8 17.Bd2 Nc2 18.Bg5 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Qxd4 20.Bd3 Qb4 21.Qc2 Bd4 22.Ra2 0-1 Korchnoi,V (2623)-Ivanchuk,V (2729)/Odessa UKR 2007/The Week in Chess 661]

12.Ne4 Be7 13.Bd2 Na5 14.Bxa5 Qxa5 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6

Black has the two bishops but has yet to unwind his queenside.

16.Bd3 g6 17.Be4 Qb4 18.Rd2 Ra7 19.h3 b6 20.Rad1 b5 21.axb5 Qxb5 22.Nd4 Qb6 23.Qc6 Rb7 24.Rc2 Qxc6 25.Nxc6 Kg7 26.Rdd2 h5 27.Bf3 h4

The position is completely equal.

28.Na5 Rd7 29.Bc6 Rxd2 30.Rxd2 Be7 31.Nc4 g5 32.Rd1 f5 33.Nb6 Bc5 34.Nxc8 Rxc8 35.Ba4 Rb8 36.b3 Kf6

There is too little in the position for either side.

1/2-1/2

Peter Svidler played 3.Bb5 against Magnus Carlsen's Sicilian. I may be misrepresenting Svidler's intention but certainly at my level this variation normally has the intention of being a "buzz kill" for black rather than a winning attempt by white. Carlsen didn't really seem in any trouble at any stage of this game. Svidler mananged to retain the b5 bishop and even got the two bishops in return for a shattered kingside, black also won a pawn and a position of dynamic equality signalled by repetition of moves was reached.

Svidler,P (2754) - Carlsen,M (2801) [B30]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 12.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

A line aimed at reducing black's chances in the Sicilian.

3...e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.a4 b4 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 dxe4 11.Bxe4 Nd5 12.Nbd2 Bb7

[12...Be7 13.Nb3 Qd6 14.Qc2 h6 15.Bf4 Qd7 16.Nc5 Bxc5 17.Qxc5 f5 18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 exd5 20.Rfe1+ Kd7 21.Rac1 Bb7 22.Rc5 Rad8 23.Rxd5+ Kc8 24.Rc1 g5 25.Be5 Rh7 26.Rdc5 g4 27.Nh4 1-0 Wohl,A (2439)-Xie,G (2340)/Brisbane AUS 2005/The Week in Chess 582]

13.Nb3 Be7 14.Nc5 Bxc5 15.dxc5 0-0 16.Qc2 Nf6 17.Rd1 Qc7 18.Bd3 h6 19.b3 Na5 20.Bb2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Qf4 22.Be2 Rfc8 23.Rac1 Nb7 24.c6 Na5 25.c7 Nd5 26.Qe4 Qxe4 27.fxe4 Nxc7 28.Be5 Ne8 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Bxa6 Ra8 31.Be2 Nxb3 32.Rb1 Na5 33.Bb5

[33.Rxb4 Nc6 34.Rb5 Nxe5 35.Rxe5 Rxa4]

33...b3 34.Bc3 Nd6 35.f3 Ndc4 36.Kf2 f6 37.Ke2 Na3 38.Rb2 N3c4 39.Rb1 Na3 40.Rb2

White is a pawn down but the two bishops are enough compensation.

1/2-1/2

Peter Leko equalised against Ruslan Ponomariov's Open Catalan (or even gained a tiny advantage) and the pieces came off and a draw was agreed on move 31.

Ponomariov,R (2739) - Leko,P (2752) [E06]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 12.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Bb7 12.Bf4 Nd5 13.Nc3 Nxf4 14.Qxf4 Nd7 15.Rfd1 Bd6 16.Qe3 Nb6 17.Qd3

[17.Ne5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 f5 19.f4 b4 20.Nb1 Bxe5 21.Qxe5 Qd5+ 22.Qxd5 Nxd5 23.Kf3 a5 24.Nd2 a4 25.Nc4 a3 26.bxa3 bxa3 27.Rd3 Ra4 28.Rc1 Rfa8 29.Ne3 Nb4 30.Rd2 R8a7 31.d5 Kf7 32.dxe6+ Kxe6 1-0 Mikhalevski,V (2590)-Bakre,T (2426)/Sydney AUS 2007/The Week in Chess 649]

17...c5 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 f5 22.e3 Rac8 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Rc1 Rc8 25.Ne2 Bd6 26.Rxc8+ Nxc8 27.Nc6 Kf7 28.f4 Ke8 29.Kf3 Kd7 30.Ncd4 Ne7 31.e4

Again for top GMs it's not really worth playing on here.

1/2-1/2

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