Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

[Wayne Komer]

Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Moscow, 25 Sept, by Sergey Smyshlyaev.

The traditional major tournament, annually held in Moscow and dedicated to great Soviet players this year will be the Tigran Petrosian Memorial and will open on November 3, said the President of the Russian chess Federation (RCF) Andrei Filatov.

For many years before it was the Mikhail Tal Memorial, in Moscow bringing together the leading chess players in the world.

"We plan to hold tournaments memory of our great champions. We have earlier been the Tal Memorial, then it was Alekhine-Memorial at the Louvre and in the Russian Museum. This year it is the Petrosian Memorial, because he is a great champion, and this year marks his 85th birthday.

The tournament starts on November 3. And we plan to continue to remember all of our Champions and regularly conduct large chess competitions, dedicated to their memory-one tournament a year, "said Filatov, the Agency" r-sport ".

http://rsport.ru/chess/20140925/775430883.html

________

The first Russian Museum of Chess opened today in the Central House of Chess on Gogolevsky Boulevard.

There are photos at

http://www.chess-news.ru/node/16757

The bases of the collection of the Museum are valuable and rare exhibits, purchased from the Leningrad collector Vyacheslav Dombrovsky, who began collecting them over a hundred years ago. The Museum funds expanded through gifts of chess and distinguished guests, Soviet and Russian championship trophies.

Presents to the museum were made of rare chess sets, posters, cups and awards won by the Soviet and Russian chess players and pictures on the chess theme. On the pictures you can see the table, figures, watches, stationery, banners-all with the legendary match, Karpov-Kasparov 1984-85.

The Museum became the successor of the chess museum rooms, working with CDŠ in the eighties. It will be open to visitors on weekdays in tours by appointment.

In the world of chess museums can be counted on the fingers of one hand: in addition to Moscow, other known institutions are in Amsterdam and Luzern.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial

Press Release, Oct. 16, 2014

Elite Round-Robin Petrosian Memorial to Take Place in Novotel Moscow City

The Tigran Petrosian Memorial will take place in the capital of Russia from November 3rd to November 11th, 2014. The super-strong tournament will be hosted by the Novotel Hotel located in the Moscow City business center.

8 GMs to fight in the single round-robin event have already been announced (ratings given as for October 2014):

Alexander GRISCHUK (Russia, 2797)
Levon ARONIAN (Armenia, 2793)
Vladimir KRAMNIK (Russia, 2760)
Boris GELFAND (Israel, 2748)
Peter LEKO (Hungary, 2731)
Ding LIREN (China, 2730)
Alexander MOROZEVICH (Russia, 2724)
Ernesto INARKIEV (Russia, 2672)

Inarkiev isn't here by chance: back in June 2013, he has won the Higher League of the Russian individual championship which, according to its regulations, would give him the right to play in the next Tal Memorial. However, since the Russian chess management has changed recently, the traditional Tal Memorial has been cancelled. Instead, the new RCF President Andrey Filatov has proposed similar yearly tournaments in memory of different Russian and USSR world champions. As he said in a recent interview: "There was Alekhine Memorial in 2013; this year we will organize Tigran Petrosian Memorial (the 9th World Champion would have turned 85 in 2014 - CN), followed by Smyslov Memorial, Botvinnik Memorial, then Tal again...". Thus, Ernesto Inarkiev has all the rights to participate now.

The chairman of the organizing committee is President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan (who is also president of the national chess federation).

"We would like to thank the Armenian President who has agreed to be the chairman of the Petrosian Memorial", the RCF press-release cites Andrey Filatov. "It's great honour for Russian Chess Federation to host one of the strongest and most interesting event in the 2014 international calendar, the one that is going to impress chess fans all over the world. Regarding this, we are grateful to the sponsors - Tashir group of companies".
_______

There is a website up with no content as yet:

http://www.tashir-chess.com

[Andy Shaw]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Thanks for this Wayne. It should be interesting to see how Ding Liren does in his first supertournament.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Thanks for this Wayne. It should be interesting to see how Ding Liren does in his first supertournament.

The Alekhine Memorial 2013 was certainly a "supertournament", with Ding Liren the 9th of 10 seeds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alekhine_Memorial

[Andy Shaw]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Thanks for this Jack. I must have missed this event. Best of luck to the Chinese superstar!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial 2014

Schedule

Round One Nov. 4, 2014

Ding Liren – Kramnik, Vladimir
Leko, Peter – Morozevich, Alexander
Aronian, Levon – Gelfand, Boris
Grischuk, Alexander – Inarkiev, Ernesto

Round Two Nov. 5, 2014

Kramnik, Vladimir – Inarkiev, Ernesto
Gelfand, Boris – Grischuk, Alexander
Morozevich, Alexander – Aronian, Levon
Ding Liren – Leko, Peter

Round Three Nov. 6, 2014

Leko, Peter – Kramnik, Vladimir
Aronian, Levon – Ding Liren
Grischuk, Alexander – Morozevich, Alexander
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Gelfand, Boris

Round Four Nov. 8, 2014

Kramnik, Vladimir – Gelfand, Boris
Morozevich, Alexander – Inarkiev, Ernesto
Ding Liren – Alexander Grischuk
Leko, Peter – Aronian, Levon

Round Five Nov. 9, 2014

Aronian, Levon – Kramnik, Vladimir
Grischuk, Alexander – Leko, Peter
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Ding Liren
Gelfand, Boris – Morozevich, Alexander

Round Six Nov. 10, 2014

Kramnik, Vladimir – Morzevich, Alexander
Ding Liren – Gelfand, Boris
Leko, Peter – Inarkiev, Ernesto
Aronian, Levon – Alexander Grischuk

Round Seven Nov. 11, 2014

Grischuk, Alexander – Kramnik, Vladimir
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Aronian, Levon
Gelfand, Boris – Leko, Peter
Morozevich, Alexander – Ding Liren

[Andy Shaw]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Boss got on me the past couple of weeks because I was late on a couple of deadlines (I was watching Baku and Tashkent at work). I was hoping I could catch up on some lost time this week... and here comes another super-tournament..

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial 2014

Round One
November 4, 2014

The commentators on the English transmission on livestream are Peter Svidler and Lawrence Trent.

The tournament is a round-robin with a prize fund of 100,000 euro taking place at the Novotel Moscow City Hotel.

Players have 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one.
The Tashir Group of companies are in a number of sectors of the Russian economy, including construction, manufacture, finance, power, development, retail and entertainment.

First game to finish is Kramnik-Ding Liren, a draw.

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Round 1
Nov. 4, 2014
Ding, Liren-Kramnik, Vladimir
D35 QGD, Exchange, Positional Line (5…c6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. Nh4 Be7 12. g3 Nb6 13. O-O-O Nc8 14. Bd3 Nd6 15. Kc2 Kd7 16. f3 Bxd3+ 17. Kxd3 f5 18. Ng2 h5 19. h4 Rag8 20. Rh3 Ne8 21. Ke2 Bd6 22. Kf2 Nf6 23. Ne2 a5 24. b3 Re8 25. Rhh1 Re7 26. Nef4 Rg8 27. Rd2 Ree8 28. Rc2 Kc7 29. a4 Kd7 30. Rh3 Rg7 31. Nd3 Kc7 32. Ngf4 Reg8 33. Rc1 Kb8 34. Rg1 Kc7 35. Rh2 Rb8 36. Rc1 Rbg8 37. Rg2 Kb8 38. Rcg1 Kc7 39. Rb1 Re8 40. Rgg1 Reg8 41. Rbc1 ½-½

Boris Gelfand has played in both Baku and Tashkent and has been going since 2 Oct playing 23 games of competitive high-level chess. Is he stretching himself too thin the guys are asked. Peter says we will see – yes, it is obviously a concern. Peter has had a few seasons like that with play almost every day for months on end. He found it hard to say no to invitations to good tournaments. In 2013 from the Candidates and ending in Stavanger invitations came in such a way that he didn’t want to pass any of them up. You cannot assume that if you say no, another invitation will come next week. Gelfand couldn’t go to Tehran, so he had to play the first two and the last tournaments. Saying no to the Petrosian would have been incredibly hard. Tashkent has been a set back, he will have to make it up in Khanty in May.

Three draws over all are suitable to a memorial for Petrosian.

Petrosian Memorial
Round 1
Nov. 4, 2014
Grischuk, Alexander – Inarkiev, Ernesto
A13 English, Neo-Catalan

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Be7 6. Na3 c5 7. Nxc4 Nc6 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Bd7 10. d4 Rc8 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Nd6 Rc7 13. Rc1 b6 14. Ng5 Qe7 15. Nge4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Rd8 17. Nxc5 bxc5 18. Qe1 Rcc8 19. Qc3 Nd4 20. Rfe1 f6 21. e3 Nb5 22. Qa5 Be8 23. Red1 Qc7 24. Qxc7 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Nxc7 26. Rc1 Rd8 27. Bc3 Nd5 28. Ba5 Nb6 29. Bf1 Bg6 30. f3 Rc8 31. Ba6 Rc6 32. Bb5 Rc8 33. b4 c4 34. Bxb6 axb6 35. Rxc4 Rd8 36. Rd4 Rc8 37. a4 Rc3 38. Rd6 Rxe3 39. Kf2 Rb3 40. Rxb6 Rb2+ 41. Ke3 Rb3+ 42. Kd4 e5+ 43. Kc5 Rxf3 44. Bc4+ Kf8 45. Kd6 Be8 46. Rb8 1-0

Petrosian Memorial
Round 1
Nov. 4, 2014
Aronian, Levon – Gelfand, Boris
D32 QGD, Tarrasch Defence (5…Nc6)

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Nce2 Be5 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Bxe5 Rxe5 15. Ba4 c5 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Qd2 Ree8 19. Rfd1 Qb7 20. Nc3 c4 21. bxc4 dxc4 22. Rb1 Qe7 23. Qd6 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Ne4 25. Nxe4 Rxe4 26. Rc6 Ree8 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Kf1 g6 29. Ke2 Rc5 30. Rb2 Ra5 31. Kf3 Ra4 32. Rc2 c3 33. Ke2 h5 34. Kd3 Ra3 35. Kc4 a5 36. g3 Kg7 37. f4 Kf6 38. Kd5 Ra4 39. e4 Ke7 40. Ke5 Ra3 41. h4 f6+ 42. Kd5 Kf7 43. e5 Ke7 44. e6 Ra4 45. Rxc3 Rxa2 46. Rc7+ Ke8 47. Rf7 Rd2+ 48. Kc5 f5 ½-½

Petrosian Memorial
Round 1
Nov. 4, 2014
Leko, Peter – Morozevich, Alexander
B28 Sicilian, O’Kelly Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Qd6 10. Be3 Be7 11. Nd2 Nd5 12. Nde4 Qd8 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. Nc5 O-O 15. Rc1 f5 16. Nd3 Bd6 17. f4 Qb6 18. Kh1 Be6 19. Qd2 Rfe8 20. Ne5 Rac8 21. a3 a5 22. Bd1 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Bc5 24. Rxc5 Rxc5 25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. Bf3 Rc8 27. Rd1 Kf8 28. h3 b6 29. Kh2 h6 30. Kg3 Qb5 31. Kh2 Qc5 32. h4 Rc7 33. h5 Rc8 34. Kg3 Qb5 35. Kh2 Qc4 36. Qe3 Qb5 37. Qd2 Qc4 38. Qe3 Qb5 39. Qd2 ½-½

Two Bios from the Official Site

Ernesto Inarkiev
(December 9, 1985)

Ernesto Inarkiev was born in southern Kyrgyzstan, in Khaydarkan, Osh region, far from the big centers of chess culture. He began to attend chess classes at the age of 7 after his family moved to the capital Bishkek. His brilliant talent in chess, which is both unique and original, manifested itself rather early in his life: aged 11 Ernesto won a big children’s tournament in Moscow “Hello, summer!” and in the following year he played for his country’s team in the World Chess Olympics in Elista. An extremely gifted, sociable and engaging junior was noticed, and shortly afterwards President of FIDE and of the Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov offered Inarkiev to move to Elista together with his family and to pursue his training in chess under the guidance of prominent Russian coaches. In 1999, Ernesto won the U-16 Asian Youth Championship and the Kyrgyzstan Men’s Championship; in 2000, he again competed in the Olympics as part of Kyrgyzstan’s team, following which he henceforth represented Russia in all international events.

In 2001, Ernesto Inarkiev won the U-16 European Youth Championship in 2001, and in 2002 he won the Russian U-20 championship. The same year he was awarded the title of grandmaster, becoming Kalmykia's first international grandmaster. Inarkiev’s development as a chess grandmaster was greatly influenced by Mark Dvoretsky, merited coach of the USSR, who had been his guide for some 8 years. Ernesto graduated from the Moscow’s Russian State Social University in 2008 with a degree in Banking and Finance.

Ernesto Inarkiev finished third in the 2006 Russian Chess Championship Super Final, won in two Russian Championship Higher Leagues (in 2006 and 2013), and gained bronze at the 2013 international Karpov/Poikovsky tournament. He has scored victories in 5 Russian national championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012) and in two (2005, 2006) European Club Cups playing for the team Tomsk-400. Winner of the Primorsky Debut 2014 on tie-break and of the International Chess Festival Baku Open 2014.

Ding Liren
(October 24, 1992)

Ding Liren learnt to play chess when he was 4. His biography can be described on the whole as a model one for the chess boom of the recent decades in Asia. His home city of Wenzhou was at that time reputed as the “City of Chess”. His mother was a nurse and had arranged with a colleague of hers that they would teach their children to play chess: not the traditional Chinese chess, but the Western or (as it is called in China) “international” chess.

The future grandmaster came into the eyes of chess fans and experts alike while still competing in junior tournaments: he twice won silver, first in the U10 and then in the U12 World Cup. However, he only shot to prominence after scoring three victories in the National Championship – in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Out of the entire plethora of talents that China has offered to the world, Ding Liren stands out thanks to his professional approach, which helps him to progress faster than his rivals do.

Ding Liren is currently studying for his degree in Law at Beijing University. However, since his early years Ding Liren was aiming for a professional career in chess. The grandmaster says that he cannot imagine his life without chess and his plans for the future are exclusively related to professional chess.

In 2013, Ding Liren made his debut in elite chess participating in the Alekhine Memorial, which was held in Louvre and at the State Russian Museum of St Petersburg. And despite the fairly modest result, the Chinese grandmaster managed to defeat, thanks to his excellent brand tactics, the future winner Levon Aronian. The Ding Liren’s greatest achievement so far is the Tromsø Olympics gold medal playing for China’s national team.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial 2014

Moscow, Nov. 5, 2014
Round 2

In England today, the schoolboys chant:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot..

commemorating the gunpowder plot, Guy Fawkes and the conspirators.

I only mention this because someone said today the date should be remembered as the one that Alexander Grischuk topped a rating of 2800.

This has been done seven times before:

Highest Ever Live Ratings

Carlsen 2889.2 April 21, 2014
Kasparov 2856.7 March 3, 2000
Caruana 2851.3 October 8, 2014
Aronian 2835.5 Feb. 2, 2014
Anand 2820.7 January 26, 2011
Kramnik 2817.5 March 29, 2013
Topalov 2816.9 April 24, 2010
Grischuk 2803.0 November 5, 2014
_______

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Moscow
Round 2, Nov. 5, 2014
Gelfand, Boris – Grischuk, Alexander
D38 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit, Capablanca Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 Be6 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 Bc8 9.h3 Nfd7 10.Nf3 e5 11.dxe5 Nxc5 12.Bb1 Nbd7 13.b4 Ne6 14.O-O Nxf4 15.exf4 Nb6 16.Qd4 f6 17.b5 Nc4 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Bd3 fxe5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.fxe5 Nd2 22.Rfd1 Qg5 23.Qe3 Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Nxe5 26.e4 d4 27.Na4 Rb8 28.Bc4+ Kg7 29.Rxd4 Rb4 30.Nc5 Rf2 31.a3 Rbb2 32.Na4 Bxh3 33.Nxb2 Bxg2+ 34.Kh2 Rxb2 35.Kg3 g5 36.Rcd1 h5 37.R4d2 Rxd2 38.Rxd2 Bxe4 39.Re2 h4+ 40.Kf2 Ng4+ 41.Kg1 Nf6 42.Be6 Kg6 43.Re1 Bf3 44.Re5 g4 45.Bf5+ Kh6 46.Bd3 Bd5 47.Bf1 g3 48.Bh3 Ne4 49.Be6 Nf2 50.Bxd5 cxd5 51.Kg2 d4 52.Rd5 d3 53.a4 a5 54.Kf3 Kg6 55.Rd8 Kf7 56.Rd4 Kf8 57.Rd5 Ke8 58.Rd4 Ke7 59.Rd5 Kf6 60.Rd6+ Kf5 61.Rd4 Ke6 62.Rd8 Ke5 63.Rd7 h3 64.Kxg3 Ne4+ 65.Kf3 h2 66.Kg2 d2 0-1

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Moscow
Round 2, Nov. 5, 2014
Kramnik, Vladimir – Inarkiev, Ernesto
D53 QGD, 4. Bg5 Be7

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 O-O 6.Bg5 c5 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.e4 Nfd7 9.Bf4 b5 10.cxb6 Nxb6 11.Rd1 Qe8 12.Be2 Na6 13.Ne5 Nb4 14.Qc1 Ba6 15.a3 Nc6 16.b4 Bf6 17.Nf3 Bxc3+ 18.Qxc3 Qc8 19.O-O Bb5 20.Bd6 Rd8 21.e5 h6 22.Nd4 a6 23.Bf3 Nxd4 24.Rxd4 Bc6 25.Be2 Bb5 26.Rg4 Kh8 27.Qg3 Rg8 28.Rh4 Qd8 29.Qf4 Re8 30.Rxh6+ gxh6 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.f4 Bc6 33.Bf3 Qc8 34.f5 exf5 35.Qg5+ Kh8 36.Bxc6 Re6 37.Rxf5 Ra7 38.Qh4+ Kg7 39.Rh5 Qg8 40.Be4 1-0

Other Round Two Results

Ding, Liren – Leko, Peter 0.5-0.5
Morozevich, Alexander – Aronian, Levon 0.5-0.5

If you look at the chessbomb score of Kramnik-Inarkiev, you will see all sorts of moves in red, which makes you wonder if anyone knew what they were doing! The computer found a defensive resource for Black 33…Nc8! But Inarkiev did not, played 33…Qc8?

Alexander Grischuk won his second game in a row and leads the tournament.

Online Comments

- What a great start for Grischuk and even better is how he has finally past the 2800 mark, a win with black over perhaps his toughest customer. Grischuk has close in a quite few times to the 2800 mark but somehow has it slipped away.

- Grischuk might have been underestimated in recent years. For example, Svidler and not him got the wildcard for the candidates. But to be taken really serious as a challenger for the title he certainly needs not only rating points but also big tournament victories (with classical time controls). In this category, he has not much more than one Linares and one Russian championship. If he wants to show that he is as strong as Aronian, he should win the Petrosian memorial and maybe one or two Grand Prix tournaments as well!

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

The Tigran Petroysan Memorial 2014 seems to be turning into a thematic 1.d4/2.c4 tournament. R2 and R3 have seen all 8 games open that way except for the Aronian - Ding game today which opened 1.c4/2.d4.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial 2014

Moscow, Nov. 6, 2014
Round 3

Forget about Caruana and Andreikin, Alexander Grischuk is supreme. In the commentary Peter Svidler said this is Grischuk’s sixth win in a row against a grandmaster. (Baku: 1. Caruana, 2. Kasimdzhanov, 3. Dominguez)
(Moscow: 4. Inarkiev, 5. Gelfand, 6. Morozevich)

It is amazing what can start a string of wins. Supposedly with Caruana, it was being doused with a bucket of ice water in the ALS Challenge. With Grischuk, it was changing his hotel room so he got a window!

Either I am being fanciful or chess is a strange game.

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Round 3, Nov. 6
Grischuk, Alexander- Morozevich, Alexander
D15 QGD Slav Accepted (4…a6)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Qc2 g6 6. e4 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Bf5 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. Qb3 Qc7 12. h3 c5 13. d5 a5 14. Bh6 Re8 15. g4 Bc8 16. Rad1 Nd7 17. Rfe1 Ra6 18. Bf1 Rb6 19. Qe3 Bxb2 20. Bf4 Qd8 21. Ng5 Bd4 22. Qg3 e5 23. dxe6 fxe6 24. Bg2 e5 25. Bd2 Rf6 26. Nf3 Nb6 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Bg5 Ref8 29. Qe5 Nd7 30. Bxf6 Qxf6 31. Qxf6 Nxf6 32. Rb1 Rf7 33. g5 Nd7 34. Re8+ Rf8 35. Bd5+ Kh8 36. Rbe1 1-0

Results of Round Three Games

Aronian-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
Inarkiev – Gelfand 0.5-0.5
Leko – Kramnik 0.5-0.5

Standings

Grischuk 3, Kramnik 2, Leko 1.5, Ding Liren 1.5, Aronian 1.5, Morozevich 1, Gelfand 1 and Inarkiev 0.5

Next round is Saturday, November 8.
__________

Live Chess Ratings as of November 6, 2014

Carlsen 2863.0
Caruana 2829.0
Grischuk 2807.0
Topalov 2800.0
Aronian 2794.6
Anand 2792.0
Nakamura 2775.1
Karjakin 2772.7
Giri 2768.2
Mamedyarov 2765.1

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Yet another round of nothing but 1.d4/2.c4 (and Anand has followed suit in Sochi)!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Round 4
November 8, 2014
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
E60 King’s Indian, 3.g3

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Nc3 Qc7 8. Qd3 Nc6 9. O-O d6 10. b3 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Ne4 12. Nd5 Bxd4 13. Nxc7 Rb8 14. Bxe4 Bxa1 15. Be3 Be5 16. f4 Bf6 17. Bxa7 Bh3 18. Rd1 Ra8 19. Nxa8 Rxa8 20. Be3 Rxa2 21. Kf2 Rb2 22. Rb1 Ra2 23. Bxb7 Bf5 24. Rc1 Rb2 25. c5 dxc5 26. Rxc5 Rxb3 27. Bf3 Rc3 28. Rxc3 Bxc3 29. Bc5 e5 30. e3 exf4 31. exf4 h5 32. Ke3 Bb2 33. Kf2 Bc3 34. Ke3 Bb2 35. Kf2 ½-½

So, Grischuk does not get his seventh win in a row against a grandmaster.

One chessbomb viewer speculates that the players will draw all their games today so that they can rush off and watch Anand-Carlsen.

Later Results

Kramnik – Gelfand 0.5-0.5
Leko – Aronian 0.5-0.5
Morozevich – Inarkiev 0.5-0.5

Of the last game ChessBase says:

A very strange game. With both kings being weak, both sides kept missing chances to gain a decisive initiative. An entertaining game to replay.

So, if you want to, here it is:

Petrosian Memorial 2014
Round 4, Nov. 8, 2014
Morozevich, Alexander – Inarkiev, Ernesto
D36 QGD, Exchange, Positional Line (6.QC2)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 Be7 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nge2 g6 11. O-O-O Nb6 12. Rde1 Be6 13. f3 O-O-O 14. g4 Ng7 15. Nf4 h5 16. h3 Kb8 17. Rhg1 Qd6 18. Bf1 hxg4 19. hxg4 Rh7 20. a4 a5 21. Qb3 Nd7 22. Kb1 Rh2 23. Na2 g5 24. Nd3 f6 25. Qc3 b6 26. b4 axb4 27. Naxb4 Rc8 28. Rc1 Kb7 29. e4 dxe4 30. fxe4 c5 31. e5 fxe5 32. Nxe5 Ka7 33. Qd3 Nxe5 34. Qa6+ Kb8 35. dxe5 Qd8 36. Nc2 Bd5 37. Rd1 Ne6 38. Bc4 Bxc4 39. Qxc4 Nd4 40. Nxd4 cxd4 41. Qxd4 Qc7 42. Qd6 Ka7 43. Qxc7+ Rxc7 44. Rc1 Rxc1+ 45. Kxc1 Re2 46. Rf1 Rxe5 ½-½

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

One chessbomb viewer speculates that the players will draw all their games today so that they can rush off and watch Anand-Carlsen.

I find it fascinating that we can speculate on that in a 'matter of fact' way. Just like when there's an important cricket game and Anand-Svidler are playing together. A short draw is expected because they both want to see the game. Or when a chess tournament overlaps with the mundial or the league of champions. Some notable soccer fans then proceed to make short draws so they both can watch the game.

If you believe your own game isn't the most interesting thing going on, why even bother?

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: Petrosian Memorial Supertournament

If you believe your own game isn't the most interesting thing going on, why even bother?

You are perfectly right. I believe it is more of "urban legend" gossip that they draw quickly to watch another event. Like Grischuk's "hotel room with no windows" excuse for his losses.