Tal Memorial 2011: Round 3

Black Friday came early this year for fans of chess. Three games in round three of the 2011 Tal Memorial were won by black with the remaining two games being drawn. For the uninitiated, playing white in chess is akin to having the serve in Tennis. It is an extremely rare occasion to have black dominate on the majority of boards in a tournament of this caliber.

Below are the games from round 3 of the 2011 Tal Memorial in Moscow, Russia:

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.18”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “B Gelfand”]
[Black “Sergey Karjakin”]
[ECO “E06”]
[WhiteElo “2744”]
[BlackElo “2763”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 a5 11. Nc3 Na6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Nd5 14. Rad1 Nxf4+ 15. gxf4 Bd6 16. Rd3 Qe8 17. Rf3 Nb4 18. Nb5 f6 19. Nd3 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Rd8 21. Rh3 f5 22. e3 Qc6+ 23. Kg1 Bb4 24. Rg3 Qd7 25. Qb3 c6 26. Nc3 b5 27. Rc1 Rb8 28. axb5 cxb5 29. d5 Rfe8 30. dxe6 Qxe6 31. Nd5 Kh8 32. Rc7 Rbd8 33. e4 Bf8 34. Qc3 b4 35. Qd4 Rd7 36. Qa7 Rxc7 37. Nxc7 Qf7 38. Qxa5 Rc8 39. Nd5 fxe4 40. Ne3 Qxf4 41. Qd5 Bd6 42. Qb7 Qf8 43. Rh3 Re8 44. Rh5 Qf3 45. Rg5 Rg8 46. Qc6 Qf4 47. Rg2 Be5 48. Qc4 Rb8 49. b3 h6 50. Rg3 Rf8 51. Rg2 Ra8 52. Qc6 Ra1+ 53. Nf1 Qf5 54. Qb6 Rd1 55. Qa6 Bd4 56. Qe2 Rd3 57. Rg3 Rc3 58. Qd2 Be5 59. Ne3 Qe6 0-1

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.18”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Hi Nakamura”]
[Black “P Svidler”]
[ECO “D86”]
[WhiteElo “2758”]
[BlackElo “2755”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Bd7 12. Rb1 Qc7 13. Bd3 Rfd8 14. Qd2 a6 15. f4 e6 16. dxc5 Na5 17. Nd4 e5 18. fxe5 Qxe5 19. Qb2 Rac8 20. Qb4 Qxc5 21. Qxc5 Rxc5 22. Ne2 Rc6 23. Bb6 Rxb6 24. Rxb6 Bc6 25. Rf3 f5 26. Rb4 Bf8 27. Rd4 Bc5 28. Re3 Re8 29. e5 Bd5 30. Kf2 Bxa2 31. Ra4 Bxe3+ 32. Kxe3 Rxe5+ 33. Kf4 Bb3 34. Kxe5 Bxa4 35. Kd6 Bc6 36. g3 Kg7 37. Nd4 Be4 38. Bxe4 fxe4 39. Nc2 Nc4+ 40. Kd5 Nd2 41. Kc5 Kf6 42. Kb6 Ke5 43. Kxb7 Kd5 44. Ne3+ Kc5 45. Kxa6 Nb1 46. Kb7 Nxc3 47. Kc8 Kd4 48. Ng2 Ke5 0-1

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.18”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “V Ivanchuk”]
[Black “L Aronian”]
[ECO “C67”]
[WhiteElo “2775”]
[BlackElo “2802”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bf4 Bd7 12. Rad1 Rd8 13. b3 Be7 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. Bd2 Bc8 16. Ne2 Bxd2 17. Nxd2 Ne7 18. Nc4 Nd5 19. a3 Ke7 20. f3 h4 21. Kf2 Rh5 22. Rd2 Re8 23. Nd4 Kf8 24. a4 a6 25. a5 Nb4 26. Ne2 Nd5 27. Nd4 Ne7 28. Re4 Rh6 29. f4 Nd5 30. Kf3 Rg6 31. f5 Rh6 32. Re1 c5 33. Ne2 Ne7 34. Nf4 Nxf5 35. c3 Ne7 36. Red1 Ng6 37. Nd3 Be6 38. Re1 Rh5 39. Kf2 Rf5+ 40. Kg1 Bxc4 41. bxc4 Nxe5 42. Rde2 f6 43. Re4 b6 44. axb6 cxb6 45. Rxh4 Ng6 46. Rhe4 Rxe4 47. Rxe4 Kf7 48. Re2 Ne5 49. g4 Rf3 50. Nxe5+ fxe5 51. Kg2 Rxc3 52. Rf2+ Kg6 53. Rb2 a5 54. Rxb6+ Kg5 55. Rb5 a4 56. Rxc5 Kf4 57. Ra5 a3 0-1

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.18”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “V Anand”]
[Black “I Nepomniachtchi”]
[ECO “D97”]
[WhiteElo “2811”]
[BlackElo “2730”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 a6 8. Be2 b5 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. e5 Be6 11. Qd1 Nd5 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bd5 14. Be3 Na5 15. Nd2 c5 16. Bf3 cxd4 17. cxd4 Nc4 18. Nxc4 bxc4 19. Rc1 e6 20. Qa4 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Qd5 22. Rxc4 Qxf3 23. Rfc1 Qg4+ 24. Kh1 Qe4+ 25. Kg1 Qg4+ 26. Kh1 Qe4+ 27. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “0:43:33-0:45:33”]
[Date “2011.11.18”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “Kramnik”]
[Black “Carlsen”]
[ECO “A00”]

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.e4 Nc6 6.Nge2 Bc5 7.d3 d6 8.h3 Nh7 9.a3 a6 10.O-O Ng5 11.Kh2 Ne6 12.f4 Bd7 13.b4 Ba7 14.Nd5 Ned4 15.Nec3 Be6 16.f5 Bd7 17.Rb1 Nb8 18.c5 dxc5 19.bxc5 Bc8 20.Qh5 Nd7 21.Na4 c6 22.Ndb6 Nxc5 23.f6 g5 24.Bxg5 Nxa4 25.Nxa8 b5 26.Be3 Bb8 27.g4 Rg8 28.Qxh6 Be6 29.Rbc1 Kd7 30.Bxd4 exd4+ 31.e5 Nc3 32.Rxc3 Bxe5+ 33.Kh1 dxc3 34.Qe3 Qb8 35.Qc5 Qd6 36.Qa7+ Kd8 37.Qxa6 Bd4 38.Qa5+ Kc8 39.Qa6+ Kd8 40.Qa5+ Kc8 41.Qa6+ 1/2-1/2

“Thought I was completely winning and Svidler defended correctly…oh well, at least it is Friday night and the girls are out in Moscow!”

Hikaru Nakamura on Twitter.

Tal Memorial 2011: Round 1

The first round of the 2011 Tal Memorial featured two decisive games and plenty of hard fought draws. Ian Nepomniachtchi, the lowest rated player in the tournament, used the black pieces to secure a win against the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Vassily Ivanchuk started another tournament with a win by punishing Peter Svidler’s inaccuracies on moves 29 and 30 in their 61 move affair. World Champion Viswanathan Anand worried his fans by making several mistakes but was still able to obtain a draw against Sergei Karjakin. World number one Magnus Carlsen drew in a difficult battle against Levon Aronian. Finally, the American, Hikaru Nakamura looked uninspired in his draw against Boris Gelfland.

Below is Ian Nepomniachtchi’s impressive win over Vladimir Kramnik:

[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.16”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “1”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Vladimir Kramnik”]
[Black “Ian Nepomniachtchi”]
[ECO “A37”]
[WhiteElo “2800”]
[BlackElo “2730”]
[PlyCount “106”]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. a3 d6 7. O-O Nge7 8. b4 e4 9. Ne1 f5 10. Bb2 O-O 11. d3 Be6 12. dxe4 fxe4 13. Bxe4 Bxc4 14. Nc2 d5 15. Bg2 d4 16. Ne4 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 d3 18. Qg4 Bxb2 19. Rad1 Qc8 20. Qxc8 Raxc8 21. Rxd3 cxb4 22. axb4 Rcd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rb1 Bg7 25. h4 b5 26. Bf1 a6 27. Nc5 Rd2 28. Ne3 Bd4 29. Ne4 Rb2 30. Rxb2 Bxb2 31. Nc2 Nd5 32. Nc5 Ndxb4 33. Nxb4 Nxb4 34. Nd3 Nxd3 35. Bxd3 Kf7 36. f4 Ke6 37. Kf2 Kd5 38. Ke2 Kc5 39. Kd2 a5 40. f5 a4 41. Bc2 a3 42. Bb1 gxf5 43. Kc2 Kb4 44. Ba2 Be5 45. Be6 a2 46. Bxa2 Bxg3 47. h5 h6 48. Kd3 Ka3 49. Bd5 b4 50. Kc2 Be5 51. Bb3 f4 52. Bd5 Bf6 53. Kb1 b3 0-1