Marvellous Morozevich Takes The Lead

Submitted by SonofPearl on Wed, 08/20/2008 at 12:59pm.

He's unpredictable. He's enigmatic. He's definitely not your average GM and today the magical Alexander Morozevich thrashed Vladimir Kramnik to take the sole lead on 2.5/3 in the Tal Memorial in Moscow.

Morozevich (pictured) was clearly out for blood against Kramnik, playing an early g4 and inviting a sharp struggle. Both kings sought safety on the Queenside, but Kramnik's looked vulnerable in the face of Moro's pawns at b4, c4 and c5.

The sweet pawn push 23.c6 exposed Kramnik's king to multiple threats that he failed to answer and suddenly the game was over. Certainly a game of which the great Misha Tal would have approved!

The only other decisive game of round 3 saw Peter Leko piling on the agony for Alexei Shirov to leave the Latvian (who now plays for Spain) with three duck eggs to start the tournament. You've got to admire Shirov's uncompromising style, but when it goes wrong it's Shirov who ends up getting burnt by the "Fire On Board".

The results in round 3:

Morozevich, Alexander	- Kramnik, Vladimir	1-0	31	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	23	C42	Petroff's Defence
Leko, Peter	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	45	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Ponomariov, Ruslan	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	87	A33	English Symmetrical
Kamsky, Gata	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	61	C43	Petroff's Defence

The standings after round 3:

1	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2788	2½
2	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2781	2
3	Leko, Peter	HUN	2741	2
4	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2742	1½
5	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2720	1½
6	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2718	1½
7	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2788	1½
8	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2723	1½
9	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	2708	1
10	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2741	0

» posted in Chess event coverage

1340 reads | 9 comments |

1 vote:

Comments:

by PawnToD4 - 13 hours ago
Philippines

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 11

Waldemar, thanks a lot, great link! :)

by Waldemar - 16 hours ago
Amsterdam Netherlands

Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 88

OK, vid @ chessedelic.com...

by dcarwin - 17 hours ago
San Francisco United States

Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 24

Thanks SoP.

-Dan

by oginschile - 17 hours ago
Salt Lake City, UT United States

Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 929

Moro the conqueror. Splendid play.

He seems to have an insatiable hunger for his opponent's King and like Topalov, will risk everything to win.

He does indeed seem the closest thing we have to a modern day Tal. I can't imagine his opponents are ever very comfortable playing him.

by Salaskan - 18 hours ago
Netherlands Netherlands

Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 9

Heh, in last week's poll about who would win the Tal Memorial, more than 40% voted for Kramnik, and only a few percent for Morozevich, including me. I was hoping for this result :-) He's really getting better and better, even though he doesn't participate in many tournaments. I like his opening novelties and positionally aggressive style.

by santiR - 19 hours ago
d.c. United States

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 146

good game. cant beleive kramnik, my hero, got beat.

by GeoffreyBernardo - 19 hours ago
Pretoria South Africa

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 3

HeeeeeeeeeeeeeY! Good Shot, Morozevich!

by Waldemar - 20 hours ago
Amsterdam Netherlands

Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 88

Great win by Moro!

I must do a video on that one...

by Phobetor - 20 hours ago
Eindhoven Netherlands

Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 590

Great play by Morozevich! Kramnik hasn't been crushed like that so often before. In the second round Morozevich was also close to a win, so who knows what his score will be at the end of the tournament!

Also, the Live Top List now has Morozevich rated at 2796, just two points behind Anand. If he keeps playing like this, he'll soon be 2800+.

It's a pity though that such a great player hasn't contested the World Championship title in a while. He doesn't want to participate in World Championship events, it seems.

And SonofPearl, thanks for the great report (as usual)

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