Tal Memorial 2009
 |
|
The old guard of Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk are set for a dramatic finale to the Tal Memorial in Moscow, as the trio lead the field in the chase for the title.
Holding the advantage though is a rejuvenated Kramnik on a +3 score of 5.5/8, as the in-form former world champion holds a half point lead at the top over his two long-time rivals on +2 scores of 5/8. But hot on their tail there lurks young wannabe Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian world #2 looks to have made a full recovery now from his earlier illness as he blew away Ruslan Ponomariov in the penultimate round - a game reminiscent of the great Tal himself that features below in GM Gregory Kaidanov's choice for Game of the Day here at Chess.FM!
It's all to play for now in what could well be an exciting and gripping final round of the Tal Memorial - with Ivanchuk vs. Kramnik, Anand vs. Aronian and Leko vs. Carlsen.
|
|
|
Can Kramnik hang on for outright victory, or can Ivanchuk score a remarkable last-gasp win?
You can sit back and watch all the last round action unfold from one of the strongest tournaments of all-time here live on ICC Chess.FM, as host Mig Greengard will be joined by GM Jon Speelman for move-by-move commentary. We'll also have Macauley Peterson in Moscow with all the latest direct from the playing venue, and then there's the daily New In Chess trivia and ICC Game of the Day trivia (see below).
Play gets underway here on ICC at 7am - finger TalMemorial09 for further info - and to be part of the action just sign-up today for ICC. Our Game of the Day service is reserved for members only, but for non-members there's a sneak 5min preview of each of the day's selected game below. |
Standings after round 8
| N |
Name |
FED |
FIDE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
PTS |
TPR |
| 1 |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
RUS |
2772 |
. |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
5½ |
2907 |
| 2 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
IND |
2788 |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
½ |
. |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
5 |
2853 |
| 3 |
Ivanchuk, Vassily |
UKR |
2739 |
. |
½ |
. |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
5 |
2861 |
| 4 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
NOR |
2801 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
1 |
. |
½ |
½ |
4½ |
2803 |
| 5 |
Gelfand, Boris |
ISR |
2758 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
. |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
. |
4 |
2765 |
| 6 |
Aronian, Levon |
ARM |
2786 |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
0 |
. |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
4 |
2758 |
| 7 |
Ponomariov, Ruslan |
UKR |
2739 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
. |
½ |
. |
½ |
3 |
2681 |
| 8 |
Leko, Peter |
HUN |
2752 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
. |
½ |
0 |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
3 |
2673 |
| 9 |
Morozevich, Alexander |
RUS |
2750 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
. |
½ |
. |
½ |
3 |
2681 |
| 10 |
Svidler, Peter |
RUS |
2754 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
. |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
. |
3 |
2678 |
|
|
|
Game of the Day
Totally Trivia!
 |
'New in Chess' TRIVIA!

ICC and New in Chess present The
XI 'New in Chess' Trivia Contest, where each day an ICC member will win a 1 year subscription to NIC! |
|
Game of the Day Trivia!

ICC presents the Game of the Day e-mail trivia, where each day an ICC member will win a a 6 month membership extension. |
USCL Playoffs
 |
| |
There was high-drama and shocks galore in the quarterfinals of the United States Chess League mid-week, as U.S. champion and league MVP GM Hikaru Nakamura lost in just 12-moves to GM Julio Becerra!
Some of the best players in the world have had such shock loses - Larry Christiansen's 12-move win over former world champion Anatoly Karpov at Wijk aan Zee springs to mind - but Nakamura's was all the more galling as he saw his hopes of leading the Seattle Sluggers into the finals being ripped apart by an emphatic victory for the Miami Sharks.
Another shock result saw multi-time finalists Boston Blitz crashing to an unexpected loss at the hands of the New York Knights. In the other matches, as expected New Jersey Knockouts beat Baltimore Kingfishers and San Francisco Mechanics beat Arizona Scorpions.
Watch the semifinal action exclusively here on ICC next Wednesday evening (details below) by becoming a member; and also check U.S. Chess League for blog links, games and much, much more. Chess.FM will also have live commentary of the USCL finals in December with IM Mark Ginsberg and GM Ben Finegold.
|
|
|
|
|