1st International Tal Memorial Chess tournament Riga 1995 Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik v Rafael Vaganian (Score Sheet)
1st International Tal Memorial Chess tournament Riga 1995 Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik v Rafael Vaganian (Score Sheet)
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1st International Tal Memorial Chess tournament Riga 1995 Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik v Rafael Vaganian (Score Sheet)

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Author: Rafael Vaganian (1951- ) and Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik signed

Year: 1995

Publisher: Professional Chess Association

Place: Riga

Description:

Original carbon quarto (11 1/2" x 8 1/4") score sheet printed on official stationery of the event in Rafael Vaganian's hand. Signed by both Rafael Vaganian and Vladimir Kramnik, played in round nine, April 21, not signed by the arbiters of the match. A 21 move draw.

The 1st International Tal Memorial Chess tournament was held in the magician's hometown of Riga, Latvia from April 12th to the 24th, 1995. It was the first tournament in a series of three organized by the PCA that year as a "Super Classic." The following two tournaments were held in Novgorod at the end of May, and Horgen after the completion of the PCA world championship match. Eleven grandmasters, including the world champion, were invited to compete in the round robin event. The participants were (in order of PCA rating): Garry Kasparov (2789), Vassily Ivanchuk (2764), Vishwanathan Anand (2758), Vladimir Kramnik (2713), Artur Yusupov (2676), Jaan Ehlvest (2669), Rafael Vaganian (2645), Boris Gulko (2623), Nigel Short (2617), Jan Timman (2615), and local favorite Edvins Kengis (2555). The tournament was an important victory for Kasparov, who had not managed such a convincing win in an elite event against Anand (or Anatoli Karpov) since Linares in 1993. Especially significant was Kasparov's win against Anand in the fourth round since Anand was obviously in top form and their world championship match was only in five months. Kasparov scored an impressive 75% and edged out Anand by half a point in the final. Kasparov 7.5/10 first followed a half point by Anand 7/10. Ivanchuk, Kramnik and short tied for third through fifth with 6. Gulko was clear sixth with 5 points. Seventh was Yusupov at 4.5. Eight was Ehlvest with 3.5 followed by a tie for ninth through eleventh with Kengis, Timman and Vaganian each with a scored of three.

Rafael Vaganian is an Armenian chess grandmaster known for his sharp tactical style of play. He achieved International Grandmaster status in 1971, at the unusually young age of 19, following an excellent result at the Vrnjacka Banja tournament the same year, where he took first place ahead of Leonid Stein and Ljubomir Ljubojevic. This was also the year that he finished fourth at the World Junior Chess Championship, the winner being the Swiss player, Werner Hug. In the wake of this disappointing outcome, he was so upset with himself that he challenged Hug to a blitz match in an attempt to salvage some pride. The players blitzed for only a few minutes and Vaganian emerged as the winner by a 10-0 scoreline.

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007. He has won three team gold medals and three individual medals at Chess Olympiads. In October 2000, he defeated Garry Kasparov in a match played in London, and became the Classical World Chess Champion. In late 2004, Kramnik successfully defended his title against challenger Peter Leko in a drawn match played in Brissago, Switzerland. In October 2006, Kramnik, the Classical World Champion, defeated reigning FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in a unification match, the World Chess Championship 2006. As a result, Kramnik became the first undisputed World Champion, holding both the FIDE and Classical titles, since Kasparov split from FIDE in 1993. In 2007, Kramnik lost the title to Viswanathan Anand, who won the World Chess Championship 2007 tournament ahead of Kramnik. He challenged Anand at the World Chess Championship 2008 to regain his title, but lost. Nonetheless, he has remained a top player; he reached a peak rating of 2817 in October 2016, which makes him the seventh-highest rated player of all time, and is No. 3 on the FIDE world rankings as of February 2018.

Condition:

Light edge wear else a better than very good copy.