Round-4 of the Tal memorial was played on Friday 30th September. It saw another round of largely decisive games. One of these was Vladimir Kramnik, who dominated his Guioco Piano against Viswanathan Anand. With excellent piece play, White penetrated the Black position along the a-file and just couldn’t be shaken. Anand found it near on impossible to get active and was hardly in the game. 45…Qg8 was mistaken and allowed Kramnik to push powerfully, resignation arrived on move 51 — a game that Anand will likely want to forget.
The other points went to Black, Anish Giri taking full advantage of Peter Svidler’s poor opening. The Russian seemed to take his eye off the ball completely, closing in his white-squared bishop with 16.Nf3(?) which allowed Giri’s 16…Ra6 17.Qxb7 Nxe2(!). From here, the Dutchman had a tight grip on the game and never looked like relinquishing it. Svidler resigned a very painful point. Boris Gelfand also had a tough game, losing as White to Li Chao. The Israeli was doing fine, with a passed pawn and nice active setup in its support. Then came 19.Bb5(?), which was probably a bit too ‘in your face’ and this lead to a turning of the tide. Gelfand soon found himself in trouble, from a ruthless Li Chao and never recovered.
Nepomniachtchi-Aronian saw a Two Knights Defence, in which Black equalised with no problems. White obtained a rather nice bishop pair in an open position, but Black had all his bases covered. Neither player was really able to get up to anything, and the players agreed to split the point after 43 moves. Evgeny Tomashevsky got into another very long game, this time against Shakhryar Mamedyarov. The Slav lasted 83 moves (one move more than his game against Anish Giri in round-3) and was a real topsy-turvy affair. White didn’t do all that great from the opening, when Black had the best of things and was able to obtain a lovely pair of bishops, compared to White’s which were relatively passive.
Then came the sacrifice of the exchange by White, giving a rook for bishop, and Black’s game seemed to suffer for it. 32…Bb4(?) was an error, allowing White to pick up a piece and this, in a reversal of fortunes, left the Russian with the very nice bishop in compensation for the Azerbaijani’s extra rook. Black had a passed pawn on the Queenside, but very little support for it and this actually fell very quickly. Things looked rosy for White. The every resourceful Mamedyarov just managed to throw enough spanners in the works in order to occupy and distract his opponent, and gradually Tomashevsky’s advantage diminished. The endgame boiled down to two minor pieces versus rook, with each side having a passed pawn. Neither side was allowed to make any progress, and they players agreed the draw.
This left Anish Giri in sole lead of the tournament, having dropped only a half point in the four rounds so far. By stark contrast, Boris Gelfand has only achieved a half point and is clearly struggling.
Standings after Round-4:
- Giri — 3½
- Nepomniachtchi — 3
- Li — 2½
- Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Mamedyarov — 2
- Svidler — 1½
- Tomashevsky — 1
- Gelfand — ½
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2016.09.30”]
[Round “4.2”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Anand, Viswanathan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2776”]
[BlackFideId “5000017”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “C50”]
[EventDate “2016.09.26”]
[Opening “Giuoco Piano”]
[WhiteElo “2808”]
[WhiteFideId “4101588”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.h3 d6 7.c3 a6 8.Re1 Ba7 9.Bb3 h6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 Be6 12.Bc2 d5 13.exd5 Bxd5 14.Ng3 Bc5 15.b4 Bf8 16.a4 g6 { A new try it seems, …b5 had been played here in previous excursions. } 17.Bb2 b5 18.Ne4 Rb8 { There is nothing wrong with this move as such, but it is perhaps a little slow. Developing with …Bg7 was also a viable idea, as was …Nh5, preparing to strike out with …f5. } 19.Bc1 Nd7 20.Bb3 Bxb3 { White had placed the bishop on a very good square, firing along the a2-g8 diagonal. It makes perfect sense for Black to get it off the board. } 21.Qxb3 { Taking the lead in the position somewhat, mainly due to development and space. Black still has some work to do, his knights look especially muted. } 21…Re6 22.axb5 axb5 23.Be3 Nf6 24.Rad1 { Ready to push with d3-d4 and seize the centre. } 24…Nxe4 { In my opinion, the fact that Anand felt that this was his only answer, indicates that his play so far has not worked for him. …Nd5 was a possibility here, hopping the knight into the centre, and also keeping the option of …f5 open. } 25.dxe4 Qe8 26.Rd5 Nd8 27.Ra1 Nb7 28.Ra7 c6 29.Rd1 Nd6 30.Nd2 Ra8 31.Rda1 Rxa7 32.Rxa7 Re7 { It is very advisable for Black to challenge White along this rank. } 33.Ra6 { White does not want to trade down unless it is to his advantage. Doing so, here, will only help Black. It is clear to see that White is the only one being pro-active in the game at the moment. } 33…Rc7 34.Qa2 Kg7 35.Bb6 { Ra8 was another option, but it is answered fine by …Rc8 } 35…Rb7 36.Bc5 { Black will not be feeling too bad here, he is not the most active, but seems to have things under control. } 36…Be7 37.Ra8 Rb8 { Moving the Queen was a bit more advisable, here, this move allows White to establish himself on the 7th rank again. } 38.Ra7 { And the rook goes unchallenged. } 38…Rd8 ( 38…Nc8 39.Bxe7 Nxe7 40.Nf3 Nc8 { is playable for Black. } ) ( 38…Rb7 { ?? would be an embarrassing blunder, allowing White to pick up a pawn with great initiative. } 39.Bxd6 Rxa7 40.Bxe5+ f6 41.Qxa7 fxe5 42.Nb3 { and the c6-pawn is quite the liability for Black. } ) 39.Bb6 Rc8 40.Bc7 Qd7 41.Bb6 Qe8 42.g3 Bg5 { This is the first active move made by Black in quite a while. } 43.Bc7 Bxd2 44.Bxd6 Bxc3 45.Re7 { After a lot of maneuvering, teasing and probing, White finally gets to the crux of the matter and looks towards f7 the Black King. The Black Queen is crucial to Black’s survival.. } 45…Qg8 { The wrong square. It is very unnatural to play …Qf8, because of possible discoveries on the Queen with the rook and bishop combination. It goes against every instinct to enable this. However, in this instance it was the best move. …Qg8 takes away the g8 square for the King and this matters. } ( 45…Qf8 46.Qe6 { Rook discoveries don’t work and actually would not be in White’s interests. White wants to increase pressure, and this is the best way to do it. } 46…Ra8 47.Bxe5+ Kg8 ( 47…Bxe5 48.Qxe5+ Kg8 49.Kg2 { and White is the one clearly influencing the game, but it is still to be won. } ) 48.Qf6 Bxe5 49.Qxe5 Qg7 { should be alright for Black. } ) 46.Qe6 Qf8 { When comparing this to the …Qf8 variation above, we see that Black should be playing the active …Ra8 here. This is not possible now. } ( { Now, if } 46…Ra8 { then } 47.Bxe5+ Bxe5 48.Qxe5+ Kh7 49.Qf6 { winning after …Rf8 and Qxc6. } ) 47.Kg2 Rd8 { …Ra8 was playable here, but is much less effective due to White’s King being off of the back rank and safely tucked away in his phalanx of pawns. Simply put, Kramnik has no weaknesses, but Anand’s c6-pawn is dangling by a thread, as was foretold. } 48.Bc5 Bd4 { After …Rc8, there would indeed be the nasty discovery of Rc7, all but deciding matters. } ( 48…Rc8 49.Rc7 Rxc7 { The only alternative to resigning, but this would be a matter of time. } 50.Bxf8+ Kxf8 51.Qd6+ Re7 { and White is sitting pretty. } ) 49.Qxc6 { reaping the rewards of a very nice strategic and positional game in which Black was hardly present. } 49…Kg8 ( 49…Rb8 { is not playable and leads to the following curious line. } 50.Bd6 Rd8 51.Re6 { with Bxe5 to follow. } ) 50.Qxb5 { Rxe5 was also perfectly playable of course. } 50…Rb8 51.Rxf7 { The final nail in the coffin and Viswanathan Anand resigned. } 1-0
[Event “10th Tal Mem 2016”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2016.09.30”]
[Round “4.3”]
[White “Svidler, Peter”]
[Black “Giri, Anish”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2755”]
[BlackFideId “24116068”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “A37”]
[EventDate “2016.09.26”]
[Opening “English”]
[Variation “symmetrical variation”]
[WhiteElo “2745”]
[WhiteFideId “4102142”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.Nc3 d6 6.O-O e5 7.a3 Nge7 8.d3 O-O 9.Rb1 a5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bd2 Be6 12.Ne1 d5 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Qb3 Nc7 { Following Valdes-Mendoza, Guayaquil 2003, ½-½. } 15.Qb6 { Svidler varies, but this doesn’t seem to work out well, niether does taking on b7. One has to worry about Svidler’s choice of opening, here, because the known retreat, 15.Qd1 of the previous game seems to be the most prudent move. It is a horrible one to play, however and basically an admission that White has not really achieved anything. } ( 15.Qxb7 Nd4 16.Nf3 Rb8 17.Qa7 Nb3 { has worked out very nicely for Black. } ) 15…Nd4 16.Nf3 { Not the best choice, Peter will rue closing his white-squared bishop out of the h1-a8 diagonal. f4 was a nice alternative, striking out at the centre and also having the option of e3 or Rf2, depending upon what Black plays. The latter would be useful in defending the e2-square, but, in light of what happens in this game, White seems to have completely taken his eye off of that. } 16…Ra6 17.Qxb7 { Absolutely forced, anything else just completely loses. That being said … } 17…Nxe2+ { ! seizing the initiative. With the g2-bishop shut out of the long diagonal, Nxe2 would allow …Bd5 and the White Queen has no safe squares. } 18.Kh1 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Bd5 20.Qb2 Qa8 { Lovely play by Giri, Svidler is in trouble. } 21.Ne1 Rd6 { Centralising nicely and making a masked threat towards d3. As if White did not have enough problems. } 22.d4 { An alternative here, was f3, but White’s position is very tricky. } ( 22.Be3 Bxg2+ 23.Nxg2 Rxd3 24.Bxc5 Rc8 25.Qc2 Rd5 { with an undoubtable edge. } ) ( 22.Bxd5+ Qxd5+ { not …Rxd5, which allows White to bail with Qb7. } 23.f3 c4 24.d4 exd4 25.cxd4 Qxd4 26.Bxa5 Qxb2 27.Rxb2 f5 { and Black is way better. } ) ( 22.f3 c4 { the most testing } 23.d4 exd4 24.cxd4 { and Black can choose between …Ne6 and …f5 keeping the initiative. } ) 22…Rfd8 23.Kg1 cxd4 24.cxd4 Bxg2 25.Nxg2 Rxd4 { To say that Black would be rather pleased, here, would be an understatement. } 26.Bc3 R4d7 27.Ne3 Nd5 28.Nxd5 Rxd5 29.a4 h5 30.h4 Qc6 31.Qb3 Kh7 32.Rfc1 Qd7 33.Be1 e4 34.Qb7 { Svidler finds a way to exchange off the wing pawns, simplifying his task somewhat. } 34…Qxa4 { The best way to go. Exchanging Queens would be far too complicit to White. } ( 34…Qxb7 35.Rxb7 Rd1 36.Rxd1 Rxd1 37.Kf1 { and, although Black is still better, he has let things slip a little here and White can fight. } ) 35.Ra1 Qe8 36.Rc7 R5d7 37.Rxd7 Rxd7 38.Qb3 Rd3 39.Qc4 Qd7 40.Rxa5 { White gets a pawn back, but when looking at the position, it is clear that he is still greatly up against it. Not only does Black still have an extra pawn, but he is the most active by quite a way. } 40…f5 41.Kg2 Rd1 42.Qe2 Rb1 43.Rc5 Qb7 44.Kh2 f4 { Black wants to probe weaknesses, no matter how good his position is, he can’t win the game without it. Exchanging a pawn or two will also not hurt. } 45.gxf4 { There is nothing better than this, alarmingly. Of course, allowing Black to exchange on g3 would give White a passed pawn to monitor and he has enough on his plate. } 45…Qe7 46.Rc4 Qxh4+ 47.Kg2 Qxf4 48.Qxe4 Qg5+ 49.Kf3 Rb5 50.Qd3 Qg1 { …Rd5 was also on offer here. } ( 50…Rd5 51.Qe3 Qf5+ 52.Kg2 Re5 53.Qc1 Re2 54.Kg1 Be5 { With Black poised for his final push. } ) 51.Re4 Rb2 52.Qc4 { A possibility was also Rh4 here, controlling the h1 square but also guarding against g6-g5 for example. The problem for White, obviously, is that his bishop is a horrible piece. He is saddled with guarding this thorn in his side, while at the same time trying to guard against Black’s own bishop activating, plus the h-pawn starting to creep down the board. } 52…Qh1+ 53.Kg3 Rb1 54.Qe2 Qg1+ 55.Kh3 Rb3+ { The beginning of the end, as White’s position deteriorates further and Black is fully in control. } 56.f3 g5 57.Bf2 g4+ 58.Kh4 Qh2+ 59.Kg5 Rxf3 { And here, Peter Svidler resigned what for him was a very painful game. Well played by Anish Giri, who punished his opponent’s mistakes fully. } 0-1
[Event “10th Tal Mem 2016”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2016.09.30”]
[Round “4.4”]
[White “Gelfand, Boris”]
[Black “Li, Chao b”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2746”]
[BlackFideId “8604436”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “D97”]
[EventDate “2016.09.26”]
[Opening “Gruenfeld”]
[Variation “Russian, Prins variation”]
[WhiteElo “2743”]
[WhiteFideId “2805677”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Na6 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.O-O exd5 11.exd5 Nb4 12.Rd1 Nc2 { This is a novelty, …b6 being the norm here. } 13.Rb1 Nd4 14.Nxd4 { The optimum continuation, Bf4, Bg5 and even Qxc5 were other options, but no way near as constructive to White’s cause. } 14…cxd4 15.Rxd4 { White’s game will revolve around this lovely passed pawn. He wants to advance it, obviously. Black will want to blockade it. } 15…Bf5 16.Ra1 Ne8 17.Bf4 { An interesting offering of the exchange. The other way to go, Rd1, was a lot safer, but after …Nd6, Black has his blockade in place } 17…Nd6 { Working on blockading the passed pawn. White would be rather happy to see …Bxd4. } ( 17…Bxd4 18.Qxd4 { is in White’s favour, his passed pawn and Bishop pair (not to mention the threat of Bh6, for example), is fine compensation for the rook. } ) 18.Qc5 { Not the optimum follow-up to Bf4 as it turns out. } ( 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 ( { flawed is } 18…Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Qxd6 { and then } 20.g4 { is extremely dangerous, with Ne4 intended next. } ) 19.Qb4 { and after …Rfd8 or …Rad8 White has the best of things. } ) 18…Re8 19.Bb5 { ? Unfortunately for Gelfand, this is a big mistake and allows Black to turn the situation on its head. } ( 19.Rad1 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 g5 21.Be3 f6 { = } ) 19…Nxb5 20.Nxb5 Rc8 21.Qxa7 Ra8 22.Qc5 Rxa2 23.Rad1 { Taking on a2 would of course be hugely embarrassing due to …Re1 mate. } 23…Bxd4 { Taking the rook is now totally fine, White’s position has virtually disintegrated. The subtle changes in the position from a few moves ago, not least Black’s rook being very well placed along the e-file, means that Black has all threats well in hand. } 24.Qxd4 Re4 { A nice follow-up, keeping White on the back foot. } 25.Qd2 Qb6 26.Nc3 Rxb2 27.Nxe4 { Unfortunately, there is nothing better than this. } 27…Rxd2 28.Nxd2 Qd4 29.Be3 Qxd5 { It must have been extremely painful for Gelfand to also see this pawn disappear. } 30.Rc1 b5 31.Rc5 Qd7 32.h3 b4 33.Rc4 Qd6 34.g4 Be6 35.Rd4 Qf8 36.Ne4 b3 37.Rd2 f5 38.Nc5 Qb8 39.Nxe6 b2 40.Rxb2 Qxb2 41.g5 { I think pure pride was keeping White playing on at this stage. Ok, Converting this position will take some playing, but there is only one result likely from here, failing a very bad mistake from Black — which of course Gelfand is well within his rights to hope for. } 41…Qb1+ 42.Kh2 Qe4 43.Nf4 Qf3 { Indeed, the Queen is not winning this game on her own, so White’s mission is to make things as difficult as possible for Black to get active. } 44.Ng2 Kf7 45.Nh4 Qd1 46.Bf4 Ke6 47.Kg3 Kd5 48.Nf3 Ke4 49.Nd2+ Kd3 50.Kg2 Ke2 51.Be3 Qa4 52.Kg3 Qb4 53.Bf4 Qc5 54.Be3 Qd6+ { The mating net is sprung, White is not escaping. } 55.Bf4 Qd4 56.Be3 f4+ { ! It is very funny, that without this resource, White may just have had enough resources to prevent Black from sealing the point. This pawn wins the day. } 57.Bxf4 Qxf2+ { And now, Black has the White King on a piece of string. } 58.Kg4 Qg1+ 59.Kh4 Qg2 { White is in total zugzwang and Boris Gelfand resigned, clearly out of sorts in this tournament. } 0-1
[Event “10th Tal Mem 2016”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2016.09.30”]
[Round “4.1”]
[White “Nepomniachtchi, Ian”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2795”]
[BlackFideId “13300474”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “C55”]
[EventDate “2016.09.26”]
[Opening “Two knights defence (Modern bishop’s opening)”]
[WhiteElo “2740”]
[WhiteFideId “4168119”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O d6 6.a3 Nd7 7.Ba2 O-O 8.Nc3 Nb6 9.Ne2 Bg4 10.c3 d5 11.exd5 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Nxd5 13.f4 Qd7 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Ng3 Qh3 16.Qh5 Qxh5 17.Nxh5 Rad8 18.Rd1 c5 19.Kg2 Nf6 20.Re1 Ng6 21.Nf4 Nh4+ 22.Kh3 Nf5 23.d4 Rfe8 24.Ne6 fxe6 25.Bxe6+ Kf8 26.Bxf5 cxd4 27.cxd4 Rxd4 28.Kg2 Rd5 29.Bh3 a5 30.Be3 Bc5 31.Bf4 Rxe1 32.Rxe1 Bd6 33.Bc1 Re5 34.Rd1 Rd5 35.Rxd5 Nxd5 36.Bf5 b6 37.b3 g6 38.Be4 Nf4+ 39.Kf3 Ne6 40.Bd5 Ke7 41.h4 Bc5 42.a4 Kd6 43.Bc4 1/2-1/2
[Event “10th Tal Mem 2016”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2016.09.30”]
[Round “4.5”]
[White “Tomashevsky, Evgeny”]
[Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2761”]
[BlackFideId “13401319”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “D12”]
[EventDate “2016.09.26”]
[Opening “QGD Slav”]
[Variation “4.e3 Bf5”]
[WhiteElo “2731”]
[WhiteFideId “4147235”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.g3 Bh5 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Qxc4 a6 13.b4 Nd5 14.Ne4 Nd7 15.Ng2 e5 16.O-O O-O 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Qb3 Rad8 19.Rad1 f6 20.Nc5 Bf7 21.Qc2 Qb6 22.a3 a5 23.Na4 Qa7 24.bxa5 Bg6 25.Qb3 Bf7 26.Qc2 Bxa3 27.Kh1 b5 28.axb6 Nxb6 29.Nxb6 Qxb6 30.f4 Bb3 31.Qc3 Bxd1 32.Rxd1 Bb4 33.Qb3+ Nf7 34.Qxb4 Qxb4 35.Bxb4 Rxd1+ 36.Bxd1 Rb8 37.Be1 Rb1 38.Bf3 c5 39.Kg1 c4 40.Kf2 Rb2+ 41.Kf1 Nd6 42.Bd5+ Kf8 43.e4 Rb1 44.Ke2 Rb2+ 45.Kf1 Rb1 46.Ke2 Rb2+ 47.Kf3 Nb5 48.Bxc4 Nd4+ 49.Ke3 Nc2+ 50.Kf3 Nd4+ 51.Ke3 Nc2+ 52.Kd3 Nxe1+ 53.Nxe1 Rxh2 54.Ke3 Ke7 55.Bf1 Ra2 56.Nf3 g6 57.Nd4 Kd6 58.Be2 Ra3+ 59.Bd3 Ra2 60.Nb5+ Kc5 61.Nc7 Rg2 62.Kf3 Rb2 63.Ne6+ Kd6 64.Nd4 Kc5 65.Ke3 Rg2 66.Ne2 Rh2 67.Bb1 h5 68.Ba2 g5 69.Be6 h4 70.Bg4 hxg3 71.fxg5 fxg5 72.Nxg3 Rg2 73.Kf3 Rb2 74.Nf5 Kc4 75.Bh3 Rb1 76.Kf2 Rb2+ 77.Kg3 Rb1 78.Bg2 Kd3 79.Nd6 Re1 80.Kg4 Rg1 81.Kf3 Kd4 82.Nf5+ Ke5 83.Ne3 Ra1 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
