Tal Memorial - Leader lose

Round seven of the 2012 Tal Memorial saw both leaders lose. All other games were draw therefore five (!) players now tie for the lead.

Morozevich lost his second game in a row to tail-ender Tomashevsky. The game looked equal until Moro tried to complicate the position with 31...Ng7 ?! Of course Moro wants to win against the tail-ender but this was too much. You do not expect a 2700 player to fall for 32. Rxg7?? Rf1+ 33. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 34. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 35. Kc2 Kxg7 winning the exchange. Moro ended up a pawn down in a lost rook ending.

The other leader also lost to a tailender. Luke McShane was pressing for a win from the opening against Kramnik. In a major piece ending of Q+R v Q+R, Kramnik made several errors to allow McShane his second scalp. Both Morozevich and Kramnik were in no mood to show up at the players press conference. McShane has a long commentary which is very instructive and I urge you to view the video here.

Five players now tie for the lead with another player, Nakamura, just half point behind. With two more rounds to go all six still have the chance to become the champion on tie-break.

Standings after round seven

The round eight pairings see Morozevich against the unpredictable McShane. I hope Moro can play more stable chess, another loss would kick him out of the race for first.

The only undefeated player is Carlsen. He has the best chance, in my opinion, of getting the first placing. Round eight starts tonight at 7:00 PM