Chess News

Exciting finish in the Tal Memorial – Magnus Carlsen lifts the trophy!

In the fantastic turn of the events in the final round of the 2012 Tal Memorial, Magnus Carlsen defeated Luke McShane and took the winner’s trophy, repeating the success from the last year’s edition.

He did get a little help from Levon Aronian who won against Fabiano Caruana, preventing the Italian star from achieving probably the biggest success of his career.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen

Caruana needed only a draw in the last round to secure at least the shared first place and be declared the tournament winner on the account of first tie-break rule – the greater number of games played with black pieces. Both Carlsen and Radjabov, the only players in position to catch Caruana, had more games with white.

But Aronian played an inspired attacking game against the Gruenfeld and achieved a huge advantage early in the middlegame. He converted the material into the victory in the queens ending.

Meanwhile, Carlsen grabbed the initiative with black and started pushing McShane’s pieces into awkward places. White later lost a piece and resigned when the first time control was reached.

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian

The other three games were drawn.

Live games with commentary and computer analysis

Round 9 results:
Aronian – Caruana 1-0
Nakamura – Radjabov draw
Tomashevsky – Grischuk draw
McShane – Carlsen 0-1
Kramnik – Morozevich draw

Final standings:
1. Carlsen – 5,5; 2-3. Caruana, Radjabov – 5; 4-7. Aronian, Grischuk, Kramnik, Morozevich – 4,5; 8-9. McShane, Nakamura – 4; 10. Tomashevsky – 3,5

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Magnus Carlsen Tal Memorial trophy

Magnus Carlsen receiving the trophy

2012 Tal Memorial winners

Top three finishers in Tal Memorial: Radjabov, Carlsen and Caruana

Morozevich fans

Fans of Alexander Morozevich

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