Morozevich loses again, Ivanchuk increases lead
27 August 2008 8:33 AM CET | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
The Tal Memorial saw a fantastic 8th round and in the final phase of the tournament we’re seeing an unexpected turn of events. Vassily Ivanchuk profited the most, as he increased his lead to a full point, with one round to go.
Photo © Evgeny Potemkin
This year we have seen very different Kamsky’s, even within just one tournament. The unpredictable American grandmaster showed one of his very best versions yesterday, beating Alexander Morozevich in a heroic fight. The Russian suddenly found himself in a lost ending, where the same position with a black g-pawn instead of an h-pawn would have been a draw.
The encounter Ponomariov-Ivanchuk wasn’t less dramatic, and brought back memories of the FIDE Knockout Final of 2002. Would the oldest Ukrainian succumb to the pressure again? This time he didn’t, although he came close. Ivanchuk had built up a nice advantage but in timetrouble he gave it all away in just two moves. Then, in the resulting ending, he defended like a lion and saved the draw.
Today, Alexei Shirov is the last hurdle to take for Ivanchuk, and it could be a big one. Shirov won his first game yesterday, against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who now lost three in a row. And there was yet another winner: Vladimir Kramnik played one of his better “training games” and in an English sideline he defeated Evgeny Alekseev.
Morozevich - Kamsky 0-1
Ponomariov - Ivanchuk ½-½
Kramnik - Alekseev 1-0
Shirov - Mamedyarov 1-0
Leko - Gelfand ½-½
Tal Memorial Round 8 Standings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Ivanchuk,V | 2781 | +96 | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.5/8 | ||
| 2 | Morozevich,A | 2788 | -1 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4.5/8 | 17.25 | |
| 3 | Kramnik,V | 2788 | -4 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.5/8 | 17.00 | |
| 4 | Gelfand,B | 2720 | +66 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.5/8 | 17.00 | |
| 5 | Ponomariov,R | 2718 | +76 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5/8 | 17.00 | |
| 6 | Leko,P | 2741 | +9 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.0/8 | ||
| 7 | Kamsky,G | 2723 | -15 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 3.5/8 | 13.25 | |
| 8 | Alekseev,Evgeny | 2708 | -1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 3.5/8 | 13.25 | |
| 9 | Mamedyarov,S | 2742 | -90 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 0 | 3.0/8 | ||
| 10 | Shirov,A | 2741 | -136 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | 2.5/8 |
Videos by Europe-Echecs:
Ivanchuk - Shirov
Kamsky - Ponomariov
Gelfand - Morozevich
Alekseev - Leko
Mamedyarov - Kramnik
Links:
Interestingly, the line played in Morozevich-Kamsky was also played in a computer game a few days ago:
[Event "CEGT Quad 40/120 repeated"]
[Site "Engine Match"]
[Date "2008.08.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "HIARCS 12 ShPV 4CPU"]
[Black "Rybka 3 x64 4CPU"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Ne7 7. Be3 c5 8. c4 dxc4 9. Na3 c3 10. Nb5 Nd5 11. Nxc3 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Be7 13. Qb3 O-O 14. Qxb7 Rb8
15. Qxa7 cxd4 16. exd4 Rxb2 17. Bb5 Nb6 18. a4 Bb4 19. Rac1 h6 20. Kh1 Bg4 21. Ne2 Nd5 22. Bd3 Ne3 23. Rf2 Bf5 24. Qa6 Bxd3 25. Qxd3 Nd5 26. Rff1 Qa8 27. Ra1 Rb8 28. Qe4 Rb3 29. Ra2 Qa6 30. Ng3 Ba3 31. Raf2 Rb2 32. Ne2 R8b7 33. Nfg1 Qxa4 34. Rf3 Bc5 35. Qg4 Bb4 36. Qh5 Qe8 37. Ng3 Bf8 38. N1e2 g6 39. Qg4 Qc6 40. Kg1 Ra7 41. Kh1 h5 42. Qg5 Qc2 43. Qd8 Qc7 44. Qh4 Raa2 45. Qe4 Bh6 46. Kg1 Qe7 47. h4 Ra3 48. Kh2 Rab3 49. Kh3 Qb7 50. Rd1 Rxf3 51. Qxf3 Rb3 52. Rd3 Rxd3 53. Qxd3 Qb2 54. Qd1 Kg7 55. Qd3 Qa1 56. Qe4 Qd1 57. Kh2 Ne3 58. Qb7 Nd5 59. Qa6 Be3 60. Qc8 Bxd4 61. Qc1 Qxc1 62. Nxc1 Bxe5 63. Nd3 Bb8 64. Kh3 e5 65. Ne2 Kf6 66. Ng3 Ba7 67. Nc1 Nc3 68. Nf1 e4 69. g4 hxg4+ 0-1