Tal Memorial, Round 2: Five More Draws
While today’s games weren’t as impressive as yesterday’s, they had their moments. Even so, the players ended the round where they started the tournament: in a ten-way tie for last place.
The first game to finish was Kramnik-Anand, a main line 8.Rb1 Exchange Grünfeld. About a decade ago, this variation was insanely hot; today, most White players have looked for other anti-Grünfeld approaches. It was a lively game, but it had the sort of forcing flow that suggests that at least one of the players – Anand, to judge by his time usage – had already worked everything out at home.
The next game to finish was Svidler-Ivanchuk, a Berlin/Classical hybrid that looked very promising at the start, with lots of open lines and potentially vulnerable kings. Sadly, a quick queen trade and a repetition put paid to those hopes, and the game was drawn on move 25.
Leko-Gelfand was the only game to make it past move 40, but it wasn’t really a long game in any interesting sense. Gelfand used his mighty Petroff power and easily achieved the draw. From the opening the players entered a tactical sequence where Gelfand sacrificed the exchange for a pawn, and when the smoke cleared on move 28 it was pretty clear that Black would hold the draw without much trouble.
The next-to-last game to finish was Carlsen-Morozevich. It was a 4.f3 Nimzo-Indian, and Morozevich went for the main line with 4…d5. White gets the bishop pair and an extra pawn, while Black gets easy development and the better structure. Carlsen had the initiative throughout, but with so many potential weaknesses Morozevich held comfortably.
Finally, Ponomariov-Aronian looked like the best chance for a decisive result. In another Exchange Grünfeld, Ponomariov did his best to build up an attack, but when he sacrificed a piece to break up Black’s kingside he did so to force a perpetual. This was fortunate for Aronian, as Ponomariov could given him the choice between an unpleasant endgame or a lost middlegame.
There’s no need to elaborate the standings, as everyone has one point out of two. Here are tomorrow’s pairings:
Morozevich – Kramnik
Gelfand – Carlsen
Aronian – Leko
Ivanchuk – Ponomariov
Anand – Svidler
Games here, with my brief comments.
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