Chess: How does Black win?

MIKHAIL TAL was the meteor of Soviet chess. He rose to the top with extraordinary speed but crashed with almost equal alacrity, his victim and nemesis in both cases being the mighty Mikhail Botvinnik.

World champion from 1960-1961, Tal’s glory days were undoubtedly to be found in the tournaments and matches of 1959 and 1960 that swept him to the world crown.

Writing in his My Great Predecessors series, Garry Kasparov’s verdict on Tal was: “His style of play was altogether inimitable, since it is impossible to copy the play of a genius. Tal is the only player I can remember who did not calculate lengthy variations: he simply saw through them!”

We remember Tal’s great rivalry with Botvinnik. But one player at the Tal Memorial in Moscow recently joined the two legendary former world champions as the only six-time holders of the Russian/Soviet title, and that’s the on-form Peter Svidler. It is a record unlikely to be broken, except by Svidler himself.

And as the Tal Memorial heads for the second half, there’s a four-way tie at the top and the likely prospect of an exciting finish.

Standings: 1-4. Aronian, Carlsen, Karjakin & Nepomniachtchi, 3/5; 5-7. Anand, Ivanchuk & Svidler, 2.5; 8-9. Kramnik & Nakamura, 2; 10. Gelfand, 1.5.

H Nakamura - P Svidler

6th Tal Memorial, (3)

Exchange Grünfeld

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 0-0 Bg4 11 f3 Bd7 12 Rb1 Qc7 13 Bd3 Rfd8 14 Qd2 a6 15 f4 e6 16 dxc5 Na5 17 Nd4 e5 18 fxe5 Qxe5 19 Qb2 Rac8 20 Qb4 Qxc5 21 Qxc5 Rxc5 22 Ne2 Rc6 23 Bb6 Rxb6 24 Rxb6 Bc6 25 Rf3 f5 26 Rb4 Bf8 27 Rd4 Bc5 28 Re3 Re8 29 e5 Bd5! 30 Kf2 Bxa2 31 Ra4 Bxe3+ 32 Kxe3 Rxe5+ 33 Kf4 Bb3 34 Kxe5 Bxa4 35 Kd6 Bc6 36 g3 Kg7 37 Nd4 Be4 38 Bxe4 fxe4 39 Nc2 Nc4+ 40 Kd5 Nd2 41 Kc5 Kf6 42 Kb6 Ke5 43 Kxb7 Kd5 44 Ne3+ Kc5 45 Kxa6 Nb1 46 Kb7 Nxc3 47 Kc8 Kd4 48 Ng2 Ke5 0-1