off with a Marshall!

[White "GM_Morozevich"]
[Black "GM_Shirov"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
c3 d5 9. d4 dxe4 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qxd1 12. Bxd1 Nd7 13. Bc2 Nxe5 14.
Bxe4 Rb8 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Rxe5 Rd8 19. Kf1

maybe typically white has to accept the difficulty of developing his pieces
without giving up his 1 pawn edge - here the King come to the middle since
the second row is unsafe to develop his Q Kt

and this is getting a bit boring in the TAL memorial

[White "GM_Gelfand"]
[Black "GM_Aronian"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c6 8.
Bf4 b6 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. Nd2 Nh5 11. Be5 Nd7 12. e4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 dxc4 14. Bf3
g6 15. Bxh5 gxh5 16. Nxc4 Game drawn 1/2-1/2


Carlsen is up a pawn, and there is no easy draw here, though white has the
two bishops and a certain amount of initiaitve, the game will resolve around
the activation of the black pieces, possibly returning one of those big
center pawns.

[White "GM_Grischuk"]
[Black "GM_Carlsen"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 c5 8.
dxc5 Nbd7 9. Rc1 Qa5 10. Nd2 b6 11. Be2 bxc5 12. O-O Bxc3 13. Rxc3 Qxa2 14.
Qc2 Rb8 15. Rb1 Qa5

Maybe Pono is tired too, or jsut wants to sit some of these games out from
the top spot

[White "GM_Ponomariov"]
[Black "GM_Leko"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. a3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 Be7 9. e4 O-O 10. Bd3 c5 11. O-O Qc7 12. Qe2 Nd7 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. d5
exd5 15. exd5 Bf6 16. c4 b5 17. cxb5 Bxd5 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. Bc4 Re8 Game
drawn 1/2-1/2


and perhaps more understanably, Svidler takes a quick half point with black

[White "GM_Mamedyarov"]
[Black "GM_Svidler"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. O-O Nc6 8.
Nc3 Ne4 9. Ne5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nxe5 11. dxe5 O-O 12. Qxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxd5 Rd8
14. Bg2 Game drawn 1/2-1/2

Phil

"Chess One" wrote in message
news:BS_6h.3849$ZN1.1826@trndny03...
off with a Marshall!

[White "GM_Morozevich"]
[Black "GM_Shirov"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O
8. c3 d5 9. d4 dxe4 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qxd1 12. Bxd1 Nd7 13. Bc2 Nxe5
14. Bxe4 Rb8 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Rxe5 Rd8 19. Kf1

maybe typically white has to accept the difficulty of developing his
pieces without giving up his 1 pawn edge - here the King come to the
middle since the second row is unsafe to develop his Q Kt

f6 20. Re3 Rd1+ 21. Re1 Rxe1+ 22. Kxe1 Bf5 23. Na3 Re8+ 24. Kd2 Rd8+ 25. Ke3
Re8+ 26. Kd2 Rd8+ Game drawn 1/2-1/2


And so it was, white had to put his Q Kt on a3 anyway, where it stayed.
Neither side can really make progress, but I bet there will be a bit of
research into this Marshall line as a result.

---------

Carlsen is up a pawn, and there is no easy draw here, though white has the
two bishops and a certain amount of initiaitve, the game will resolve
around the activation of the black pieces, possibly returning one of those
big center pawns.

and sure 'nuff, Grischuk didn't even try to pursue his bishop advantage,
made a quick exchange, and the game was over in 17 moves.

[White "GM_Grischuk"]
[Black "GM_Carlsen"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 c5
8. dxc5 Nbd7 9. Rc1 Qa5 10. Nd2 b6 11. Be2 bxc5 12. O-O Bxc3 13. Rxc3 Qxa2
14. Qc2 Rb8 15. Rb1 Qa5

16. Bxf6 Nxf6 17. Nb3 Game drawn 1/2-1/2

Lots of short draws. Pity!

White has achieved 8 wins, Black 4 wins, and there are now 27 draws.

Round 8 standings:
1-3 Ponomariov, Aronian, Leko - 5.0
4 Gelfand - 4.5
5-6 Mamedyarov, Grischuk - 4.0
7-10 Svidler, Shirov, Carlsen, Morozevich - 3.0

How strange to see the last 4 players trailing the field, I would have
thought before the tournament that they might be predicted to lead it,
except Carlsen, but perhaps including Aronian. I had private hopes that
Carlsen would have done better, but after all, he is keeping pace with
Svidler, Shirov, and Morozevich - and the longer the Tal goes, the more it
favors young players with more stamina - perhaps he'll get a couple of
scalps yet?

Carlsen, Shirov and Maredyarov have not yet won a game, and only Aronian has
won with white and black.

Phil Innes