Boris Gelfand won Tal Memorial-2013 |
| Written by Administrator | ||||
| Sunday, 23 June 2013 | ||||
 Boris Gelfand. Photo by Eteri Kublashvili, Russiachess.org  Tal Memorial, an annual tournament held in Russia, Moscow, is one of the strongest and most prestigious chess events in the world. Here are the final standings of this year's memorial, including a brief commentary about each player's participation: 1. Boris Gelfand (2755) - 6/9, +3 -0 =6. Fantastic result for the runner-up of the previous World Chess Championship cycle. Boris turns 45 on June 24, and it looks like his play is still improving! 2. Magnus Carlsen (2864) - 5.5/9, +3 -1 =5. A solid result, although the #1 player on the rating list is expected to win every tournament. Like he himself commented during a press conference, with so many mistakes there was no chance for him to take the first place. Alert: Magnus lost a theoretically drawn rook endgame against Fabiano Caruana, which was very similar to the endgame he has recently lost to Wang Hao. Food for thought before the match with Viswanathan Anand. 3-5. Fabiano Caruana (2774) - +3 -2 =4. Fabiano is on a roll: he is #3 in the world now on the live ratings. 3-5. Shahriyar Mamedyarov (2753) - 5/9, +1 -0 =8. The World Rapid Chess Champion has played 63 games over the past 15 days. Definitely an achievement! Remarkably, he was undefeated at Tal Memorial. 3-5. Dmitry Andreikin (2713) - 5/9, +1 -0 =8. The Russian Chess Champion has demonstrated the best results among the Russian players. While the experts have been predicting a performance along the lines of "1-2 losses, 7-8 draws" for him, he managed not to succumb to anybody and even beat Kramnik, when Vladimir blundered. Well done! 6. Hikaru Nakamura (2784) - 4.5/9, +4 -4 =1. The US #1 lost the final 3 games to fall from the first place to the sixth. Most of his games were decisive, and it was a pleasure to follow his activity both at the tournament table & during the press conference. A disappointing final of a great tournament run. 7. Sergey Karjakin (2782) - 4/9, +0 -1 =8. After a fantasic recent victory at Stavanger, Sergey was under many expectations. Unluckily for his fans, he didn't live up to them at Tal Memorial. 8-9. Viswanathan Anand (2786) - 3.5/9, +1 -3 =5. It was painful to watch the World Chess Champion play at Tal Memorial. Vishy said he will take a break now until the World Chess Championship match. We wish him to recover and gain his top form! 8-9. Alexander Morozevich (2760) - 3.5/9, +1 -3 =5. Things didn't work out well for the creative Russian GM. Only a victory against Hikaru Nakamura in the final round allowed him to escape the last spot on the rankings. 10. Vladimir Kramnik (2803) - 3/9, +0 -3 =6. A reversal of Gelfand's performance: 6 draws and 3 losses instead of 3 victories. A disaster for the legendary ex-World Chess Champion. Vladimir mentioned having been burnt out after the Candidates, but who would have thought that the mighty Russian would finish in clear last place and shed 19 rating points?  View the games
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