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2011 Tal Memorial – November 16 to 25

The Tal Memorial took place from November 16 to 25 in Moscow. It was an incredibly strong event, with an average Elo of 2776, and some exciting match-ups. In the end, Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen tied for first.

Coverage Links:

• Rounds start at 12:00 CET (6:00 am Toronto time)
• Video streaming at russiachess.org – official site
• Live games at russiachess.org – official site
• Pairings schedule at chessvibes
• Live analysis at Chessdom
• Game reviews, results, and .pgn at The Week in Chess

Last Round (November 25)

In the final round, soon-to-be World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand and current World Champion Viswanathan Anand drew. Svidler beat Kramnik to climb back to .500, and Karjakin and Ivanchuk drew.

Magnus Carlsen, with a win against Hikaru Nakamura from the black side of a Queen’s Indian, climbed to 5.5/9 and first place (and dumped Naka in last). So it all came down to the final game, Ian Nepomniachtchi-Levon Aronian. Ian had two pawns for the exchange in an ending, and possible winning chances, but Levon drew to stay (tied with Magnus) in first.

As well as tying for first in the 2011 Tal Memorial, Carlsen and Aronian are first and second in the live FIDE rankings.

Games in .pgn

Round Eight (November 24)

In the eighth round, Levon Aronian broke out of the leader pack with a win against Peter Svidler. Aronian is now alone in first place at the 2011 Tal Memorial, with one round left to play.

Games in .pgn

Round Seven (November 23)

In the fifth and sixth rounds all games were drawn, but in the seventh Nakamura went down to Ivanchuk, who now joins Carlsen, Aronian, Karjakin, and Nepomniachtchi in a five-way tie for first with 4/6. After his game Naka tweeted, “Quite simply, I have to play better chess.” (Follow @GMHikaru.)

Games in .pgn

Round Four (November 19)

In the fourth round, all five games were drawn. Karjakin, Aronian, Carlsen, and Nepomniachtchi remain in a four-way tie for the lead – with 2½/4. Hikaru Nakamura may have missed a chance or two to win in his game against Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Games in .pgn

Round Three (November 18)

In the third round, full points were scored by Sergey Karjakin (against Gelfand) and Aronian (against Ivanchuk) to join Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi in a four-way tie for the lead – with 2/3. Naka went down to Peter Svidler and is currently trailing (=8th) with 1/3. And Gelfand is in last with only ½/3 after back-to-back losses.

Games in .pgn

Round Two (November 17)

In the second round, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (1st in the world at 2826) defeated Israeli Boris Gelfand (challenger for the world title) in a wild game. Carlsen is now tied for first place with Ivanchuk and Nepomniachtchi – all three have 1½/2.

Games in .pgn

Round One (November 16)

In the first round, 21-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi (mere 20th in the world and the lowest-rated GM in the tounament at 2730) scored an upset win (with black!) against Vladimir Kramnik (4th in the world at 2800). (And Vassily Ivanchuk beat Peter Svidler)

Games in .pgn

Шестой Мемориал Михаила Таля – Москва 2011

The 6th Tal Memorial is being held in the palatial Pashkov House, which sits atop Vagankovo hill in Moscow, Russia.

The tournament honours Mikhail Tal, a Latvian player known for his tactical play and his death stare. Tal is a Soviet legend, and he became the 8th World Chess Champion when he defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960. This past November 9 would have been his 75th birthday.