The last few rounds at the Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow, which concluded on Thursday, were almost anticlimactic when considered in conjunction with the opening rounds. In the final three rounds of the nine-round tournament, only one decisive game was played. It was in round nine, between Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, but their standings before the round made the result irrelevant beyond its immediate tactical pyrotechnics.
In the end, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi won a well-deserved tournament, unbeaten, with a draw against the beleaguered Boris Gelfand of Israel, who finished with dignity after four consecutive draws following four losses in the first five rounds. Nepomniachtchi only needed a draw, being a point clear of India's Vishy Anand, Kramnik and Armenian Levon Aronian, and half a point ahead of Dutch Anish Giri, who had already drawn his game,
How Anand gave up his chance
Anand could have been in the running had he won his last game against Aronian, but he drew instead. Aronian also finished the tournament tied with Anand at third place with five points. But with the advantage of having white pieces in the last round – Kramnik, Giri and Nepomniachtchi all had black – Anand had the chance to go for Aronian's throat, while hoping for a Nepomniachtchi loss, in order to tie for first.
Instead, Anand’s game was far and away the quickest to end, and was largely equal between the adversaries in yet another Giuoco Piano. It was a little deflating to see Anand volunteer the exchange of pieces in a must-win game, increasing the chances of drawing, but his game was theoretically sound against a higher-rated opponent. However, victory was out of the grasp of the Indian ace once again as soon as the first result of round 9 came in.
In hindsight, the seeds were sown in round 6, where all the games except Anand’s against Russian Evgeny Tomashevsky's had decisive results, giving Nepomniachthchi a clear full-point lead. This meant Anand now needed a win, not draws, to catch up, provided the leader did not drop a game.
As it happened, the Russian did not lose, continuing with his fantastic form, which has seen him emerge as a rising star in 2016. So Anand spent the last three rounds searching for that elusive victory, including one game playing Black against Nepomniachtchi himself, and the other two with White against Russian Peter Svidler and then Aronian.
The opportunity was difficult but real
After the draw against Tomashevsky, it was imperative that Anand not concede a point against the in-form tournament leader, which he didn’t. He played an extremely hard-to-analyse game with Black against Nepomniachtchi, where both players moved the same piece multiple times in the opening – something that amateurs are taught to avoid – and by the middle game had arrived at a position where neither party was sure “who was better or why”. Nepomniachtchi pressed on for a while longer, but both parties had some active plans and the game was agreed as a draw after just 29 moves.
Anand’s game with White against Aronian in the last round was, by comparison, much clearer, with the position never tilting in either's favour. In a must-win game, Anand made correct but not adventurous moves, never trying to lead the position into an unbalanced or sharp line. Against a higher-rated player that could admittedly have backfired, but perhaps with a must-win game, he could have taken more risks.
The only real opportunity for victory came against Russian Peter Svidler in round 7, with Anand on the White side, and in the form of a difficult tactic to spot in a quiet-looking position. He had an advantage that he did not seize on, allowing Svidler into a position where he could force a draw whenever he pleased.
Nepomniachtchi’s rise
Most games in the last three rounds were similarly quiet affairs with sporadic bursts of tense action, in contrast to the energy of the early rounds. Giri, who had started off the tournament debunking his reputation for draws with active and energetic play, also seemed to be back on cruise control, finishing second in the tournament, when he could even have chased the title.
Perhaps more of that spirit was shown by Kramnik, whose match with Tomashevsky lasted over seven hours and 100 moves. Kramnik tortured a weak pawn on h6 for hours, eventually not succeeding in converting the advantage. However, the tournament was deservedly won by Nepomniachtchi, whose “brave chess” as Giri called it, was rewarded with the title.
Giri was referring to Nepomniachtchi’s game against Anand, where he fearlessly volunteered a king-walk in an unclear position. He calculated precisely throughout the tournament, and played positions based on a “show me your move” policy – another Giri term – rather than fundamentals. The win represents a big change in Nepomniachtchi’s form in 2016.
