Ivanchuk Leads Tal Memorial

Submitted by SonofPearl on Tue, 08/26/2008 at 11:29am.

It's tough at the top. After winning in round 6 at the Mikhail Tal Memorial to take the lead - and the no.1 spot on the unofficial 'live' rankings list, Alexander Morozevich then lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (pictured) in a thrilling game in round 7, and lost again to Gata Kamsky in round 8. So Vishy Anand is back on top of live ranking list - for now at least.

Against Ivanchuk, Morozevich played the Grunfeld and fearlessly sacrificed pawns on c5 and b6 to gain the initative. However, a final pawn sac on e5 proved to be a sac to far and Ivanchuk took control to win the game, and take the lead.

Rounds 7 and 8 saw lots of exciting chess and many decisive games. Alexei Shirov is having a nightmare tournament, but after losing badly to Ponomariov in round 7 he recovered to win against Mamedyarov in round 8. Kramnik played a spectacular sacrifice against Gelfand in round 7, but only managed a draw - however, he gained his second win of the tournament in round 8 against Alekseev to move back into respectable plus-score territory.

Kamsky sacrificed pawns against against Leko in round 7, but ultimately lost to a neat trap. He bounced back to win against Morozevich in round 8.

Phew! So Ivanchuk leads by a full point with one round to go. All the results and many of the games are below.

The results in round 7:

Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Morozevich, Alexander	1-0	60	D87	Gruenfeld Botvinnik
Gelfand, Boris	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	47	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Ponomariov, Ruslan	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	38	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	38	C10	French Rubinstein
Kamsky, Gata	- Leko, Peter	0-1	48	A46	Queen's Pawn Opening

The results in round 8:

Morozevich, Alexander	- Kamsky, Gata	0-1	69	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Alekseev, Evgeny	1-0	41	A37	English Symmetrical
Ponomariov, Ruslan	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	89	C92	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Leko, Peter	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	24	C42	Petroff's Defence
Shirov, Alexei	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	33	B46	Sicilian Paulsen

The standings with one round to go:

1	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2781	5½
2	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2788	4½
3	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2720	4½
4	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2788	4½
5	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2718	4½
6	Leko, Peter	HUN	2741	4
7	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	2708	3½
8	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2723	3½
9	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2742	3
10	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2741	2½

Final round pairings:

Vassily Ivanchuk	-	Alexei Shirov
Gata Kamsky	-	Ruslan Ponomariov
Boris Gelfand	-	Alexander Morozevich
Evgeny Alekseev	-	Peter Leko
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	-	Vladimir Kramnik

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| 1861 reads | 14 comments |

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Comments:

by uhavebeenserved - 3 months ago
las vegas United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 30

besides world chamoinship matches i will never waste another minute with such cowards playing at he top - go to hell preofessional chess cowards

by uhavebeenserved - 3 months ago
las vegas United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 30

"but a bunch of idiots who dont dee how money could be better spent than on theese fools"

by uhavebeenserved - 3 months ago
las vegas United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 30

fire on board should now bre calll COWARD ON BOARD, with nothing to lose and four plyers chasing the choker Ivanchuk Shirov draws in basicallly 6 moves, pathetic display of courage in chess, no wonder no one wants to spnsor it bit idiots with nothing else to do with their money.

by nibir - 3 months ago
Dhaka Bangladesh

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 261

I have also same think as ''Doktork519''.. why didn't Morozevich play 61. Kc5.... ??????? If 61. ...Kf5 then 62. Kd6 and followed by rest of the game... but what a silly comment of ''uhavebeenserved''... Moro can't play against great players..! ! ! then how he got ''top'' rated in few days ago in unofficial live rating list... ? ? ?

by doctork519 - 3 months ago
Houston United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 1

In Morozevich v. Kamsky, why doesnt Morozevich play 61. Kc5. Doesn't this win the game?

by Mysterix - 3 months ago
Madrid Spain

Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 142

Nice, I voted for chuky :D

by uhavebeenserved - 3 months ago
las vegas United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 30

now i see why morozovich refused to play ghrand prix, he can not play with great players but for one game in 10, he is bully, predict he will be CRUSHED WITH WHITE AGAINST KAMSHY NEXT ROUND EVEN, MORO FANS NEED ANOTHER HERO.

by general_tactics - 3 months ago
davao city and makati Philippines

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 7

yes ivanchuk will rule this tournament his expertise in endgame agains morozevich

amazing sacrifice by vassily ivanchuk. even kasparov recognise him as one the greatest grandmaster of chess his a genuis.

by sumehrain - 3 months ago
Philippines Philippines

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 15

For Bob: how did you know that chuck has to make 9moves in 11secs?

Great games...

i admire the display of deep thinking from Kramik vs Akeeksev

...and for Kamsky's character to sacrifice a pawn for an advantage. Whew! He just lost to Peter but revover strongly afterwards to Morozevich.

by Bob1 - 3 months ago
Lisheen Ireland

Member Since: Sep 2007
Member Points: 191

Ya chucky missed that 37.Qa7+ but he only had 11sec (or somthing like that) to make 9moves so he did well not to lose on time.. he should win the tourney now as he only needs a draw against shirov tomorrow with the white pieces.. Chucky rules!!