The first round of the 2011 Tal Memorial featured two decisive games and plenty of hard fought draws. Ian Nepomniachtchi, the lowest rated player in the tournament, used the black pieces to secure a win against the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Vassily Ivanchuk started another tournament with a win by punishing Peter Svidler’s inaccuracies on moves 29 and 30 in their 61 move affair. World Champion Viswanathan Anand worried his fans by making several mistakes but was still able to obtain a draw against Sergei Karjakin. World number one Magnus Carlsen drew in a difficult battle against Levon Aronian. Finally, the American, Hikaru Nakamura looked uninspired in his draw against Boris Gelfland.
Below is Ian Nepomniachtchi’s impressive win over Vladimir Kramnik:
[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2011.11.16”]
[EventDate “2011.11.16”]
[Round “1”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Vladimir Kramnik”]
[Black “Ian Nepomniachtchi”]
[ECO “A37”]
[WhiteElo “2800”]
[BlackElo “2730”]
[PlyCount “106”]
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. a3 d6 7. O-O Nge7 8. b4 e4 9. Ne1 f5 10. Bb2 O-O 11. d3 Be6 12. dxe4 fxe4 13. Bxe4 Bxc4 14. Nc2 d5 15. Bg2 d4 16. Ne4 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 d3 18. Qg4 Bxb2 19. Rad1 Qc8 20. Qxc8 Raxc8 21. Rxd3 cxb4 22. axb4 Rcd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rb1 Bg7 25. h4 b5 26. Bf1 a6 27. Nc5 Rd2 28. Ne3 Bd4 29. Ne4 Rb2 30. Rxb2 Bxb2 31. Nc2 Nd5 32. Nc5 Ndxb4 33. Nxb4 Nxb4 34. Nd3 Nxd3 35. Bxd3 Kf7 36. f4 Ke6 37. Kf2 Kd5 38. Ke2 Kc5 39. Kd2 a5 40. f5 a4 41. Bc2 a3 42. Bb1 gxf5 43. Kc2 Kb4 44. Ba2 Be5 45. Be6 a2 46. Bxa2 Bxg3 47. h5 h6 48. Kd3 Ka3 49. Bd5 b4 50. Kc2 Be5 51. Bb3 f4 52. Bd5 Bf6 53. Kb1 b3 0-1