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Vladimir Kramnik leads alone after a second win in a row.

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	.	.	.	.	1	1	3	2966
2.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2788	½	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	.	1	2½	2846
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	1	.	½	2½	2856
4.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	½	.	½	*	.	½	.	.	½	.	2	2766
5.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	.	½	½	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	2	2767
6.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	.	.	.	½	½	*	.	½	½	.	2	2760
7.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	.	½	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	½	2	2758
8.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	.	.	0	.	.	½	½	*	½	.	1½	2671
9.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	0	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	*	.	1½	2683
10.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	0	0	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	1	2578

Round 4 (November 8, 2009)
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Svidler, Peter	1-0	37	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Carlsen, Magnus	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	32	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Ponomariov, Ruslan	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	34	D71	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Leko, Peter	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	27	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Morozevich, Alexander	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	41	A28	English Four Knights

Colds and fever didn't prevent Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen playing in Round 4 of the Tal Memorial. It was Kramnik, who has probably play the best chess so far, who emerged as the clear leader going into the rest day on Monday.

Apart from Kramnik's win, the round itself was a bit of a damp squib with very few scares for anybody. Opening preparation amongst the elite players is at an all time high.

Vladimir Kramnik won a second game in a row when he beat Peter Svidler. Svidler is a Gruenfeld specialist and for today he was surprised with a sideline and a novelty by Kramnik. It was one of those games where it is quite hard to find the turning point. Was it that Svidler didn't find the right moment to play Nc7? Or maybe some other error. Whatever the case I don't think it can have been much fun for black all afternoon. Svidler was put out of his misery in 37 moves.

Kramnik,V (2772) - Svidler,P (2754) [D85]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 08.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 Qa5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.d5 Na6 12.h4N

[12.Ng5 b5 13.h3 Bd7 14.Bd3 c4 15.Be2 Rac8 16.0-0 Nc5 17.f4 h6 18.Bxc5 Rxc5 19.Nf3 Qb6 20.Kh1 Rcc8 21.Ne5 Be8 22.Rb1 Qc5 23.Nf3 Bd7 24.Nh4 a5 25.f5 g5 26.Nf3 b4 27.cxb4 axb4 28.Qxb4 c3 29.Rfc1 Ra8 1-0 Grischuk,A (2719)-Morozevich,A (2787)/Almaty KAZ 2008/The Week in Chess 731]

12...f5

I'm not sure I like this move for black. It may be that this is OK but the position proves rather difficult for Svidler to play.

13.exf5 Bxf5?!

[13...gxf5]

14.h5 Rad8 15.hxg6 Bxg6 16.Bh6 Bxh6 17.Rxh6 Rf6 18.Ne5 Qa4?!

[18...Nc7]

19.Qe3 Qf4 20.Qxf4 Rxf4 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Rxg6+

Kramnik has won a solid pawn but there is still work to do.

22...Kf7 23.Rg5 Re4+

[23...Nc7 24.c4 e6 25.d6 Na6 26.Rd1 b6 27.Rh5 Rd4 28.Rxd4 cxd4 29.Bd3 Nc5 30.Ke2]

24.Be2 Kf6 25.Rh5 Kg6 26.g4

Black's position has been by far the more difficult to play and now he's drifted into an almost lost position.

26...Rf8 27.Rd1 Rf6 28.Rh8 Kg7

[28...Rf3 29.d6 exd6 30.Rxd6+ Kg7 31.Rhd8 Nc7 32.R6d7+ Rf7 33.Rxf7+ Kxf7 34.Rd7+ Re7 35.Rxe7+ Kxe7 36.Kd2 b5]

29.Rd8 Rb6

[29...c4 30.Rc8 Rff4 31.a3 Rf3 32.d6 exd6 33.Rxd6 Rd3 34.Rd4 Rexd4 35.cxd4 Rxa3 36.Bxc4]

30.f3 Re3 31.Rd3 Re5 32.Kf2 Rh6 33.Bf1 Rh2+

[33...Rd6 34.Rxd6 exd6 35.Re3 Rxe3 36.Kxe3 Nc7 37.Ke4 b5 is equally lost.]

34.Kg3 Rxa2 35.d6 exd6 36.R3xd6 Re7 37.R6d7 1-0

Magnus Carlsen never got anything remotely looking like an advantage against Levon Aronian's Meran Variation. He found a temporary piece sacrifice to force the draw.

Carlsen,M (2801) - Aronian,L (2786) [D47]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 08.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Nd2 Bb7 10.Nce4

[10.0-0 0-0 11.Qf3 Qb8 12.Qh3 h6 13.b3 b4 14.Nce4 c5 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.Nc4 Qd5 17.Bb2 cxd4 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.Bb1 d3 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.e4 Qg5 22.f4 Qg7 23.Nd6 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Nxe4 25.Rxd3 f5 26.Re3 Nc3 27.Kh1 Qf6 28.g4 fxg4 29.Qxg4+ Kh8 30.Bd3 Rad8 31.Rh3 Rd5 32.f5 e5 33.Qxb4 Rc8 34.Bc4 Qc6 35.Bxd5 Qxd5+ 36.Rhf3 Ne2 37.Qh4 Kh7 38.f6 Nd4 39.Qh3 Rg8 40.b4 Rg6 41.a4 Rxf6 42.Kg2 Qe4 43.Qh5 Nxf3 44.Rxf3 Qe2+ 45.Kg3 Rg6+ 46.Kh3 Qg2+ 0-1 Volkov,S (2633)-Romanov,E (2547)/Dagomys RUS 2008/The Week in Chess 700]

10...Be7 11.Nxf6+ Nxf6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Nb3 c5 14.dxc5 Qd5 15.f3 Rfd8 16.Be2 Qe5 17.Qe1 Bd5 18.Qc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3 Bxb3 20.axb3 Nd5 21.b4 Nxc3 22.Kf2 a5 23.Rxa5 Rxa5 24.bxa5 Bxc5 25.Bb2 Nxe2 26.Kxe2 Bb4 27.Ra1

Forcing the draw.

27...Rd2+ 28.Kf1 Rxb2 29.a6 Bc5 30.Rc1 g6 31.Rxc5 Ra2 32.Rxb5 Rxa6 1/2-1/2

The double rook ending with bishops of opposite colours reached by Ruslan Ponoamriov and Viswanathan Anand from a Fianchetto Gruenfeld led to an almost inevitable draw in only 10 further moves.

Ponomariov,R (2739) - Anand,V (2788) [D71]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 08.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Re1 Bd7 11.b3 e5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bxe5 14.Bb2 c6 15.f4 Bg7 16.e4 Nc4 17.bxc4 Qb6+ 18.Kh1 Qxb2 19.Rb1 Qxc3 20.Qxd7 Rab8

[20...b6 21.Qxc6 Rac8 22.Qa4 Qxc4 23.Qxa7 Bc3 24.Rec1 Ra8 25.Qxb6 Rxa2 26.Qe3 Rc8 27.Bf1 Qc5 28.Qxc5 Rxc5 29.Rb3 Bd4 30.Rxc5 Bxc5 31.Bc4 Rc2 32.Bd5 Be7 33.Rb7 Kf8 34.Rb8+ Kg7 35.Rb7 Kf8 36.g4 Rf2 37.f5 gxf5 38.exf5 h5 39.h3 hxg4 40.hxg4 Rd2 41.Bb3 Rb2 42.g5 Bxg5 43.Rxf7+ Ke8 44.Be6 Rf2 1/2-1/2 Maletin,P (2576)-Negi,P (2615)/St Petersburg RUS 2009/The Week in Chess 781]

21.Rec1 Qa3 22.Rd1 Re7 23.Qd6 Qxd6 24.Rxd6 Rbe8 25.Bf3 Bf8 26.e5 Rc7 27.Rd3 f6 28.exf6 Re6 29.Bg4 Rxf6 30.Rd7 Rxd7 31.Bxd7 b6 32.Rd1 Rd6

Trading into a sterile bishops of opposite colour ending.

33.Rxd6 Bxd6 34.Bxc6 1/2-1/2

Alexander Morozevich played a reverse Sicilian against Boris Gelfand and black at least equalised almost straight away. Material was exchanged at a steady rate until the inevitable draw on move 41.

Morozevich,A (2750) - Gelfand,B (2758) [A28]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 08.11.2009

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Be7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Be6 9.Bd2 f5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5

[10...Bxd5 11.Bc3 Bf6 12.Qc2 Kh8 13.b4 e4 14.dxe4 fxe4 15.Nd2 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 Qd6 17.b5 Ne5 18.Qd4 c5 19.bxc6 Nxc6 20.Qa4 Rae8 21.Rad1 Qg6 22.Bc4 Rf5 23.Qb3 Na5 24.Qb4 Nxc4 25.Nxc4 Rg5 26.g3 a5 27.Qc5 1/2-1/2 Alekseev,E (2616)-Gelfand,B (2714)/Sochi RUS 2004/The Week in Chess 495]

11.Bc3 Rad8

[11...Bf6 12.Qc2 a5 13.a3 1/2-1/2 Schmidt,W (2469)-Grabczewski,R (2344)/Wroclaw 1972]

12.Qc2 Kh8 13.a3 Bf6 14.b4 a6 15.Rac1 Qb3 16.Qxb3 Bxb3 17.e4 g6 18.Rfe1 Rfe8 19.Nd2 Ba4 20.g3 Kg8 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Bh5 Rf8 23.Nc4 Bg5 24.Ra1 Rxd3 25.Nb2 Rxc3 26.Nxa4 Rc2 27.Nc5 e4 28.Bd1 Rb2 29.Bb3+ Kh8 30.Rab1 Rxb1 31.Rxb1 Nd4 32.Nxb7 f4 33.Nc5 e3 34.gxf4 Bxf4 35.fxe3 Bxe3+ 36.Kh1 Nxb3 37.Rxb3 Bxc5 38.bxc5 Rf1+ 39.Kg2 Rc1 40.Rb8+ Kg7 41.Ra8 Rxc5

Another trivially drawn ending.

1/2-1/2

Peter Leko might have continued at the end of the games against Vassily Ivanchuk but probably not to much effect. They played out 17 moves of Najdorf theory and then another 10 real moves before calling it a day.

Leko,P (2752) - Ivanchuk,V (2739) [B90]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 08.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.g4 Rc8 12.Qf2 Nbd7 13.Kb1 b5 14.g5 Nh5 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.Rxd5 Rcb8 17.f4 Nxf4

[17...Nb6 18.Rd1 Nxf4 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.Qxf4 Nc4 21.h4 a5 22.Nd4 a4 23.Rh3 Qc5 24.Nf5 Bf8 25.Rd5 Qb4 26.Qc1 a3 27.b3 Ne5 28.Nd4 Qa5 29.Bxb5 Qb6 30.h5 g6 31.hxg6 hxg6 32.Qh1 Bg7 33.Rh7 Qc7 34.c4 Qa5 35.Ne2 Qb4 1-0 Lupulescu,C (2496)-Itkis,B (2452)/Bucharest ROM 2003/The Week in Chess 436]

18.Bxf4 exf4 19.Qxf4 Nb6 20.Rd3 Rc8 21.Rc3 Qd8 22.Rf3 Bxg5 23.Qxf7+ Kh8 24.Rg1 Qe7 25.Qh5 Rf8 26.Rxf8+ Rxf8 27.Bd3 Bh6

Level but I'd like to have seen a few more moves.

1/2-1/2

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