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🏆 Tal Memorial (Blitz) (2008)

Player: Vladimir Kramnik

 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 33  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Ponomariov vs Kramnik  ½-½382008Tal Memorial (Blitz)C67 Ruy Lopez
2. Kramnik vs Svidler 0-1262008Tal Memorial (Blitz)A21 English
3. E Alekseev vs Kramnik 0-1282008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D02 Queen's Pawn Game
4. Kramnik vs Karjakin  ½-½402008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D00 Queen's Pawn Game
5. Eljanov vs Kramnik  0-1392008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D02 Queen's Pawn Game
6. Kramnik vs Carlsen 1-0482008Tal Memorial (Blitz)E15 Queen's Indian
7. Karpov vs Kramnik 0-1462008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
8. Kramnik vs Tkachiev  1-0432008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D00 Queen's Pawn Game
9. Movsesian vs Kramnik 1-0422008Tal Memorial (Blitz)C24 Bishop's Opening
10. Kramnik vs Gelfand 1-0582008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D00 Queen's Pawn Game
11. Grischuk vs Kramnik 1-0332008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
12. Kramnik vs Morozevich 1-0212008Tal Memorial (Blitz)E52 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with ...b6
13. Kramnik vs Kamsky 0-1482008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
14. Leko vs Kramnik ½-½352008Tal Memorial (Blitz)B06 Robatsch
15. Ivanchuk vs Kramnik  ½-½572008Tal Memorial (Blitz)C67 Ruy Lopez
16. Kramnik vs B Grachev 1-0652008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D00 Queen's Pawn Game
17. Kramnik vs Ponomariov 1-0302008Tal Memorial (Blitz)A04 Reti Opening
18. Svidler vs Kramnik ½-½252008Tal Memorial (Blitz)C24 Bishop's Opening
19. Kramnik vs E Alekseev  0-1672008Tal Memorial (Blitz)A37 English, Symmetrical
20. Karjakin vs Kramnik 0-1492008Tal Memorial (Blitz)C67 Ruy Lopez
21. Kramnik vs Eljanov  ½-½542008Tal Memorial (Blitz)B12 Caro-Kann Defense
22. Carlsen vs Kramnik ½-½342008Tal Memorial (Blitz)D17 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
23. Kramnik vs Karpov 1-0242008Tal Memorial (Blitz)A46 Queen's Pawn Game
24. Tkachiev vs Kramnik 0-1512008Tal Memorial (Blitz)B18 Caro-Kann, Classical
25. Kramnik vs Movsesian 1-0232008Tal Memorial (Blitz)E00 Queen's Pawn Game
 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 33  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Kramnik wins | Kramnik loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-30-08  eremite: In spite of absence of several top players (Anand, Aronian, Topalov, Wang Yue, et al.), Vasyl has confirmed his World Blitz Champion title.
Aug-30-08  notyetagm: <visayanbraindoctor: Congrats to Vassily Ivanchuk for winning the Tal blitz tournament.>

Chucky wins again!

M-Tel Masters, Tal Memorial, Tal Memorial blitz, World #2 on the live ratings, a great year for Chucky.

Aug-30-08  notyetagm: Question: did Chucky go 13-4(!) in the second half of the tournament to win it?
Aug-30-08  offtherook: Where's Anand? I thought he was one of the top fast players... or we could throw in Nakamura instead of Kamsky as the US representative.
Aug-30-08  malthrope: <notyetagm: Question: did Chucky go 13-4(!) in the second half of the tournament to win it?>

<notyetagm> - Yes he did! ;) He was clearly in overdrive! ~lol~ Don't forget to pay your respects to Chucky on his Bio page - Vassily Ivanchuk - As I'm sure he would appreciate it! <grin> :^) - Mal

Aug-30-08  notyetagm: Black to play: 35 ... ?


click for larger view

35 ... ♖c1-h1+!!


click for larger view

Wow, what a <TACTIC> by Chucky in his critical win against Kramnik, 35 ... ♖c1-h1+!!.

36 ♔h2x♖h1 ♕c6-c1+


click for larger view

And now the point of Ivanchuk's brilliant tactical play is that 37 ♔h1-h2 to get out of check <LINES UP (ALIGNMENT)> the White h2-king with the White e5-queen for the <BISHOP FORK> 37 ... ♗h6-f4+.

(VAR) 37 ♔h1-h2 ♗h6-f4+ <fork>


click for larger view

Hence the point of Ivanchuk's 35 ... ♖c1-h1+!! is to setup the <QUEEN FORK> 36 ♕c6-c1+, which is a <DOUBLE ATTACK> in which one <TACTICAL TARGET> is the White h1-king and the second <TACTICAL TARGET> is the f4-forking square.

Chucky knows by heart that a <SQUARE> (f4-forking square) can be a <TACTICAL TARGET>.

This tactical sequence is also a great example that you must <FORCE YOUR OPPONENT TO LINE UP HIS PIECES!>. Kramnik is not simply going to <LINE UP (ALIGNMENTS, CONFIGURATIONS)> his White ♔♕ to be <FORKED> by the dark-squared Black h6-bishop, Ivanchuk -forces- him to <LINE UP> his ♔+♕ with the brilliant <ROOK DECOY> 35 ... ♖c1-h1+!!. Kramnik clearly missed this nasty tactical idea or else he would not have played the enabling 34 ♖d1-d8? in the first place.

[Event "Tal Memorial Blitz"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2008.08.30"]
[Round "33"]
[White "Kramnik,V"]
[Black "Ivanchuk,V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2788"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[EventDate "2008.08.29"]
[ECO "D93"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qxc5 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. O-O Qa5 12. h3 Qa6 13. e4 Rd8 14. Qe1 Nb4 15. Ne5 Be6 16. Na4 Bxb3 17. axb3 Nd3 18. Nxd3 Qxd3 19. Nc5 Qb5 20. e5 Nd5 21. Bg5 Rac8 22. b4 h6 23. e6 f5 24. Bd2 a5 25. Nd7 axb4 26. Ne5 Rxc1 27. Bxc1 Kh7 28. Nf7 Rc8 29. Qd2 b3 30. Rd1 Rc2 31. Qe1 Qc6 32. Bxh6 Bxh6 33. Qe5 Nf6 34. Rd8 Rc1+ 35. Kh2 Rh1+ 36. Kxh1 Qc1+ 37. Rd1 Qc6 38. Kg1 Qc1 39. Kh1 Qxd1+ 40. Kh2 Qd2 41. Qc5 Bf4+ 42. g3 Ne4 43. Qb6 Bxg3+ 0-1

Aug-30-08  hand banana: did anyone calculate TPR's?
yes, i know they don't really matter in blitz, but it would be interesting to check them out..
Aug-30-08  hand banana: you guys are too lazy, i had to do it myself :)
1. ivanchuk - 2873
2. kramnik - 2861
3. carlsen - 2823
4, 5 - svidler & mamedyarov 2800
.. morozevich - 2658

etc

Aug-30-08  yalie: <hand banana: you guys are too lazy, i had to do it myself :) 1. ivanchuk - 2873
2. kramnik - 2861
3. carlsen - 2823
4, 5 - svidler & mamedyarov 2800
.. morozevich - 2658

etc
>

I think there is something wrong in ur numbers. The difference between Ivanchuk and Kramnik should be greater than the difference between Kramnik and Carlsen. also did you use July FIDE ratings?

Aug-31-08  shivasuri4: I think he didn't include the last round.
Aug-31-08  Atking: I just realize that Kramnik is the one who lost the least.

Another point which, of course, doesn't dismich Ivanchuck fantastic performance is he used to play the first 20 moves of many games in few sec. I saw some games of him yesterday at 30 move he has consumed only 30 sec... On critical situations he was already leading 1~2mm on clock.

Aug-31-08  PhilFeeley: <offtherook> Nakamura's in Montreal:

Montreal (2008)

Aug-31-08  Mulyahnto: <yalie: I think there is something wrong in ur numbers. The difference between Ivanchuk and Kramnik should be greater than the difference between Kramnik and Carlsen. also did you use July FIDE ratings?> Do you realize one round is missing? Check the scores on the official website: Ivanchuk 23.5/34, Kramnik 22.5/34, Carlsen 21/34
Aug-31-08  sicilianhugefun: Truly Ivanchuk is of a world champion caliber
Aug-31-08  shivasuri4: Just below that!
Aug-31-08  hand banana: my numbers are just fine.
Aug-31-08  yalie: <Mulyahnto: <yalie: I think there is something wrong in ur numbers. The difference between Ivanchuk and Kramnik should be greater than the difference between Kramnik and Carlsen. also did you use July FIDE ratings?> Do you realize one round is missing? Check the scores on the official website: Ivanchuk 23.5/34, Kramnik 22.5/34, Carlsen 21/34>

ah that must be it. thanks. sorry handbanana.

Aug-31-08  yalie: It is so surprising that, given his obvious prowess in blitz and rapid, Ivanchuk always gets into time trouble. The flip side is that his openings (along with the chaos wrought by Morozevich) are so refreshing and OTB, compared to the homecookings of Leko, Kramnik, Anand and especially, Topalov. I always wonder how well he would play if he had a regular quality second. Anyway, that double triumph at the Tal Memorial will certainly buttress his Oscar chances. I sincerely hope he can replicate some of his success in the GP also.

Carlsen and Kramnik should be happy about their performance too, especially the latter after his Dortmund and 1st half Tal normal time control performance. Does show that he is peaking towards Bonn and if Anand also shows good form at Bilbao, that can only augur well for chess.

While I dont expect Anand to show his match openings at Bilbao, to determine form, I am interested in seeing if he can play optimally after the openings.

Sep-01-08  notyetagm: <Atking: I just realize that Kramnik is the one who lost the least.>

Yes, but While Kramnik won 16 games, Chucky won 20(!).

That's right, Chucky played 34 blitz games and won 20 of them, well more than 1/2!

Sep-01-08  visayanbraindoctor: IMO Ivanchuk and Morozevich both prepare diligently for their openings as much as Kramnik and Leko, but tend to choose ones that lead to imbalanced and complex middlegames, while the latter two tend to choose lines that lead to more balanced, symmetrical, and less complex middlegames. It's a matter of taste and style.

We have to consider that this is just a blitz tournament. Here is a previous post of mine, when it was still unclear if Ivanchuk would win.

<I guess Ivanchuk will win this tournament. However, blitz is blitz, and is too chancy to determine who is the best player unless one probably plays over a hundred games. And then one can say this player is best,.. in blitz. It's fun though to watch.>

Nevertheless, I do congratulate (already did in fact) Chucky for winning this tournament. Even if it were only blitz, what an impressive performance it was!

I am also glad Kramnik won second place. He also placed second (or tied for it) in the classical Tal Memorial. No doubt these results (after his infamous Dortmund debacle) will have boosted his confidence, and inspire him to play his best in the Bonn World Championship match. I am looking forward to a finely contested World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik in their top forms.

Sep-01-08  notyetagm: <yalie: It is so surprising that, given his obvious prowess in blitz and rapid, Ivanchuk always gets into time trouble.>

Ivanchuk's problem is that he sees *everything*. When you are seeing so many different ideas about what to do, it is difficult to decide and Ivanchuk wants to play the strongest move/idea.

When he plays blitz, however, Ivanchuk seems to think that it is now somehow "ok" to make an inferior move since he *must* move fast.

Sep-01-08  rogge: Interesting view. I've noticed that also Grischuk, a brilliant Blitz-player, often gets into time trouble.
Sep-01-08  firebyrd: <It is so surprising that, given his obvious prowess in blitz and rapid, Ivanchuk always gets into time trouble.>

Not surprising at all, IMO. A player good at blitz should be less afraid of getting into time trouble. And a player who usually gets into time trouble gets a lot of practice at playing blitz speed.

Sep-01-08  notyetagm: Dennis Monokroussos' picks for the most interesting games of the Tal Memorial Blitz (2008): http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/fil....

I think all of the following games are from the second day:

Kramnik,V - Ponomariov,R
Kamsky,G - Karpov,A
Kramnik,V - Karpov,A
Movsesian,S - Leko,P
Morozevich,A - Kamsky,G
Kamsky,G - Mamedyarov,S
Ivanchuk,V - Carlsen,M
Kramnik,V - Ivanchuk,V

Maybe someone else can provide links for these games.

Sep-01-08  notyetagm: My favorite game of the tournament.

Round 33: Kramnik vs Ivanchuk, 2008

This is the showdown in the penultimate round between the two tied-for-1st contenders that gave Ivanchuk the title. Ivanchuk beats the "invincible" White Kramnik in style (35 ... ♖c1-h1+! <rook decoy>).

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