Vladimir Kramnik closest to victory, Magnus Carlsen holds him with heroic defence

Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen protagonized the most interesting game of round 1 of the Tal Memorial 2009, that started today in Moscow. In a very dynimic game Kramnik managed to get an early slight advantage against Carlsen. The Norwegian prodigy fought back to equalize the game. A few inaccuracies by the top seeded player gave Kramnik a very good position in the endgame, but a heroic defence by Carlsen, combined with the time trouble, brought the game to a draw.

All other games finished in a draw. Ivanchuk escaped a time trouble against Anand. Morozevich applied an interesting sacrifice, but was forced to go for perpetual in the game with Leko. Ponomariov and Gelfand had a quiet game, while Svidler got a slight advantage against Aronian, but could not take the victory.

All games with commentary can be replayed at livechess.chessdom.com, expect a full report later today!

Stay tuned for updates!