Tal Memorial: 08: Nepo's Overzealous King

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 06/10/2016

Anand took on the leader Ian Nepomniachtchi with the black pieces in the eighth round. It was a reasonably sarcastic game -- the players traded their queens quite quickly, only to see Nepomniachtchi's king march up the board in the middlegame! Watch and enjoy the game with analysis by Viswanatahan Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi!

Tal Memorial: 08: Nepo's Excited King

Round Eight:

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Round 8 - Oct. 5 - 14h CET
1	10	2808	GM	Kramnik Vladimir	½-½	GM	Tomashevsky Evgeny	2731	9
2	1	2745	GM	Svidler Peter	½-½	GM	Gelfand Boris	2743	8
3	2	2740	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	½-½	GM	Anand Viswanathan	2776	7
4	3	2795	GM	Aronian Levon	½-½	GM	Li Chao B	2746	6
5	4	2755	GM	Giri Anish	½-½	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2761	5

Highlights:

Ian Nepomniachtchi was the leader going into the eighth round. He had the white pieces against the five-time world champion from India Viswanathan Anand. Of course, this was the center-court attraction. The game began with a strange English Opening that looked more like a French defence with reversed colours. Nepo made a typical French break in the center with f3...

...but the real fun was the sight of Nepo walking his king up the board!

The middle game was queenless alright but Nepo made his King count!

And Anand very much tried to make inroads into the leader's position on the board.

Anand commented, "It was very hard for me to tell whether I was better or I was worse -- there are arguments for both sides. On one hand, his structure is very loose and his King is out there. I have his weakness on c4 to attack, but he has something on c5. It was very difficult to evaluate."

It was an entertaining draw and well worth enjoying. Watch Vishy and Nepo discuss all the variations and subtleties in this video.

Analysis by Vishy Anand and Ian Nepomniatchtchi

Nepomniachtchi-Anand

[Event "10th Tal Mem 2016"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2016.10.05"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2740"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.09.26"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 Bc5 4. Nf3 c6 5. Nc3 d6 6. e3 Bb4 7. d4 e4 8. Nd2
Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nf6 10. f3 exf3 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. h3 Qa5 13. Bb2 Qf5 14. Ba3 Re8
15. Qxf5 Bxf5 16. Kf2 Rd8 17. Kf3 c5 18. g4 Bg6 19. Bg2 h6 20. Kf4 Nc6 21. Bxc6
bxc6 22. e4 Nd7 23. Nb3 Re8 24. Rhe1 Re6 25. Re3 Rae8 26. Rae1 Rf6+ 27. Kg3
Rfe6 28. Kf4 Rf6+ 29. Kg3 Rfe6 1/2-1/2

What Next?

Nepomniachtchi heads into the final round with 5.5/8, a comfortable half-point lead over the second placed Anish Giri. The trio of Aronian, Kramnik, and Anand follow with 4.5/8. Anand faces Levon Aronian in the final round. he has the white pieces.

Nepo now has to hold his stead against the bottom-placed Boris Gelfand, who would not mind to finish with a win. And Giri will be taking on Li Chao. Nepo may end up winning the event comfortably, but stranger things have happened in the chess world.

LIVE Games:

Games in PGN