By Zaldy Dandan
Variety Editor

ANAND and Topalov may have dominated the ELO ratings list during all these years, but there is now only one world champion, and he is the only human on this planet to have defeated the greatest player in history, Kasparov, in a match.
I am referring to Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik, who will be 32 on June 25. He has been on a roll since last year. After his triumph in June at the Turin Olympiad, where he had the best score on board 1, Kramnik won the controversial unification match against Topalov in October. Before the end of the year, he had married his girlfriend, French journalist Marie-Laure Germon, in a civil ceremony. Last Feb. 4, they tied the knot at the Orthodox Church of St-Alexandre-Nevsky in Paris with former world champ Boris Spassky as one of their special guests.
Kramnik’s greatest strength, says Chess Informant’s Zdenko Krnic, “lies in subtle positional outmaneuvering of the opponent and subsequent conversion of the advantage in the ending. His harmonious piece coordination is astounding, and his mental stability guarantees his best performance in decisive games.”
Game of the week. Here is the undisputed world champ in a game selected as the best of Informant 97, with annotations by Kramnik himself. His opponent is Cuba’s 24-year-old numero uno who won the world junior championship in 2001.
White: V. Kramnik (2729)
Black: L. Bruzon (2652)
Queen’s Gambit Declined
Torino Olympiad 2006
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cd5 Nd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 h6 10.Bh4 0-0 11.a3 Bc3 12.bc3 Qa3 13.e4 [13.Bd3!?] Ne7 14.Bd3 Ng6 15.Bg3 e5 16.0-0 [a novelty; 16.h4 see 87/400] Re8 17.Rfe1 [17.h4?! ed4 18.cd4 Nf6 unclear] Qa5 [17...a5 18.h4 ed4 19.cd4 Nf6 20.Ra1 and White is superior; 17...Qe7] 18.Qb2 Qd8 19.Bb1! a5 [19...Qf6 20.Qd2! (20.Ba2 Nf4! 21.Qd2 g5 unclear) a5 21.h4] 20.Rcd1 a4 21.Ba2 Qe7 [better is 21...Qa5] 22.Qc1 Ra5 [22...b5 23.h4 ed4 24.Nd4!] 23.Qd2! [with the idea c4] ed4 [23...b6 24.h4 a) 24...ed4 25.Nd4 a1) 25...Nge5 26.Nf5 Qc5 27.Nd6 Rf8 (27...Rd8 28.Bf4 and White is superior) 28.Bf4 and White is superior; a2) 25...Qc5 26.Nf5 Nde5 (26...Nge5 see 25...Nge5) 27.Nd6 and White is superior; b) 24...h5 25.Ng5 Rf8 26.de5 Nde5 27.f4 and White is superior; c) 24...Nf6 25.Ne5 Ne5 26.Be5 Re5 27.de5 Qe5 and White is slightly better; better is 23...Ra6 and White is slightly better] 24.Nd4 (and White is superior) Qc5 [24...Nde5 25.f4 and White is superior; 24...Qg5 25.f4 Qc5 26.Bf2 Qf8 27.Nf5 and White is superior] 25.Bc7 [25.Nf5 Nde5 26.Nd6 Rd8 unclear] Ra8 [25...Ndf8 only move 26.Ba5 Qa5 27.f4 and White is superior] 26.Bf7!! Kf7 27.Qa2 Kf8 [27...Kf6 28.Bd8!! a) 28...Ke5 29.Nf3 (29.Qf7 and White is winning) Kf4 30.Qd2 Kg4 31.h3 Kh5 32.g4 mate; b) 28...Ne7 29.Qe6 Kg5 30.Nf3 Kf4 31.g3 Kf3 32.Rd3 Qe3 33.Rde3 mate; c) 28...Rd8 29.Qe6 Kg5 30.Nf3 Kf4 31.g3 Kf3 32.Rd3 Qe3 33.Rde3 mate; 27...Ke7 28.Qe6 Kf8 29.Bd6 and White is winning] 28.Ne6 Re6 29.Qe6 Ne7 [29...Qg5 30.Rd7 (30.Re3 and White is winning) Bd7 31.Bd6 Ne7 32.Qd7 and White is winning] 30.Re3 Ke8 31.Rf3 Qh5 32.Bd6 1-0
Puzzler.
White — pawns on g3, h4; Nb4, Qb8, Nf6, Kf7, Bg1
Black — pawns c3, c4, d7, e5, g6; Na5, Rc5; Bd1, Kf5; Nf8
White to play and mate in four moves.
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